Buster Posey: "The Franchise Part 2"

As we are almost a month into the 2010 season, the San Francisco Giants are on pace to be in the race, but how will they hold up?

The rotation has one question mark and his name is Todd Wellemeyer. My prediction is that he will be allowed two more starts, and if he fails, Kevin Pucetas will make his major league debut sooner rather than later.

Madison Bumgarners early struggles makes the Giants front office look very intelligent. If Bumgarner is ready to become as dominant as predicted, the Giants will wait the necessary days before calling him up, preventing him from becoming a Super 2. Pucetas, on the other hand, is a potential 4 or 5 starter on a major league team, but with the Giants, nothing but a number 5 starter. The Giants rotation is stacked with talent and there is no need to rush Bumgarner.

Buster Posey, "The Franchise: Part 2" is another story. If you can recall, the 2001 Cardinals had a rookie named Albert Pujols. This rookie named Pujols played the outfield and both corner infield positions before settling in as one of the best 1st basemen of all time, both offensively and defensively, respectively. Buster Posey played all nine positions his senior year in college. Whether or not that was a publicity stunt, he was a tremendous infielder and an outstanding catcher. Pablo Sandoval was called up from the minors as a catcher, but the Giants were quickly intrigued by his bat, making him expandable to a different position. Is Posey a different story? I think not.

Are the Giants worried about bringing Posey up because he may become a Super 2? Maybe, but they were willing to bring Tim Lincecum up 11 days too early in the 2007 season, making him a super 2. Why did they bring Lincecum up? They brought him up because they believed they were in the race, and eventually fell far from it. The 2010 season is off to a better start with higher expectation then the 2007 season started off for the Giants.

I do not care if the Giants bring up Posey, hit him second and start him at SS. Although that is doubtful, he needs to be in the majors before the Giants complete their current home stand. By bring Posey up to the majors, he can play first against left-handers, play second (Future Hall of famer Craig Biggio came up with the Astros as a catcher and changed positions to 2B to prolong his career), start occasionally at short, and I am sure he can get thrown into the outfield mix. Trust me, the Giants could use Posey enough to get him 300 plus Major League at bats, not to mention Sabean is known for using players at many different positions (Ex: Tom Lampkin, Shawon Dunston, Pedro Feliz, Jeff Kent, Bill Mueller, Stan Javier to name a few).

By adding Posey's expected big bat, the Giants can settle with Schierholtz in right to utilize his defensive skills and speed on a daily basis, except for when Posey makes an occasional start in right. Mark DeRosa can continue to patrol left field, with Roward  expected to be back in the lineup Sunday; Eugenio Velez and Andres Torres can be bats and defensive replacements off the bench. Posey could potentially step in as the 3rd hitter, moving Pablo to the cleanup hole.

My point being, do not be surprised to see Buster Posey in a Giants uniform before they take off for Florida (May 4th). When Posey does arrive, expect him to stay with the Giants for a long time. If he can consistently hit at the Major League level, manager Bruce Bochy will find a way to keep him in the lineup everyday.