320 on-base percentage and just seven homers in 2019. But it's hard to know exactly what they'll get at the plate from Posey, who had a. The Giants were optimistic last spring, with even Bruce Bochy saying Posey was swinging more freely and doing a better job of driving the ball when he stopped into camp for a few days. He is hitting with more intensity and has done more defensive work than in past offseasons. After taking a summer off for the first time in three decades, Posey said he is doing more than he typically would. This is a staff that still is nearly entirely new to Posey, but those who have seen him at the ballpark this offseason rave about how he looks physically and the kind of work he's putting in. Buster and Kristen Posey have their hands full, but since the season ended, the father of four has found plenty of time to drive over to Oracle Park for workouts. Most importantly, Ada and Livvi are happy and healthy in a bustling house that includes nine-year-old twins, Lee and Addison, who are doing daily virtual classes. The numbers around the country and in California remain jarring, but the Giants showed they have a good handle on keeping players and staffers healthy, and vaccinations are ramping up across the country as spring training approaches. If I had a crystal ball, sure, I would have played."Ī season later, Posey has considerably more information. I'm very happy it turned out the way it did for everyone involved, but I don't regret the decision myself. "When I made the decision I mainly was basing it off the unknown. "I still feel good about the decision," Posey said. That didn't lead to any second-guessing for the face of the franchise, though. They were extremely strict about protocols, and players with young children of their own said during the year that they appreciated the way everything was being handled. As he watched from home, the Giants came within a game of making the postseason, and they did so while going 60 games without a positive COVID-19 result. At the time he said it was an easy decision, in part because there was still so much uncertainty about the virus, and whether MLB players could safely get through a season played during a pandemic. Two weeks before the 2020 season started, Posey opted out to stay home with adopted twin girls, Ada and Livvi, who were born prematurely. But Posey knows better than most that a lot of that isn't possible. In a normal year, that might mean lingering in the clubhouse for a few extra minutes after games at Oracle Park, or adding a couple extra dinners on the road with longtime teammates and friends. Right now I think the main thing is to try to enjoy the small things that we take for granted and try to win games."ĭownload and subscribe to the Balk Talk Podcast It's the way it's felt for everyone for a year now," Posey said over the phone last week. "It's kind of appropriate for the time, I guess. At the time, it was hard to ever imagine the Giants without Posey, but there's a very real possibility that in nine months the front office will decline Posey's $22 million option for 2022 and pay him a $3 million buyout, sending one of the most important figures in franchise history into free agency for the first time.Īfter a year off to take care of twin daughters his family adopted last summer, Posey is returning to uncertainty for the first time in his career. But this stretch could pale in comparison to what's ahead over the next year.īrandon Crawford and Brandon Belt are entering the last season of extensions that kept them from ever getting close to free agency, but the biggest spotlight will be on Buster Posey, who is about to start the final season of a nine-year contract he signed after winning his second title and being named National League MVP. If you cheered through the torture, the comebacks, the parades, Rally Zito and the rest, it might feel like there have been a lot of goodbyes recently. Pence has joined Bochy, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, three-quarters of the Core Four and others in retirement. That offseason brought an end to Madison Bumgarner's legendary run, and in 2020, Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval were designated for assignment. The Giants released Joe Panik in August of 2019 and a month later Bruce Bochy managed his final game. The championship window for the Giants closed with a ninth-inning meltdown in the fall of 2016, but it wasn't until the last 18 months that the dynasty truly started to break apart.
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