The Giants line up behind Posey again in a new front-office role

• Programming Notes: The Buster Posey press conference will air live on NBC Sports Bay Area at 10 a.m. PT and stream live on the NBC Sports app.

SAN FRANCISCO — When Buster Posey returned to the Giants in the spring of 2021, he didn't wait long to make his presence felt. The Giants met on the first day of camp and decided to address the Posey Room. During a short speech, he spoke passionately to the surprised players and coaches about how the first goal that season was to win the National League West.

“The bar is not to sneak into a wild card spot,” he said later. “The bar for us with the Giants is to go out and win the division.”

Seven months later, the Giants were division champs, but weeks after their celebration, Posey decided he would no longer chase the NL West and World Series titles, at least as a player. She retired to raise her four young children, but the pull of baseball and the Bay Area was too strong. Posey returned to Georgia but quickly bounced back, and the man who led the franchise to three titles bought into its ownership group.

As the Giants have become all too familiar with mediocrity this season, the fate of president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has been front and center. For months, people at all levels of the organization anticipated a change, and often during those discussions, Posey was brought up.

He's taken a more hands-on role since the middle of last season, and some team officials recently joked that, at the very least, Posey should be the one to hand a new Giants jersey to the next leader of the front office. That would be a necessary signal to a fan base whose patience has run out.

Monday's leadership change brought a twist, however. If there was a jersey waiting for the new president of baseball operations during Tuesday's press conference, it would be a game-worn one.

No. 28 decided to act himself.

It's an interesting challenge for a man who at this point seemingly doesn't know how to fail. Posey attended Florida State as a shortstop and pitcher, teaching himself how to catch in part by getting into a crouch while watching games on television. He became a first-round pick and then an MVP and three-time champion. At some point in his tenure as president of baseball operations, he could possibly take a short mid-term break to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Posey was so successful as a businessman during his playing days that he was able to buy a small share of the Giants, much of that flexibility likely stemming from his early investment in the sports drink BodyArmor. The Poseys have become leading advocates for pediatric cancer research, and during his playing days, teammates wondered how Buster and Kristen were able to devote so much time to hospital visits when they had so much else going on.

As he attacks a new venture, Posey will likely borrow from a man he played for. One of Bruce Bochy's greatest strengths was his ability to delegate, leaving many of the day-to-day tactics of his roster to guys like Dave Righetti and Ron Watts while he served as CEO of the clubhouse. When accountability was needed, Bochy was always there, and Posse alike to lead.

Monday's announcement included a line from Chairman Greg Johnson about the company's commitment to “follow the Selig Rule and ensure diversity in our hiring for any open positions we have.” It's unclear at this point what all of this means for general manager Pete Putilla, or others in prominent front office positions, but Posey is expected to bring in many of his own people, men or women who are more familiar with all things running. A baseball operations department.

A's assistant GM Billy Owens was a candidate for the job that eventually went to Scott Harris, and he was again near the top of the list. In recent weeks, former Giants catcher Nick Hundley's name has been floated as a possible choice if Zaidi is fired. Hundley once backed up Posey and has since gained experience with the commissioner's office and the Texas Rangers. Former Marlins general manager Kim Ng and Arizona's Amiel Sawday were candidates in 2018 and could be appealing options.

All will bring experience in day-to-day baseball operations that Posey lacks, but he can only rely on the executives he knows best. Jeremy Shelley was so valuable to the Championship regime that Zaidi kept him as an assistant general manager, and perhaps no one in the world knows the organization and roster better than him. Brian Sabin was in charge when the Giants drafted Posey, and he could be a valuable asset in some capacity.

By naming a new president of baseball operations on the first day of their offseason, the Giants made the most important hire before most of their players had even fully packed up. Posey has been patient at the plate, and he could be the same way he fills the front office. It's also important that he gets it right.

It's a PR win for the Giants, but it comes with risks. It was never going to be hard to break with Zaidi, who has a Bay Area background but couldn't connect with the fan base or the clubhouse.

But this is Buster Posey. If he fails, it will become awkward, though perhaps those concerns are overblown. Posey may be the most self-aware superstar in the organization. He was sidelined during the pandemic and again a year later when he was coming off an All-Star season. He is not afraid to make tough decisions.

When he retired, Posey made it clear that the organization was now in Logan Webb's hands, and on Sunday Webb thanked fans after a disappointing season finale. Later, Matt Chapman took the microphone and promised to return for the postseason.

A few minutes later in the clubhouse, Chapman quietly made the rounds. Word began to spread that Zaidi was on his way out, and the hope was that Posey would take a major role. On Monday, it became official.

“I'm very excited for Buster and excited to see what he brings to this position,” Webb said in a text message. “Buster is a brilliant baseball mind and I can't wait to be a part of it.”

Webb will soon join Chapman and Posey in free agent recruiting, though lining up their schedules could be difficult. Posey has twins, Chapman just had her first daughter, and Webb has her first this week. In practice, it doesn't matter whether all three are part of a pitch.

Zaidi took a lot of heat for failing to land a marquee free agent, but that part of his legacy is unfair. The Giants are going to be huge underdogs for Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, regardless of who is involved, and Zaidi landed Carlos Correa before deciding to step down entirely due to health concerns.

Correa reiterated the biggest truth about free agency. There was no fancy sales pitch, just a promise to write a bigger check than anyone else. This will be the most interesting part of Posey's first offseason in charge.

He's the perfect person to sit across the table from a Juan Soto or a Blake Snell, but ultimately it will come down to the size of that check. There's no doubt that Posey will change the culture of the organization for the better and bring more accountability to the clubhouse and the field, but as Zaidi learned, the bottom line is what really matters.

If Buster Posey's baseball operations department can convince Buster Posey's ownership group to make a big splash in free agency, the Giants will be that much closer to contending for a division title once again.

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