Larry Baer and the San Francisco Giants Revive a Major Rivalry

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Prior to the beginning of the 2020 – ’21 MLB season, Buster Posey made a remark during Training Camp that got people raising their eyebrows. He didn’t promise a World Series berth, nor did Posey even suggest that the team would win it all. Instead, Posey said that the Giants were aiming to make the playoffs. Once a controversial statement, Posey’s words have become prophetic.

Despite bottom-of-the-barrel expectations following a lost season riddled by COVID-19, CEO Larry Baer and the rest of his veteran roster never lost sight of their former glory. Now, the Giants are squaring off against their heated rivals in the NLDS, the L.A. Dodgers – and they’ve already scored a victory.

Buster Posey and Larry Baer Lead the Charge

When Buster Posey first took the field as a rookie, he could hardly have predicted the career that would soon follow. A Hall of Famer with multiple World Series titles under his belt, Posey has spent more than a decade at the top of his profession, but in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers, it seemed like he had turned back the clock. A long-ball from Posey and a huge game from Webb would set the Giants up with an early series lead.

Whether or not the Giants make it to the World Series again, much less win the whole thing, Larry Baer and his team have developed the blueprint for success in smaller markets. In stark contrast to the L.A. Dodgers, the Giants haven’t signed a single player for more than $32 million. The Dodgers paid Mookie Betts more than $300 million alone.

The addition of Farhan Zaidi to the roster as President of Baseball Operations has helped the Giants to navigate this world of major payrolls and larger gaps between teams. Zaidi had once worked for the Dodgers but had shifted to the Giants in 2018. Zaidi would help to rebuild the farm system while doling out contracts to players like Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, and Evan Longoria. Zaidi has also been instrumental in helping to develop talents like LaMonte Wade and Mike Yastrzemski. This commitment to veterans with leadership abilities would prove monumental in efficacy as Crawford has turned into an MVP Candidate while Posey continues to dial back the clock.

As the Giants continue to defy the odds in their search for yet another World Series, Zaidi and team President Larry Baer are trying their hardest not to say “I told you so.”

Larry Baer says of the Giants and their recent success, “We don’t want to take a year off. That’s what the ownership group has always been about, for the 29 years we’ve had this.”

Baer was commenting on the idea that the Giants should have sold out several years while rebuilding their farm system and offloading aging contracts. As it turns out, that just isn’t how the Giants roll. With that being said, San Francisco is primed for today as well as the future with only $50 million on the books for players entering into the 2022 season. In comparison, the Dodgers have already allocated $139 million in guaranteed contracts.

Larry Baer is a fourth-generation San Franciscan who first gained a reputation at the national sports level in 1992. Baer has been working with the Giants as CEO since 2012 and, in the intervening years, Baer has helped guide the team to multiple World Series titles and berths.

 Read more about Larry Baer and the SF Giants here: https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/sf-giants-ceo-larry-baer-shares-details-on-new-partnership-with-the-san-francisco-giants-and-alaska-airlines