{"id":567093,"date":"2026-02-11T23:26:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/567093\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T23:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:26:33","slug":"buster-posey-is-done-shopping-and-ready-to-embrace-competitions-at-giants-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/567093\/","title":{"rendered":"Buster Posey is done shopping, and ready to embrace competitions at Giants camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the <\/a>Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415″ podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Buster Posey isn\u2019t desperately looking to further enhance the Giants\u2019 roster. Instead, he\u2019s focusing on how best to utilize the players already in house.<\/p>\n

In other words, the president of baseball operations likes his team as is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re probably more in the listen mode as much as anything,\u201d Posey said. \u201cI don\u2019t know at this point how aggressive we\u2019re going to be as far as trying to go out and be the aggressor on some of these deals. You\u2019ll listen and try to weigh what makes sense, but we\u2019re happy with the roster that we have. Yeah, high hopes for this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depth could be an issue in both the rotation and bullpen, but Posey anticipates his young starters stepping up and his mix of relievers holding down various roles. It\u2019s a big ask on both fronts especially in a long season when depth is paramount, but Posey continues to express faith in his personnel.<\/p>\n

Posey signed two starters in the offseason, Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle, to join Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Landen Roupp. Beyond that, it\u2019s a list of young pitchers trying to get established: Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Trevor McDonald, and Carson Seymour.<\/p>\n

Meantime, free agents Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, and Chris Bassitt remain unsigned. Along with Max Scherzer, a good buddy of new Giants manager Tony Vitello.<\/p>\n

The bullpen is more unsettled and the biggest concern. Posey signed relievers Sam Hentges and Jason Foley, who\u2019ll open on the injured list. There\u2019s just one true closer candidate, Ryan Walker, and other roles have yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s opportunity for a lot of guys,\u201d Posey said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to me to see who wants to grab that opportunity and run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers, both traded last summer, and Randy Rodr\u00edguez, who\u2019s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, the Giants must rely on the next tier of late-game relievers. Lefty Erik Miller is healthy again, and Joel Peguero will compete for a setup role.<\/p>\n

Today<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Feb. 3<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Other relievers include Jos\u00e9 Butt\u00f3, Spencer Bivens, Tristan Beck, Keaton Winn, JT Brubaker, Gregory Santos, and lefties Matt Gage and Reiver Sanmartin.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nothing like Posey\u2019s championship teams of 2010, 2012, and 2014 when bullpen roles rarely were in flux. That changed in 2016 when the bullpen collapsed and cost the Giants a bid for another even-year championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty rare,\u201d Posey said. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to have many bullpens that have that many guys that stay consistently in a role for that long. We\u2019re all somewhat creatures of habit, and that\u2019s beneficial, but at the same time, we want these pitchers to understand their role one week might look different the next week, depending on where we are with health or who\u2019s been used, so we\u2019re going to need some malleability in that bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest question on the position player side is what to do with top prospect Bryce Eldridge, the 6-foot-7 slugger who won\u2019t be the full-time first baseman because that\u2019s Rafael Devers\u2019 position. Eldridge could be the designated hitter or start in Triple-A for further seasoning.<\/p>\n

Based on Posey\u2019s sentiments, it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if the 21-year-old broke camp as a Sacramento River Cat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really important for him to understand that he\u2019s still pretty young in his career and that we all hope that he\u2019s going to be that guy that carries the offense one day,\u201d Posey said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t think that\u2019s any of our expectations right now. We hope. That\u2019d be great if he decided that now is the time to do that. But for him just to continue to work in all facets of his game is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a back field at Scottsdale Stadium on Wednesday, Eldridge was seen shagging in left field during batting practice. He later said Vitello told him to work on tracking the flight of the ball in both left and right. Just in case. Because emergency situations come up.<\/p>\n

Eldridge said his mother is shipping him his outfielder\u2019s glove, and how cute is that? Wednesday, he borrowed Lee\u2019s glove and got pointers from Drew Gilbert. Last time Eldridge played outfield didn\u2019t go well. The Giants tried him in right field his first year in pro ball but canceled that experiment and moved him to first base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of just running around there,\u201d Eldridge said of his Wednesday experience. \u201cI would run for one, then I saw another one in the air and go sprint. [Gilbert] is like, \u2018Dude, just take a rep, take it seriously, go reset.\u2019 I was kind of out there doing cardio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldridge\u2019s defense won\u2019t get him a full-time job in the bigs. It\u2019s mostly about his bat, but Posey is hoping all aspects can materialize.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really just all-encompassing playing well,\u201d Posey said. \u201cIt\u2019s defense, it\u2019s base running, it\u2019s obviously the offensive side of it. So, to me, somebody that has the potential, the ceiling that he has, you\u2019re hoping to see little strides forward in every part of his game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posey signed center fielder Harrison Bader and second baseman Luis Arr\u00e1ez, solidifying the lineup. The infield is full of stars \u2013 Devers, Arr\u00e1ez, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman \u2013 while Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee will flank Bader in the outfield. Gold Glover Patrick Bailey will catch.<\/p>\n

The Arr\u00e1ez signing shouldn\u2019t have been surprising because Posey has preached the importance of contact, especially with so many swing-and-miss hitters in the lineup. Arr\u00e1ez led the majors with a 95.9% contact rate in 2025, but most modern-day front offices don\u2019t value him highly because of his so-so advanced metrics and defense.<\/p>\n

To which Posey says poppycock. Arr\u00e1ez, who\u2019s already working with infield guru Ron Washington on upping his glove game, is a three-time batting champ. He hit a career-low .292 last season, but it would have been the highest average on the Giants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in being the aggressor, and it\u2019s hard to be the aggressor if you\u2019re not putting the ball in play,\u201d Posey said. \u201cI think contact hitters for us right now do balance out some of the other profiles of the hitters that we have. I\u2019m not going to sit here and say that I believe you build a lineup strictly with contact hitters. I draw a little bit on my playing experience \u2014 the best teams I was on, when you get to the playoffs and you\u2019re facing the toughest pitchers, the teams that can put the ball in play and force the defense to make plays are usually in a better position than the ones that are going to strike out 15, 16 times a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Eldridge opens in Triple-A, the DH role could open to Arr\u00e1ez, but he turned down other teams because the Giants offered him the second base job. With Arr\u00e1ez aboard, infielder Casey Schmitt is expected to join Christian Koss as a utility role. Tyler Fitzgerald could also be in the mix.<\/p>\n

The outfield depth includes Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n and Luis Matos, both of whom are out of options (if the Giants try to send them to the minors, they could get claimed on waivers by other teams), and Grant McCray and Gilbert. Catcher Daniel Susac is the top candidate to back up Bailey.<\/p>\n

Other options are out there. Posey could make a trade or bring in another pitcher \u2013 the Giants checked in early in the offseason with Justin Verlander, who signed this week in Detroit \u2013 but the plan is to focus only on players in camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy with the group that we have,\u201d Posey said.<\/p>\n

The past meets the present<\/p>\n

Under Posey\u2019s administration, the Giants again are inviting former players to appear in spring training as guest instructors. Here\u2019s the list*:
\u2022 Dave Righetti: Feb. 11-28
\u2022 Yusmeiro Petit: Feb. 11-16\u00a0
\u2022 Joe Panik: Feb. 15-20\u00a0
\u2022 Gregor Blanco: Feb. 16-19
\u2022 Chili Davis: Feb. 17-25
\u2022 Jeff Kent: Feb. 21-24
\u2022 Jeremy Affeldt: Feb. 23-28
\u2022 Brandon Belt: Feb. 23-27
\u2022 Marco Scutaro: Feb. 25-28
\u2022 Rich Aurilia: Feb. 28-March 4
\u2022 Sergio Romo: March 1-6
\u2022 Jeffrey Leonard: March 6-12
\u2022 Pablo Sandoval: March 9-14
\u2022 Hunter Pence: March 12-15
\u2022 Will Clark: March 13-15
* Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong could be added at a future date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,6595,4,66,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-567093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-buster-posey","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-san-francisco-giants","12":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116054589752227986","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}