Buster Posey
★ activeBorn Mar 27, 1987 · Leesburg, GA · age 39
A franchise-icon catcher and three-time World Series champion who moved directly into the front office as the San Francisco Giants' head of baseball operations.
Across the full 2-season sample, the measured profile stands out most for avoidance of dead payroll (98th percentile), future-foundation returns (87th percentile), and net WAR per trade (84th percentile). The clearest contrast is traded-for surplus (2nd percentile): players acquired by trade have created less surplus value than for most peers. Because the sample covers fewer than five seasons, those comparisons are descriptive rather than stable.
2 seasons with salary-era data across 1 stint. All figures are franchise-level outcomes during the tenure, not solely attributable to one executive.
0 pennants · 0 playoff appearances · 146–178 (0.451)
Overview
| Team | Role | Year | Pay $M |
Rel Pay |
Surp $M |
Surp WAR |
Dead % |
Cheap $M |
Draft $M |
Trd $M |
Int'l $M |
$ / WAR |
WAR | Depth | Dead WAR |
HG | Trade | Net/ Trd |
FA | R5 | RFA | PPA | CPA | WAB | TAB | W-L% | PO | Pen | WS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giants |
POBO | 2025 81–81 | $152 | 97 | -21 | -5.3 | 12% | +36 | +10 | -0 | +0 | $4.1M | 32.6 | 7.0 | -4.2 | +1.2 | +6.1 | +1.01 | +3.8 | +0.0 | +0.49 | 0.88 | 0.11 | -0.6 | -1.3 | 0.500 | |||
| Giants |
POBO | 2026 65–97 | $187 | 115 | -91 | -21.7 | 26% | +14 | +0 | -11 | +0 | $6.0M | 22.9 | 4.0 | -8.1 | +0.0 | +0.5 | +0.27 | -1.4 | +0.0 | +0.47 | 0.13 | 0.05 | -18.7 | -13.0 | 0.401 | |||
| Career total (1985+ data) | $338 | 106 | -112 | -27.0 | 19% | +25 | +5 | -6 | +0 | $5.0M | 55.5 | 5.5 | -6.2 | +1.2 | +6.6 | +0.83 | +2.4 | +0.0 | +0.48 | 0.53 | 0.08 | -19.3 | -14.4 | 0.451 | – | – | – | ||
Roster Construction
Build channels — net fWAR
Acquired minus surrendered / signed minus walked.
Trades
Trades made — 24 deals credited to Buster Posey, best expected value first; surplus is realized value in $M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$13.6M
NYM · David Stearns
−$13.6M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$3.2M
MIN · Derek Falvey
−$3.2M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.8M
SDP · AJ Preller
−$0.8M
ATL · Alex Anthopoulos
+$4.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$4.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.0M
MIA · Peter Bendix
+$0.0M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$2.4M
DET · Scott Harris
−$2.4M
PHI · Dave Dombrowski
+$0.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$0.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$3.2M
KCR · J.J. Picollo
−$3.2M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$4.8M
CIN · Nick Krall
−$4.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.0M
NYM · David Stearns
+$0.0M
BOS · Craig Breslow
+$2.4M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$2.4M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.8M
MIL · Matt Arnold
−$0.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.8M
SEA · Jerry Dipoto
−$0.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.0M
MIA · Peter Bendix
+$0.0M
HOU · Dana Brown
+$0.0M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.0M
TBR · Erik Neander
+$3.2M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$3.2M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.0M
MIA · Peter Bendix
+$0.0M
KCR · J.J. Picollo
+$0.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$0.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$3.2M
ANA · Perry Minasian
−$3.2M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$8.8M
NYY · Brian Cashman
−$8.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$2.4M
NYY · Brian Cashman
−$2.4M
SFG · Buster Posey
+$0.0M
TOR · Ross Atkins
+$0.0M
CLE · Chris Antonetti
+$4.8M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$4.8M
BOS · Craig Breslow
+$5.6M
SFG · Buster Posey
−$5.6M
Players acquired — 31 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)
| Player | Pos | Team | How | Year | Szns | fWAR | WAR/yr | RFA | PPA | CPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willy Adames | SS | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | 2 | +4.5 | +2.3 | – | 3.3% | 0.45% |
| Luis Arráez | 1B/2B | SFG |
Trade | 2026 | 1 | +3.8 | +3.8 | – | 0.4% | 0.17% |
| Rafael Devers | 3B | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | 2 | +3.4 | +1.7 | +5.87 | 1.2% | 0.15% |
| Justin Verlander | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | +2.3 | +2.3 | – | 2.0% | 0.25% |
| Drew Gilbert | OF | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | 2 | +1.8 | +0.9 | +1.40 | – | – |
| Bryce Eldridge | 1B/DH | SFG |
Draft | 2025 | 1 | +1.6 | +1.6 | – | – | – |
| Daniel Susac | C | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | 1 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.89 | – | – |
| Anthony Molina | P | SFG |
Trade | 2026 | 1 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.84 | 0.1% | 0.04% |
| Tyler Mahle | P | SFG |
Trade | 2026 | 1 | +0.8 | +0.8 | – | 0.1% | 0.04% |
| Sam Hentges | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | +0.5 | +0.5 | – | 0.1% | 0.03% |
| Dylan Smith | P | SFG |
Trade | 2026 | 1 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.59 | 0.1% | 0.03% |
| Adrian Houser | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | +0.4 | +0.4 | – | 0.1% | 0.02% |
| Dominic Smith | 1B/OF | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | +0.4 | +0.4 | – | 0.4% | 0.05% |
| Blade Tidwell | P | SFG |
Trade | 2026 | 1 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +1.40 | 0.1% | 0.02% |
| Caleb Kilian | P | SFG |
Trade | 2026 | 1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | – | 0.0% | 0.02% |
| JT Brubaker | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 2 | +0.1 | +0.0 | – | 0.3% | 0.04% |
| Joey Lucchesi | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | – | 0.1% | 0.01% |
| Jason Foley | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | +0.0 | +0.0 | – | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| Buddy Kennedy | 2B/3B | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | – | -0.0 | – | – | – | – |
| Joel Peguero | P | SFG |
Rule 5 | 2025 | 2 | +0.0 | +0.0 | – | – | – |
| Ryan Borucki | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2026 | – | -0.1 | – | – | – | – |
| Jared Oliva | OF | SFG |
Free agency | 2026 | – | -0.1 | – | – | – | – |
| José Buttó | P | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | – | -0.2 | – | +1.40 | – | – |
| Eric Haase | C | SFG |
Free agency | 2026 | – | -0.2 | – | – | – | – |
| Andrew Knizner | C | SFG |
Free agency | 2026 | 1 | -0.2 | -0.2 | – | 0.2% | 0.03% |
| Harrison Bader | OF | SFG |
Free agency | 2026 | – | -0.4 | – | – | – | – |
| Will Brennan | OF | SFG |
Free agency | 2026 | – | -0.4 | – | – | – | – |
| Carson Whisenhunt | P | SFG |
Draft | 2025 | – | -0.4 | – | – | – | – |
| Osleivis Basabe | 2B/SS | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | – | -0.5 | – | +0.10 | – | – |
| Jerar Encarnacion | OF | SFG |
Trade | 2025 | 1 | -0.5 | -0.5 | – | 0.1% | 0.01% |
| Matt Gage | P | SFG |
Free agency | 2025 | 1 | -0.8 | -0.8 | – | 0.5% | 0.05% |
Trade-side columns: RFA is playoff-readiness percentage points added to the future roster foundation. It grades the franchise's entire side of a trade, so the same score repeats for every player acquired in that package. PPA/CPA remain player-level arrival-year probability points.
WAB = wins above what the team's payroll predicted (resource-controlled). WAR surplus = era-neutral value (WAR minus payroll in win-equivalents). Roster surplus $M = dollar value of WAR over cost. Build channels (realized fWAR): HG = home-grown via amateur draft / international signing; Trade = acquired minus surrendered (incl. purchases/waivers); FA = signed minus walked; R5 = Rule-5 / minor-league-draft pickups. Credit follows the acquisition year — home-grown to the regime at the player's draft/signing (not whoever was in the chair when he peaked), trade/FA/R5 to the GM who made the move. Players acquired as prospects before debuting (e.g. Smoltz, Bagwell; Rule-5 picks like Uggla) are counted as trade/R5, not home-grown. All are franchise-level outcomes during the stint, not solely attributable to one executive.