Category: Sports News

What Buster Posey's most proud of after first season as Giants executive originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

While the Giants late-season collapse wasn’t what president of baseball operations Buster Posey had in mind for his club, the former San Francisco catcher turned-front-office leader does say there were some positive takeaways from the 2025 season.

“One is happy to sign [Willy] Adames, happy to trade for [Rafael] Devers,” Posey told The San Francisco Standard’s Kerry Crowley on the “Section 415” podcast. “[Matt] Chapman being here, Jung Hoo [Lee] being here. … Happy about some of the consistency that we had in the lineup, that we were able to have a lineup that we could roll out there and that our fans could hopefully be excited about coming to the park or watching on TV.”

Posey also says his partner when it comes to roster decisions did what he intended when he hired him in November of 2024.

“When I hired Zack Minasian as the general manager, I was hoping that his experience at touching different levels was going to cover many blind spots for me, which I do feel like we have a great working relationship,” Posey said. “His background as a pro scout really gave me peace of mind as we went into the first trade deadline and Hadi Raad and his group… I felt like did a really nice job at targeting some players that we see that will fit the style of baseball that we believe it will take to win a lot of games.

“Same with the draft this year. You never know, right? It’s hard to say when you’ve got an 18-to-21, 22-year-old, what player they’re going to turn into, but I do think that those groups did a nice job at targeting certain skill sets that we’re looking for.”

As the Giants legend and company continue to build a team that’s now missed the postseason for four straight seasons, the fact that Posey feels the team has a clear direction and players that fit their system is a potential sign of good things to come in the future.

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Juan Soto has always been known for his patience at the plate. 

The star outfielder put that on full display during his first season with the Mets, finishing with a league-high 127 walks and a National League-best .396 on-base percentage. 

However, during the season, hitting coach Eric Chavez believed Soto could be even more productive if the 26-year-old tinkered with his approach.

Chavez was a guest on Thursday’s episode of Foul Territory and was asked whether Soto could put up big offensive numbers if he was more aggressive at the plate and, perhaps, chase out of the strike zone more often.

He revealed that he spoke with manager Carlos Mendoza about that very topic.

“There were times, and I'll be honest. There were times where, myself, and I even talked to Carlos, about if we could get him to swing maybe 0-0 or some pitches he could do damage on early in counts -- but Juan, he is a precision hitter, I wouldn’t get him out of his comfort zone at all," Chavez said.

Soto’s first-pitch-swing rate dipped from last season with the Yankees (22.5 percent).

He also cut his chase rate down to an impressive 16.5 percent. 

All of that led to Soto finishing with a career-high 43 homers and 105 RBI.

While the Mets decided to move on from Chavez last week, he did suggest one way they could get creative with Soto without getting him out of that comfort zone is by bumping him up to the top spot in the order.

Soto has only been slotted there twice to this point in his big-league career.

“Juan is so good at getting on base,” Chavez said. “There are times where things are going and you’re in the middle of the lineup. Like Pete Alonso, we know Pete is going to chase, Pete is going to do damage. Juan can drive in 140 runs, but instead of doing that, where you’re telling him to get out of his comfort zone, slide him into the leadoff spot.

“He steals bases, he gets on base at a 40-percent clip, don’t have him get out of his comfort zone of what he likes to do, but you could be just as dynamic in the leadoff spot if you look at Shohei [Ohtani] and what he's done. Without changing the player too much, just change where he hits in the battling lineup.”

Instant Observations from Phillies' heartbreaking season-ending loss to Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LOS ANGELES — There was hope leaving Dodger Stadium Wednesday night. The Phillies were reminded what they’re capable of doing and put together a complete performance with an offensive explosion and structurally sound pitching.

All the momentum was in the Phillies’ favor going into Game 4. Cristopher Sanchez was on the mound and a win would send the NLDS back to Philadelphia with a chance to advance to the National League Championship Series for the third time in four seasons.

That hope went wide and fast, as did Orion Kerkering’s failed attempt to get Andy Pages out at home in the 11th inning when the third out was right there at first base. An unbelievably frustrating error that will linger well into the offseason and beyond.

2-1, Dodgers. That’s a wrap on the Phillies’ 2025 season. One that started with so much hope to bounce back from a devastating exit last season.

This exit already feels worse.

•Rob Thomson puts Orion Kerkering in behind Jesus Luzardo twice in this series and it came back to bite them, twice. There are two outs in the 11th and one of your top arms is on the mound, how do you opt to go to Kerkering in such a high-level situation? As the final ball of the evening dribbled out to Kerkering on the mound, J.T. Realmuto was gesturing for him to throw the ball over to first base. The ball soared so far away from Realmuto that you almost couldn’t believe it. But it happened. And that’s the lasting memory people will take away from this one. Thomson said the plan was to only have Luzardo pitch one inning because he was working on short rest and when he was pushing 30 pitches with back-to-back righties coming up, he wanted to make the change. It’s a nightmare of an ending when the game was still in reach.

•Sticking with the theme of two, how do you waste two fantastic starts from Cristopher Sanchez in the same series? Two of them. Zack Wheeler is done for the season and Sanchez steps up as the club’s ace without hesitation or difficulty to adapt and you can’t find a way to score any kind of run support? Poor Sanchez. Poor Luzardo for getting the same experience in Game two. And poor Sanchez, again. This is nothing new for the Phillies. The same thing happened with Wheeler in Game One of the NLDS last year against the Mets.

•The Phillies mustered up one run in 11 innings. That’s not good enough against any team, especially one looking to repeat as World Champions. Truth of the matter is, the big bats wanted to play hero ball. There were big swings and big moments in Game 3 that were trying to be replicated. They didn’t adjust, they didn’t try to play small, it was swing for the fences and go back to the dugout. How do you expect to win a series, let alone a game, when the top three in the order go 1-for-14? The photo-finish of the Kerkering throw ending the game is what people will remember down the road … but this one was lost well before.

•Give Sanchez his flowers. Give him the whole dang garden. If Sanchez comes out next season at this level, expect to see his name in Cy Young conversations. Sanchez pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and one run. You couldn’t ask for anything better.

•Circle the sixth inning as the silent killer. Outside of an early Alec Bohm error Thursday, the defense was everything you needed it to be in an elimination game. Trea Turner makes a diving catch to squash all momentum on the base paths and helps Sanchez out of his fifth consecutive scoreless inning. How does the heart of the order respond? Kyle Schwarber strikeout, Bryce Harper ground out, Alec Bohm single and Brandon Marsh being called out on strikes.

•Nick Castellanos has the potential to go down as one of the most misunderstood athletes in Philadelphia history. His honesty is unique in ways you don’t see often anymore, and because he’s in the spotlight, it gets tossed under a microscope. Of course he cares and it’s crazy to think otherwise. Castellanos sent a jolt through Citizens Bank Park in the ninth inning in Game 2 with a two-run double. He then rips one down the left field line just fair Thursday to get Max Kepler home from second. It took seven innings to get a run across the plate from either team and Castellanos gets the credit for it.

•There weren’t many holes in the lineup once the series shifted to L.A. but a surprising one has been Brandon Marsh. There were a handful of at-bats from Marsh with two outs and runners on where he couldn’t get anything going. It happened twice in Game 3 and in the first inning of Game 4. You know the stakes and getting even a single run across home plate would’ve been huge right out of the gate. Unlike Wednesday, it came back to bite the Phillies. Marsh went 0-for-7 in the final two games.

•It was a roller-coaster first year in Philadelphia for Max Kepler. There were offensive struggles, comments made about wanting to be an every day player and a turnaround that no one could’ve predicted. Kepler has come up HUGE defensively in the past two games with two diving catches that stopped the bleeding before it even had a chance to begin. Freddie Freeman led off the bottom of the second with a single and if Tommy Edman’s line drive to left had gotten past him, there’s a good chance the Dodgers go up.

•You know the definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome. A picture of the core of the 2022-25 Phillies officially needs to be printed next to the definition moving forward. How upsetting it will be to look back on this core and think they never won it all. So many squandered opportunities in the most heartbreaking of ways. Moves that should’ve been made two seasons ago will now have to be made simply due to the amount of expiring contracts within the club. When the Phillies take the field in about five months, things are going to look very different.