Celebrating Buster Posey’s Singular Career

Plus, we take a look at the Braves and Astros heading into the offseason.

It didn’t take long for the first news of the offseason to break. Wednesday night, roughly 18 hours after the final out of the World Series, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly reported that Buster Posey was going to announce his retirement Thursday. Bags is one of the best beat writers in the game, so I knew it had to be true, but I didn’t want to believe it. Posey will hold a press conference today at 3 p.m. PT.

There are plenty of questions to be asked about this surprising decision, such as: Why would Posey, after his resurgent 2021 season, walk away from the $22 million option the Giants surely would pick up? When did he know this would be his last year? What does this mean for San Francisco, in 2022 and beyond? We’ll have plenty of time to sort through these questions in the coming weeks, though now seems like a better time to reflect on his excellent career.

Neville E. Guard/USA TODAY Sports

Across 12 seasons, Posey led the Giants to three World Series titles. He won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2010 and the ’12 NL MVP award. He’s a seven-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger winner, a Gold Glove recipient and a batting champion. His status as one of his generation’s greatest catchers is undeniable, before you even look at his statistics. Those, too, are pretty impressive: .302/.372/.460 slash line, 1,500 hits, 158 home runs, 44.9 bWAR.

Yet, boiling Posey’s career down to his Baseball-Reference page doesn’t do it justice. The story of baseball’s last 100 years could be told through its catchers. Posey is as integral to that history as anyone else.

Think back on the most successful teams of every era, and almost all of them featured the same catcher throughout their run. From 1928 to ’43, all but two American League pennant-winning teams rostered either Bill Dickey or Mickey Cochrane. Yogi Berra was the starting catcher on 11 pennant winners from 1947 to ’60, and in five of those World Series, the opposing catcher was Roy Campanella. Johnny Bench was the star of the ’70s, when the Big Red Machine won four NL titles and two World Series. There was also Yankees captain Thurman Munson, who won three pennants and two World Series before his death in 1979.

That is when things began to change, with expansion, more postseason rounds and free agency making it more difficult for one team to enjoy continued success with one elite catcher. If anything, this adds to Posey's legacy. Gary Carter was the best in the 1980s, but he went to only one World Series, which he won with the ‘86 Mets. In the ’90s, the top two catchers were Mike Piazza and Iván Rodríguez, neither of whom played for a pennant winner in that decade.

The two best comparisons to Posey over the last 40 years, in terms of sustained excellence for both them and their teams, are probably Jorge Posada and his 2010s contemporary, Yadier Molina. The three of them each won multiple championships, appeared in at least three World Series and spent their entire careers with one team. This is an imperfect grouping, considering Posada and Posey were in the league at the same time for only two full seasons and Molina will have played 19 years in the majors by the time he retires after next season.

Posada is one of the best hitting catchers ever, though he was not a great defender. Molina is a top defensive catcher of all time, and while he made himself into a productive batter, over his career he’s about an average offensive player. Combine what the two of them do best and you get Posey.

It’s a bummer that we won’t get to watch him play again. He is as singularly great as any catcher we’ve seen over the last four decades. And while his career has come to a sudden conclusion, his legacy is worthy of celebration.

Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

1. THE OPENER

“Fittingly, the Giants catcher’s career ends with a resurgent season and without a retirement tour.”

That’s the summary of Nick Selbe’s column reacting to the Posey news. Nick goes through some of the major accomplishments of Posey’s career and writes about his appreciation for the San Francisco icon.

Read Nick’s entire story here.

2. ICYMI

Miss out on some of our World Series coverage? Here are some of our favorites:

Dues Paid in Full, the Braves Are World Champions by Tom Verducci
This team is about the long haul. This title is a triumph of perseverance.

Max Fried Finds Another Level to Win One for the Braves and Starters Everywhere by Emma Baccellieri
The victorious Game 6 starter unleashed everything in his arsenal in ways he never had before to bring the World Series title back to Atlanta.

The Greatest Twenty-One Days of Brian Snitker’s Life by Tom Verducci
Snitker has devoted his career to the Braves and got the opportunity to grab a World Series title 45 years in the making.

Atlanta's Warm Blanket Provides Security Amid World Series Chaos by Emma Baccellieri
The Braves’ catcher is tasked with preparing their pitching strategy, even when he has no idea who is going to pitch.

Correa, Astros Couldn’t Silence the Naysayers—and Never Will by Stephanie Apstein
Houston’s 2017 World Series core players had one last shot to prove they could win the World Series without cheating. They came up just short.

These Braves Win the World Series—Naturally by Matt Martell
For an organization that for so long has defied expectations in the most disappointing of ways, it’s fitting that this Atlanta team is the one that finally broke through and won it all.

3. WORTH NOTING

Since 1948, only two players have caught at least 1,000 games and finished with a career batting average of .300 or better: Mike Piazza (.308) and Buster Posey (.302). Posey is tied with Mickey Cochrane for the second highest OPS+ (129) among all players with at least 1,000 games caught, behind only Piazza (143).

Dale Zanine/USA TODAY

4. MAILBAG!

As we move into the offseason, we will occasionally swap out some of the five tools for others. Today, instead of “What to Watch for,” I’ll be answering a question submitted by one of our readers.

Question: “Regarding the outfield, what kind of decisions does Atlanta face in the off-season with Ozuna and Acuña coming back? With everyone seeming to contribute, and if there's talent in the minors ready to advance, it seems there won't be room for everyone.” —Ed L., Blacksburg, Va.

Answer: The four outfielders the Braves acquired at the deadline could all be free agents this offseason. Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario definitely will be, while Joc Pederson and Adam Duvall each have mutual options. My guess is that Atlanta will decline Pederson’s $10 million one and probably accept Duvall’s for $7 million. The question then is whether Duvall would accept the option or instead test free agency after he hit 38 home runs this year and led the National League with 113 RBIs. He’s a good defender who hits for power, so I’d expect he could get more than $7 million on the open market.

It’s true that Ronald Acuña Jr. will be back next year. Marcell Ozuna’s situation is less clear. He remains on administrative leave after his May 29 arrest for domestic assault. I don’t want to speculate too much on what his punishment will be, though it’s likely that he will face a suspension.

The Braves could and probably should try to bring back one or a few of the four outfielders they traded for in July, though their top concern is going to be re-signing Freddie Freeman, whose market value, according to Spotrac, is a five-year deal worth $136 million.

5. THE CLOSER

The 2021 World Series won’t be Dusty Baker’s last ride. The Astros reportedly want to bring him back to manage again next year, and he’s already said he wants to return. But there is no guarantee that Houston will be back. Carlos Correa could be the most coveted player on the free agent market, and it seems like he won’t be re-signing. Yuli Gurriel has a club option for $8 million, which the Astros could pick up, but he’s going to be 38 next season. Meanwhile, the Mariners’ window of contention is just opening, and at some point the Angels are going to field a playoff team around Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Beyond the division, there are four teams in the AL East that could make a run at the pennant next year, and the White Sox are only getting better. The Astros are still going to be good, but things are going to be different next season.

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow before pivoting to the offseason, when we’ll be publishing every Friday. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.