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Buster Posey Warrants Praise Giants Adjustment on Fly Ahead of MLB Trade Deadline
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In the days leading up to the MLB trade deadline, everyone was curious what Buster Posey would do next to improve the San Francisco Giants.

During his brief time as president of baseball operations, he showed the kind of aggressiveness the franchise desperately needed and has been missing since he retired as a player following the 2021 season.

In free agency, he was able to court Willy Adames, signing him away from the Milwaukee Brewers to a historic seven-year, $182 million contract. He also convinced future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to join the team, agreeing to a one-year, $15 million deal.

The Giants got off to a hot start in 2025, but their offensive was inconsistent.

Looking to addres that, Posey swung the biggest trade of the year, acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox in an unexpected blockbuster in mid-June.

A four-time All-Star, the pressure was on for him to help elevate the lineup and take this offense to new heights.

Instead, the team’s performance has tanked since Devers came aboard, going 16-26 heading into play on Aug. 6.

With his team floundering, no one would have blamed Posey is he stayed aggressive, looking to add more pieces to upgrade a roster that had been hanging around in the National League wild card picture.

Posey did stay aggressive, but it wasn’t as buyers. Instead, he pivoted at the drop of a dime to being sellers.

Buster Posey's Quick Thinking Was Major Win for Giants

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The dawn of a new era is upon the Giants with some of their longest tenured players being traded away.

Elite setup man Tyler Rogers was traded to the New York Mets with closer Camilo Doval being dealt to their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees. That duo was the longest tenured pitchers in the bullpen.

San Francisco’s longest tenured positional player was outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, but he was traded to the Kansas City Royals.

In exchange for those three players, two of whom are impending free agents, the Giants got back eight players in return.

From the Mets, they received right-handed pitcher Jose Butto, right-handed pitching prospect Blade Tidwell and outfield prospect Drew Gilbert.

The Yankees traded four players for Doval: catcher Jesus Rodriguez, right-handed pitcher Trystan Vrieling, infielder Parks Herber and left-handed pitcher Carlos De La Rosa.

From the Royals, Yastrzemski was traded straight-up for right-haned pitcher Yunior Marte.

All in all, a really solid haul for a franchise that only a month prior was gearing up for a postseason run.

That could still occur; look no further than last year with the run the Detroit Tigers went on after being sellers.

Inheriting one of the lowest rated farm systems in baseball, Posey did a great job of improving the long-term outlook of the franchise as a seller ahead of the deadline while not tearing down things to the studs to remain competitive at the Major League level.

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This article first appeared on San Francisco Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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