What is Buster Posey's net worth and salary?
Buster Posey is a retired American professional baseball player who has a net worth of $150 million. Buster Posey played his entire baseball career, from 2009 to 2021, with the San Francisco Giants. He announced his retirement in November 2021. During his major league baseball career, Buster earned around $160 million in salary, and he has donated and raised millions of dollars for various charities. Before the Giants drafted him, Buster played for Florida State University, winning the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy in 2008. Posey won many awards during his time in the MLB, including the National League Rookie of the Year award (2010), National League Hank Aaron Award (2012), and Gold Glove Award (2016), and he was a World Series champion in 2010, 2012, and 2014. In 2019, the Johnny Bench Award, which is given to the NCAA's top Division I catcher, was renamed the Buster Posey Award. In September 2022, Buster joined the Giants' ownership group and began serving on the team's board of directors.
Early Life
Buster Posey was born Gerald Dempsey Posey III on March 27, 1987, in Leesburg, Georgia. Buster is the son of Tracy and Demp Posey, and he grew up in a Methodist Christian household with three younger siblings. Posey was an Atlanta Braves fan as a child, and he played baseball, basketball, soccer, and football during his youth. He attended Lee County High School, and during his junior year, he was a pitcher and shortstop on the school's baseball team. Buster set records in runs batted in (46) and batting average (.544) and hit seven home runs that year. As a senior, he hit 14 home runs, setting a school record, and he had 108 strikeouts as a pitcher. The team played in the Georgia AAAA State Championship but lost to Henry County High, who future MLB player Jason Heyward played for. After his senior year, Posey was named an EA Sports All-American, the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, a "Baseball America" All-American, and the Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year. Buster graduated from high school with a 3.94 GPA and was fourth in his class.
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College Career
Posey was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, but he chose to attend Florida State University and play for the Seminoles baseball team instead. As a freshman, he played the position of shortstop and started all 65 games, ending the season with a .346 batting average and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors. During his sophomore year, Buster switched to the position of catcher and finished second in the voting for the Johnny Bench Award. As a junior, he won the Johnny Bench Award, Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year award, Golden Spikes Award, and Dick Howser Trophy, and he was named ACC Baseball Player of the Year. During the off-season, Posey played the position of shortstop for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox when the team won the 2006 Cape Cod Baseball League championship, and he was their catcher when they won the following year. Buster was named a league all-star during both seasons he played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.
Professional Career
During the 2008 MLB Draft, "Baseball America" referred to Posey as the "top catching prospect, both defensively and offensively, in the country." He was the fifth overall pick in the draft, and the San Francisco Giants offered him a $6.2 million signing bonus, which was the biggest up-front bonus in the team's history. After taking part in the team's 2009 spring training, Buster was assigned to the Giants' affiliate the San Jose Giants (California League). He played 80 games for the San Jose Giants before being promoted to the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants' Class AAA team in the Pacific Coast League. Posey played 35 games with that team, then he was called up to play for the MLB in September 2009 after Bengie Molina, the Giants' starting catcher, was injured. In July 2010, Buster was named National League Player of the Week, and later that month, he began playing the position of clean-up hitter and won the NL Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards. In 2010, he was named the NL Players Choice Awards Outstanding Rookie and the NL Rookie of the Year, and he was chosen as the catcher for the Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team and "Baseball America's" All-Rookie Team. The Giants defeated the Texas Rangers to win the World Series in November 2010.
In May 2011, an injury during a game against the Florida Marlins resulted in torn ligaments in Posey's ankle as well as a fractured fibula. He underwent surgery for the injuries and had to sit out the rest of the season. Since Scott Cousins admitted that he intentionally collided with Buster, the MLB adopted what is informally known as the "Buster Posey Rule," which states that "a runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate)." The Giants won the World Series again in 2012, defeating the Detroit Tigers 4–0, and after the season ended, Posey was named the NL MVP by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, and he won the NL Hank Aaron Award, NL Comeback Player of the Year award, NL Silver Slugger Award, and the Giants' Willie Mac Award.
The team defeated the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, and in 2015, Buster won the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year award and the NL Silver Slugger Award. He received the Gold Glove Award in 2016, and in 2018, he was named to the MLB All-Star Game for the sixth time, but he couldn't play because of a hip injury. In August of that year, the Giants announced that Posey would have to undergo season-ending surgery due to the injury and that he wouldn't be able to play for six to eight months. He decided not to play in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health of his adopted premature twin daughters. In 2021, Buster won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award and NL Silver Slugger Award, then he announced his retirement on November 4, 2021. He said of the decision, "The reason I'm retiring is I want to be able to do more stuff from February to November with my family. Physically, it's much harder now, and to be honest, it's hard to enjoy it as much when there's physical pain that you're dealing with on a daily basis."
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Contracts and Earnings
In March 2013, Buster signed a nine-year, $159 million contract with the Giants. Between June 2017 and June 2018, he earned $25 million between salary and endorsements, which made him one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. By skipping or shortening the final two seasons of his career, partly due to the COVID pandemic, Posey left $30 million in potential earnings on the table with the Giants.
BodyArmor Deal
Buster was an early investor in the sports drink company BodyArmor. Shortly before Posey announced his retirement, Coca-Cola acquired BODYARMOR for $5.6 billion. Posey likely earned at least somewhere in the mid-to-high eight figures as part of his investment, and it's possible he surpassed $100 million.
SF Giants Ownership
In September 2022 the Giants announced that Buster had bought a piece of the team. He was the 31st person to be allowed to invest in the Giants and the first former player in the ownership group. The size of his stake was not revealed but at the time of his acquisition the Giants were valued at $3.5 billion. So a 1% stake would have cost $35 million.
Personal Life
Buster married Kristen Powell, his high school sweetheart, on January 10, 2009. They welcomed twins, daughter Addie and son Lee, in 2011, and in 2020, they adopted twin girls, Livvi and Ada. A devout Christian, Posey served as the Giants' baseball chapel representative.
Real Estate
In April 2013 Buster and Kristen paid a little under $5 million for a large mansion in the town of Lafayette, California. They sold this home in March 2022 for $9.28 million. They actually sold the home with a lease-back agreement that allows them to continue living there until the family moves to Georgia. In March 2024 Buster and Kristen paid $8.3 million for a new home in Lafayette, California.
In 2016 the Poseys paid $1.6 million for a 105-acre property in a town called Oroville, Ca in Butte County, roughly 150 miles northeast of San Francisco. They listed this property for sale in May 2022 for $3.9 million. The property features a lake, two creeks, a 33,00 square-foot primary house and a 4,800 square-foot barn which was built by the Poseys. The barn is both an event and recreational space with game rooms and sleeping area for five. The sold this property in July 2022 for their exact asking price.
In September 2024, Buster and his wife paid $10.4 million for a 4,100-acre Northern California property called Six Points Ranch.
Awards and Achievements
In 2008, Posey won the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award. He was named the NL Rookie of the Year in 2010, and in 2012, he was named NL batting champion and NL MVP and won the NL Hank Aaron Award. Buster received the NL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2012 and 2021 and the Silver Slugger Award in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2021. He was an All-Star in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, and he won the Gold Glove Award in 2016.
