What Giants Boss Buster Posey Is Telling Us—Without Saying It

The San Francisco Giants are about to start the season. So, what hasn’t Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said?

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants spent their offseason doing, well, not much.

Sure, president of baseball operations Buster Posey hired a new manager in Tony Vitello, a hire that certainly polarized part of baseball given that the former Tennessee head baseball coach has no professional experience. But when it came to actual personnel moves, the Giants didn’t add much.

San Francisco signed two more starting pitchers, Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser. The Giants signed a new center fielder in Harrison Bader and snagged second baseman Luis Arráez at the start of spring training on a bargain deal.

It all speaks to something that Posey hasn’t really communicated much publicly and can be inferred from how the roster has been built.

What Buster Posey Hasn’t Said

Tony Vitello (center) is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants by president of baseball operations Buster Posey (left) and general manager Zack Minasian at Oracle Park. | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Based on where the Giants’ payroll sits right now, what he hasn’t communicated is that the team is basically built.

The Giants have a projected tax payroll of $222 million going into opening day, which is 12th in baseball per Spotrac.com. That includes more than $75 million wrapped up three players that must be productive for San Francisco for the foreseeable future — Rafael Devers, Willy Adams and Matt Chapman.

Those are all players San Francisco has committed to in either free agency or trade and brought to the Bay Area since 2024. They’re also long-term commitments for the organization. That limits what San Francisco can do from a payroll standpoint — unless they’re willing to spend over the competitive balance tax.

San Francisco is more than $21 million under the tax. It gives them more flexibility at the trade deadline, something the Giants had last season. But they ate up that up with Devers’ deal.

The Giants have rebuilt some of that with a backbone of young players that are pre-arbitration meaning their costs can be controlled for one or more years. That important when considering how San Francisco will approach when to put call up top prospect Bryce Eldridge — opening day or shortly after? It can have an impact on payroll flexibility later.

In truth, the Giants are a veteran team. Their opening day lineup will be filled with players that have multiple years of service time and have been through big league seasons before. That puts pressure on San Francisco’s payroll and its ability to develop young talent. What Posey hasn’t said, but what is clear, is that the Giants are built, for better or for worse, with few major alterations to come.