Buster Posey did what Farhan Zaidi never could with SF Giants deadline moves

President of baseball operations Buster Posey was hoping he could be a buyer ahead of the first trade deadline in his new role with the SF Giants. Alas, the team had to be a seller, and Posey did what Farhan Zaidi never could.

If Posey had been told about the epic collapse the Giants would experience after he swung a massive trade for slugger Rafael Devers, it is interesting to consider whether he still would have pulled the trigger. With Devers under contract for many more years, there is still a lot of time to figure out whether that deal was worth it.

Buster Posey did for the SF Giants what Farhan Zaidi never could do

Once it became apparent that the Giants were not playing well enough to make significant additions to the roster, Posey pivoted and started selling off pieces. He dealt Tyler Rogers to the New York Mets in a move that netted some interesting prospects and then did the same by sending Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees and Mike Yastrzemski to the Kansas City Royals.

While these moves felt necessary, that did not make them any easier for Posey. All three players are guys Posey played with while he was still with the Giants and all three had a lot of great moments while they were with the Giants.

Still, Posey had to be realistic with where this team is at and where it is going. After their second half collapse and precipitous fall in the playoff standings, it was time to look reality in the face and make some hard decisions.

While Farhan Zaidi certainly made deadline deals in the past, he never fully committed to selling the way Posey and the front office did this season. For example, last season the Giants were 54-56 at the end of July and the Giants still held on to players who were set to be free agents like Blake Snell and Michael Conforto.

He did the same thing in 2022 when the Giants sat at .500 at the deadline and had a super valuable trade piece in Carlos Rodón who they almost certainly knew would not be coming back the next season.

Even in years like 2023 when the Giants were nearly ten games above .500 at the end of July, Zaidi was not aggressive and did not buy. It seems like most years with the Giants he was content to just stand pat for the most part with the one exception being the trade for Kris Bryant during the miracle 2021 season.

Now, to be fair, neither the 2022 nor 2024 Giants had as epic of a collapse leading into the trade deadline as the 2025 Giants did. If the Giants had won at least a few more games before Thursday, maybe Posey and the front office could have talked themselves into standing pat.

Instead, they saw the writing on the wall and acted decisively. It is unfortunate that this is how the season has unfolded but Posey made the hard decisions that Zaidi was seemingly never willing to make while with the Giants.

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