Giants fans certainly know Buster Posey, the catcher. The MVP. The batting champion. The Gold Glover. The Silver Slugger. The three-time World Series champ.
But they’re still learning about Buster Posey, the president of baseball operations.
Posey’s tendencies, beliefs, and philosophies will become more apparent and public as the 2025 season plays out, but in a wide-ranging interview with The Standard, the Giants’ boss shared insight on what he’s pondering, what he’s valuing, and what he’s anticipating.
During a break from spring training, with the first week of exhibitions underway in Arizona, Posey discussed many subjects, including the roster makeup, what areas need the most improvement, his relationships with general manager Zack Minasian and VP of player development Randy Winn, and his thoughts about his Hall of Fame candidacy.
John Shea: You’ve added shortstop Willy Adames, accomplished starter Justin Verlander, and some smaller pieces. At this stage in spring training, do you feel you’re pretty set with the roster construction?
Buster Posey: I would say so. Myself, Zack, the rest of the front office, we keep an eye out. Obviously, things change, but for the most part, I’d say yes. It doesn’t mean that we stop looking. What I’m learning in this job, the first five, six months, there’s never really a time where you’re going to stop considering improving the roster.
Do you want fans to be patient with you? Because you’re relatively new at the position and kind of learning on the job, which you’ve admitted to.
No. I’ve had the pleasure to play in front of our fans for 12 years or so, and what I appreciate about our fan base is there’s an expectation to win. That’s my expectation now. We want to come together every single year, no question about it. The reality is, we’re probably going to come together better some years than others. But as much as anything, the tone I want to set is that there’s a standard for the way that we play the game and go about our business that I want every player to feel, I want the coaches to feel. I want the fan base to feel that, win or lose, there’s a brand of baseball that I believe our fans deserve, and that takes diligence, day in and day out.
The Dodgers are the champs. The Padres and Diamondbacks are picked to finish second and third in your division. What do you expect out of the Giants this season?
Nobody can predict the future. It wouldn’t be any fun if we could, and so we’ve just got to play the games. But we feel we’ve got a talented group. This is the San Francisco Giants, so the expectations are always going to be high.
Is there a particular area that needs improvement over last year that you’d like to see flourish in 2025 that could turn the season into something special?
There are two easy areas for me to point to. One, I think we all feel good about our bullpen and excited about the strides that Ryan Walker made. Having Camilo Doval back. You’ve got Tyler Rogers. You’ve got Erik Miller, some other really dynamic arms that are in camp with us — so if we can get more length out of our starters, it’s possible to give some of those big arms in the bullpen a little more rest. I think that would help us.
Then, two, offensively, being able to score runs in multiple ways. It’s something Pat Burrell is preaching every day to the guys in camp. Being able to create runs sometimes without even getting hits. A leadoff double, getting the guy over to third base, it doesn’t always take a hit. Do we love homers? Of course. Everybody loves homers. But just making sure that our group understands that for us to be successful, we’re going to have to be dynamic in the way that we go about scoring runs.
I imagine you value players showing up. What I mean is, Matt Chapman played 154 games last year and got the long extension. Adames played 161 and is signed long-term. In this day, that’s significant.
It’s a mentality. It sets a tone, and it sets the course of who we want to be — the tough, gritty type of team that even if we’re a little nicked up, we’re going to find a way to be on the field and go out and try to win baseball games. Those guys you mentioned are the ultimate competitors who have done it at the big-league level for a long time. I believe there’s a lot of value for some of our younger guys to see how they go about their work, their preparation daily.
Why no big trades so far? Taylor Rogers was sent to the Reds, and there have been a couple of minor deals.
We’ve kept options open. It takes two to tango. I’ll leave it that.
How is the workload divided between you and Zack, and how is the relationship with your GM going so far?
It’s going great. I couldn’t be more pleased. The first thing that stands out for me with Zack, a guy who’s been with the Giants for six years, he cares about the Giants. It’s real, not a front with him whatsoever. He wants the Giants to be great, and he’s a worker. He and I have bonded over that. It’s been really good. I would say Zack probably fields most of the calls coming from agents, and Jeremy Shelley has been taking calls. I’m on the phone as well. It’s been a good system.
Like you, Randy Winn is taking on a major role without a lot of front-office experience. He’s the VP of player development, so he’s involved in the development of Bryce Eldridge and the other prospects coming up. What are your expectations for Randy?
I’ve picked up pretty quickly just how massive player development is, how many staff members, coaches, players, and to have a guy with Randy’s pedigree willing to dive in headfirst, to me, was just a no-brainer to bring him on. Randy and I have talked about streamlining minor leaguers to the major leagues, obviously a big job that takes a lot of effort, a lot of planning, having everyone on the same page. Our hope is that when we do call upon minor leaguers, when they get to the big leagues, they will have experienced throughout their time in the system the fundamentals we believe in.
When you hire people, or when anyone in your department makes hires, how does diversity play a role?
It’s always going to be considered in our hiring process. It’s important to us, it’s part of our culture, and it’s always great to have different perspectives from people coming from different walks of life.
You have a long list of former players coming to spring training to lend their hand, including from the championship era but also previous eras. How can that help?
It’s nice that Bob [Melvin] and I are very aligned with that. Just recently, having Yusmeiro Petit and Dave Righetti in camp, I got to see firsthand Bob letting these guys work. You’ve got to give credit to (pitching coaches) J.P. Martinez and Garvin Alston as well. There’s no ego involved, and they appreciate the experience that Rags and Petit have in the game. I think a part of becoming a big leaguer is being able to hear different perspectives and opinions and filter those perspectives and opinions and apply them to your game and get the most out of yourself.
When you look back at the championship era, three titles in five years, I imagine you’d like to see representation at the Hall of Fame. Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum didn’t get much love on the writers’ ballot, and Madison Bumgarner hasn’t appeared yet. How do you feel about one day possibly being recognized yourself in Cooperstown with your eligibility coming up in 2027? Also, Bruce Bochy as manager and Brian Sabean as executive are obvious candidates.
I mean, it would be a dream come true to be selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I grew up loving baseball since I can remember, and it almost seems weird to speak about myself in those terms because I hold those players in Cooperstown with such high esteem. It’s different from your playing career where there’s a level of control with what goes into your personal results and team results. This is something that’s out of my hands, but it would be an honor if it happened, for sure. As for Bochy and Sabean, I got a front-row seat to watching how they operate, watching how much they care about the game and the people they were working with daily. They’re both no-brainers for me.
Much has been said about San Francisco, certain segments of people knocking the city, not all of it fair. Considering the city, the culture, knowing the NBA All-Star Game was here and that the Super Bowl and World Cup are coming, how do you sell the city when recruiting players?
I feel we’re off to a good start with Adames and even Verlander. What a big change for Verlander, and what a credit to him. Purely from a spring training standpoint, it’s his 21st, 22nd spring training, and first in Arizona. It’s a big adjustment for him. It felt like a nice sign for us for multiple reasons, including his belief in what we’re trying to do here. Willy, same thing, a long-term commitment. Honestly, I’m hopeful we can build over the years trust within the industry about the way we not only go about playing the game but the way we care about those who put on a Giants uniform. That will carry weight.
Sounds like you’re having fun, Buster.
I’m having a lot of fun. I wasn’t completely sure when the bell rang, but I will say it’s been a ton of fun.