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00:00All right, continuing here on Willard and Dibbs, and this is a big moment.
00:04We've been looking forward to this as spring training is here and ready to roll, and it's
00:10a whole new era of Giants baseball.
00:12So joining us on the River Islands guest line is none other than Buster Posey himself.
00:16Hey, Buster, what's going on?
00:17Hey, guys.
00:18Doing great.
00:19How are y'all?
00:20We're good.
00:21I just want to know, like, even the way you sort of stepped into this job, you admitted
00:26this is a little new.
00:28So how are the shoes fitting you so far?
00:32Yeah, I've really enjoyed it.
00:35I mean, it's a chance to definitely do something different.
00:40I mean, it's still baseball, though.
00:43You know, I think that's kind of where I've landed is the enjoyment for me is getting
00:47to talk baseball every single day, and you're looking at things from a different angle.
00:54So really, you're just surrounded with people that are passionate about the game, and gosh,
00:58I can just remember loving the game before I can even remember anything.
01:02So to get to continue to be a part of the game in this role, it's been great.
01:07But you go from loving the game to now actually being the game and changing the game.
01:12So what's the last four months been like for you, being somebody who's actually holding
01:16the levers for what's going on with the Giants?
01:20Well, I mean, I guess that's one way you can look at it.
01:23But ultimately, I think the game goes because of two parties.
01:29It's the players and it's the fans.
01:30So I think what I've tried to relay, and I think it's important that for all of us in
01:36the front office is that, yes, I mean, it's a big job to try to put the most talented
01:42amount of players out there on the field, and you're analyzing different scenarios all
01:47the time.
01:48But ultimately, it boils down to what happens in between the lines.
01:52And it's like I said, I think this game goes because of what the players do on the field
01:59and the entertainment value they bring by great play and their personalities.
02:03And then the fans showing up at the park, we all got a good taste of that, right?
02:08Back in COVID when we didn't have fans in the ballpark and just how different it is.
02:13So to me, it's those two parties that really make it go.
02:17And then the rest of us are just getting to be along for the ride.
02:20Buster, I think for a first big move, it certainly gathered the fan base by getting Willie Adamas
02:27and then also the way he talked about interacting with you, a great first step.
02:33But I do wonder how you sort of feel about whatever all the goals were for this offseason
02:40and then what actually happened and sort of how you feel about how those two things blended
02:45together.
02:47Well, I'd say our primary goal was to acquire a shortstop and Willie checked so many boxes
02:55for us.
02:56As you mentioned, his excitement about coming to San Francisco and already embracing the
03:03Bay Area as a whole has been really encouraging and it's real.
03:08And early on in our conversations, it was apparent that he felt like that we got to
03:13a place where he was valued fairly.
03:17He would commit to being a San Francisco giant and he did that.
03:21We're all excited about him being in the fold.
03:26One guy that keeps popping up in my mind is Jung-Hoo Lee.
03:31And obviously he had a partial season last year, but from my perspective, he really changed
03:39the dynamic and the feel of the team.
03:41And losing him was a big part of the season last year.
03:45So excited to have him back.
03:48Verlander, obviously his track record speaks for itself.
03:53And again, a guy that I think he said it publicly, we weren't really on his radar heading into
04:00the offseason, but getting a chance to talk to him was just texting with him the other
04:04day and he's fired up to get in spring training.
04:07And we really feel like he's got something left in the tank and he feels the same way.
04:14And the added bonus to a guy like him is what our younger pitchers can learn just from watching
04:21him.
04:22I don't think it doesn't even have to be a concerted effort on his part to grab a guy
04:27and say, this is what you need to do, but he's just the consummate professional.
04:32So we're really excited to have him on board.
04:35And then we've got a lot of young players that are going to get some runway.
04:42And that's an exciting time.
04:43It's going to create competition.
04:45And as we get kicked off here in another week or so in Scottsdale, it's going to be fun
04:52to watch that take place.
04:53Buster, you caught my attention at that Adamas press conference when you sort of indicated
04:58all is well in the world when the Giants are playing good baseball.
05:02And you said this is a baseball town.
05:05Do you feel like the Giants have lost that a little bit over the last five or six years?
05:12I don't think so.
05:13I mean, I still, you know, my interactions with the fan base, I wouldn't say so.
05:17No, I mean, look, I think the Giants fan base is a proud fan base and they want a winner
05:25on the field.
05:26They want entertaining players.
05:27And that's what, you know, our job is to try to deliver that.
05:31When you look at like what you guys did back in 10, 12 and 14, it felt like it was homegrown
05:37and players that, you know, fans could really latch onto when you look at the farm and trying
05:42to develop what you guys built with, you know, Timmy and Mad Bum and yourself and Pablo and
05:47the rest.
05:48Is that one of your big focuses to try to get the farm to where it can, you know, produce
05:53people who will be here for a long time?
05:55Yeah, no question.
05:57No question.
05:58You mentioned, I'd say the Giants, the Giants kind of hit the jackpot as far as the type
06:05of players that they were able to draft and develop.
06:08And it's a big focus of ours and something I talked about to the minor leaguers last
06:15year when I was down in spring training for a little bit was just the opportunity that's
06:20in front of them because it is the fan base that wants to, I think, has paid attention
06:27to who's in the minor leagues, pays attention to who might be an impact player in the big
06:31leagues and it's different, you know, it's different when you do come through the system
06:37and you kind of grow up in front of everybody.
06:41And we most definitely want to try to develop as many of those players and personalities
06:47as we can.
06:48Buster Posey with us on Willard & Dibbs, 95-7 the game.
06:51Let's talk about those minor leagues for a second.
06:53Buster, how do you help Bryce Eldridge navigate this at age 20 and all of this attention?
07:00Well, I'm excited to spend some time around him.
07:03I haven't had a chance to spend any time around him, but from all reports, he wants to be
07:10a guy, the guy.
07:13And I think that's more than half the battle, that if he has that mentality that he wants
07:20to be up at the plate in the big situation, he wants to make a play in the big situation.
07:28It looks like the guy can really hit, he really does.
07:31I don't want to sell it too much and put any unnecessary pressure on him, but if he just
07:37continues on the path he's on, I think he's going to be in a great place.
07:42I think some of the stuff I'll talk to him about is just the day-to-day, making sure
07:48that you're working to improve daily and being patient and understanding that if you continue
07:55to put in the work, you continue to work and get better, that your time will come.
08:01And we most certainly, when he does arrive in San Francisco, want it to be an arrival
08:05that he's going to be in a position to succeed and be here for the long haul.
08:11Do you have hope, and again, without putting too much pressure on the situation, is there
08:16a path to the big leagues for him this year?
08:19I think our preference would be for him to get another year under his belt and get reps
08:24in both offensively and defensively, but you never say never.
08:29I don't think any of us would be disappointed if he forced our hand, if it came to that
08:34at some point in the year, but internally, talking with Randy Way and Kyle Haynes and
08:41player development, we're all on the same page that we want to make sure he's as developed
08:48and prepared as he can be so that, again, he can have a long and very successful career.
08:53But do you think about your own journey?
08:55I remember covering you in 2009 down in the Cow League, and I was doing games with Joe
09:00Ritzo and you're hitting homers, and then about a year later, all of a sudden, you got
09:04elevated so quickly.
09:06Do you think about your own journey and your own elevation in terms of, you know, sometimes
09:10plans change based on how a guy does?
09:13There's no question.
09:14There's no question that it does, and every player's unique and different.
09:18You know, for me, I was also at that point a couple, two, maybe three years older than
09:24Bryce is right now, so I do think it's important that we just somewhat pause and realize that
09:30he recently turned 20, and that's not to say that a 20-year-old can't be a hugely impactful
09:36big league player.
09:37We've seen it, but it is pretty rare, so as much as anything, again, our hope is, and
09:44by all accounts, he has the right makeup to just keep working, keep working, getting better
09:50each and every day, and, you know, the results will take care of themselves if he does that.
09:56Buster, these freaking Dodgers, like, I wonder, obviously, all you can do is take care of
10:03yourselves, right?
10:04I get that.
10:06How do you combat this, what they're doing, and I don't just mean that in a baseball sense.
10:11I sort of mean, like, the way the fan base is processing it, because everybody sort of
10:17feels like this is just, it feels like it's too much to battle.
10:22Well, you kind of answered the question for me.
10:25I mean, you truly do have to just worry about what you can do, and that's easier said than,
10:32worry with what you can control.
10:33It's easier said than done sometimes, of course, right?
10:35But for us as a team, that's going to be a big message of mine, and, you know, the coaching
10:43staff as well, is let's look inward, let's focus and control what we can control, and,
10:49you know, not to replay the past, but I felt like we did a really good job of that in 2021,
10:55came into the season.
10:56I don't think anybody in their wildest dreams would have imagined that we would have won
11:01the division that year and won 107 games, and that's the beauty of sport, is things
11:07can look one way on paper, but you can have completely different outcomes, and, you know,
11:15every team can, to answer your question about the way that teams operate, I mean, teams
11:20can operate any way they want to operate, so, again, I think that's just an internal
11:26reflection.
11:27You gave me the answer you figured I was going to give you, so sorry I didn't give you the
11:32answer.
11:33No, but I would love your response to this, because we hear from tons of people, when
11:38they see all these signings and all this deferred money, they go, this is bad for baseball.
11:44What's your response to that?
11:46Well, I, you know, my response is that, again, it's all about the players and getting, we
11:54try to get great talent, they're trying to get great talent, and whether it's bad for
11:58baseball or not, who's to say?
12:00I would assume, if I don't know all of the inner workings of what's going on, the people
12:05that are saying it's bad for baseball probably don't understand the inner workings.
12:09They could be right, they could be wrong.
12:10I don't know.
12:11When you look at what they've done with their lineup, and you think about your own ballpark,
12:15do you look at your success as a player, 10, 12, and 14, pitching and defense, as kind
12:20of the blueprint?
12:21Do you look at that as a way to, you know, get the Giants back to success, based on your
12:26ballpark and what else is going on in the division?
12:29Yeah, I do.
12:30I mean, I think pitching and defense plays no matter the ballpark, but specifically in
12:35ours, you know, we were carried to the championships by great pitching, great defense, timely hitting.
12:42That's not the discount offense at all.
12:44We want to score as many runs as possible, but I do think that in tight games, big games,
12:50close games, playoff games, the teams that can execute on the mound and catching the
12:56ball are the ones that tend to come out on top.
13:01So, you know, it's going to be a big focus of ours on the big league side, minor league
13:06side, is being as prepared and just complete baseball players all the way through.
13:14Buster, you were such a great culture tone setter as a player.
13:20And so I wonder how much of your thought process is now based on that as you help build this
13:26generation of Giants baseball.
13:28And Adamas seems like such a great culture guy.
13:31You guys signed up Chapman long term.
13:34To what level is that going to your thinking when you're putting this all together?
13:39Yeah, it's a big part of it.
13:42I mean, I think where I land on that is now in the position I'm in, there's only so
13:49much I can do.
13:50When you're a player, you're in the day to day, you're behind the scenes having conversations,
13:57you're able to read the room much better than you are if you're not in that clubhouse or
14:01on that field every single day.
14:03So ultimately, my belief is that some of those leaders that you mentioned, the Adamas, the
14:10Chapmans, the Verlanders, the Webs, they have to be the ones that set the tone.
14:19For me, I think it's conversations with them.
14:21What do you want your team to look like?
14:23What do you want to be known for?
14:24What do you want your identity to be like?
14:26When people think about the 2025 Giants, what are they going to remember?
14:31And hopefully having those conversations and then players taking that ownership, they spread
14:38it throughout the clubhouse.
14:40And it matters, it really does.
14:43It's one of the few things that we can't measure anymore, but it does matter.
14:48You were a catcher, your manager was a catcher, and you have a good young catcher in Patrick
14:52Bailey.
14:53When the three of you catchers get together, and you know, Baumel and yourself and Patrick
14:57Bailey, when you look at Patrick Bailey, do you see a catcher who can be of the same ilk
15:02as you and Baumel?
15:05We just want Bailey to be Bailey.
15:08I mean, that's ultimately all he can do, and he's already shown great ability defensively,
15:16went in a gold glove already.
15:19He's going to pass me with one more.
15:25Hopefully, I think it is, I know him decently well, but for him to understand just the value
15:31that he has in leading that staff and being a sounding board for the guys, constantly
15:39communicating and I mentioned reading rooms for culture, but as a catcher, you're constantly
15:45reading body language from pitchers and helping you make decisions on pitches you're calling
15:51and maybe conversations that you're having.
15:53So, you know, that's my hope for him, that he continues to progress in his development
15:59that way, and I don't see any reason why he's not going to.
16:02Okay, Buster, as you guys head to spring training, is it kind of like, does the job change a
16:08little bit, or could there still be some roster construction going on?
16:14Yeah, I think, look, my first year doing it, so we'll see.
16:20You're always going to keep an open mind, I think, right?
16:23I mean, you're always going to keep an open mind and in different ways that you can improve,
16:28but I do think that you reach a certain point where it's go time and you go and you start
16:35to foster that environment like we were talking about a few minutes ago with the culture and
16:42guys getting behind one another and being in the day-to-day grind and hopefully all
16:48that work that goes into it leads to a lot of wins.
16:51Like, do you at least feel comfortable saying that you won't be signing any more players
16:55who are four years older than you are?
16:57Yeah, wow.
16:58I don't know if there's any more out there, so yeah, I feel pretty comfortable saying
17:04that.
17:05It feels like you signed him just so you could feel young again, Buster.
17:07It worked.
17:08It did.
17:10It did.
17:11It did.
17:12I mean, you still firmly believe, though, I know you guys talk about the leadership
17:16thing, but you still think he's got some good pitches in him?
17:21A hundred percent, yeah.
17:23A hundred percent, too.
17:25He's been great with working with JP Martinez, pitching coach, and they've been going back
17:30and forth and he feels like, Berliner feels like he's in a great spot, so I'm so excited
17:35to see him here soon in Scottsdale.
17:37Well, Bartolo Cologne's out there in case you need to add more guys in their 40s, Buster.
17:42If he's 40, I figured he'd be pushing 50 by now, but we'll see.
17:46He probably is.
17:47He probably is.
17:48Buster, thank you so much, man.
17:50We're looking forward to the season and we appreciate you.
17:53Alright, guys.
17:54Thanks.