Buster Posey appears at the Giants’ press conference that introduced him as the Giants’ new President of Baseball Operations on October 1, 2024.
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The “Fire Farhan” brigade got their wish, but his replacement was a bit of a surprise. Buster Posey was named President of Baseball Operations of the San Francisco Giants. It’s not often that a franchise icon gets a chance to run their team, but if anyone can succeed, it’s Buster Posey. He was introduced Tuesday at Oracle Park and he promised to please the fans and players and get back to what San Francisco Giants’ baseball is all about. This man appears to care deeply about this team, and is somewhat putting his reputation on the line. A few call this move desperate, but it seems that most Giants fans are 100% behind this move. I mean, could it be worse than Farhan? One playoff appearance and one winning record in 6 years suggests not. Farhan’s time ran out. Maybe he was given too much rope as it is. Chad and Eric talk about this monumental decision in Giants history and the potential good and bad ramifications it could have on the franchise (we think mostly good!).
The San Francisco Giants have named former catcher Buster Posey their new President of Baseball Operations and fired Farhan Zaidi. Photo by Getty Images.
Wow, what an announcement this morning.
Farhan Zaidi’s reign as President of Baseball Operations is over after six years. One of the most beloved Giants in recent memory replaces him…Buster freakin’ Posey.
Chairman Greg Johnson made the announcement this (Monday) morning:
“As we look ahead, I’m excited to share that Buster Posey will now take on a greater role as the new President of Baseball Operations,” Johnson said in a statement. “We are looking for someone who can define, direct and lead this franchise’s baseball philosophy and we feel that Buster is the perfect fit. Buster has the demeanor, intelligence and drive to do this job, and we are confident that he and Bob Melvin will work together to bring back winning baseball to San Francisco.”
“We appreciate Farhan’s commitment to the organization and his passion for making an impact in our community during his six years with the Giants,” Johnson said. “Ultimately, the results have not been what we had hoped, and while that responsibility is shared by all of us, we have decided that a change is necessary.”
Some say it reeks of desperation, some think it’s a great move. I’ll have to think about it a bit more, and the three of us will bring our thoughts to the podcast airwaves soon, but my first impression is a big thumbs up. But, because Posey is so beloved, it also opens him up to the ire of Giants fans if he doesn’t produce. Yes, he’ll have a one or two year grace period, but if results aren’t apparent, he will and should draw the appropriate criticism. Some of us would not like to see one of our heroes fall from grace, but it’s not unprecedented in professional sports. Many stars have taken their shot at management with little to no success (Alan Trammel, Isiah Thomas, Brett Hull, Kevin McHale, Bart Starr, Ken Harrelson…and look at Derek Jeter with the Marlins), while others have done average to pretty damn good (John Lynch, Danny Ainge, Magic Johnson (eh), John Elway, Jerry West to name a few).
I would hate to see Buster’s legacy tarnished. So, this has to work, right?
As far as Zaidi is concerned, I was a staunch proponent of his hiring, and was still defending him after the 2022 season. My tune changed after the 2023 season, and I was rooting for an ingrown toenail ahead of his continuation in the role next year. Although he achieved success with Oakland and the Dodgers, the Giants only made the playoffs once. If you take away that (now known as an outlier) season of a franchise-record 107 wins, the Giants were under .500 in the other five seasons at 346-362. They never had a winning record in those five seasons, only breaking even at 81-81 in 2022.
Six seasons was plenty of rope. Plenty.
Most likely, Buster Posey will bring a more traditional style of management and scouting back to the Giants. I don’t think he’ll eschew analytics, but I don’t think you’ll find the revolving door that is the Giants roster needing as much grease.
Zaidi is not dumb. His past shows his methods have succeeded before, but maybe he knew his fate while the Giants were in Arizona near the end of the season, when he said the following:
“There’s been a meeting of the minds over time,” he said. “I’ve made adjustments and we’re at a point now where I think we’re very much in sync about the vision of the team. We want a younger team, we want a more athletic team, we want some consistency in the rotation and lineup. … There are good teams we face that are doing some of the things that may not be some of our favorites. There has to be a balance of everything.”
“I think in a way, we have to connect the two,” Zaidi said. “The last couple of offseasons, we’ve been very active in free agency. And while maybe that’s created some excitement, I do think it’s blocked some opportunities for these guys to get over the hump. Over the last five years, this hasn’t been a typical rebuild. We’ve tried to compete every year.
“It’s not going to be a teardown with three top-five draft picks and going from there. It’s taken longer. But between the players we have, we’re kind of on the other side of that where we have a different nucleus now. We have the ability to put a young team out there and be more targeted in free agency rather than feeling like we have to sign five, six players.”
He seemed to adopt a more traditional offseason by signing big free agents, including Matt Chapman, who ended up being 7th in WAR in baseball, the Giants’ Willie Mac award winner, and proclaimed several times that playoffs will happen next year. After a bumpy start, Blake Snell proved to be worth his contract, but ultimately if he opts out, his contribution means nothing without the postseason. However, there were too many misses, too many mediocre, mid-level signings, too many trades with the Mariners, and a farm system ranked last by Bleacher Report (but most sites rank them in the lower third or so…still not good).
The Farhan Zaidi experiment failed and failed miserably. It was time to move on, but is Buster the right guy? That answer will come with time and time alone.
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