Posey, Minasian outline vision for Giants

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado's Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Pitching and defense were the hallmarks of the Giants teams that won World Series championships in 2010, ‘12 and ‘14. Now that the face of those clubs -- Buster Posey -- is back in charge as San Francisco’s president of baseball operations, the Giants appear poised to regain that identity.

“I think it’s a huge advantage that we have this blueprint from not too long ago on what works in this ballpark,” said Zack Minasian, who was introduced as Posey’s new general manager on Friday. “Buster’s talked about [it]: We’re going to pitch, we’re going to play good defense and we’re going to find ways to score runs. Having position players that can beat you in a variety of ways is very important in this ballpark. It’s pretty simple. It starts on the mound and then having the right players defending to help the pitcher every given day and just scratch and claw every run we can get.”

With the annual GM Meetings taking place in San Antonio through Thursday, Posey and Minasian will have an opportunity to start putting their stamp on the roster and begin targeting players who match the ethos of their ideal Giants club.

“I think we’re going to look at every possibility available to make our team as good as we can,” Posey said. “Trade route, free agent, Minor League free agent. It’s a combination, right? When you think about roster construction, to me, it’s similar to the way I looked at being a baseball player. As a player, you want to be as complete as you possibly can, on both sides of the ball. I think that’s ultimately how we want to create our roster, with strong pitching, strong defense and the ability to score some runs in different ways.”

Blake Snell is a free agent after opting out of the final year of his two-year, $62 million deal on Friday, so the Giants will have a major hole to fill at the top of their rotation this winter. San Francisco figures to be in the mix to retain the two-time Cy Young winner, though the club could also make a run at other top free-agent starters such as Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and old friend Sean Manaea.

The Giants are expected to pursue upgrades in the middle infield as well, but they already have a few premium defensive players to build around, including third baseman Matt Chapman and catcher Patrick Bailey, both of whom won a Gold Glove Award on Sunday.

“I think [Posey’s] going to hold us to a different standard,” Bailey said. “The one thing I keep hearing in mentioning the ‘10, ‘12 and ‘14 teams is pitching and defense. I think that’s obviously a big deal. I think you kind of control the little things, and I think that leads to your best chance of winning, especially in San Francisco.”

Chapman, who signed a six-year, $151 million extension in September, said he’s willing to assist with any recruiting efforts this offseason and is eager to see where the Giants go under Posey's direction.

“I think it’s exciting to get Buster at the top,” Chapman said. “He’s obviously somebody that’s a legend in this organization and somebody that has a lot of respect, top to bottom of the organization. I think he knows what it takes to win. I’m excited to be a part of it. I think the Giants have a very high standard, and they’re committed to winning. They want to win championships. Obviously, what was going on before just wasn’t cutting it, so to have Buster come in and bring back the style of baseball and the winning environment that he’s used to, I think, has got to excite people. I know it excites the players.”