SAN FRANCISCO — The traditional end-of-season press conference is generally short on big revelations, and that was the case with the Giants on Tuesday morning at Oracle Park.The Giants brain trust — Buster Posey, Zack Minasian and Tony Vitello — sat behind a podium and took questions for nearly 40 minutes, generally hinting at what was to come with the bullpen, the injury-ravaged rotation and a lineup full of underperforming veterans. They tried to take some responsibility for a 97-loss season, but there was also plenty of optimism about what’s to come.
Vitello spoke often about being “on an absolute mission” to do as well as possible next year. There was talk about how dangerous Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge might be as a duo, and the faith in infielders Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, both of whom struggled and then suffered season-ending injuries.
If you listened to the whole thing, you might think the Giants had just gone 81-81 again, which is why the most important part of the press conference came late, when Posey pivoted after being asked a question about only having one year left on his contract.