That fellow with the finger in his mouth has played 332 minor league games--154 at first base, 142 at catcher, 21 at third base, and 15 as a DH. As a member of the 2008 Giants, he logged 41 games--17 as a first baseman, 12 as a third baseman, and 11 as catcher. We've good reasons to try him at third, despite the weirdness of the whole thing:
1. Apparently we have no one else. Unless the resuscitated corpses of Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia excite you, we've got no one else.
2. We have a catcher. His cup runneth over with Veteran Savvy Clutchness (hat tip to the blogger I stole that from, wish I could remember who you are). This is the stuff gamers are made from, and Señor Slow's stock in the organization is high because of it. Bosses like it. Fans like it. Reporters like it.
3. Gerald Demp Posey III. Yep. That's his real moniker. Now you know why he goes by "Buster." A truly great baseball name by the way, also a great name for border collies. To stretch the analogy to the breaking point, think of catchers as the herders and drovers of the ballclub, rounding up strays, barking orders, generally taking charge due to superior intelligence and athleticism.
Which brings me to our Catcher in the Wings. Check out the item on Extra Baggs from this morning, "More on Posey." Andrew Baggarly passes on some complimentary quotes from Jeremy Affeldt, but also speaks highly of the kid's demeanor. All the news about our young star is good so far this spring. He hits. He hits with power. He has plate discipline. He's athletic, strong, and showing good skills with his glove and arm. Now he's calling games. It is starting to freak me out, all this Buster press, I keep waiting to hear something critical, for someone to point out his shortcomings. The Giants know that no. 1's contract is up this year. I really, really, really, really hope that the organization will part ways with him. We've got young Sandoval, who has actual minor and major league experience as a catcher, and we like him so much we'll shoehorn him in almost any place on the diamond just to get his bat in the lineup. And we've got this rising star, this number one draft pick, this sure-thing-can't-miss otherworldly talent a heartbeat from the bigs. Buster wil get his call-up in September, and we'll be pencilling him in to start behind the plate in 2010. Unless Pablito & the Brain Trust's Travelling Infield Show dazzles fans and big shots alike this spring at The Hot Corner, we could have a problem. But I think I like this problem. What do you guys think?
p.s. Japan 6, USA 2 after six. I like the idea of the WBC, but I must admit I've spent far more time following Six Nations Rugby these last few weeks. Way to go, Ireland! I think they should move it to the fall, after the World Series. So, second thread--your thoughts on the WBC now that Jonathan Sanchez is back home with the team.
5 comments:
You know what else is special about Molina besides how slow he is? He has 2 brothers who are also ML catchers! And his father died! So there you go.
The WBC games I have seen have been great. Japan - Korea for the championship should be awesome. Japan put together a 5 run inning to go up 6-2 and then added more at the end of the game. I wish we could trade our entire outfield (yes, even Fred Lew) for Ichiro-type slap hitters and then put a slugger like Bonds at first to bat fourth. Great bat control. If Fire Joe Morgan was still active, they could be having a field day. Joe went on and on about how the American players have a season to get ready for unlike the Japanese and Korean players. Huh? Jon Miller, thankfully, kept out of that nonsense.
I'm no "homer" when it comes to WBC--the best team should win whether they are from Japan, USA, Korea or fookin' Zimbabwe. This is the era of international baseball and I'm all for it. That being said, I think it would be better to do it in the fall after the American season. I think teams and players would be more likely to invest time and energy. If I were an owner, I'd be reluctant to "release" my stars from the team for a competitive tournament BEFORE the season.
My point is that Japan and Korea also have seasons that also start in the spring. They also have stars and also risk injury and all that other stuff. There is nothing unique about MLB except that more money is involved. If Joe was aware of that simple fact, he wasn't letting on. Anyway, I have not seen a more exciting seventh world series game than the championship last night. Fidel was right.
Yeah, lots of nations have to "give up" players for international competitions (FIFA World Cup, for example). That's cool, there's the "playing for the home country" thing that gets a lot of folks excited. But if I were an owner and one of my superstars wanted to play I'd say "no fookin' way, pally, I pay you to play for ME." I'd love to extend the baseball season for an extra month every 4 years for WBC--it'd be great right after the Series when there's nothing else going on. Oh, yeah, there's football, I forgot. I guess we are stuck with spring.
Post a Comment