Baseball’s general managers meetings start next Tuesday.
Will the Giants have one to send?
For all the haste of Buster Posey’s takeover as the Giants’ director of baseball operations, the opposite has been true when it comes to hiring the person who will actually build the Giants.
It’s a big decision — likely the most important one Posey will make in his new gig. The search is appropriately wide-ranging and judicious. He should take his time. Get it right. Being patient isn’t a problem here.
Until it is.
And we’re creeping up on that time.
Posey has been at his new job for a month. He’s spent that time getting a feel for his organization and others, which is understandable and prudent.
But outside of Bryan Price stepping down as the team’s pitching coach—a move that, by all accounts, was entirely the coach’s call—Posey has made no appreciable moves. He even promoted from within the organization to replace Price.
So much for the calls to “burn it all down” from the fanbase and a few outspoken people connected to the organization. (I’m talking about Will Clark.) Posey might have been seen as a man of the people, coming in to sweep out the so-called scourge of analytics and data installed by his predecessor, but his actions, to date, tell a different story.
That change could still come. The first order of business is to find the person to do the day-to-day job that Posey, who admitted in his introductory press conference that he wants to be an affable figurehead, ostensibly holds.
And that’s the issue at hand.
Yes, Posey should take his time and not rush into hiring someone for that job.
At the same time, baseball’s offseason has already started. (MLB may push teams not to make news during the World Series, but how many teams are really waiting to get down to business?)
That leaves Posey, who lacks any practical experience for his current role, in full command, leaning on the supposed former regime to handle the day-to-day administration of a baseball team.
Zaidi waited a year to hire a general manager—his No. 2, who ended up being Scott Harris (now the Tigers’ head honcho). But Zaidi could afford to do that because he was a former GM himself, capable of handling all the responsibilities that come with running a baseball team.
You can disagree with how Zaidi ran the club, but there was never a doubt that he knew how to do it. In fact, he was probably too good at the marginal aspects of administration and found himself bogged down in the weeds instead of managing the big-picture elements of the club.
Posey was presented (mostly by third parties) as the counter. He, unlike Zaidi, would be an expert communicator. He could stay removed from the nitty gritty — stuff like the waiver wire and batting-order decrees — and focus on long-term goals for a team that seemed to consistently be in response mode the last half-decade plus.
But Posey cannot fulfill those self-appointed mandates unless he has his No. 2. And it’s not inspiring that he’s yet to find that person.
Yes, he’d be foolish not to interview candidates from the two teams playing in the World Series — the Dodgers and Yankees — who are a bit busy right now. Still, it’s telling that the Giants’ list for this job has only become shorter because viable candidates have dropped out of the running. (Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp would have been a strong hire — per Ken Rosenthal, he dropped out last week.)
The end result is all that matters regarding this hire. Whether you, I, or anyone else approves or disapproves of the person tasked with the job simply doesn’t matter.
But every day without movement is another day the Posey-led Giants appear destined to push forward without the revolution so many wanted, towards another promotion from within and a gap year for the team.
Because while the man in charge might be different, these are almost unilaterally the same Giants.
And that team, from the front office down, put Posey in a position where he felt he needed to step in and take over the entire operation, experience be damned.
It wasn’t good enough.
And in getting this team back to where it belongs — perennially in the playoffs and pushing for titles — actions speak louder than words.
Posey, gladly, isn’t gaslighting anyone yet. But we’re nearing go time, and the actions have been lacking.
My fear with Posey’s hire was that the Giants were in react mode, again. That there was no concrete plan in place for a turnaround. Ownership just handed the top job in the organization to a franchise legend and hoped he’d figure it out on the fly.
And a month into his tenure, those fears have been anything but quelled.
The baseball offseason is long. Posey has staff around him to handle the day-to-day tasks. But the big picture outlook for the club still looks like more of the same.
So forgive my impatience, but it’s just about time that should change.