<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4Nqqzw_0vYGRrXw00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4Nqqzw_0vYGRrXw00" width="650" height="433" ><figcaption>Former San Francisco Giants player Buster&nbsp;Posey addresses the crowd during the 2014 World Series Reunion ceremony before the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park on Aug. 10, 2024 in San Francisco. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) </figcaption></figure> Who is running the <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/" rel="nofollow"> San Francisco Giants </a> ? Is it Farhan Zaidi, the <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-crossroads-future-team-farhan-zaidi-19461799.php" rel="nofollow"> embattled </a> president of baseball operations? Is it Charles Johnson, the billionaire owner, or his son Greg, the champion of <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/greg-johnson-somewhat-break-even-enraging-fanbase-18448334.php" rel="nofollow"> somewhat breaking even </a> ? Is it a faceless conglomerate of owners that more closely resembles a real estate firm than a ballclub? After reading Andrew Baggarly’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5770168/2024/09/15/sf-giants-matt-chapman-buster-posey-negotiations/" rel="nofollow"> piece in The Athletic </a> on Sunday, it’s easy to conclude the answer is none of the above. It’s Buster Posey. The article is well worth your time and subscription fee, but here’s a quick summary: Giants ownership wanted to get an extension for Matt Chapman locked up and grew impatient with Zaidi and agent Scott Boras’ negotiations. So Posey, as a part-owner of the club, went over Zaidi’s head and around Boras’s machinations to hammer out the framework of a deal directly with Chapman — giving Chapman the no-trade clause Zaidi wouldn’t and convincing the third baseman to ignore his agent’s advice to use the Giants’ offer as a floor for other teams this winter. On both <a href="https://x.com/extrabaggs/status/1835505492376068206" rel="nofollow"> social media </a> and in the article, Baggarly stressed that Posey getting involved shouldn’t be seen as a referendum on Zaidi. After all, negotiations with Boras are notoriously tricky and, as a former player, Posey had access to negotiate with Chapman in ways that Zaidi didn’t. But how can anyone who’s followed the Giants closely over the last six seasons see this as anything but a big, glaring vote of no confidence for Zaidi <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/playoff-less-sf-giants-unlikely-fire-farhan-zaidi-19742544.php" rel="nofollow"> and his future </a> ? He’s been effectively neutered, and it seems near impossible that he can continue to lead the organization when his figurative balls have been cut off. Zaidi is a favorite target of Giants fans and has taken an extraordinary amount of criticism over the past three seasons — plenty of it earned, but also plenty of it unfair. It’s not his fault, for example, that ownership decided to tighten the purse strings after the remarkable run in 2021 and forced <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/dave-tobener-farhan-zaidi-stubbornness-disaster-18696486.php" rel="nofollow"> a roster construction philosophy </a> aimed more at profits than at wins. I’ve never felt it was fair to blame him for the Giants' failure to land a star free agent hitter either, considering they haven’t done so since Barry Bonds in the 1990s. But forcing him off to the side during the Chapman negotiations seems to suggest that ownership may not feel the same way. If they didn’t have the confidence that Zaidi could seal the deal with Boras for a player that publicly stated he wanted to stay in San Francisco, it stands to reason they wouldn’t trust him to deliver other high-profile Boras clients – like, say, Juan Soto or Blake Snell. Enter Posey, the new-old face of the Giants organization. He has the trust of the ownership conglomerate and just proved he can deliver the goods when called upon. It would also appear he has carte blanche to run baseball operations as he sees fit, since <a href="https://x.com/NBCSGiants/status/1833729943584551203" rel="nofollow"> he was the one </a> to give Chapman the no-trade clause Zaidi was hesitant to include. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> "I just have so much respect and value for a player like that." Buster Posey tells <a href="https://twitter.com/G_Kontos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow"> @g_kontos </a> why he's excited about the Giants' decision to extend Matt Chapman <a href="https://t.co/e6ijPD0stV" rel="nofollow"> pic.twitter.com/e6ijPD0stV </a> — SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSGiants/status/1833729943584551203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow"> September 11, 2024 </a></blockquote><script async charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> Posey is the perfect choice for the face of the organization, at least initially. He brings the cache of being a franchise savior with multiple World Series rings, which buys him a ton of goodwill with the fan base. He’s polished and smooth in front of a microphone — two things Greg Johnson is not, as <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/buster-posey-defends-greg-johnson-break-even-quote-18450175.php" rel="nofollow"> evidenced </a> by that painful press conference last October. He appeals to both new- and old-school fans, the latter of which have been turned off the most by the Giants’ philosophies over the last half decade. And he says all the right things about wanting to win and not settling for less than championships. What isn’t clear is how he feels about Zaidi and the job he’s doing. Was Posey one of the owners that was exasperated with the Chapman extension delay? Or was he chosen to represent the organization because it would be easier to swallow someone of his pedigree going over the front office’s heads? If it was the former, it’s not hard to draw conclusions of what awaits Zaidi this winter. The latter and maybe the two can coexist for another year at least. But really, what good would it do to keep Zaidi around when he’s lost the confidence of ownership and has seemingly been <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/dave-tobener-san-francisco-doom-loop-giants-19356142.php" rel="nofollow"> stripped of his role </a> as chief negotiator? The Giants can say all the right things, but fans aren’t stupid. They can connect the dots, and the dots form a picture of Posey taking control. For all intents and purposes, this is his team now. Will Posey be better at putting a team together than Zaidi? Fans may scoff at that question, but it’s a legitimate one. Being a superstar player doesn’t automatically translate to front office success (see Jeter, Derek and Jordan, Michael). Posey has to know he’s putting at least some of his reputation with the fan base at risk by getting this involved, and he won’t be able to escape blame if the team keeps struggling. But perhaps he’s already done the heavy lifting in convincing the Johnsons, et al., that the only way to compete in a bloodsport division like the NL West is to spend money. The Chapman contract was surprising, but maybe it was just the beginning. If Posey can get the organization to spend like a team worth nearly $4 billion should spend, he’s already got my vote for executive of the year. For Zaidi, it’s hard to see how staying with the Giants is an option for him. The perception of not being able to get the job done is bad enough, but to have that perception become reality at the hands of ownership is a special kind of humiliating. When it’s time to negotiate with free agents this winter, will agents or players even bother talking to him or will they just call Posey? If he isn’t fired, it’s doubtful he’ll resign and walk away from guaranteed money, but the feeling that he’s a powerless figurehead is going to hover over him for however long he’s still here. It’s a lousy way to go out, but the writing is on the wall. Despite the team’s dreadful efforts on the field in this slog of a month, the Giants have <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-future-of-the-franchise-stretch-run-19716765.php" rel="nofollow"> managed to add </a> some major league intrigue to their final two weeks. The second Buster Posey era is here. Now, the challenge he faces is making this run as fruitful as the first one. More SF Giants — <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-analyst-violent-response-pitch-tipping-19763259.php" rel="nofollow"> SF Giants analyst says MiLB pitch-tipper might be in for violent retaliation </a> — <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-city-connect-jerseys-uniforms-19755302.php" rel="nofollow"> SF Giants say goodbye to their critically loathed City Connect jerseys </a> — <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/playoff-less-sf-giants-unlikely-fire-farhan-zaidi-19742544.php" rel="nofollow"> Top MLB insider: SF Giants still may not fire Farhan Zaidi after 2024 disaster </a> — <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-future-of-the-franchise-stretch-run-19716765.php" rel="nofollow"> It's bold to say the fate of the SF Giants is at risk. It's also true. </a><a href="https://www.sfgate.com/giants/" rel="nofollow"> Full SF Giants coverage </a></div></body>

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Buster Posey is running the SF Giants now — for better or maybe worse

SFGATE columnist Dave Tobener knows who's in charge after Sunday's bombshell report.

Buster Posey is running the SF Giants now — for better or maybe worse

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