Buster Posey's honeymoon phase as POBO with the SF Giants is over

Every baseball executive and manager has a honeymoon phase. That phase varies in length depending on a number of factors. For the SF Giants, it is clear that this phase is over for Buster Posey.

Buster Posey's honeymoon phase as POBO with the SF Giants is over

The length of the honeymoon phase typically depends on how long the belief is that a team will get back into contention, if at all. That is a hard number to determine.

When Farhan Zaidi took over, he inherited an aging roster with a depleted farm system. After a pair of down seasons in 2017 and 2018, Giants fans knew that it would be a lengthy process. That honeymoon phase ended in 2021, and the demand to be competitive arrived perhaps a bit too soon for him after a 107-win season.

This is not a commentary on Posey's job, but more of a recognition that the organization has quickly been built in his vision. In Monday night's lineup, four of the nine starters have been added during his watch. Plus, Adrian Houser, who was signed this offseason, took the hill for his second start of the year.

That number does not include Matt Chapman. There were contrasting reports about what type of role Farhan Zaidi had with Chapman's extension, but it is clear that Posey played a role as well.

When Posey took over, Pete Putila was ousted as general manager and replaced by Zack Minasian. Minasian was originally brought in by Zaidi as the vice president of pro scouting in 2022. He was not initially considered for the general manager role, but won over Posey during the interview process.

Posey did make a few external hires. Randy Winn was tabbed as the vice president of player development. Winn's role might be one of the most consequential jobs in the organization, given the talent that is forming at the lower levels and the lack of success the Giants have had in player development over the past 15 years.

The Giants also brought in Hadi Raad as the director of pro scouting. This department was also replaced with a bunch of experienced scouts. The Giants parted ways with several veteran scouts at the end of the 2024 season, and Posey was applauded for filling those spots.

Other than that, the front office remained intact. There were no sweeping changes, but rather more of a status quo, with the voice at the top coming from a different person.

While much of the roster has been built in his vision, it would be misleading to put the team's slow start entirely on him. Some of the roster issues are left over from the previous regime, and he has not had enough time to address all those holes.

On the other hand, the bullpen is off to a tough start. It is early in the year, and bullpens change more dynamically than any other spot on the roster throughout the year. The front office did not do enough to address that area, and relied on veteran relievers returning from major injury.

The optics from the offseason moves were not great. The notable additions include Adrian Houser, Tyler Mahle, Harrison Bader, and Luis Arráez. They made a few moves without truly fixing any roster issues. I have viewed this as more of a band-aid offseason.

This club is likely not as bad as they have started the year. However, there is an expectation of results, and that has not come yet in Posey's 18 months on the job.