Why is Buster Posey retiring? Giants MVP catcher reportedly calling it a career

Buster Posey, one of baseball’s most well-known catchers over the last decade-plus, is slated to announce his retirement on Thursday.

News of Posey’s retirement was first reported by The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, and is expected to become official in the next day.

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Posey was a key part of the Giants’ three World Series-winning teams in 2010, 2012 and 2014. He played 1,371 games for San Francisco during his time in the bigs. A seven-time All-Star, Posey took home NL Rookie of the Year honors in 2010 and NL MVP honors in 2012 after winning the batting title (.336) and leading the league in WAR (7.6).

All told, Posey finished his career with 1,500 hits, 158 home runs and 729 RBIs to go along with a slash line of .302/.372/.460. If 2021 was in fact his final season, then the 34-year old made history in the process: He finished the season hitting .304, putting him in elite company of players who hit .300 or better in their final season. From ESPN Stats & Info:

Here’s some more context to Posey’s career and everything else you need to know about him:

Why is Buster Posey retiring?

Posey will reportedly announce his retirement on Thursday.

A two-time Comeback Player of the Year, Posey missed a large chunk of the 2011 season after former Florida Marlins player Scott Cousins barreled into him, fracturing Posey’s fibula and tearing ligaments in his ankle. He missed the remainder of the 2011 season before coming back and winning NL MVP in 2012.

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He also missed all of the 2020 season after opting out due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year, he hit .304 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs while notching his seventh career All-Star nod and putting up 3.5 WAR — his highest mark since 2017. Among catchers who played in 100-plus games in 2021, Posey was the second-oldest, behind only St. Louis’ Yadier Molina.

Buster Posey’s age

Posey is 34 years old, and will turn 35 on March 27, 2022. Posey was drafted by the Giants in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft, but that wasn’t the first time he got a call from a major league squad. He was originally drafted in the 50th round by the Angels out of high school, but then opted to go to college at Florida State, where he won both the Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Awards, bestowed to the best college and amateur baseball players, respectively.

After being taken fifth overall in the 2008 draft, Posey began his career with the Giants as a September call-up in 2009. He made his major league debut on Sept. 11, 2009, to replace an injured Bengie Molina. He played in seven games that first season.

The next year — 2010 — was his first official season in the bigs. He hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs en route to being named the NL Rookie of the Year. He became a fixture in San Francisco for the next 11 years, eventually taking home an NL MVP award and seven All-Star nods along the way.

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Buster Posey MLB stats

Six years from now, much will be made about Posey’s case for the Hall of Fame — if, in fact, this was his last season.

Posey has a career WAR of 44.9, good for 16th all-time among eligible catchers. But when you look at Posey’s seven-year peak, his WAR puts him 10th all-time at 36.6, well above Hall of Famers such as Roy Campanella and Ted Simmons.

He also hit over .300 six times in his career and, in 2012, became the first catcher to lead the NL in batting since 1942. His 2012 NL MVP award was just the second by a catcher since 1999, after Minnesota’s Joe Mauer took home the 2009 AL MVP award.

He also has three World Series titles, a feat achieved or bested by only three Hall of Famers, one of whom is Yogi Berra. Beyond his ranks among all-time greats, Posey is also the first player in Giants history to catch 1,000 or more games for the franchise. and sits in the top 10 — or just outside the top 10 — in several of the club’s major statistical categories.