SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The San Francisco Giants plan to exercise Buster Posey's $22 million club option for the 2022 season as long as the veteran catcher wants to keep playing after a stellar year.

Posey, whose contract includes a $3 million buyout, helped lead the Giants to a franchise-record 107 wins and their first NL West title since 2012 by playing regularly down the stretch this year as he demonstrated his health and durability during his 12th major league season. The 34-year-old Posey opted out of the coronavirus-shortened 2020 campaign to care for prematurely born adopted twin girls.

"He is in our estimation the best catcher in baseball this year," Farhan Zaidi, Giants president of baseball operations, said Monday. "... Obviously want to have conversations with Buster and continue to have internal conversations about that but having him on this team next year is a high priority."