Posey says Crawford will 'need a little time' before returning to SF Giants

SF Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey certainly has some familiarity with shortstop Brandon Crawford who recently retired. Even though Crawford is retired, Posey suggested it will take time before he returns to the Giants in some form.

Posey appeared on the Giants Talk podcast with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. He spoke about the Willy Adames signing, the potential pursuit of a starting pitcher, and the possibility of former Giants from the championship years returning to the team as advisors at Spring Training or in similar capacities. The full interview can be viewed below or at the link here.

Posey says it will take some time before Crawford rejoins SF Giants

At the 12:35 mark in the video, Pavlovic asks Buster about Spring Training and whether he had given any consideration to having back any of his teammates from the championship years such as Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, or Madison Bumgarner.

Posey joked about how hard it is to get Brandon Belt on the phone before sayin, "Craw I think is probably gonna need a little bit of time, you know, and I get it, I felt the same way."

This makes sense given that Crawford did just retire at the end of November after a season he knew going into it would be his last. He probably needs some time to process the fact that his big league career is over as he transitions into his post-playing career. He also has a big family so he is surely focused on being the best dad he can for his kids right now.

It is notable that Posey said he felt the same way after his retirement. Many may forget that Posey moved back to Georgia after his retirement which led some fans to think he may keep the franchise at a distance and not be as involved going forward. Who knew that three short years later he would not only be back in San Francisco, he would be the president of baseball of operations?

That is not to say that Crawford will follow a similar trajectory and end up as the team's general manager in a few years. It makes sense that he probably wants some time away from the game for now.

While it would be great to see Crawford at Spring Training helping out as a mentor figure, that may just be too soon for him to be around the game in that capacity. But who knows? Maybe he will be like Buster and discover that the fire is still there which could inspire him to return to the organization as a coach or in some sort of capacity with the team.

No matter what, we will see Crawford on April 26th next season when the Giants take on Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers where the Giants will honor Crawford for his outstanding career.