Buster Posey, left, has served as the Giants president of baseball operations for 1½ years. That role previously belonged to Farhan Zaidi, right.
Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle, Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
Rafael Devers and Luis Arraez are among the big-name players that Buster Posey has brought to the Giants since taking over as president of baseball operations.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
The signing of shortstop Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million deal in December 2024 was among the first moves made by Buster Posey after be was hired as the Giants president of baseball operations two months earlier.
Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants called up outfielders Will Brennan and Drew Gilbert prior to a series against the Cincinnati Reds, a sensible move on its face.
Not only were Gilbert and Brennan two of the hottest hitters going with Triple-A Sacramento, the Giants’ bench needed stronger options for left-handed bats to also perhaps provide a jolt to an outfield group that has scuffled in the early going, along with the entire offense.
This was no roster shakeup, though. Brennan and Gilbert arrived in a move that sent outfielders Jared Oliva (hamate fracture) and Harrison Bader (hamstring) to the 10-day injured list.
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A shakeup, injury or not, would have been warranted considering how poorly the Giants have hit thus far. They’re flirting with the worst record in baseball on a series-by-series basis. Manager Tony Vitello has said the guys getting paid big bucks to perform are trying way too hard to be the hero.
Would it loosen things to call up prospect Bryce Eldridge? The strikeouts are high, but he’s smoking the ball in Sacramento. What about catcher Jesus Rodriguez, who can also play the infield? He’s hitting well with the River Cats and if he joins the big-league team, it could allow the Giants to have hot-hitting Daniel Susac get some at-bats at DH while keeping Patrick Bailey’s Gold Glove behind the plate. The Giants are leaning toward splitting the catchers’ time, anyway.
Is it too soon to scour the waiver wires for external options?
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While swift roster changes and matchup optimization using the bottom of the roster was a favorite recipe of the Farhan Zaidi regime (and many other teams) in good times and bad, things are much different under president of baseball operations Buster Posey. Now 1½ years into the Posey era, a pattern has emerged: He’s not into the churn.
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“We’re not sitting here thinking that if there is someone we think can help the team win, that stability will outweigh that said player being added to the roster,” Posey said this week in Cincinnati.
“As a player I’ve been part of teams where you add a guy — Gilbert and Brennan are examples of guys injecting life — you can see value both ways. A year and a half into this now, there’s a challenge of trying to read the room and know when to maybe pull back, calm down and let guys do their thing or shake it up a little bit.”
Posey’s goal to strike a balance shows up in the number of transactions he has made compared to the frenetic turnover of Zaidi’s tenure, which ran from November 2018 through September 2024. During the course of the 2025 season, Posey made approximately 45 moves to the big-league roster (multiple transactions comprise one move, in this case).That includes transactions involving the injured list; the only other day the team has brought up a player was when reliever José Buttó went on the IL and pitcher Blade Tidwell was promoted.
Over the course of his five years at the helm, Zaidi averaged approximately 75 moves during the regular season. The Giants frequented the waiver wire and the trade market during Zaidi’s time in charge, racked up miles on the bus between San Francisco and Sacramento and weren’t concerned about the optics of constant shuffling if it meant getting the best possible group in the dugout against a certain pitcher or team.
No moment captured the unpredictability of Zaidi’s roster moves more than Opening Day in 2023 at Yankee Stadium, when an 11th-hour deal with the Kansas City Royals sent outfielder Matt Beaty to the Giants to add another lefty bat off the bench along with Wade Meckler, who’d been optioned days earlier. Meckler said then he was “shocked” by the late decision.
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“I was part of that front office,” said general manager Zack Minasian, who was head of pro scouting under Zaidi. “The teams were built a little differently where players were in roles more interchangeable than the players that we have on the positional side that are, for the most part, well established players where you don’t do that as much. But baseball is a game of adjustments, and as a front office we will stay nimble as we see fit.”
A handful of teams play the matchup game, without the drama, and edge close to 100 transactions a year; it was not unique to Zaidi.
“When you’re building the roster, you are making a lot of churning transactions while trying to figure out who fits best,” said Cincinnati Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall.
When he took over in 2025, Posey said he hoped to take the Giants the opposite direction, but baseball doesn’t allow too much roster stability. He learned that in June last year, when a hot start fizzled into awful play, prompting Posey to pick up Dominic Smith and designate fan favorite LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment with his first big in-season move. More than a month later, Posey would make his first blockbuster trade, for Rafael Devers.
Posey’s main drive has been to create a team that doesn’t need much turnover or quick-thinking moves to get a competitive advantage on a given day. The Giants have committed about $100 million per year to four core position players — Matt Chapman, Devers, Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee — through the next four seasons. The dream is to have a team of good everyday players that doesn’t require churn.
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So when those players meant to be irreplaceable don’t play to their price, it’s difficult to start digging up roots.
“A lot of it comes down to how your roster is built,” Minasian said. “It’s not to say we wouldn’t do it or won’t do it, coming into the season, the way the roster is built doesn’t call for platoons.
“That can change over the course of a season and that’s where you have to stay flexible. I think there was a strong belief that if we want to churn, maybe we don’t necessarily sign some of the free agents we sign. And you try to build positional players and rotation spots in the aggregate with multiple players.”
It wouldn’t be surprising to see moves made within the bullpen. Roles aren’t defined, and guys like Ryan Borucki (7.11 ERA entering Friday) could be on the hot seat. Sam Hentges is a few rehab outings away from activation, another move is on deck and the group as a whole is vulnerable to rearrangements.
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Eldridge has the kind of power that changes games with one swing, but Posey & Co. don’t want Eldridge back in the big leagues with the expectation he’ll play the hero.
There’s something to be said for shaking things up around the core. Though under less than ideal circumstances, getting Brennan and Gilbert in the dugout could “inject life,” as Posey said, and give Vitello a dynamic he hasn’t been able to work with: left-handed options off the bench.