![]() Posey is definitely something to get excited about and I can't wait to see what kind of numbers he puts up this spring. He was invited to Spring Training so he can be exposed to the big league club in case the Giants trade Molina at the deadline or Molina gets hurt. He is the closest the Giants have had to a bonafied hitting prospect in quite some time. If he continues to improve, he could be a prolific hitter who plays good defense. He still needs to learn to call his own game behind the plate because he is straight out of college. Posey is said to be a Major League backup right now if he never improves one bit. Posey, drafted last year, made his professional debut late in the year in the Minors. However, Molina's contract expires at the end of this year and, given his age and Sandoval's ability to play catcher, Molina becomes expendable going into 2010. Bengie Molina has performed admirably as a Giant and continues to contribute as the cleanup hitter. ![]() Anyone? Really?īuster Posey probably won't be a member of the San Francisco Giants roster this year, but there could not be a better set of circumstances leading up to his eventual Major League debut. If you said Pedro Feliz, then just get outta here. Quick, name the last Giants Minor League position player that you could see coming and you knew he'd be a star! No, no one saw Sandoval coming and the jury is still out on whether he's a star. My verdict: start Frandsen and let Burriss get some more experience in Fresno. Frandsen is probably Burriss's main competition. He also added some base-stealing to his repetoir in the offseason. Frandsen can handle the job and has a little bit of pop in his bat. As if it couldn't get any worse for Frandsen, he hurt his Achilles before the season started and had exactly one at bat in September. Frandsen was moved to short and struggled in a few Spring Training starts. He even had a shot at third before Omar Vizquel got injured. Kevin Frandsen was supposed to compete with Ray Durham for the second base job a year ago. My verdict: utility player if he makes the roster. At 29, he's lost a little of that defensive prowess, but he is easily the most seasoned of any of the second base candidates. Uribe has a little pop, and used to be regarded as a strong defensive player. Uribe's value is probably as insurance at the two middle infield positions. He provides insurance at third if Sandoval struggles, but so does Aurilia. Juan Uribe was signed to a minor league contract a short time ago and will be used as a utility infielder if he makes the roster. He is a terrible hitter and struggles defensively wherever you put him. He is a great athlete, but he has no baseball sense. It appears that Velez just isn't a very good baseball player. He stole fifteen bases and has amazing speed. He was sent to the Minors and returned later in the season and improved his average to. His competition?Įugenio Velez was sizzling during Spring Training last year, but he struggled mightily during April. But at 24, Burriss still has much room to grow with playing time. And his OBP was so high because he normally hits in the eighth spot where he would get fewer pitches to hit with the pitcher coming up next. Burriss simply couldn't get extra base hits and has little pop. However, his slugging percentage (.329) was lower than his on-base percentage (.357). Some speculate that if he doesn't win the job, he could be sent to triple A to work at shortstop. It appears that the Giants don't think Burriss can handle short defensively yet and they have thrust him into a competition for the second base job. A few months later, the Giants signed Edgar Renteria. Pitchers and catchers report on Saturday, so let's count 'em down.Īt the end of last season, Brian Sabean declared Emmanuel Burriss the 2009 starting shortstop. During the course of this week, I will be counting down the reasons to get excited about Spring Training 2009.
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