When asked whether the Giants are planning on exercising Buster Posey’s $22 million option this offseason, Farhan Zaidi expressed his desire to bring the veteran catcher back if he still wants to play.
The old guys are all right.
Giants stars Buster Posey, 34, and Brandon Crawford, 34, were both named finalists Monday for the NL Silver Slugger award at their respective positions.
After opting out of last season to help raise adopted twin daughters during the COVID-19 pandemic, Posey returned better than ever for the Giants. Manager Gabe Kapler did a great job keeping Posey fresh, and his catcher rewarded him by batting .304 with 18 home runs and an .889 OPS over 113 games played. His previous two seasons combined, Posey had just 12 homers.
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And his OPS was his highest since his MVP campaign all the way back in 2012.
Posey is joined by catchers Will Smith, J.T. Realmuto and Omar Narvaez. He should have a good chance at taking home the hardware for the first time since 2017.
Crawford, who always has been more known for his defense, performed so well on both sides of the ball that he earned a contract extension through the 2023 season back in mid-August. With a new coaching staff and some mechanical changes to his swing, Crawford had a strong 2020. But nobody saw him having this kind of season in 2021.
Over 138 games played, Crawford finished with career highs in batting average (.298), on-base percentage (.373), slugging percentage (.522), OPS (.895), home runs (24), RBI (90) and runs scored (79). His 6.1 bWAR set a new career-high and was tied for sixth among all NL position players.
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Crawford will have some heavy competition vying for the award in Fernando Tatis Jr., Trea Turner and Willy Adames but his season more than deserves to be recognized.
The winners of the Silver Slugger award will be named on Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. PT.