don’t stop believing

Who should bat leadoff w/Torres out?

Who should be batting leadoff for the Giants with Andres Torres out? I’d like to offer, for your consideration: Pat the Bat.

Burrell leads the team in pitches seen per PA (4.24).

Burrell leads the team in plate appearances per BB (7.25).

Burrell has the third best OBP on the team (.353).

The only other acceptable alternatives are Posey and Huff. Never Rowand. Never Velez. Never.

giants handling of posey makes no sense

It seems like the Giants have no idea what they’re doing. No plan what-so-ever.

For years, management drafted pitching prospects almost exclusively, and then used those prospects as trade bait. The Giants had the greatest offensive weapon in the history of baseball (Barry Bonds), and they just plugged in replacement level complimentary players to fill holes. Wouldn’t be my strategy, but at least they seemed to have a plan.

Then in 2008, they drafted Buster Posey with the 5th overall pick – an obvious, easy move. Posey was so talented, so polished, so perfect, it was the kind of pick that just made itself. But once the pick was made, it was up to the team’s management to handle the young phenom, and that’s where the team’s lack of a plan became obvious.

Buster Olney laid out a great summary of how the Giants have mishandled Buster Posey, which I’ll summarize here:

• The Giants called up Posey last September, which started his service clock, but never played him. Posey had just 17 at-bats. Why did they call him up if they weren’t going to play him?
• They let Bengie Molina walk at the end of the 2009 season – why spend millions on a vet when the catcher of the future is ready to play everyday? Brian Sabean even said, “That ship has sailed.” when asked if Molina might return to the team. But then, when no one else wanted him, and his price came down, the Giants resigned Molina, essentially blocking Posey.
• In Spring Training this season, the Giants played Posey at 1B, despite having just signed another free agent first baseman, Aubrey Huff. Posey performed brilliantly all spring, but was sent to the minors to “work on his catching”. Whaa?
• Posey tore up the minor leagues. He was among the leaders in several offensive categories. But Brian Sabean did something you never see a GM do: he down-played his blue-chip prospect’s performance, providing us this unbelievable quote:
  

  “Triple-A baseball isn’t very good. I’m going to tell you that right now. Especially from a pitching standpoint. Anybody who can pitch is in the big leagues.”

• Just three weeks after Sabean’s crazy ramblings, the Giants promoted Posey… to play first base. Buster Olney brings up three very, very good, obvious questions:
  

  1. If the Giants were willing to use Posey at positions other than catcher, why didn’t they do that at the end of spring training?
  2. If the Giants think their catcher of the future is still learning how to catch, why did they move him to first base?
  3. Why didn’t the Giants just wait another month, until Posey was out of the Super 2 arbitration class, before promoting him — or, more to the point, why did they promote him last year and then not play him?

The reality is, Buster Posey should be in the majors as a catcher. But if playing 1B somehow slows his development as a major league catcher, I’d rather he stays in the minors until Molina eats himself out of a job.