Buster Posey outlines why Luis Arráez was right fit for Giants at second base

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey speaks with reporters on Tuesday in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Buster Posey outlines why Luis Arráez was right fit for Giants at second base originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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About him?

W- what made you comfortable with having him at second base?

Well, it was nice to be able to talk to, Tingler.

Tingler had him in San Diego, and just talked to him about, you know, the way he moves, his aptitude.

You can look and s- look at the metrics and see the, the first step's pretty good.

so I think as much as anything, we felt comfortable that there was a solid foundation there for a guy that could, could play second base well, and, you know, Willie Adams had some I don't know where they crossed paths, but Willie spoke very highly of him and the person and the, the type of character that, that he would add to the team, so.

And add all those things up, we felt really good about, him being a Giant.

It's to be determined, obviously, but where would you envision maybe a, a lineup spot that would make sense for him?

Yeah, I think it's to be determined.

I mean, to his credit, when we were talking, he's like: "I'll hit anywhere," you know what I mean?

I think he's, he, he's a guy, again, I think we've talked about it's important to me, that he posts, he shows up, and he wants to play.

but I think the- his, his skill set of putting the ball in play, moving runners, there's a few different spots you can put him in.

not gonna pigeonhole myself now.

I think we'll just kind of see how it plays out here in the spring, but he's open to, to do whatever is gonna help the team.

Did you hang out with Tony today during the workout at all?

just crossed paths- Okay ... so, but yeah.

Just finally see him out there in uniform with guys.

What, what does that mean to you, the guy who hired him, you know, took a chance on him?

Yeah, so I mean, the first time I got to see him was when we were in Korea, when he started working with some high schoolers in Korea, and you just saw a, a switch come on.

we saw it today, or I saw it today in the meeting when he was addressing the pitchers.

And, what I've learned about him is that he, he is really good about kind of turning that switch on when he needs to.

carries himself very confidently.

talked a lot about, mentality and, and mindset, which I'm a big believer in as well.

So, it's hard to glean too much from first day of pitchers and catchers, but we're off to a good start.

Yeah, no secret that you guys were chasing second base when all off-season.

You do have some guys internally, especially Casey, who so maybe ready for a shot.

W- what made it so key for you to maybe use some resources at that position?

I think as much as anything, like Casey did make some big strides last year.

Coste, same thing, made some big strides and, adding a guy like Arraez, I think, is an opportunity for a guy like Casey and a guy like Coste to learn from, as well as they continue their development.

And then it just gives us another layer of depth, you know, in our infield to, to have Arraez and then, Casey being a guy that can play multiple positions, same thing with, with Coste.

How do you envision using Casey, and also, where does Fitzgerald fit?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, Casey, like I mentioned, he can play multiple positions, so depending on the matchup, we feel like it's a good matchup for him to get in there and be in the lineup, then we can insert him in different spots.

obviously, the DHs could, could be open in some games, maybe somebody else is DH-ing, and then he's, he's playing the field.

and then Fitz, you know, I think, I have heard reports that there's been, he's moving in the box well.

I think we'll, we'll get some looks at him on the infield, potentially in the outfield as well, and, and just see if, you know, some of that versatility will, will again add us- add another layer of that.

Lester, why, why do you think a twenty-eight-year-old with three batting titles was available to you on a one-year contract?

why do I think?

It's a very ringing question.

I mean, it's one of those things that it shouldn't make sense, right?

But obviously, that I think there's a lot of confusion about how this guy's valued within the, the business, and clearly, you guys value him.

Yeah.

Just what do you make of him?

I guess, like, the simplest way I can look at it is maybe we value or measure things differently now than, as an industry, than we did fifteen to twenty years ago or even more fur- further back.

it's hard to say.

I don't know.

I mean, it's, I don't, I don't think I can give you a definitive answer, but I'm very happy he's here, and he's a Giant.

You seem to, be somebody who's, who's made it pretty clear that you really like contact hitters, and that goes a little bit against the grain of what we have seen here since the rise of analytics.

Why?

Why do you like high-contact, low-strikeout guys so much?

What's the appeal?

well, I'm a big believer in being the aggressor, and I think offensively it's hard to be the aggressor if you're not putting the ball in play.

now, I also, I also think part of the reason I feel that way is that contact hitters for us right now do balance out some of the other profiles of, of the hitters that we have.

So I'm not gonna sit here and say that I think, I believe that you build a lineup strictly with contact hitters.

I think I draw a little bit on my playing experience as well as when the, the best teams I was on, the-- when you get to the playoffs and you're facing the toughest pitchers, the teams that can put the ball in play and force the defense to make a plays are usually in a better position than the ones that are, you know, gonna strike out fifteen, sixteen times a game.

The lineup now, there's probably maybe six or seven guys that project to be at least league average.

And when you're constructing open day roster, and with Bryce in particular, knowing that there would probably be a lot less pressure on him with the guys behind it, is that a consideration, knowing that if he was to make an opening day roster, there wouldn't be the, the pressure of expectation for him to immediately produce and- have to carry an offense?

I don't know.

I don't know if I really looked at it that way.

I mean, I think even, you know, prior to adding Arraez and Evader, you've got Rafi Devers, Willie Adams, Matt Chapman, Ramos is coming on, Jung Hu's establishing himself.

So there is kind of a cast of players that have been around the big leagues for a while.

but I guess that's one way you could look at it.

Also, is it, it does afford Br- I mean, Bryce, I, you know, I, I, I think it's really important for him to understand that it's He's still pretty young in his career, and that, I don't- we s- we all hope that he's gonna be that guy that carries the offense one day, but, I don't think that's any of our expectations, right?

And we hope.

That'd be great.

That'd be great if he, he decided that now is the time to do that.

But just to con- for him just to continue to work, on all facets, facets of his game is the most important thing.

What are some of the boxes you'd like to maybe see him check in order to make that a consideration to be on the opening day roster?

Well, I mean, it's, it's really just a all-encompassing playing well, right?

It's, it's, it's defense, it's base running, and it's obviously the offensive side of it.

so to me, like, somebody that has the potential, the ceiling that, that he has, you're hoping to see little, little strides forward in, in every part of his game.

There's still quite a lot of free agents out there, and, you know, potential for trades.

Do you see yourselves being continuing to be active here during the spring?

I think we're probably more in the listen mode, as much as anything.

I don't know how, at this point, how aggressive we're gonna be as far as, you know, trying to go out and, be the aggressor on some of these deals.

But, you know, again, cliches, you'll, you'll listen and, and try to weigh what makes sense, but we're happy with the roster that we have, and, we have high hopes for this group.

How would you assess the bullpen?

Bullpens are tough.

I mean, we've all-- we all know bullpens.

I think there's, there's opportunity for a lot of guys.

I think that's the first thing that comes to my mind.

So when you have opportunity, it's, it's exciting to me to, to see who wants to, to kind of grab that opportunity and run with it.

And we've all been around baseball for a long time.

I think bullpens are the one, one piece of a team sometimes that, is really hard to predict, good or bad.

so with that opportunity, you know, you're hopeful that, that some of these guys that are kind of on the fringe, and maybe some, some of our bullpen pieces that are trying to bounce back from whether it's an injury or maybe a down year, can, can seize that opportunity.

Will it soon be a consideration for the bullpen, or do you want to keep him as a starter?

I think it's I think we're, as much as anything, we're just, we want birdie to just get back to being confident on the mound and not necessarily think one way or another, whether it's bullpen or, or starting pitching.

Just get back into the groove of being that guy that's, that's on the attack like we saw at the beginning of the year last year.

You mentioned it to us a few weeks ago that this would, you know, Walker's done it, but this would be a competition a little bit, and Tony's talked a lot about maybe spreading the outs around.

Your better teams had the hierarchy, and the, and your two thousand and sixteen team did not and struggled.

How does your experience maybe color some of this and what you guys will do?

Well, I, I mean, I think what we have in that ten, twelve, ten, ten to fifteen range, whatever it was, was pretty rare.

Like, you're not gonna have many bullpens that have that many pieces, many guys that stay consistently in a role for that long.

So I think that's the first thing I understand is that's, that's pretty unique and rare to have that.

personally, I do think, like, if you can find a role for guys, they- we're all somewhat creatures of habit.

That's beneficial, but at the same time, you know, we want these pitchers to, to understand, like, their role one week might look different the next week, just depending on where we are with health or where we are with who's been used.

So we're gonna need some, some, you know, malleability in the, in that bullpen.

And, and again, like I mentioned to Susan, that, there is opportunity here, and, we'll see, we'll see who, who seizes that opportunity.

Justin Verlander signed a one-year deal to go back to Detroit.

Were you guys in the mix to, to bring him back at all?

We, we had talked to him, early, but hadn't had any discussions of late, as of late.

When you say you guys are still listening generally on, on free agency, is, is that type of deal something you're still listening to or have in mind as something that is could open up?

ca I don't know how much I can talk about free agency, right?

I don't know.

It's up to you.

I, I'll, I'll plead the Fifth then.

All right.

I, I, I'll tell you this, like I said earlier, and you can read between the lines, we're happy with the group that we have.

To adjust to this point about you and catcher Birdsong could do both.

You have a lot of guys who, who could potentially be bullpen fixes for you.

Is there anyone that is fully, like, has been a starter and now is fully a reliever, or?

No, we haven't made those calls.

talking to, to Jesse Chavez a little bit in the off-season, he made the point, and I think most pitching coaches and pitchers probably feel the same, that it's much easier to, to build a guy up to be a starter and then pull back instead of going the other way.

So, that's the way, that's the way we're going about it right now.

We're not really allowed to, to roam the backfields.

Is there anyone who kind of stood out to you today, and then the first day of featuring the catchers, like from bullpens or doing your nails?

No, I, I thought everybody looked good.

I mean, it's, it's always, I, I did- I worried about it a little bit as a catcher, but now in this position, I think I worry about it more.

On day one, you just want everybody to get out of there feeling good and, and get their work in, because it's what?

February 10th, and we're hoping they're pitching on October 10th and beyond.

So, as much as anything, I think it's good to get out, have a probably a little bit of extra adrenaline, and then, and just get good, solid work in.

Did you happen to catch any of Will Bednar today?

And how nice is it to see him in camp and healthy, and, you know, with the potential to maybe help you guys out at some point later?

Yeah.

I did.

Yeah, we're excited about him.

I mean, he's, kind of came on strong second half of the, the season last year, and obviously a guy with a big arm.

seems like he's kind of settling into that reliever role now, so it'll be a fun one to watch.

So was Tony hit Did he grab a fungo in Korea?

Was he, was he hitting rounders?

Tony?

Yeah, he Oh, yeah.

I'm sure he'll, he'll be mixing it up out here, I'm sure.

But, you mentioned you kind of saw him light up, like, well, obviously see him talking and, like, this casual environment.

But, like, what maybe especially stood out to you, you know, just during that brief time of seeing him, like, with these high school kids that he's probably not gonna manage again?

Yeah.

well, I mean, he loves the game, and he's passionate about teaching.

I think those are probably the two things that stood out the most, and I think why he, you know, has had a successful career in the college ranks, and why I think he'll be, successful here as well, is because, those two things will take you a long way as, as a coach.

And I think the guys will, will feel pretty quickly that, that he'll be in the trenches with them and, will care about them, but also he's gonna be a guy that's, you know, if he needs to push, he'll push as well.

Tony said that his speech this morning was more of a, a ramble.

How would you characterize the speech?

I, I mean, I, I enjoy listening to him talk.

he's usually good for four or five good one-liners through, through his rambles, and he'll mix in some comedy.

but he's, he's talented, right?

I mean, he's one of those guys that when he's talking, even if he thinks it's a ramble, you're kind of hanging on the words that he's saying.

I don't know, I'm guessing it's probably something he's been anxious to do, and then will have a chance to do it again, with the, the larger group here in a few days.

But, as much as anything, I think Tony's, Tony's authentic, and, for me, if you, if you're, if you're true to yourself and authentic, I think people will buy into it.

whether it's right or wrong, sometimes even, right?

Buy-in's important.

Sir, why do you think this has never happened before?

Hiring straight from college to Major League manager.

I don't know.

I don't know.

couldn't say.

I mean, I'm assuming, like, all the things that have been written, it's under sixty-two games versus sixty, dealing with players that are making a lot of money.

I do think that there used to be a bigger gap between college and professional ball, baseball.

Now, I think that gap has, has shrunk some, so assume it's a combination of, of those things.

Think this could open the door for other collegiate managers, coaches?

We'll see.

I hope I'm not hiring a manager for twenty years, so that'll be up to other people.

Buster.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Did your son go on the trip to Korea with you guys?

He did.

Did he attend the time?

He did, yeah.

It was quick.

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