Buster Posey announces adoption of twin girls, opts out of shortened 2020 season

The face of the franchise will not play for the Giants this season. This decision was looming for about a week now after Posey gave his thoughts on the current state of baseball, shedding some light on his decision for the 2020 season.

A Buster Posey press conference was announced early Friday morning for 9:00 a.m. PDT, and the reality began to set in. Holding a sudden press conference could really only mean one thing. Posey had made his decision.

Posey began the video call addressing his absence from practices, and ultimately his decision to opt-out of the season.

“So I know it’s been mentioned how I’ve missed several practices over the last week, and I want to address that. A week ago today [July 10th] identical twin girls were born, that my wife and I are adopting, and the adoption actually became official yesterday afternoon. My wife, myself, and our older children are just overwhelmed with joy to welcome them into our family, to love them unconditionally, just to share life with them. The twins were born prematurely, thank God they are doing really well, but they’re going to have to be in the NICU for quite some time. And after much discussion with my wife, and doctors, a decision that I’ve wrestled with quite a bit since I knew that this adoption was on the table. I’ve decided to opt-out of the 2020 baseball season. We feel this is the best decision for these babies, and for our family as well.”

It felt like Posey was going to opt out, but his announcement regarding the birth and adoption of the two premature babies gave so much more perspective as to why he was making this decision, a decision that was very important for him and his family.

President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi followed up with a personal statement to Posey:

“On behalf of the entire Giants family and organization, we want to congratulate you and your family, and say we whole-heartedly support your decision. Personally, people may not know this, but Buster was incredibly supportive of me in my first year with the Giants organization. I had a lot of conversations with him that made the transition for me a lot easier. So I never had a chance to publicly thank him for that, and I want to do that now. I know i speak on behalf of a lot of people in the Giants family that we support you, we’re going to really miss you.”

Zaidi had his one-year-old son in the room with him while on this video call, and even he had a sentimental message for Posey.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler echoed Zaidi’s sentiments with a message of his own.

“I just wanted to reiterate Farhan’s statement of support for Buster. When i was hired also, there was one player at the opening press conference, and that was Buster. He is just supportive and thoughtful and caring, and it is an absolute honor to return that support, and say that i think Buster is making an incredible and thoughtful decision for him and his family, and the one that makes the most sense. I’m proud to be here on this call, listening and supporting today.”

The Posey’s have been working through the adoption process for years. A couple of months ago they finally matched with a birth-mother, after multiple failed attempts.

If the situation were difference, would Posey have played this season? The Giants catcher believes he would have.

“I think to be honest with you, and full disclosure, i think that if these babies hadn’t been born right now and weren’t premature, i’d probably be playing.”

So what kind of role will Posey have with the Giants, if any, this season? He said that we wants to be involved as much as he can, but will work with Kapler to figure that out. For now, Buster Posey will not suit up for the Giants until 2021.