Buster Posey has left many of his fingerprints on the San Francisco Giants as a player for 12 seasons. Now, as president of the organization’s baseball operations, the former catcher is taking the franchise into unprecedented territory.
With Wednesday’s announcement that University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello will be the Giants’ next manager, Posey continues to show he doesn’t mind shaking things up in San Francisco (or around Major League Baseball) and changing the face of the franchise.
Vitello’s entrance into the Giants clubhouse comes at an interesting time in the Bay Area. It’s a move that would have been seen as ridiculous on July 1, when then-manager Bob Melvin exercised his 2026 contract option. Since the Giants were surprising baseball at 45-41 at that point, the extension was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser considering the season hadn’t even reached the trade deadline yet.
It’s also a move that was panned when the Giants played under .500 the rest of the way, finishing 81-81 and ultimately costing Melvin his job.
Posey’s willingness to sign Vitello without any MLB experience will be a move that will be judged once the new season starts. However, it continues a streak of power moves from Posey that shows he isn’t afraid to try new things to get the Giants back to the top of the National League.
Buster Posey has been aggressive in building the Giants’ roster
Before the 2024 season, Posey signed shortstop Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million deal, representing the largest contract in Giants history (ironically passing the $167 million deal Posey signed to remain in San Francisco in 2013).
Signing Adames proved that the Giants could indeed land a big free-agent name after missing out on Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in previous pursuits. It also showed San Francisco was willing to spend money to win, with the Adames deal coming not long after third baseman Matt Chapman signed a six-year, $151 million extension in September.
It was also Posey who pulled off one of the most shocking trades of last season, acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox in mid-June. Devers, signed through 2033, joins Adames as the long-term faces of the franchise and hopefully as magnets that will attract other big names to Oracle Park.
“We are excited about adding one of the best hitters from all of Major League Baseball to our lineup,” Posey said at the time of the transaction. “We obviously get a lot of dollars, but there is a belief that adding a guy like this puts us in a good position to continue to win ball games, get to the playoffs and try to win a World Series, which is our ultimate goal.”
Posey should be credited not only with making the move to acquire Devers, but also with trusting him to fit in where he was needed with the Giants, including 28 games at first base after refusing to play there while with the Red Sox.
Since stepping into the role of team president on September 30, 2024, Posey has now made three major moves that may have changed the trajectory for the Giants. Only time will tell if this will lead to San Francisco regaining its place at the top of the MLB’s mountain of talented teams.
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