SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Throughout most of his 12-year MLB playing career, Buster Posey had the clubhouse stature to avoid the long trip across the valley to Surprise Stadium when the Giants went there for spring training games.
But Posey might want to hop in the car Saturday, and not just because it'll be the organization's first game of any kind since he took over as President of Baseball Operations.
The Giants open their spring schedule against the Texas Rangers and manager Bruce Bochy, who said Tuesday that he wasn't surprised that his longtime star ended up in a leadership role with his former organization. Bochy and Posey keep in touch, and the manager said he was excited when he first heard the news about Posey taking over.
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"Obviously, I think it's a good move because of what I think about Buster," Bochy said at MLB's annual Cactus League media day. "He'll do a tremendous job. He's smart, knows the game, and has a good feel for people. I think it did a lot probably for the fans, too, to have Buster leading the way."
Bochy's final season as Giants manager also was Farhan Zaidi's first season in charge of baseball operations. The four-time World Series champion said he sensed Posey would get more involved when he returned to San Francisco and became part of the ownership group.
"I'll be honest, I never thought about him being the president of the club but he can do what (he wants)," Bochy said. "He can manage, he can do what he's doing (now), there's no ceiling on him. It's just a matter of what he wanted to do."
If there isn't a reunion this weekend, Posey won't have to wait long during the regular season. The Rangers come to town at the end of April for a three-game series and the Giants are using that weekend to celebrate Brandon Crawford, who played most of his career for Bochy. The longtime Giants manager said he was thrilled when he saw that on the schedule.
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"I'm really happy that we'll be there," Bochy said. "It's going to be pretty cool that I'll get to see the fans acknowledge [Crawford] and thank him for what he did. I appreciate the timing of this."