Insider Says Giants Fans Should Credit Farhan Zaidi Not Buster Posey for 2025 Success

Who deserves the credit for the 2025 success of the San Francisco Giants?

Nov 8, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi speaks to the media during the MLB General Manager's Meetings at Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Entering play on Friday, the San Francisco Giants have a 24-14 record.

They are just one game out of first place in the NL West, something that not many analysts, fans and pundits alike were predicting before the 2025 season got underway.

Quietly, there was some internal confidence inside the Giants organization that the disappointing result that happened last year would not occur in this one.

On the surface, it was easy for the fans to point at one singular thing.

Farhan Zaidi was replaced by franchise legend Buster Posey as the president of baseball operations, bringing this organization back to a more baseball-centric approach instead of using numbers to justify decisions.

There is certainly more nuance than that behind the scenes, but that was the sentiment from many when this hire was announced.

And after Posey went out and landed Willy Adames as the first true big free agency fish San Francisco has gotten in some time, the backing of the first-year executive was even higher.

That has only reached a fever pitch based on how this team has performed to start 2025, and that has resulted in the fan base giving much of the credit to Posey.

However, Grant Brisbee of The Athletic is pushing back on that sentiment.

He took a look at the WAR values of players brought in by the current and previous regimes who have appeared in a game this season, and based on that metric, it's Zaidi who should be getting the credit for how the Giants have played.

-Farhan Zaidi acquisitions: 7.0 WAR
-Brian Sabean acquisitions: 2.0 WAR
-Bobby Evans acquisitions: 0.6 WAR
-Buster Posey acquisitions: -0.3 WAR

"Not only is Buster Posey in dead last, but he's behind Brian Sabean, who hasn't run the team for over a decade. So if you're looking for the architects of the 2025 Giants, you have three different options who are more responsible than the current person in charge," wrote Brisbee.

What the team insider was getting at is there's a lot more that goes into building a team than just who is leading the baseball operations department at any given moment.

17 of Zaidi's guys have appeared this year.

Evans has six, Posey has four and Sabean has two.

It makes sense as to why Zaidi's regime would be producing the most WAR this season because he was in charge from September 2018 to September 2024.

Meanwhile, Posey only has one winter under his belt.

Eventually, San Francisco will be shaped into the vision the legendary player has for the team he competed for, but right now, he can't get all the credit for how the Giants have played in 2025.

Posey might be responsible for a different attitude around the organization.

But it's Zaidi's players who have largely been the driving force.