Giants notes: Why Martinez promotion was right choice for Posey originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — When it comes to filling out the Giants’ front office and coaching staff, Buster Posey has a unique point of view. The new president of baseball operations played for San Francisco as recently as 2021, so he has been in meetings with most of the men and women who hold key positions in the organization, albeit as a catcher, not an executive.
Posey noted that background last week when asked about J.P. Martinez, who was promoted to pitching coach when Bryan Price stepped down earlier in the offseason. Martinez was the assistant pitching coach in Posey’s final season, meaning the two often were together in game-planning meetings in the afternoon.
Posey said the main factor in promoting Martinez, however, was the comfort level of manager Bob Melvin.
“When it comes to filling the coaching staff I really want to defer to the manager, and talking to Bob, he felt really comfortable with J.P.,” Posey said.
Posey noted not only Martinez’s work ethic but also the way he is able to easily connect with pitchers. He also is bilingual, one reason Gabe Kapler originally was so excited to add him to the staff.
Martinez, 42, joined the staff before the 2021 season after spending six seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He played five minor league seasons with the Twins and Baltimore Orioles and is considered to be well-versed in modern pitching methods, something Posey mentioned in explaining why Martinez was the right choice.
“J.P. is a really sharp person and was able to integrate some of the newer analytics and pitch shapes and how you use seams and whatnot, and put that in layman’s terms for the players,” Posey said. “My sense and I think Bob’s sense as well is that J.P. in this role — with a little bit more backing or authority behind him — is really going to be able to take us to another level. And again, [it’s] feeling comfortable that he gained the trust of a lot of guys on the staff the last few years.”
Another Change Coming
Hitting coach Justin Viele took a lot of heat from segments of the fan base the last couple of seasons, but he was highly regarded by players and he found a nice new landing spot. The Texas Rangers hired Viele to be their new hitting coach, and he once again will work alongside Donnie Ecker, who is Texas’ bench coach and offensive coordinator. Viele will work for Bruce Bochy, who seemingly was much more interested in Viele’s past work than the Giants’ offensive struggles last season.
Ecker and Viele were in charge three years ago when the Giants set a franchise record for homers and won 107 games, and Posey worked with him often that season. Heliot Ramos has credited Viele with helping him break out last season.
The Giants added Pat Burrell to the staff last year and now will look for someone to work alongside him. Triple-A hitting coach Damon Minor, a former Giant, gets rave reviews from players and is the top internal candidate, although at some point the Giants might decide that they’ve made too many internal hires.
So far, all three major hires have come from within. Posey came from the ownership group and Martinez and new general manager Zack Minasian both were promoted to their new positions.
Early Losses
The Giants have just four free agents: Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Mark Canha and Curt Casali. There’s a strong chance that all four are gone.
Snell is one of the top pitchers on the market and is seeking a massive long-term contract. Conforto didn’t live up to expectations in his two years in San Francisco, and the Giants want Ramos in left field and also need to open up at-bats for younger options. Canha had a .705 OPS after coming over at the deadline, and the Giants wouldn’t be able to carry both him and Wilmer Flores, who declined to opt out. Casali played with Posey, but Tom Murphy will be back and under contract after missing most of his first season with the Giants.
There have been some notable departures behind the scenes, too.
The Giants originally planned to reassign Pete Putila after replacing him as GM, but he was hired away by the Atlanta Braves to be their assistant general manager. Putila wasn’t very visible after being poached from the Houston Astros, although he did have a huge hand in helping the Giants land Jung Hoo Lee. The Braves also hired Michael Schwartze, who was hired by the Brian Sabean-Bobby Evans front office and led the analytics staff within the clubhouse.
At first glance, the Giants seem to be taking a step away from newer approaches and returning to being more scouting-focused, although there are plenty of hires left to be made this offseason. It certainly can’t make them all that comfortable that the departures immediately were snapped up by organizations — the Rangers and Braves — that generally are thought to be among the stronger and better-run ones in baseball.
