It's not a big surprise that the Giants signed a veteran catcher for 1 year to buy some more time for Buster Posey, but not many people were expecting it to be Bengie Molina who seemed locked into the Mets all offseason. The longer the Mets negotiations dragged on, and seemed to get more rancorous, the more I started to suspect that Bengie just might decide his best bet was to come back to the Giants for 1 year. Of course, after the Giants signed Aubrey Huff, I didn't think there was enough $$$$ left to sign anything more than a backup. It would seem that the Giants breathed a huge sigh of relief when Timmy didn't submit an arbitration request of $23 M and decided that they had the $$ for Bengie.
I like the move. Bengie can still contribute and should be much better accepted by the fans if he doesn't have to bat cleanup. The Giants need to rest him more often this year.
Now the Giants have a chance to prove that they are serious about contending for a playoff spot and thus a Championship. They need to make two more moves: 1. Sign Jon Garland as the #5 starter. 2. Sign Kiko Calero for the bullpen. They make those two moves and I'm ready to make them my favorite for the NL West.
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Would you have felt confident with Buster Posey as the starting catcher? Or have you seen/stats that you have seen that might incline you to believe that Buster wasn't ready for a full season behind the dish? Also, do you believe that Molina is a better catching option than Posey for the Giants in 2010?
ReplyDeleteI think Buster could use a tad more seasoning. It's nothing statistical, just the way he looked when I saw him play for San Jose in High Desert early in the season, and on TV after his call up to the Giants. Yes, I know he didn't get to play much in September, and I wish Bochy had played him more, but I thought he looked just a bit awkward and tentative behind the plate in both situations. Add in the reported fatigue factor from Arizona Fall League and I would be reluctant to go into a season where the Giants are clearly trying to contend with Buster as the starting catcher out of the gate.
ReplyDeleteThis is a minor criticism of the Giants, but I would have preferred to see Buster promoted to AA last year than Fresno. AA is a more challenging environment for hitters. I think the experience would have done him good.
I do think Bengie needs more days off than he has in the past. I would like to see Buster start for Fresno the first month or two. Depending on his performance there, and Bengie's performance in SF, he could be brought up as an understudy and gradually worked into more games, initially 2/week and later maybe 3. That would get him fully ready for the starting role in 2011.
I'll add that I'm not completely sold on Buster as a catcher long term. He's a very athletic guy and could play pretty much any position out there. I don't know if he has quite the bulk to take the pounding he's going to get at catcher in the majors. I'm looking down the road and thinking Hector Sanchez might be our catcher of the long term future and Buster might be a third baseman, second baseman or outfielder.
I think this is a good pick up for the giants, it isn't costing them too much and he's played pretty well - they can platoon him with buster to get him more time and see how it works while they decide on the future
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