Posey's defense of SF Giants trade from 2011 may hint at trade deadline approach

Back in 2011, the SF Giants were trying to defend their World Series championship from the year prior. In an attempt to do so, they swung a trade for Carlos Beltran in exchange for Zack Wheeler which is a move Buster Posey still loves.

Posey appeared on Tim Kawakami's podcast recently to discuss the state of the Giants as well as the team's approach to the trade deadline. The podcast can be listened to in full here.

Posey defends SF Giants trading for Carlos Beltran, perhaps hinting at deadline approach

Kawakami asked Posey about the Wheeler trade and if it is considered a cautionary tale amongst the Giants' brass. San Francisco was desperate to add a power bat after Posey went down with a season-ending knee injury so they decided to trade their top pitching prospect in Wheeler to bring in a proven veteran bat.

Beltran was not horrible at all for the Giants as he slashed .323/.369/.551 with seven home runs and 18 runs batted in over 44 games. However, he was injured at times and the Giants did not make the postseason so the move was seen as a bit of a waste especially since Wheeler has gone on to be one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Yet, Posey still thinks it was a great move, saying to Kawakami: "I love the Wheeler trade, I mean I just think it's such a bold move by [then-GM Brian Sabean]...It was just a signal to the group that he felt like we were in a position to go out and win again...I don't really look at that as a negative, because again it was the leader of our operations saying, 'I believe in you guys.'"

Posey went on to add that while Wheeler has developed into a great pitcher, there is never any guarantee that a prospect is going to become something great. There are plenty of other examples of top prospects who get traded and never amount to much of anything at the big league level.

This revealing answer from Posey may hint at how he plans to operate at the trade deadline this year. The Giants are clearly in need of another bat and there are several spots in the order they could improve at.

One really gets a sense of how Posey views the game as a player and the impact that a big trade can have on a clubhouse. A big trade can really give a team a jolt and that endorsement from the front office can mean everything to a team that is fighting every day to win.

Not every trade is going to work out. The Wheeler trade is evidence of that. Yet, the fact that Buster still looks at that trade positively could give us a clue as to how he will operate in June and July ahead of the July 31st trade deadline.