Why Javier Lopez was attracted to Buster Posey’s Giants front office originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — Team executives tend to travel in groups during the MLB meetings that take place each offseason, and even though it’s been more than a year as an executive, Buster Posey still attracts a lot of attention when he walks the halls with the rest of his front office.
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But when Posey was walking through a Las Vegas hotel during general managers’ meetings last November, he actually wasn’t the Giants executive with the most rings.
This honor belongs to Javier Lopezwho won a title with the Boston Red Sox early in his career and later was instrumental in helping the Giants win three in five years. The southpaw is tied with Mookie Betts and former teammate Pablo Sandoval (member of the 2021 Atlanta Braves) for the most titles won by a player who debuted this century. The goal now is to break that bond as a framework.
Earlier this offseason, Lopez and Curt Casali joined the baseball operations group as advisors. It was a move that was a long time coming for Lopez, who retired in 2016 and managed to move into the broadcast booth. He had been discussing coming on board with Posey, a close friend, for months.
“When he puts his name on it, you want to see him succeed,” Lopez said on Thursday’s Giants Talk podcast. “We’ve gone back and forth over the last year of him taking over as president of baseball operations about how can I add value, and we’re kind of trying that right now for this year. Not only myself, but Curt Casali came on board as well.
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“We’re just going to try to offer different viewpoints and opinions and kind of see where it ends up at the end of the day. I thought it would be a good way to dip my toe in the water as far as the front office work and try to get the Giants back to where they want to be.”
With the arrival of Lopez and Casali, the Giants have eight advisors for Posey, general manager Zack Minasian and the rest of the front office. This is a group of people who have been close to Posey for a long time, but who also hide many blind spots.
Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker are former big league managers who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. John Barr was a longtime scout and the man who drafted Posey nearly two decades ago. Bobby Evans, the Giants’ former general manager, provides the front office perspective, and Posey’s former agent, Jeff Berry, can provide his perspective from the other side of the negotiating table. Ron Wotus was the longest-tenured coach in franchise history and also has a unique perspective on prospects since he still works with them at the Giants’ affiliates.
Lopez and Casali are newcomers to the front office, one a former pitcher and the other a former catcher. During early discussions about free agents and trade targets, Lopez focused primarily on players he knows.
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“For me right now, the focus has been more on the pitching side,” Lopez said. “(It’s) just being able to look at a player and pick out certain aspects, whether it’s something mechanical, whether it’s something physical, or whether it’s something as simple as a pitch mix that maybe needs to be changed.”
Lopez’s addition didn’t come as a surprise to his former teammates. He was the rare reliever to become a team leader and he won the Willie Mac Award in his final season with the Giants. Years of broadcasting have helped Lopez keep up with how the game has evolved over the past decade, and it’s not going away.
Lopez still plans to be part of the mix for NBC Sports Bay Area game broadcasts, occasionally filling in for Mike Krukow, but his main focus in 2026 is helping Posey behind the scenes. He stressed that he hasn’t forgotten what it was like to win in front of a huge crowd at Oracle Park. The goal is to help Posey bring back that era.
“It’s always something I’ve always wanted to see if I want to add value – I’m going to do my best to do that,” he said. “It’s just an opportunity to see what’s going on behind the curtain.”
