Buster Posey isn’t hiding the Giants’ winter priority: the bullpen needs help.
Speaking with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the San Francisco president of baseball operations made it clear the club will keep looking for relief help however it can find it.
"You look at free agents; we'll look at trades. One thing I have learned in two years, it's hard to make trades.
It's hard to trade for pitching. Obviously, it's extremely valuable and it's hard to get people to give up pitching.
So, we'll do the best we can there. Continue to hopefully develop some arms.
We've got some exciting arms in the system."
That search for answers includes Ryan Walker, a reliever who was once viewed as a possible bullpen anchor for San Francisco before his career took a sharp turn. Walker was in the organization before Posey became president of baseball operations in 2024, and he had shown enough early on to look like a pitcher the Giants could build around.
The last two seasons have told a much different story. In 33 games this year, covering 32.2 innings, Walker put up a 7.16 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP while collecting only three saves. He had been used as the closer in 2025, but this season he became hard to trust in late-game spots and eventually finished in Triple-A.
Even with that rough stretch, Posey isn’t ready to write him off.
"He’s in that spot right now where he’s kind of at a crossroads and he’s going to have to decide which way his career is going to go. I’m more than hopeful that he can get it back going," Posey said via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Walker’s track record still gives him something to lean on. Across his career, he owns a 3.56 ERA in 226 games, with 31 saves, 260 strikeouts in 235.1 innings, and a 2.9 WAR.
Posey also pointed to the human side of the equation, saying he still believes in Walker as a person even while acknowledging the right-hander’s confidence has taken a hit.
"I'm a big fan of just Ryan Walker, the person. I think he would even say his confidence is a little rattled right now," Posey said.
"He’s going to have to find a way to regain that confidence. Sometimes guys can go home in the offseason and they can put on a lot of really good muscle and weight and they come back and maybe their fastball is a little sharper and their breaking ball is a little sharper."
For the Giants, the message is simple: the bullpen will be addressed, and Walker still has a path to fight his way back into the mix.
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