What Giants’ Buster Posey took away from Dodgers’ latest World Series win

LAS VEGAS — Buster Posey won’t hide the fact that he’s biased. When asked at the General Managers Meetings to weigh in on one of the biggest topics from the postseason, the Giants president of baseball operations smiled. “Bum,” he said.When it comes to Madison Bumgarner vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, there’s no doubt for anyone who was there in 2014. But the rivalry doesn’t prevent the Giants from having appreciation for what Yamamoto, the World Series MVP who came back on no days rest in Game 7, accomplished. General manager Zack Minasian scouted Yamamoto extensively when the Giants were pursuing him and said that decision still stings, but added this is about what they expected in Yamamoto. Posey said he sees the parallels between Bumgarner’s 2014 and Yamamoto’s 2025. “I’m still shaking my head at what Bum did and shaking my head at what Yamamoto did, too,” he said. “I just didn’t expect him to have the velocity after throwing 100 pitches the night before.”The 2014 World Series was the most intense of Posey’s three trips, but even the Giants can admit that this year’s seven-game back-and-forth brought more drama. Posey called the matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays “probably the most dynamic World Series that I can recall.”“I thought the postseason in general was just so compelling to watch,” he said. “Somebody asked the question today, ‘Should we have the ghost runner at second in the postseason?’ I’m an adamant ‘no’ about that, just because those extra-inning games — even though sometimes they get a little wacky going 15, 16, 17, 18 innings — they’re a story.“My kids are talking about it at school the next day, whereas if you have a ghost runner and it ends in the 10th or the 11th, it’s probably not as much of a story. I thought it was one for the ages, for sure.”While the comparison for most was between Bumgarner and Yamamoto, Posey brought up another teammate, saying Yamamoto’s flexibility, range of motion and wiry-strong frame remind him of Tim Lincecum. The Giants were crushed when the right-hander turned them down two offseasons ago, and they’re still trying to close a massive gap in the NL West. There probably is not much they can replicate there, but there is a lot to be taken away from the Blue Jays, who were elite at putting the ball in play and made some savvy under-the-radar additions to their lineup and pitching staff en route to a World Series appearance. Posey said one of his main takeaways was just the power of getting hot in October. Anything can happen if you get a lineup on the same page for that final month.“When these groups get going there’s a confidence that happens,” he said. “It’s hard to measure how much that comes into play. When you’re confident, you’re going to take those close pitches easier than you would if you’re searching a little bit. It all kind of adds up.”Bailey’s Backup?The Giants brought Jesus Rodriguez to Oracle Park for the season’s final homestand so he could spend some time learning from the big league coaches and get familiar with some of the team’s pitchers. The development will continue this offseason, when Rodriguez plays Winter Ball to get more reps behind the plate. Posey said he didn’t want to commit to anything this early as far as the backup catcher spot goes, but Rodriguez will be in camp and should get a shot to claim that job at some point in 2026. “We think he’s got a chance to be a good catcher in the Major Leagues,” Posey said. “We’ll evaluate how he looks this spring. Relative to other catchers that are his age, he has not caught as many games, but he seems to be handling himself well.”The 23-year-old is a career .309 hitter in the minors and batted .322 with more walks than strikeouts in Sacramento after coming over in the Camilo Doval trade. Bailey’s primary backup last year was veteran Andrew Knizner, who is arbitration-eligible. The Giants also could add another experienced right-handed-hitting option this offseason. Another MVP Catcher?Posey won the NL MVP Award in 2012 and he’s still the last MLB catcher to take the award home. He’s hopeful that he sees that change on Thursday night. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and New York’s Aaron Judge are locked in one of the most fascinating MVP races in years. Posey is curious to see which way voters will lean and joked that “catchers have got to stay together.” “My vote would be Cal,” he said. “I think Aaron Judge is unbelievable, but for what (Raleigh) did, not only offensively but to lead a staff and to hit that many homers and go deep in the playoffs — (although) I know voting is not based on the playoffs.”Raleigh hit 60 homers during the regular season while catching 121 games and playing 38 more as a DH. Judge led the Majors in batting average, OBP and slugging and had the edge over Raleigh in WAR, too.In that last category, Posey’s 2012 would stack up to either of this year’s MVP candidates. He was worth 9.8 fWAR in 2012, which would put him between Judge (10.1) and Raleigh (9.1). Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

What Giants’ Buster Posey took away from Dodgers’ latest World Series win

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