Jake Peavy won a World Series title with Buster Posey as Giants battery mates in 2014, so he certainly can speak on his former teammate's ability to lead.
Posey now enters a new phase of his legendary baseball career as Giants president of baseball operations -- and Peavy believes the three-time champion is perfect for the job.
"I love it," Peavy, now an MLB Network analyst, said Thursday of Posey's new role. "He has an incredible relationship with Brian Sabean, who I would argue is as good a [general manager] as we've ever had. He's got that kind of experience. He's worked under a Hall of Fame manager in Bruce Bochy, and he understands so much about the game.
"You've got to also understand that this guy exited his playing career with Farhan Zaidi, with Gabe Kapler, and understands to the 'nth' degree the analytical world that we're living in today."
"Buster is so much farther in the weeds than any other player has ever been. He has a big time chance to succeed. I actually expect him to in big ways."
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 8, 2024
- @JakePeavy_22 on his former teammate Buster Posey becoming Giants President of Baseball Ops. pic.twitter.com/kRUJLOfkxd
Peavy predicted Posey will combine the worlds of analytics-based and old-school baseball, with a preference for the latter. And thanks to his experience with both approaches, Peavy believes Posey is more suited to lead an MLB organization than other ex-players who have done so, including Derek Jeter, who served as Miami Marlins CEO from September 2017 to February 2022.
"... He's going to err on the side of baseball," Peavy continued. "In the baseball he plays, [the Giants] won championships built on culture, built on fundamentals. They certainly weren't the most talented team. They did most everything right, and when it matters the most, that's what delivers in October. Buster knows this, and I believe that. ...
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"I know the Jeter comp, but I think Buster is so much farther in the weeds than any other player has ever been that he has a big time chance to succeed. I actually expect him to in big ways."
The Giants fired Posey's predecessor, Zaidi, in September after San Francisco missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season. And while the Giants did win a franchise-record 107 games under Zaidi in 2021, Peavy credited Posey for much of that season's success.
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"Farhan had his chance to run that system out there," Peavy said of the former president of baseball operations' analytics philosophy. "They won 107 games on the year Buster [retired], and [the front office] got a lot of credit for that. It fell on its face when Buster wasn't there running the show and really holding on to what Giants baseball valued."
Posey's first offseason in his new role officially has begun, and the former catcher hopes to bring the team back to its dynastic glory of the early 2010s. While it's far too soon to assess how he'll do in the Giants' top job, it's clear his old teammate believes in him.
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