Players Speak on San Francisco Giants Legend Taking New Role

The San Francisco Giants had a major change in their front office and it current and former players are excited.

Aug 10, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Former San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey acknowledges the crowd before a ceremony celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Giants' 2014 World Series championship at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

On Monday, the San Francisco Giants announced the firing of Farhan Zaidi after much speculation over the last few weeks. While it wasn't exactly a surprising move, the Giants still managed to shock people by immediately announcing that Buster Posey would be taking over as the President of Baseball Operations for the team.

A franchise legend taking over for the role is something that fans can get excited about. It brings in a familiar face during a time when there has been turmoil in the fanbase over the consistent middling seasons.

While it could be seen as a PR stunt, it was made perfectly clear that Posey helped negotiate the extension given to Matt Chapman. He is clearly capable of doing this, and there is a lot of upside to him taking this job. This has been made perfectly clear by former teammates, who have done nothing but praise the former NL MVP.

"I'm very excited for Buster and excited to see what he brings in this new position. Buster is a brilliant baseball mind and I can't wait to be a part of it," Giants ace, Logan Webb, told NBC Sports Bay Area.

Webb played with Posey during 2019 and 2021, with 2021 being Webb's big, breakout season. One of the longest tenured Giants, Webb is very familiar with Posey and knows what he's like as a teammate and leader.

Posey's leadership has been one of the biggest things praised by former teammates after the announcement of this move.

"I think leading a group of people is his DNA, not just in his DNA. My dad always joked before he passed away he would have love to see Buster as the team president. He just has that ability to speak to everyone. His voice matters. His experience matters. I truly believe his ego is nonexistent and he will have the right people to help and build with," said Kevin Frandsen, former teammate and current broadcaster.

Frandsen was a teammate of Posey in both 2009 and 2015 and covered him on local radio for a couple of years. Despite not being teammates with him for long, the former infielder clearly thinks highly of Posey.

Another former teammate of Posey's who spoke about the hiring was George Kontos. Kontos, who now works for NBC Sports Bay Area, was a long time San Francisco reliever and won two World Series alongside the former catcher. While Kontos did only have good things to say about Posey, he was a little surprised.

"To be honest, it's only surprising in the timing of it. Because Buster is a guy, I think a lot of people, think he's gonna be great at this. It's just, as you mentioned, four kids, how much time did he actually want to invest being hands on, dealing with day-to-day stuff," Kontos said on the "Giants Talk" podcast.

The timing of the announcement, coming directly after the announcement of Zaidi's firing, was the most surprising thing. Not that he was hired, because over the course of the past year or so, it's become clear that Posey is highly thought of in this type of role.

"I think that there's nobody better to represent the San Francisco Giants organization... a guy, who at some point, will also have a statue of himself outside the ballpark somewhere," he continued.

A new era of Giants baseball has begun, and it begins with a legend of the organization at the helm.