As had been predicted by many baseball watchers and Giants fans, the Giants' president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has been let go after the team's less-than-stellar 2024 season.

Giants owner Greg Johnson made the announcement Monday morning, saying that longtime Giants great Buster Posey would be taking over the top front-office job.

Posey has been a co-owner and board member of the Giants since 2022, when he became the first former player in the franchise's history to purchase a stake in the team. He retired that year as a three-time World Series-winning catcher.

"We are looking for someone who can define, direct and lead this franchise’s baseball philosophy and we feel that Buster is the perfect fit,” Johnson said in a release. “Buster has the demeanor, intelligence and drive to do this job, and we are confident that he and Bob Melvin will work together to bring back winning baseball to San Francisco.”

The Giants finished their season Sunday 80-82, which was a one-win improvement over their equally dismal 2023 season.

As the Chronicle notes, general manager Pete Putila was not mentioned in the release, and he could also be on his way out. And A's assistant general manager Billy Owens has been discussed as a possible replacement GM.

Complaints about Zaidi have been many, and growing, focused on his failure to make major additions to the roster before the trade deadline, and a failure to get the team into the post-season more than once during his six-year tenure (they only did so in 2021).

"We appreciate Farhan's commitment to the organization and his passion for making an impact on our community during his six years with the Giants," said Johnson. "Ultimately the results have not been what we had hoped, and while that responsibility is shared by all of us, we have decided that a change is necessary."

The last straw may have come for the organization when Zaidi failed to complete negotiations with third baseman Matt Chapman in recent weeks for a new contract, as the Bleacher Report tells us. The Athletic reported two weeks ago that Posey had stepped in to personally negotiate and finalize that $151 million, six-year extension with Chapman's agent, Scott Boras. The Athletic reported that the Giants' ownership "did not trust Zaidi and Boras to finish at the rim."

While fans are likely to cheer the return of Posey in an active, high-profile role in the front office, not all baseball watchers see this as a great move. KNBR's Dieter Kurtenbach tweeted Monday, "I agree that Farhan had to go, I don’t think the Giants understand how bad of a look it is to put somebody who has no serious baseball ops experience in the number one role. Moving a board member into the 'CEO' job reeks of failing company desperation."

Kurtenbach adds that much of the "incompetent" management staff was hired by Zaidi, and that Posey, with no operational experience, will now become their boss or have to replace them.

"What reputable baseball person — the kind of person with the resume the Giants need — would take this job under Buster? 'Oh, so I get to do all the work of a DBO but Buster gets to make the final calls and get all the credit?' Giants better get ready to write a FAT check," Kurtenbach adds.

Top image: Retired San Francisco Giants player Buster Posey speaks during a ceremony for his retirement before the game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park on May 07, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)