ORLANDO — The San Francisco Giants’ suite at the Winter Meetings emptied in the early afternoon Monday. President of baseball operations Buster Posey took a midday pause from meetings with agents and rival executives because the Hall of Fame was holding a 3 p.m. press conference in the media workroom to introduce Jeff Kent, who had been selected by the Today’s Game Committee, and who signaled his intent to represent the Giants on his plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Posey, flanked in the gallery by former manager and senior advisor Bruce Bochy, wanted to be sure that the organization was well represented. Their attendance might have been educational as well.
A year from now, after a special committee meets to consider managers, executives and umpires, it’s likely that Bochy will be on that stage. Dusty Baker, another former Giants manager and current senior advisor, is an excellent bet to be picked by the committee as well. And Posey, who will appear on the writers’ ballot for the first time, has a solid chance to round out a class of 2027 Hall of Fame inductees that would amount to the greatest assembly of Giants in New York since the team moved from the Polo Grounds.
Posey, after hearing Kent’s voice catch with emotion, acknowledged that he’s thought about what that moment would mean for him.
“I usually try to push it to the side real quick,” Posey said, “because I’ve got a lot of other things to think about. No doubt it’d be an unbelievable honor. But I’m kind of happy I have this job, so I can focus on this. I have four children at home, too. It’d be an unbelievable honor, but I’ve got to focus on ’26.”
The task list remains formidable. The Giants have sizable holes in their rotation and bullpen. They have nine outfielders on their 40-man roster (following the subtraction of former top prospect Marco Luciano, who was lost on a waiver claim to the Pittsburgh Pirates) but no clear picture for the outfield beyond Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee. Their second baseman with shaky incumbent status, Casey Schmitt, just underwent wrist surgery that will cause him to miss at least the first week or two of spring training. They have several major needs, and they have money to spend. But they are not of an organizational mind to throw money at problems.
It’s an offseason landscape that sets up for problem-solving through creative dealmaking. The problem is that most high-impact trade talks will begin and probably end with Bryce Eldridge, the 21-year-old power-hitting prospect who stands out (literally, he’s 6-foot-7) in a minor-league system that features more low-level depth than major league-ready flash.
If anything is fueling the Bryce Eldridge rumors, it’s the presence of Rafael Devers, who settled in as a first baseman/DH. (Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
Last offseason, when Posey was a rookie executive, he pledged to listen to offers that included Eldridge. Now that he is a year older and presumably wiser, he is taking the same approach. He does so with a strong caveat, however.
“We listen on everybody,” Posey said after returning to the Giants’ suite at the Signia by Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf Astoria. “But, I mean, Bryce, we think the sky’s the limit for this guy. I know he didn’t put up great numbers in his limited (major-league) playing time, but he didn’t look like he was overmatched or scared. I thought he had some really good at-bats for not even being 21. This guy has flown through the system, playing at Double A and Triple A at 19, 20 years old.
“I think he’s got a chance to be one of the biggest impact bats for the next 10 to 15 years in the big leagues, potentially. So I think we’ll listen. But we like him a lot.”
Posey demonstrated with the industry-shaking trade for Rafael Devers in June that he isn’t timid about making a huge deal. Posey’s predecessor, Brian Sabean, demonstrated just as much boldness when he struck the unusual and highly unpopular deal that brought Kent to San Francisco prior to the 1997 season. At the time, Sabean, a rookie general manager, was savaged by fans and media for trading away franchise icon Matt Williams, and he made a famously Nixonian declaration — “I’m not an idiot” — at a press conference.
“Brian Sabean took a chance,” Kent said on Monday. “And I can claim he wasn’t an idiot.”
Here is the question Posey must ponder now: Would it be idiocy to trade away Eldridge?
Posey would not be the first baseball executive to talk up a prospect’s attributes to boost his trade value. If his first 14 months in the big chair have shown anything, it’s that he approaches the job the same way he approached it as a player. He says what he means with a minimum of spin or hidden motivations. Every chief baseball architect must be political to some extent. They must be willing to play poker, too. If Posey is bluffing on the Eldridge hype, though, he is putting on one heck of a compelling show.
“You guys might have this nugget already,” Posey told reporters. “But in all of minor-league and major-league baseball, Eldridge was at the top for hard-hit rate.”
That’s true. Even though Eldridge batted just .107 in 37 plate appearances in September, and even though he struck out in a third of his at-bats, the contact was authoritative. Eldridge’s hard-hit rate was 68.8 percent. In seven of his 12 batted-ball events, he posted an exit velocity of at least 102 mph. Edlridge’s hard-hit rate at Triple-A Sacramento was 63.5 percent. That’s higher than the major league leader, Kyle Schwarber (59.6 percent).
Of course, there’s no fair comparison between 12 batted-ball events and 400, or posting a hard-hit rate against Pacific Coast League pitchers versus big-league arms. Eldridge is far from a finished product and there’s no guarantee that he will display the readiness this spring to crack the opening day roster. But when Posey expresses his belief that the young left-handed hitter could be one of “the biggest impact bats” in the major leagues for the next decade, that wouldn’t appear to provide the most fertile soil in which to plant trade rumors.
If anything is fueling the Eldridge rumors, it’s the presence of Rafael Devers, who settled in as a first baseman/DH after joining the Giants in a blockbuster trade last June and is under contract through 2033. Because Eldridge is also positionally limited to first base and DH, the Giants either have a future roster redundancy or a tricky situation to manage. Posey said he sees no issues with Eldridge and Devers coexisting in the lineup for years to come, but that would create inflexibility with the DH position. And that might not be so advantageous as their other core players signed to long-term contracts — Willy Adames and Matt Chapman — continue along the age curve and could use occasional days off their feet.
Posey isn’t pretending to have all the answers, and that includes evaluating who will establish themselves as the better defender at first base between Eldridge and Devers. The best case would be that both players improve with experience at the position, especially now that they’ll be coached by Ron Washington, the former Rangers and Angels manager and former A’s infield guru who is joining manager Tony Vitello’s staff.
“His ability to coach infielders, you could strip everything away other than that, and what you’ve got there is a great value,” said Vitello, who met with Washington in Nashville, Tenn., last month.
The Giants have not announced their coaching staff while they finalize roles and titles, but GM Zack Minasian confirmed that Washington, who stepped away from the Angels in June while recovering from quadruple bypass surgery, will not serve as a base coach.
“The energy is still there, and the passion for the game is still there,” Posey said of Washington. “I’m excited to be around Ron. The most important piece is he’s a great teacher. … One thing Tony has continually said is he wants his staff … to outmatch the energy of the players.”
A team president has to be indefatigable, too. It was mentioned to Posey that the induction ceremonies at Cooperstown in late July are not the most convenient time for a baseball executive. It’s on the doorstep of the July 31 trade deadline.
“Private flight would be preferred,” Vitello said, smiling.
“We’ll set up a little war room in Cooperstown,” Minasian said.
For now, Posey is happy to celebrate another player who won a National League MVP Award in a Giants uniform.
“I felt really lucky I was able to be there in person today,” Posey said. “I told Jeff this morning he was one of my favorite players I got to watch growing up because of how hard he played the game. He wasn’t trying to be your friend. I’m extremely excited for him and his family and all the work he put in for all those years. You could tell how much it meant to him.”