Duane Kuiper says it's 'almost sacrilegious' for SF Giants fans to be mad at Buster Posey

Before Buster Posey became the president of baseball operations for the SF Giants, he was above reproach amongst fans. He was an MVP who helped lead the franchise to three World Series titles in five years and did it in as classy a manner possible. Not only that but he decided to retire on a high note.

He could’ve been content to golf and fish the rest of his life, showing up occasionally at Oracle Park and getting a round of applause whenever he felt like it. Instead, he opted to go back into the arena and do the one job that most baseball fans think they themselves could do: run a front office.

He deserves credit for throwing himself back into the fire like that and it speaks to just how competitive a person he is, but, for the first time pretty much ever, Giants fans are starting to criticize Posey. 

It’s clear that he’s feeling it. He’s starting to give defensive answers to interviewers or in some cases dodging interviews entirely or refusing to answer tough questions. He is now getting a taste of what it’s like to be polarizing amongst a fanbase and Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper spoke about it recently on the Giants Talk podcast:

“I think he’s taking it super hard…If you look at him, he’s aging like a president…I don’t like to see people mad at Buster Posey. For whatever reason, in my mind, that’s almost sacrilegious.”

There are probably a good number of fans who feel the same way. Posey has done so much good for the franchise already that even if the team never wins while he’s an executive he should still be viewed in a positive light.

Posey's sterling reputation has taken a hit as an executive

That’s a valid view, but there are many others who think he’s done a very poor job. His three big decisions in his role have been to sign Willy Adames to a massive deal they now want out of, trade for Rafael Devers who they’d also love to move, and hire Tony Vitello who should not be blamed entirely for the team’s bad season but has clearly faced a steep learning curve coming from the college ranks.

That has left the Giants in a weird place where the path forward is very unclear. The team is still selling tickets and attendance is up so they could sit on their hands if they wanted but it’s tough to envision the team trying to run it back next year with the same core group of players and expecting a different result.

It feels weird to say negative things about Posey. Kuiper is right that is almost feels wrong because Posey was such an amazing player and provided so many fond memories, ones that he wanted to recreate in his new role

There have been good moments over the last two years and there have been times when his vision has made sense, but the results on the field speak for themselves.

No one wants to be mad at Posey. All Giants fans want him to succeed but if his decisions backfire they deserve to be criticized and fans have every right to be mad at him. As Posey himself said recently, “If the team plays well and you win a bunch of games, you stay, and if not there’s conversations that have to be had.”

He knows the deal like everyone else and he probably more than anyone wants to be back in the good graces of fans because that’s where he belongs as one of the most important players in the history of the franchise.

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