SF Giants: Buster Posey probably will not retire with the team

Buster Posey probably won’t retire as a San Francisco Giant.

The prospect of Buster Posey retiring as a member of the San Francisco Giants was already dubious given the team’s drafting of catcher Joey Bart in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft. However, with the team drafting another catcher, Patrick Bailey, in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft, it is very unlikely that Posey is going to retire as a Giant.

This decision by president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris sends a fairly clear signal that the team is looking to move on at the catcher position. Posey has been steadily declining over the past few seasons so it is understandable why there would be some desire for them to move on, especially considering they were not here when Posey was at his peak and was helping deliver three World Series championships to the city of San Francisco.

If the pandemic never occurred and the 2020 season had progressed normally, Posey would have been the starting catcher. And there were signs in spring training that he was regaining some of his old form at the plate thanks to him being fully healthy for the first time in quite a while.

But we all know that Joey Bart tore it up in spring training as well. It was only a matter of time before his loud, powerful knocks on the door were going to knock that door down and force the team to call him up to the big leagues.

Drafting Patrick Bailey adds to the difficulty of Giants keeping Buster Posey

There has been some talk about Posey eventually moving to first base and Bart becoming the new catcher, but the addition of Bailey adds a new factor into the equation with him being a switch-hitting defensively solid catcher whereas Bart’s main asset is his bat.

There is some speculation that Bart and Bailey could be used interchangeably at catcher and as DH if it becomes universal, and in that equation, Posey may either be at first base or on a different team entirely.

It is important to remember that Posey is only signed through the 2022 season which will take him through the age of 35. That’s pretty old for a catcher, so there is a chance that he could pull a Matt Cain and just retire once his contract expires, but as a player with a legitimate shot to make the Hall of Fame, he may choose to go to another team and try to pad his stats a little more.

Drafting Patrick Bailey gives Giants flexibility with Joey Bart

A lot remains to be seen, but my first thought after the Giants took Bailey was that the Giants are ready to move on from Posey. It is understandable on one level, but very sad on another in that it would truly be the end of an era for the San Francisco Giants.