SF Giants 2024-2025 Offseason: Posey Era Part 2

Buster Posey is the new President of Baseball Operations for the San Francisco Giants. A new era is upon us. Gone are the days of flailing top prospects and seeing superstar free agents sign elsewhere. It was a quick and exciting exit for Farhan Zaidi because about the same time as the news of Zaidi and the Giants parting ways, Buster Posey was announced as his replacement. Clearly looks like the franchise is trying to spark its fanbase after an 80-82 season. They still don't really have a face of this franchise on the active roster except maybe Matt Chapman or Logan Webb. That could all change with the impending free agency of Juan Soto but for now, this move gives them their face (back) and addresses a huge need in the front office.

The cool thing is, Buster wanted to come back. He retired after only 12 MLB seasons and this may be his way of saying he's got more competitiveness left in the tank. His background as a player should flip the way this front office thinks. Analytics aren't going anywhere but I have a feeling Bob Melvin won't have to deal with constant roster turnover. The recent promotion of JP Martinez to Pitching Coach tells me they want to keep analytics around at least at the player level. Not only will analytics stay but the Giants will most likely attempt to acquire and upgrade their pitching and defense, which was consistently the X-factors from the dynasty years that Posey was a part of. If this were to be true, Blake Snell the former 2-time Cy Young Award winner who just posted a 3.1 WAR season in only 20 starts for the Giants, should be at the very top of their free agent wish list.

Buster's lack of experience concerns me. I do not doubt his work ethic, but if he is in fact over his head on this endeavor, the Giants will be much worse off than where they are right now. The Matt Chapman extension counts as a honorable mention for Buster because we don't know the entire scope of his involvement. If the new face of the franchise can't pull through with at least one playoff appearance or one top free agent signed during his three year contract it could get messy. I want him to do well so bad, but if he isn't, is Craig Johnson really going to fire Buster Posey? If it comes to that, the Giants will be in a dark dark place. Losing and firing their golden child Hall of Famer is not a good look.

After another mid season from the Giants my initial reaction was "Fucking finally. Good riddance Farhan." Now after about two months removed, I am very thankful for Farhan's tenure because he left Posey with a very competitive, in-tact roster, and plenty of flexibility to sign top end talent. Almost all starting positions at the Major league level are currently filled with a few top prospects emerging and waiting for opportunity in the minors. Arguably, Farhan's greatest fault was they way he handled the top prospects. The constant moving up and down between the MLB and the minors did not give the players the idea that they were being supported to succeed. Joey Bart was optioned 7 times in 3 seasons and so far Luciano has been optioned 5 times in his short 2 year MLB career. Farhan valued flexibility both on the roster and in the payroll. This approach worked better for the older veterans like Mike Yastrzemski because he had so much seasoning in the minor leagues. If you call up a prospect, you'd better be ready to ride with the failures at the major league level so that they can learn how to play. When Bart and Luciano were called up they weren't exactly lighting the league on fire. Both were sent down for poor performance and never gained their footing. Of course, a change of scenery did Bart wonders as he had his best season to date with the Pirates in 2024. Posting a .799 OPS in 80 games with a career high 13 home runs. The Giants can no longer afford to have underperforming prospects. Farhan got lucky with Tyler Fitzgerald and Heliot Ramos. After cycling prospects in and out trying to find something they luckily unearthed two diamonds in the rough.

Posey on the other hand, was optioned once in his entire career. With his player-first approach, the prospects are going to get legitimate chances to prove themselves. The position player prospects in mind are Marco Luciano and Bryce Eldridge. Fitzgerald has emerged as the Opening Day SS and Chapman will be the starting 3B during the remainder of his contract. This means that Luciano will need a position change in order to make it on this Giants roster. 2B and corner OF project to be open for competition in 2025. I'd prefer Luciano make the Opening Day roster as the 2nd baseman that way if he does struggle we still have Wisely to platoon. With Eldridge they should take more of a patient approach. Ideally, the Giants should wait until 1st base is wide open and they don't exactly need him to perform. Pressure seems to kill these young guys so let's relieve as much as we can by waiting for the right time.

The Giants are still searching for their new GM and I think this will be the most important signing of the offseason. Posey needs help. "I think somebody with a scouting background will be important to me," Posey said when asked about the GM search. Sounds like Posey is going to try to handle recruiting while the new GM champions the search for talent across baseball.

Buster Posey is going to work his ass off these next three years to get this team back to its former glory. If it doesn't work out, good luck ownership...