SF Giants: Farhan Zaidi has big plans for Buster Posey in his new role
Buster Posey became the first former MLB player in SF Giants history to become a part owner of the team earlier this week. The future Hall of Fame catcher became the organization's 31st principal partner and a member of their Board of Directors.
In a press conference earlier this week, Posey reiterated that while he will be more involved with the team now that he's a part-owner, he plans to stay out of the way of the team's coaching staff and front office as they make decisions. However, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi joined Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland on Tolbert & Copes on Thursday and said he plans on having Posey far more involved than the Giants legend previously suggested.
"It's really exciting," Zaidi said. "It's funny because I was just listening to that soundbite about how he's saying, 'I'm not really going to be in the trenches.' We’re going to drag him into the trenches."
Zaidi went on to explain that he already had tried to pick Posey's mind while he was a player and now plans to take advantage of his position with the franchise. "To formalize the relationship is great," he said. "It gives me even more of an excuse to badger him on stuff, which I’m excited about because I love being able to run stuff by him."
As the Giants eye some of the biggest names on the free-agent market this offseason, Zaidi also pointed out Posey's value as a recruiter. “And I know he’s talked about helping us recruit.. It’s going to be a great arrangement.”
Posey hit .302/.372/.460 with 158 home runs in 1,371 games across his 12 MLB seasons. He was a seven-time All-Star, won the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, 2012 NL Most Valuable Player award, five Silver Sluggers, and a Gold Glove. He also led the Giants to three World Series titles and two additional postseason berths.