__________________!!!!
Fill in that blank, because the hot stove chatter has the Giants "open" to bringing him back. Baggs says it could happen for one year and at the same $6 M he earned in 2009, but probably not more, either in years or dollars.
Before you fill in the blank, though, let's run through some questions:
- Why shouldn't Buster Posey be ready to start next April? He might, he might not. He has played a total of 125 games in the minor leagues, a tiny sum. Carlton Fisk? About 270. Ivan Rodriguez? 270. Benito Santiago? About 450. Even Matt Wieters, the Baltimore top draftee who shot to the bigs, played 169 games on the farm.
Problem is, we won't really know until April, or perhaps later. Some of you say go ahead, start the kid, throw him into the fire. It's the only way to learn. OK, fine. but what if he's hitting .150 / .250 / .300 in mid-May, runners are taking advantage of him, his confidence is shot, and the Dodgers have taken a three-game division lead? To ignore this possibility is to be willfully ignorant. If the Giants start the year with Posey behind the plate, they must have a plan B.
- Does Plan B need to include Bengie Molina? No. But having him around in case Posey needs to go back to AAA is not the worst-case scenario, despite all the wailing about his crappy offense (yes, Molina's offense is crappy). Internally, the Giants have Eli Whiteside and Steve Holm. Do you want either of them playing five times a week? Externally, there are superficially enticing options like Pudge Rodriguez, as Baggs noted yesterday. But Pudge's days as an everyday player are likely over. In nearly 450 plate appearances this year, playing his home games in hitter-friendly Houston and Arlington, he posted a .249 / .280 / .384 line. That is sub-Molina. Lightly-used backup and mentor? Yes. Everyday player? No. Please find another free-agent catcher you can envision taking over and playing several days a week. I'm not saying Molina is a great option, but as a backup who might have to play more often than expected, he's not the worst option.
- But if he's the "backup," won't Old Veteran-Lovin' Bochy be tempted to play him more, even if Posey's doing OK? Yes. But this is true to some extent with any grizzled veteran backstop Sabean brings in. We can only hope Bill Neukom has attached electrodes to Bochy's nipples that emit a painful shock every time he displays unwarranted veteran love. In other words, the season is riding on covert acts of sado-masochism.
- So maybe Sabes should bring in someone who really sucks so Bochy won't be tempted to play him! Brilliant. You've got this whole roster-building thing figured out.
- Calm down. I was kidding. It's kinda sad when you have to worry about your field manager playing the wrong guy. Yes, but I think that, Bochy or no, there's a good chance Posey won't be playing as much as we're hoping/praying. He's going to need rest, he's going to need mental breaks, and unless he's a super-phenom he's going to have setbacks. It's a good idea to have a decent catcher on hand to fill the gaps. Someone like...
- Gregg Zaun? Not bad, actually. I don't know what kind of arm remains dangling from his 62-year-old body, but he's always gotten on base a fair amount, and he can still hit a few home runs. I have another idea, though: Pablo Sandoval.
- Why risk him behind the plate? Hear me out on this. He can still be the starting third baseman or first baseman, but his presence means the Giants don't have to worry so much about an expensive backup for Posey. They can keep a Whiteside on the roster, give Pablo a few innings back there, too, to keep off the rust, and in a month or two, if Posey needs a rescue, they go to Plan B: Pablo steps in and at least splits time behind the plate. If there's a real disaster, like Posey sustains a serious injury or needs to spend the year in the minors, the Giants can always trade for a guy like Zaun or Javier Valentin or Pudge or Jason Varitek.
- OK, if Pablo spends a lot of time behind the plate, who becomes the first or third baseman? It might require a mid-season trade. It might require signing (or re-signing) someone like Mark DeRosa or Juan Uribe as a super-utility guy and hope that he can do what Uribe did in '09.
- So what to do about Bengie and arbitration? Offer it, by all means. If he accepts, the worst is the Giants have him as a backup for one year and roughly $6 million. He is a proud man, and the threat of being a backup will most likely make him sign elsewhere, even if he might earn less in unknown free agency waters. And that means the Giants get two draft picks.
