SF Giants Rumors – Giants 2 Top Prospects Ready To Shine
Posted on January 8th, 2010 by admin in SF Giants Rumors
John Manuel of Baseball America has an article on SI.com. He has listed his the top 20 prospects. I’m not going to run through the list, but did want to pass along to Giants fans. That number 9 and number 10 on the list are Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner. Below is what he had to say about each player.
Buster Posey, C, Giants
Why he’s here: The 2008 College Player of the Year, Posey combines athletic ability and hitting prowess with playing a premium position.
What he’ll be: Remember Russell Martin before Joe Torre played him 150 games a year? Posey may not have Martin’s fiery leadership, but he’ll be a similar catcher with better hitting ability.
When he arrives: As soon as he shows he can receive effectively for pitchers such as Brian Wilson and Matt Cain, who have premium velocity. Then he’ll have to take it up another notch to handle Tim Lincecum.
Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Giants
Why he’s here: No pitcher has had Bumgarner’s sheer results the last two seasons, when he went 27-5. He did it in 2009 with diminished velocity but it didn’t seem to matter as he mowed down Double-A competition at 19.
What he’ll be: Bumgarner’s mound presence and ability to pitch off his fastball evokes Cliff Lee. He has similar mound presence and could match Lee if he regains some of his slider’s lost bite.
When he arrives: The Giants have enough other rotation options to keep Bumgarner on the farm for at least part of 2010, and perhaps until late in the season, when he could get another bullpen cameo.
King of Cali thoughts: Now this is good to know that we have two of our top prospects in the top 20 list. Fans had said to me they would rather have Bengie Molina back, and aren’t confident in Posey. I hope this post changes their mind a bit. No he’s not going to come in and just be the best catcher in the Majors, but he does have a nice upside. I think he’s ready to get his feet wet in the pro’s and see what he can do out there.
Sabean wanted to re-sign Brad Penny and leave Bumgarner in Triple-A for more seasoning. He has recently said that Bumgarner does have a shot to be the teams No. 5 starter. Yes, he’s young, but he’s shown that he can dominate the minors. I think Bumgarner is ready to be a starter for the Giants. I’m not saying he’s going to be lights out, but I’m sure we will see him grow into a front of the rotation guy right before our very eyes.
~King of Cali
I think both are going to be stars in the future but not right away but they both have huge potential and they are going to exciting to watch as time goes on.
I think Posey can be ready for opening day, its hard to tell, personally i think it would be a better to sign molina another year but i dont think they are going to ;(
oh and is Lincecum gonna be just as good with another catcher behind the plate? A few months ago they had Buster Posey & Tim lost but had 8 k’s.
I would rather have Posey over Molina next season
Molina can’t take a walk and had a sub .300 OBP which is horrible I think even Posey will have a higher OBP
also that game Nikki mentioned about Posey catching Lincecum I think that game was lost more because the offense couldn’t score any runs rather than Lincecum not pitching as well as he does with Molina
according to CBS 5′s Dennis O’Donnel we just signed Aubrey Huff to a 1 year $3MM deal
this is a surprise I’m sure to all of us
the good thing is that he came cheap and only one year and in 2008 he hit 32 homers but was a little disappointing last year
if he could get anywhere near his 2008 numbers this is a steal though as he has always had pretty good plate discipline in his career
Nikki,
Posey is going to have all of spring training to catch these guys and get use to them. By the time the season starts it will be just like playing catch with them for him.
~King of Cali