Just two days after their season ended, and an hour before the MLB playoffs began, the Giants introduced Buster Posey as the President of Baseball Operations. Buster wasn't a quote machine, but that was to be expected. What he was, was endearing to a fanbase that has wanted to feel emotionally tied to their favorite baseball team again.
The press conference featured Chairman of the Board of Directors Greg Johnson, Posey, and manager Bob Melvin. Johnson spoke about why Posey was the right person for the job, and from what he said, Buster wanted the ball. Buster said that the Giants were in the memory-making business, which is a full 180 from how Farhan Zaidi spoke about the job. He talked about being in the clubhouse and seeing former Giants greats like Wille Mays, Willie McCovey, Will Clark, and Barry Bonds. He sees what the history of the organization means to the community and to the players wearing the uniform.
Buster talked about having a lot to learn and mentioned that they would be bringing in a new General Manager, which means that Pete Putila won't be in that role anymore. Buster made it sound like Putila would still be in the organization, but there was no specified role. Greg Johnson mentioned how their front office already has experienced people and brought up Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager Jeremy Shelley who began his career with the Giants as an intern.
While saying that analytics is here to say, Posey also talked about preparation and fundamentals being important and part of his philosophy. He had an interesting quote about today's information age of giving players so much information and finding the balance of enough or too much and understanding when it becomes diminishing returns. But he also made sure to say multiple times that no matter what, the job is to put the best players on the field.
The only ill-tone of the press conference was when Greg Johnson was asked about transparency based on Farhan Zaidi talking about the reality of his own contract, which was that it was a two-year deal rather than truly a three-year deal. Johnson was defensive and questioned whether transparency is needed there because of questions that get asked during the season that could be a distraction.
What Johnson was transparent about was that Posey would retain his board seat and he has a three-year deal with zero contingencies.
