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00:00And firstly, I'd like to thank all of the Giants fans for their tremendous support in what has been somewhat of an up-and-down and disappointing season.
00:09Secondly, I'd like to thank Farhan Zaidi for his six-year tenure as president of baseball operations.
00:15I've certainly enjoyed working with Farhan, have nothing but respect for him, and wish him well in the future.
00:22I also want to thank Kristen Posey for agreeing to this.
00:26Because that may be one of the biggest sacrifices with four young ones at home, we certainly appreciate that.
00:31I mean, we all know Buster as the player, you know, all of the tremendous memories that we had with him,
00:38and him leading us to three World Series, the Hall of Fame, MVP career.
00:43But those aren't the reasons that we're here today.
00:46I think for me and for the board, you know, what we have observed with Buster in working with him over the last three years
00:54is that competitive fire he has to win.
00:58It didn't end when he took his jersey off. It's as strong today as ever.
01:02You know, I've grown to respect all of his skills and how he deals with people, his intellect, how he listens.
01:10It's a we mentality, and I think just really all of the skills you need in being a leader.
01:18Also, the pride he takes in the Giants organization and the responsibility that it comes with representing the Giants organization.
01:27So I think we believe there's no better person to lead the baseball side and set the right tone at the top for the Giants organization.
01:36But I think the most important is just his desire to build the kind of team that lives up to the expectations of fans, of our fans.
01:46So without further ado, I am thrilled and proud and privileged to turn it over to our new president of baseball operations, Buster Posey.
01:57All right. Thanks, Greg. Appreciate the kind words.
02:01You know, I'm I'm just excited. I'm excited to have an opportunity to be in this role.
02:08I'm excited to be a part of the team again.
02:13San Francisco Giants organization is all I've ever known.
02:18You know, I think over the years as a player and in the role I was in the last few years, I gained a pretty good sense of of what it means to fans to have great players and have great teams.
02:34I think back on some of my earliest memories walking into a spring training clubhouse and walking in and seeing Willie Mays sitting at a table with Willie McCovey, Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal, Joe Malfitano.
02:53You know, the next week it's it's Will Clark, Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds.
02:59And I always appreciate it. And I don't think I'd appreciate it as much when I was a younger player.
03:03But as time went on, I appreciated just what that meant not only to the community, but to us as players and that there's a standard and expectation for being a San Francisco Giant.
03:15And it's a privilege to try to go out there on the field and and hold ourselves accountable to that standard.
03:27You know, those guys that I mentioned, you know, you can go more towards my era with with Kane and Linscombe and Bumgarner and Crawford and Belt and you could go on and on.
03:39And in my time, what again, what I came to realize is, yes, sure, all of those guys were were great players.
03:46They were part of great teams. But what those guys ultimately meant to the San Francisco Giants fan base in the community was memories.
03:56And all of us that are lucky enough to get to be involved in baseball in whatever capacity, I think, understand that that.
04:08Not only is it the greatest game in the world, but we're in the memory making business.
04:13It's it's ultimately entertainment. It's an opportunity for for grandparents and parents to share memories with friends.
04:21It's an opportunity for stranger strangers sitting out in the bleachers to share a great memory that happens at the ballpark.
04:29And they can be talked about from that time on for for the rest of their life, potentially.
04:34So, you know, with that, all of that in mind, I just can't say again how humbled I am to to be in this role and again, be a part of a team that's hopefully looking forward to making more great memories for this this fan base and community.
04:51With that, we can open up to questions.
04:55Just a reminder, if you have a question to please raise your hand and we will get you a microphone.
05:00Start here with Susan. Hi, Buster.
05:05Congratulations. What was the process like for you as you were trying to determine whether this was something you wanted to take on?
05:12Could you go through that? Well, as Greg alluded to, it was convincing my wife.
05:18Number one, you know what? I mean, I again, I I'm so passionate about baseball and I know I finished a few years ago and and but but just the opportunity again, like I mentioned, to be a part of a team.
05:35I think the the chance to be in a position to hopefully elevate people that are all a part of this, elevate staff, elevate players and to to again, it's it's a we're in a memory making business and sure.
05:53Sure. Winning's great. And ultimately, that's our goal is to be a playoff team every year and compete for a championship.
06:02But I think just the overall big picture of being something being a part of something that's bigger than yourself was really appealing.
06:10Let's go to the left, Janie. Hi, Buster. Morning.
06:16What sort of did you gain over the last couple of years doing this, doing doing some of this behind the scenes in terms of the business side and maybe trial and error and what worked and what didn't?
06:28And maybe a couple of examples that that you'll take into this position now that you're doing it every every single day?
06:35Well, I think, you know, first and foremost, I have I have a lot to learn just being a day, day and a half into this.
06:43There's a I've already had some conversations and plan to have a lot more conversations.
06:48And one thing I'm very confident about, because I've known these people for a long time now, is there's a tremendous amount of great people in place that are on the same page and wanting to work to to get this team where we all know it should be.
07:04You know, I think it's again, it's what I'm excited about are the relationships.
07:09It is about, you know, having a common vision and working towards a goal and having a standard of of what the expectation is to be a San Francisco giant.
07:21Susan Buster, what do you think the rest of your front office might look like?
07:25Are you planning on any changes there? Yeah, we're going to hire a GM.
07:31That's that's going to be one of the first tasks right out the gate.
07:36You know, Pete's been made aware that he'll be moving off the GM role and we'll kind of work through what some other responsibilities might look like for him.
07:46You obviously don't have a lot of experience in this kind of role.
07:50What's your response to people that that discuss that, you know, your relative lack of experience and what that might mean for who you're looking for for a GM?
08:00Yeah, I mean, it's fair. I mean, everybody's entitled to their opinion.
08:03And again, I do think a strength of mine is that I'll be I'll be all ears and listening and taking in information from people that have been doing this for a long time.
08:14And I do think it's important to that we bring in a guy that's or girl that's been, you know, well versed in all aspects of front office.
08:29And I would add that we have a very deep and experienced front office with people like Jeremy Shelley that could take on the job.
08:37So I think there is a nice compliment.
08:40Let's go to the right, Mark.
08:43Hey, Buster. When did you know that a more day to day operations type of role might be in your future?
08:51Does it go back to when you moved your family here?
08:54Has this been more of a recent development?
08:56It's been more recent. I mean, the move back honestly had nothing to do with what my future might look like with the Giants, which I think for us makes it all the more special.
09:08Because it truly was a move back because we enjoy this area and we enjoy the friends that we've made in this area.
09:15And I think just over the last few weeks, months, we've been kind of talking through some different scenarios.
09:22And that's where we landed.
09:25Let's go to the back left, Tim.
09:29Buster, just give us a sense what your general philosophy is going to be.
09:33I mean, are you going to use analytics in a significant way?
09:37Are you going to, you know, you have an analytics staff. Is that something you want to push forward?
09:43And what just generally are you going to look for out of your club?
09:48Most definitely going to use analytics.
09:50I mean, I think that analytics are here and they're here to stay.
09:55And it would be a mistake to say that you're not going to use that information.
10:01You know, as far as general philosophy, I think it's, as many of you know me, a lot of my basic principles are pretty simple.
10:11I want us to be known as a team that's the ultimate prepared team.
10:19One that's fundamentals are held at a really high standard.
10:24And ultimately, this is all about the players.
10:27It's all about putting great players on the field.
10:29And I think our job as a front office, you know, with Bob here and the coaching staff,
10:36is to be able to identify those players and then get the most out of them.
10:43Let's go to Andy.
10:46For Greg, you know, if this was an arrangement that you were looking for with Buster having quite a bit of influence,
10:53you know, he could have had that influence in maybe more of a less out in front capacity
10:58and hire another president that would report to him.
11:01Why was it important to have him sort of out front on this?
11:05I think it was, you know, there's a lot of different scenarios you could come up with,
11:09but I think Buster is just somebody that asked for the ball here
11:12and wanted the accountability of not trying to kind of work with other people.
11:20And, you know, that's really what a leader does.
11:23And I think at the end of the day, you know, we talked a lot about complimenting his skill set with hires
11:31and building around him to build for success.
11:33And I think he was very, you know, agreeable to doing that.
11:37So, you know, it started kind of early discussions.
11:41And then I think we both got comfortable with the idea of, you know,
11:46bringing in an experienced GM to work and take some of the load off.
11:51But really, you know, it was really Buster's desire to be accountable 100% for baseball.
12:00And I think that spoke a lot to me that he desired that.
12:06Let's go to the front right, Ann.
12:08Hey, Buster, how did you convince Kristen?
12:11But I have a follow-up too.
12:14You know what?
12:15I think Kristen, she's been so just blessed to have such a supportive wife for, believe it or not, it's been 15 years.
12:23Yes, we got married young.
12:27I think she knew she could just tell how excited I was about this opportunity.
12:32And, you know, that in our relationship, it goes both ways.
12:39If there's something that she's excited and passionate about, I want to support her in that as well.
12:44Do you feel the brand has been tarnished in recent years?
12:48And besides winning a championship, how do you reinvigorate the brand, the sense of who the Giants are?
12:58I wouldn't say the brand's been tarnished.
13:00I mean, again, I think that's a lot of discussion we're going to be having over the next, you know, weeks and months
13:07is about our identity, you know.
13:09And again, I want to be clear.
13:11Like, our identity really boils down to the players on the field and the way that they play
13:16and the type of players they are and how they handle themselves not only on the field but in the community.
13:22So I think that's going to be a big part of discussion is, like, what really is important to us as an organization
13:30and what are we going to hang our hat on at the end of the day?
13:34Let's go to the front right, Sam.
13:37Busters, this is for you and for Bob as well.
13:40What do you imagine the vision for what Giants baseball will look like with you kind of running the show here?
13:46You know, like on a day-to-day, you know, on the field, what is your vision for what Giants baseball will look like going forward?
13:54I mean, again, it really, hopefully, what it's going to be is we all love, I know Bob loves good, crisp, clean play.
14:02There's good, crisp, clean baseball and guys that are going to be always prepared.
14:07I think what I can draw on from a player is knowing that if I went into a game and I know I had prepared to the best of my ability,
14:16no matter the outcome or result of that game, I could be satisfied with that.
14:21And that's, you know, for me, I'm hopeful that our guys are going to get there
14:24and that's going to be something that is really important to them as well.
14:29And for me, just probably a little bit more well-rounded team to where we can win, you know, in different ways.
14:36And if we're not swinging the bats well, we play good defense, we pitch, we execute, you know, we manufacture at times.
14:44So I think we just need to focus on all the different areas to make our team better and to be able to win games in different ways.
14:52And Bob, what excites you the most about being able to work with Buster?
14:56Well, I mean, you know, it's Buster Posey. It's the Giants. That's a big deal.
15:01So, you know, like Greg said, when, you know, somebody like Buster asks for the ball, you give it to him.
15:06And he's meant so much to this community, to this baseball team, the organization, the city, all the above.
15:12So that's what I'm excited about is being able to work with a guy that's had that type of success here in this organization.
15:19I can say I'm really excited to work with Bob as well.
15:23You know, getting to, as a player, see him in the opposing dugout.
15:28If I ever made eye contact with Bob when I was playing, I never felt like he liked me.
15:33And I think he admittedly didn't.
15:36And I never made eye contact with him either because he was always making my life really difficult.
15:41So I'm happy we're going to get to share some more endearing glances, I guess.
15:51Let's go to the left. Janie.
15:54Hi, Greg.
15:56When it comes to spending money, I mean, he's also in your ownership group still, correct?
16:01So does that streamline anything when it comes to free agency or acquiring someone and just, you know, the spending and how it gets done and knowing that you have a close communication?
16:16Yeah, I mean, I think it certainly helps.
16:18And, you know, one of the questions was, well, should you have him continue on the board in that role?
16:24And we think absolutely.
16:25And like Larry, who runs the business side, has been a board member for a long time.
16:29It just helps the overall communication.
16:31If there's anything, you know, like any board, if you have a conflict and you want to talk about somebody's contract or something, you step out of the meeting.
16:38It's very easy.
16:39But, you know, having him there does help.
16:42But the communication on things like that are going to be more day to day anyway as they come up rather than, you know, having a board meeting or things.
16:51Let's go to the back. Alex.
16:53Hi, Greg. This is for you.
16:54Last year you answered a question about the luxury tax.
16:56But in the time since the A's have left the Bay Area, the Giants are now the only team in this massive market.
17:01Do you expect the franchise to be a perennial luxury tax paying team going forward or near that?
17:06Yeah, I mean, I think it's the same answer we had last year, that we're opportunistic, we're strategic.
17:11We don't set a number every year.
17:13We look at what we need to do and we will, like we did last year where you had, you know, a couple of good players available at the end.
17:22You went over the luxury tax.
17:23So I think it's just we will do it if we have to and we will spend what we need to put a winning team on the field.
17:33Let's go to the back.
17:35Introductory press conference, president of baseball operations for the Giants on 95-7, the game.
17:40A year ago at this same stage when Bob was introduced, Farhan said that Bob had a three-year contract.
17:48And as we found out, it was actually a two-year guarantee.
17:53Just wondering about if there will be better transparency and will, do you have terms, Buster?
18:00Or as an owner, are you just in it for as long as you want to do it?
18:04Are there years involved?
18:06And as well, will Bob have any kind of extension or will he go into next year as a lame duck?
18:13Yeah, one, I'm not sure transparency is required for discussing contracts anyway because I think they get in the way of running a team during the year.
18:22And a lot of questions that come up that are very disruptive.
18:26So Buster does have a three-year deal with no contingencies or anything.
18:33But my view is, I've had this debate and discussion, is whether any contracts, whether it's your manager or head of baseball, should be public.
18:42Because I think it doesn't serve the team very well to raise questions during the year.
18:47So that's something we would consider.
18:50But as far as the transparency goes, I think we were as transparent as we needed to be on that.
18:57And Bob's contract situation, will there be an extension or will he go in next season?
19:03That's for Buster.
19:04Well, that's who I'm asking.
19:07Look, again, this is day two for me.
19:12I've said how much I admire and respect Bob.
19:15And one thing I'm going to try to do as this continues to progress is, you know, you guys have known me in the clubhouse, the cliche of going day to day.
19:27It's going to apply to this as well.
19:29And again, I'm excited about working with Bob.
19:33There's not many managers, active managers that have the track record that he does.
19:40And from my experience talking to numerous players while I was playing and then post-playing to a man, everybody loves playing for Bob Nolan.
19:55And just one more.
19:56Farhan, earlier this month, let go of four scouts.
20:00And will you bring those back?
20:03And you mentioned that analytics are here to stay.
20:06But what will the balance be, if at all?
20:09Because, you know, last year, this past year, and throughout Farhan's time, it was mostly new school, not much old school.
20:16And do you want a better balance?
20:19And what about those scouts?
20:22Yeah, again, I mean, for me, it's understanding where people are, what people are doing.
20:27I will say, from a scouting perspective, I value scouts very much so.
20:33You know, I look to Brian Sabian and his scouting background.
20:37And as much as anything, whomever is working in the Giants organization as a scout, if you're a scout, if you're a trainer or a strength coach in rookie ball,
20:49my goal is for those people to be empowered and understand what they're doing on the ground is extremely significant for what we're trying to accomplish here at the big league level.
20:59So can I give you an exact answer right now?
21:01I can't.
21:03Let's go to the back left, Brian.
21:05Hey, guys, all three, congratulations, Buster, and we'll look forward to talking to you.
21:09This morning on KMBR, we had sound from September 2022 when you were joining the ownership, and you said, I'm not here to get involved in the front office day to day.
21:17And here we are. So something changed.
21:20So what changed? What did you see that you didn't like that made you ask for the ball?
21:24Well, again, I think it goes back to my opening statements that I've seen what great players and what great teams can mean to this community.
21:34And so to have an opportunity to be a part of a team that supports the ultimate team that's out there on the field was just really appealing.
21:43I don't think there's much more fulfilling that much.
21:49Yeah, much more fulfilling than being able to be a part of something that's bigger than yourself.
21:54And again, you know, Greg mentioned Jeremy Shelley, who's been here for 30 years.
21:59There's just so many great people that I've gotten to know over the years that are still part of this organization that I'm just thrilled to be working with.
22:09Let's go to the left, Maria.
22:11Hi, Buster. Congratulations.
22:13Just what were your takeaways from the 2024 season and what do you feel like the club's biggest needs will be heading into next year?
22:20Well, I mean, it was, you know, it was it felt like one of those years where it was just hard to get a lot of momentum.
22:26You know, I think Bob would probably be able to speak on that better.
22:29But just from what I saw, it was seemed like one of those years where if the pitching was going, the offense wasn't or vice versa.
22:37Look, you know, I hate to be probably want more specifics.
22:42But ultimately, as a group, our goal is to put the most talented baseball players on the field, whatever position that is, you know.
22:52So that's what we're going to be looking for going in the season is, you know, who can we who do we have in the system?
22:58Who do we have currently on the major league roster that we see as as players are going to or that are going to mesh together to get us back on track?
23:09Let's go to Marty.
23:11Congratulations. How do you assess this team that you have now and how much work do you have ahead right now as you as you look at it?
23:20You've been here to watch the last couple of seasons.
23:23Yeah, I think Marty, similar to the way I just answered is ultimately we just have to play better baseball.
23:30You know, we've got to we've got to pitch better.
23:32We've got to do the little things better.
23:33We've got to the margins are just so small between winning and losing when you're talking about the best players in the world competing on a nightly or daily basis.
23:45So I think that's going to be a big focus is just for us as a group to understand that all these little decisions or actions that take place over the course of the year can have a big impact on the end result.
23:59Let's go to Andy.
24:00Buster sort of dovetailing off that.
24:02I mean, you're taking over from Farhan, who is very good at working the margins and very active.
24:07How do you just imagine the mechanics of your day to day will go?
24:10Are you going to be on the phone with Bob after a Wednesday night finding out what lefty you can get to Houston the next day?
24:16Or, you know, how much do you plan to delegate and how much do you plan to really just have your fingers in this day to day?
24:21Yeah.
24:22I mean, I think that remains to be seen.
24:25Again, you know, I mentioned empowering.
24:27We're going to we're going to bring a bring in a GM.
24:29And I think once that comes in, some of the delegation will will take shape a little bit more.
24:34I want to be as useful as I can to be with all the people that I'm working with, but also having in mind and understanding that it's somewhat somewhat of a delicate balancing act to where I don't want to be the type of leader that is constantly feeling like somebody I'm looking over somebody's shoulder as well.
24:54So I think a lot of that is going to be handled over these next weeks, month as we start to have more conversations and get synced up more.
25:04OK, we'll take three more to the left.
25:06Alex, you played for two very different kinds of coaching staff.
25:10How do you envision your coaching staff?
25:12And also, will there be any changes from this previous group?
25:16Yeah, I think we're we're you know, we're very happy.
25:20I know Bob's happy with his staff and.
25:25The as far as changes goes, I think we have to look and see where people are at personally and where where some contracts are.
25:33But I know speaking with Bob, he's very happy with the big league staff.
25:37Obviously, you've got guys on that step with a great track record that I think can that players can identify with really well.
25:47And there's a nice mix of, you know, some younger people in there as well.
25:53Sorry, what was the last part of your question?
25:56How do you envision your ideal staff, I guess, compared to you had Bochy staff and then you played under Gabe?
26:01How would you like to see that?
26:06Again, I mean, it's it's all about it's the players first.
26:10I think that's what you know, what I learned about Boach over the years is I always felt like Boach was pretty easy on us as players.
26:18But what I learned as time went along, he beat up on his coaches pretty good.
26:24And I think, again, from my experience with with Boach and saves and talking with Bob is the understanding that.
26:35Ultimately, your job is a supporting role, right?
26:38Our job in the front office is supporting role.
26:40Our job, their job as a coaching staff is a supporting role.
26:44So, you know, I mentioned a balancing act and a fine line to bags on another question.
26:51But I think one of the one of the challenges is going to be with all the information we have now is is going to each player.
27:00And a lot of this does fall on the coach is how much information can you give that player before it's too much, before it's diminished returns?
27:07And understanding that this guy is not exactly like the guy sitting right next to him in the locker.
27:13I think that's in today's game.
27:15That's a big part of preparing for the game.
27:18Whereas early on in my career, that was that really wasn't a big part of the game.
27:22So we want we want guys ultimately to when I say guys, the guys on the field, they're out there every single night and day to be accountable for their own careers.
27:34I do think we live in our this day and age in our baseball world where there is so much information that it's easy sometimes to shift blame for one reason or another.
27:44And ultimately, I do hope to have a group of guys that no matter what, they can be accountable for for their own selves and careers on the field.
27:54Susan Buster, obviously, a big part of this job is dealing with free agents.
27:58And I know you can't talk about potential free agents until the season's over and that period begins.
28:04But you guys have a pretty prominent free agent of your own.
28:08What are your thoughts on Blake Snell and potentially bringing him back?
28:11When might you start talks?
28:14I mean, Blake's Blake's one of the, you know, premier starting pitchers in the big leagues has been for a while.
28:20And the run he went on the last 12 or 14 starts.
28:22I think I saw a quote from Bob.
28:24It was really like nothing you'd ever seen.
28:27So he's obviously somebody that's going to be a priority for us to take a hard look at and make a decision as a group.
28:35Last one to Justice.
28:38Hey, Buster.
28:39As far as looking for a GM, what are some of the ideal traits that you look for?
28:43And given that free agency is roughly a month away, what's your ideal timetable as far as hiring a GM?
28:49Yeah, to answer the back end of that first.
28:51I mean, I think it's right away.
28:52I think we get going on this right away and get some potential candidates in and get interviews going.
28:59As far as qualities.
29:00I mean, I want I want a leader.
29:02I want a servant leader.
29:03I want somebody that, again, is going to empower the people that are working with them and for them.
29:10You know, ideally, somebody that does have somewhat of a scouting background, I think will be important for me as well.
29:16You know, and again, having in mind that this today's game is so much about meshing what your eyes see and your instincts are with what the data is telling you.
29:29OK, that will conclude today's press conference.
29:32Thank you guys so much for attending.
29:34And Buster, congratulations.