Buster Posey's Tour Hits Paradise

Ever since he signed his $6.2 million signing bonus, former Florida State catcher and San Francisco Giants uber prospect Buster Posey has been a little busy.

All right, not a little. Basically he has been all over the West Coast.

After signing, Posey was whisked away to the Arizona Rookie League, where he hit .385 in seven games. The talented catcher added three doubles, a triple, and his first professional home run.

Posey then got the call to go to Short-Season Salem-Keizar, where he played all but three games while trying to aid the Volcanoes in winning the Northwest League title. He hit .273, with two RBI, and two of his three hits went for extra-bases.

Posey's third stop in less-than two weeks took him to San Jose, CA, where he joined his second playoff run in a week's time.

So, after being in two playoff series and three different leagues in less than two weeks, it was time for a break, right? Nope.

From San Jose, Posey went back to Arizona and was in attendance at Chase Field to watch future batterymate Tim Lincecum. A week later, he was in attendance at AT&T Park for the final weekend of the Giants' season.

Posey is still on the move...

He is currently playing with the Waikiki BeachBoys of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League. The league is no step down from regular season minor-league baseball, with several players from Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan's equivalent to the major leagues, participating in Hawaii this winter.

The most important thing is not the surfing, but the chance for Buster to continue to progress and eventually be ready to turn some heads come Spring Training time.

"It's a little different in college," Posey told Baseball America last week. "It's still the same game. It's just a matter of making adjustments along the way. You have guys on this staff who have better arms than a college staff will have. Getting on the same page as them, I think that's an important part of being a catcher."

Posey, who is also joined on the BeachBoys by fellow 2008 Giants third-round pick outfielder Roger Kieschnick, has gotten off to a solid start with the bat, hitting .286. However, Posey has been struggling with the glove, recording five passed balls, including three in one game.

"My main goal is not to give any at-bats away," Posey said. "My goal each at-bat is to put the barrel on the ball and hit the ball hard."