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Buster Posey plans to see this through.
“I’m fully committed,” the Giants’ president of baseball operations said Wednesday, implying that this isn’t just a three-year undertaking through 2027, his original commitment.
“But I think the focus has to be on the present. I mean, that’s the way I try to look at it. Would I like to do it longer? Sure. But I think the focus has to be in the moment.”
Year one of the Posey administration has come and gone, and the former decorated catcher is the first to admit that it was a major learning experience and that there’s far more to grasp and far more to do. The Giants were a .500 team and played like it, and there are plenty of holes in the rotation, bullpen, and lineup to keep Posey busy throughout the offseason. Coaching staff changes will keep him occupied, too.
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Considering how far they rank behind the division power Dodgers and Padres — if not light years, then certainly 12 and nine games in the standings, respectively — there’s no assurance the Giants can contend in 2026. But that’s Posey’s goal.
Whether that’s realistic will be determined by the next stage of his roster building and how it all plays out next spring. For now, Posey is focused on finding a manager to replace Bob Melvin, whom he fired Monday, and working with the new skipper to build a coaching staff that will help players reach their potential.
Through it all, Posey knows he’s still getting educated and that it’s a nonstop process, especially for someone with no administrative experience. Remember, Brian Sabean took 14 years as the Giants’ lead executive to win his first World Series title, in 2010, Posey’s rookie year, and no one else in that position in San Francisco’s franchise history — not Chub Feeney, Spec Richardson, Tom Haller, Al Rosen, or Bob Quinn — won one.
Posey knows what went right, what went wrong, and what needs to happen to get over the hump. Furthermore, he knows there’s room to improve in this role. The fact that he admits this is an encouraging sign for fans, whose trust in the team, manager, coaches, and roster wore thin as the season wound down.
“There’s been a lot that I have learned,” said Posey, adding that he has received invaluable assistance from his supporting cast of Zack Minasian, Jeremy Shelley, and others. “No matter what you’re doing, if you’re a reporter, if you’re a baseball player, if you’re an executive, there’s always room to look in the mirror and say, ‘How can I be better?’ And I don’t think that ever stops. I don’t think it stops if you win a championship.
“I don’t think there will ever be a time where I say, ‘Gosh, I nailed this.’ There’s always going to be room for improvement.”
Posey nailed it as a player often enough to win three rings. He wants to nail it as an executive. It didn’t happen right away as it did for him as a player, but he’s convinced the nucleus is present with Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, and Matt Chapman, along with starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.
However, the bullpen needs to be rebuilt; there’s no front-line closer or setup man. The rotation needs two more bodies, perhaps veterans from the outside. And the outfield needs to improve defensively; a new right fielder with pop would do wonders.
In particular, Posey reiterated the two important assets that carried the championship clubs, which he also wants for this club, saying, “The recipe to success is great pitching and great defense, so we know we need to be better there.”
A main reason for the Giants’ late-season slide was their depleted bullpen, partly a result of Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval getting dealt at the trade deadline. The fact that the Giants were just three wins from qualifying for the playoffs is an indicator that Rogers and Doval could have made a difference. Even Mike Yastrzemski, who also was dealt, might’ve swung a game or two.
Posey was asked if it was a mistake trading those guys.
“I think we made the best decision with information we had at the time, the way the team had been playing up until that point,” Posey said. “We had a pretty consistent structure of not playing good baseball. As we said at the time, there was an opportunity for us to improve organizationally with some players. Yeah, would we have liked to have [Rogers] down the stretch, sure, but we wouldn’t have liked to have [Rogers] down the stretch and not have improved the organization if we’re still sitting here like we are now.”
As for the manager search, one name was crossed off everyone’s list. Bruce Bochy, whose time as Texas’ manager ended after three seasons, told The Standard on Monday that he “would always have a conversation with Buster,” but Posey called the former Giants manager to say there’s a different plan in the works. In other words, someone on the younger side who could grow into the position and stick around for the long term.
“The door’s always open here for some sort of role, but the way I think things are coming into picture in my mind of where we want to go next, I don’t see this going that route with Boch,” Posey said. “Obviously, a tremendous amount of respect. It’s interesting, when I was a player, I didn’t necessarily consider Boch a friend, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. He had this reverence and respect that he demanded from his players. But now, post playing, I consider Boch a friend and somebody that I know I can pick the phone up and call anytime and ask anything from him.”
Posey said the idea of an associate manager to accompany the manager is “interesting,” a role trending among other teams that allows for another dugout voice. Either way, it sounds like the front office will help the next manager determine the new coaching staff, and perhaps new coaches will be more analytically minded than some previous staffers. Posey said Melvin’s coaches have been told they’re welcome to pursue other jobs, a sign that the shakeup figures to be extensive.
“I do think there will be more input especially having gone through this one year now and gathering different information,” Posey said, “and what we relayed to our coaches is that there will be agency for the new manager, that we’ll place a recommendation with the manager, but ultimately, they’re free to look at other opportunities as well.”
A year to the day after Posey had his introductory news conference, he had another media get-together Wednesday, the season’s post-mortem. He would have preferred it came weeks from now, after a postseason run, and that’s what he’s banking on in the future. When he steps back and analyzes his first year on the job, the eighth time in nine years the Giants missed the playoffs, he confesses that it fell short.
“I mean, ultimately, self-evaluation still comes down to production, right?” he said. “It comes down to whether a team performs and gets into the playoffs and competes for championships. So that’s always the bar in my mind.”