There was a romanticism to the San Francisco Giants hiring Buster Posey as their president of baseball operations this past offseason. He's a franchise icon who brought three championships to the city in five years as the best catcher of his generation. One of 13 players in the Divisional Era to win a World Series and MVP in the same campaign; legendary stuff.
Roughly 10 months into his new job, the honeymoon phase is over for Posey and the Giants. Fans are assessing him by his actions as the Giants' lead decision-maker, not their superstar backstop. He's now just like any other executive -- needing results to avoid getting shown the door. Unfortunately for him, San Francisco's six-game losing streak has been an alarming reflection point.
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Giants' struggles have fans pinning the blame on Buster Posey
Signing shortstop Willy Adames to the largest contract in Giants history has been a disappointment thus far. Bringing in the ghost of 42-year-old future Hall of Fame right-hander Justin Verlander has done more harm than good, to say the least. Even landing standout slugger Rafael Devers in a blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox that many considered lopsided in San Francisco's favor has backfired.
Everything Posey has touched has turned into a liability rather than the solution he hoped it'd be. Maybe relying on a first-year front office leader wasn't the best idea. The San Francisco faithful is beginning to take notice during a skid that's seen them fall out of postseason contention.
San Francisco was nine games above .500 and held one of the National League's three Wild Card spots after July 11. They've since fallen to 52-49 and are in a three-way tie to be the first team out of the playoffs. The sky hasn't completely collapsed on them yet, but the slow fall from grace has been even more demoralizing.
Verlander got rocked in his latest outing against the Toronto Blue Jays, which has been a recurring theme of the 2025 campaign. He couldn't even get through three frames, allowing nine hits, four earned runs and two walks across 2.2 innings of work. Frankly, his regression has been an eyesore, which comes back on Posey.
Devers has ostensibly forgotten how to hit since arriving to the Bay Area. He's slashing .219/.333/.333 with two home runs, 10 RBIs and a paltry .667 OPS. His 31 percent strikeout rate with the Giants is well above league average.
For whatever it's worth, Adames has been a bright spot amid the Giants' slump, homering three times across the past six contests. Nonetheless, his season-long efforts haven't met the expectations that came with such a lucrative deal. Posey brought him in to bolster the club's offense, yet they still rank near the bottom of the Majors in runs per game (4.09).