SAN FRANCISCO — When the Giants made their first real push for a $150 million MLB free agent and He met Jon Lister in 2014Buster Posey was in the room. He was there when they met a young Shohei Ohtani in a conference room in Orange County in 2017 and took a call from Bryce Harper when the star was making his decision a year later.
Late in his career, Posey began joking about his lack of success as a recruit. But this is a role he’s just signed on for, and the stakes are much higher now that he’s president of baseball operations.
Asked Tuesday how he would handle that part of the job, Bossy said his goal was just to be honest.
“All I can offer is my honest perspective,” he told NBC Sports Bay Area. “I can share my vision, my hopes and my expectations for this organization and this city and I can draw on the experience I gained from my time as a player and how special it is to play here. I know I’m biased, but I believe this is one of the premier places to play baseball around the world and one of the most beautiful places to do it.” “
Bossy will immediately have a chance to show whether this pitch is as effective as the thousands he invited as a senior. The Giants will once again be linked to some of the top free agents on the market, including a player who is currently still on their staff.
Blake Snell will opt out of his two-year deal after the World Series, but Posey didn’t indicate much one way or the other when asked about the lefty. He described him as one of the starting pitchers in the game and noted how dominant he was in the second half.
“He’s obviously someone it’s going to be a priority for us to take a hard look at and make a decision as a group,” Bossy said.
This group will consist of people who are technically his superiors, but are also his equals. Posey has a three-year deal to be president of baseball operations, but that’s not a traditional setup. Farhan Al-Zaidi informed chairman Greg Johnson and the board, but Bussey has been on the board since purchasing a minority ownership stake and that will not change now that he has taken on a new role.
President of baseball operations Buster Posey will have to decide how much he wants Snell to join next year’s team. Owner Buster Posey will have to decide what that means for payroll for the rest of the decade, but he won’t be alone. Johnson said the Giants “want to make smart decisions” and have to balance long-term flexibility with short-term needs.
Snell was part of a free-agent class that put the Giants in the luxury tax for the first time since Posey was a player, but Johnson didn’t rule out being a repeat offender.
“If we get through this, we will get through,” Johnson said.
What the Giants likely won’t do this season is replicate one of Zaidi’s most common moves. He has consistently brought in quality players on two-year opt-out deals. Some, like pitchers Carlos Rodon and Sean Mania, walked after one year. Ross Stripling and Michael Conforto opted out after disappointing first seasons.
Johnson told NBC Sports Bay Area that he believes the structure of those deals played a role in the Giants’ lack of identity, an ongoing problem in recent years. It was difficult for fans to embrace players who may only be a few months old.
“I think part of the identity issue is we’re trying to be competitive and do one-on-one deals where you have someone for a year. They’re playing for a contract, and they know they’re probably not going to be here. Long term,” Johnson said. “I think it creates a different atmosphere at the club by having these kind of free agents here who might be a good one-year deal but the problem with (those contracts) is that if they do well, they’ll leave (and) if they don’t, We are paying them for another year, and I think I would prefer to see fewer of these deals in the future.
Bossy knows the value of continuity. He signed a massive extension after his MVP season in 2012 and was instrumental in helping the Giants lock Matt Chapman to a six-year extension. As the Giants try to add others to their core, Johnson believes Posey’s recent experience as a player “will definitely help.”
“It’s nice to have someone who can speak their language and someone they trust who can talk to them directly,” he said.
Despite all the nice things both sides have said recently, the Giants didn’t consider a reunion with Snell a possibility. Maybe that will change with new leadership, but Bossy also saw how important it was for the Giants to be local. He was teammates with Barry Zito, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, all of whom made huge deals in free agency and struggled to live up to expectations to varying degrees.
If the Giants prefer to spend on help, outfielder Juan Soto will be available. Zaidi was lambasted for attacking Ohtani, Harper, Aaron Judge and others, but the Giants didn’t get those types before his tenure either.
On the surface, it appears that Posey will have to walk a fine line as he attempts to improve the roster while also dealing with the financial desires of his fellow owners. But Johnson said he sees no complications. He said the board works together on the biggest deals.
“I don’t think it matters at all,” he said. “He’s got a little piece of his own. I don’t think that will be an obstacle to his thinking about how to move forward and build the team.”
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