Buster Posey's praise of young SF Giants starters sets up clever smokescreen

With rumors swirling about the SF Giants potentially landing a big fish starting pitcher in free agency like Corbin Burnes or Max Fried, Buster Posey continues to heap praise on the young pitchers the Giants have which sets up a clever smokescreen.

Posey talked about the options the Giants have for their starting rotation in 2025 at the start of Winter Meetings. After Blake Snell joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants have a hole at the top of their rotation.

Many fans are hoping that the Giants will go out and sign someone like Burnes even though he will cost a pretty penny. The right-hander from California has been one of the premier pitchers in baseball over the course of the last four seasons. In 2024 he had a record of 15-9 with a 2.94 ERA in 194 and 1/3 innings pitched. He would pair very nicely with staff ace Logan Webb atop the rotation.

However, Posey has continued to talk up the young pitchers already on the roster. According to Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle, at the Winter Meetings Posey said, "My brain goes to, we do have a lot of belief in our young pitchers. Guys like Harrison and Birdsong — with getting some experience last year — the hope is they take a big step forward for us. I know the group feels strongly about those guys.”

Buster Posey may be setting up a smokescreen with praise of young SF Giants pitchers

Now, Posey is a straightforward guy. One should certainly believe him when he says he and the organization have confidence in their young starters like Hayden Birdsong and Kyle Harrison. Manager Bob Melvin has made similar comments, going even further by saying those young starters would help the team by limiting payroll.

However, repeatedly saying that you have trust in your young starters does have the added benefit of setting up a potential smokescreen. By creating at least some impression that he is happy with the rotation as it currently stands, Posey could make other teams believe that the Giants are not willing to spend big on a pitcher.

That creates an opportunity for the Giants to lay in the cut and potentially sneak up and sign someone like Burnes or Fried.

Of course, Posey did not completely play coy when asked about starting pitching. When asked if the Giants needed another starter who could eat up innings for them after they relied on a heavily taxed bullpen in 2024, Posey said, "I think the obvious answer is yes. We’ll just have to see what our options look like.”

He is leaving the door open to sign a big fish, but he is not advertising it as a major desire like he did with the team's pursuit of a shortstop.

While the Giants do have promising young arms, they need a top-line starter if they want to be competitive. Many fans will be hopeful that Posey is setting up a smokescreen and is actually intent upon signing a major free agent starting pitcher to bolster the rotation.