The Giants’ former catcher and Hall of Fame-bound slugger will be a “Forever Giant” in a way no player ever has before, having just bought an ownership stake in the team.
Early in this year’s baseball season, when your San Francisco Giants had their schmaltzy lovefest retirement ceremony for three-time champion and seven-time All-Star Buster Posey, Posey told KNBR he would "like to be involved with the Giants organization in some capacity" in his retirement. We figured that meant some sort of assistant coaching job, or maybe some ongoing Bobblehead Night promotions, or perhaps the occasional half-inning joining Kruk and Kuip in the broadcast booth. But Posey apparently had a lot more in mind.
Today, the #SFGiants announced three-time World Series Champion and seven-time All-Star Buster Posey has become a member of the ownership group. This marks the first time that a former player has joined the organization as a principal partner and member of the Board of Directors. pic.twitter.com/KzmgDRkk3a
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 21, 2022
The Chronicle reports that Posey has bought a stake in the Giants' ownership, and will now be a minority owner of the team. They point out that the 35-year-old Posey will be “the first player in franchise history to be a principal owner and member of the board of directors.”
We don’t know how large a stake in the team Posey bought, nor how much he paid. But the Chronicle says that Posey is now “one of 31 partners with stakes in the team.” The principal, majority-stake owner of the Giants is still Republican mega-donor Charles Johnson, though team president and CEO Larry Baer essentially runs the team.
"I feel deeply connected to the Giants and the San Francisco Bay Area and hope that my perspective as a former player will be beneficial in growing the game and assisting the organization to build the next championship team both on and off the field," Posey said in a statement to NBC Bay Area. "I also believe that I can learn so much by surrounding myself with business leaders who have been at the top of their respective industries."
It was somewhat common for former players to become part-owners back in the 1910s and 1920s (Connie Mack and the then-Philadelphia A’s come to mind). But we haven’t seen it much in the modern era. Former pitcher Nolan Ryan had a small ownership stake in the Texas Rangers (for whom he once played) from 2010-2013, ex-Yankee Derek Jeter was part-owner of the Miami Marlins (for whom he never played) for about five years up until this past February. Considering Posey played 12 seasons with the Giants, we hope his ownership run lasts longer than Ryan’s or Jeter's.
Related: The San Francisco Giants Just Can't Quit Buster Posey [SFist]
Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Catcher Buster Posey #28 of the San Francisco Giants looks on from home plate against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park on September 30, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
