First-year Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey understands his team’s recent shortcomings in pursuing some of baseball’s biggest and most iconic names.
The Giants, as many know, always seem to find themselves in the race for MLB’s superstar free agents and international prospects but never end up landing them in San Francisco.
In appearing on The Athletic’s “Starkville” podcast with Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville, Posey explained the lessons the Giants have learned from missing out on free agents such as Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa in recent offseasons.
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“I think for me, the lesson is -- or maybe it’s not even a lesson -- if you have an opportunity to after that type of caliber player -- what’s the alternative, right? If you’re not going after them, then you’re definitely not getting them at that point,” Posey told Stark and Glanville. “I know there’s a sense with the fanbase, some frustrations on not being able to go land those guys. But from my seat [and] what I can tell the last couple years is really putting a strong foot forward.
“I think ownership -- again, from my vantage point -- made it very clear the priority to try to target those types of players. And unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. So, we look at this, we’re trying to build a complete team. [We] go into this offseason looking at some areas where we feel like there might be holes. I’m a big believer in pitching and defense…”
Posey didn’t point any fingers at his predecessor, Farhan Zaidi, but the retired catcher remained honest. San Francisco has tried to contend for MLB’s stars and it just hasn’t worked out thus far.
Last offseason, the Giants signed third baseman Matt Chapman, pitcher Blake Snell, center-fielder Jung Hoo Lee and slugger Jorge Soler. But San Francisco’s acquisitions didn’t match that of their NL West rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto en route to their 2024 World Series victory.
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Superstar right fielder Juan Soto, followed by pitchers Corbin Burnes, Roki Sasaki and Snell, of course, headline the current free-agent class. Posey made it clear that his phone is on at all hours, and his eyes are monitoring the globe for upgrades.
“You’re exploring all avenues and angles,” Posey said. “There’s unquestionably an immense amount of talent coming from the international side, so there’s no question we want our hat in the ring there, and we’re going to try our best to convince those great talents to come to San Francisco.”
Despite the Giants’ 80-82 record in 2024, Posey also is confident in what the current roster offers. He cited San Francisco’s pitching, particularly the youngsters, as something the Giants laboriously will ride next season.
“I’m really excited about some of the young arms we have,” Posey said. “Obviously, [Logan] Webb leading the way; Robbie Ray’s not a young arm at this point, but I think we’re expecting big things from him coming back this year, being a couple years removed from injury; Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roup, Kyle Harrison, we got Keaton Winn, Tristan Beck; there’s some really quality arms.
“I think for us to make a big leap, we’re going to have to rely on some of these younger arms to carry some of the bulk for us.”
Perhaps Posey will focus internally on pitching upgrades.
Still, all options are on the table for San Francisco and its first-year decision-maker. And recent shortcomings with big-time free agents won’t keep Posey and the Giants from shooting their shot and staying invested.
San Francisco very well could look different come Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season.