© John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
The 2021 World Series Champion has not yet been crowned, but Farhan Zaidi is already looking ahead to 2022.
San Francisco’s President of Baseball Operations joined Tom Tolbert and Larry Krueger to discuss the team’s offseason plans for free agency, including the possibility of bringing back Buster Posey and Brandon Belt.
As it stands right now, the Giants have the option to pick up the last year on Buster Posey’s contract for $22 million. Belt is currently an unrestricted free agent… but it sounds like that could change soon.
“Obviously, anybody that’s in your organization, you can negotiate a new deal or an extension any time,” Zaidi said. “We would love to have both Buster and Belt back. Those conversations are ongoing. And the club option on Buster is just one possibility. But we’ll see sort of what his interest is in, you know, coming back, and try to respect his space as he kind of tries to figure out what, what he wants to do.
“And with with Belt, we’ve got a qualifying offer a decision to make with him. And I’m sure we’ll explore a multi-year deal as well. Thinking back to the playoffs, I mean, understanding that we’re playing the Dodgers who lost Muncy, and so they kind of have had their own loss to deal with. But it just felt like our lineup wasn’t the same once we lost Belt. I think that illustrated how important he was to us as much as anything. He was just so hot there at the end and really carrying us, and I think he demonstrated how important he can be to our club.”
Zaidi also spoke about Kris Bryant, who joined the club at this year’s trade deadline. Because Bryant doesn’t have the history that Belt and Posey do with the Giants, he expects that negotiation to take longer.
“I think he really enjoyed his time in San Francisco, obviously connected with a fan base, had a great time with our group in the clubhouse, our manager, coaching staff,” Zaidi said. “So the fit is there. But you know, he’s earned the right to go through the process. And when you are at that level, understandably, it takes a while for that process to play out.
“So I don’t expect anything to happen quickly, obviously. You know, we have a lot of interest in bringing him back, but we will have to respect how that process plays out and continue to be in touch with Scott Boras on Kris and a number of his other clients.”
You can listen to Zaidi’s full interview with the guys below: