I’m fully aware that Cepeda wasn’t drafted, by the by.

do we have posey starting, jackson williams as backup and pablo as emergency? seems to work if grant is right and posey takes a few days rest behind the plate and takes over second. this would be ideal, and when the world ends we can at least say we had a pretty versatile infield.

Since both will be excellent hitters a position will be found for both Posey and Sandoval. Another catching prospect to watch is Jackson Williams. While Posey haspotential Williams already has the ML tools.

Let me attempt to synopsize my previous arguments here. Sandoval appears to be a very good hitter; he may or may not be adequate defensively at 3B, and he probably would be adequate at C for several years. Posey, otoh, appears to be an excellent hitter who should be above average at C, and might be above average at 3B or 2B, and possibly slightly above average at SS.

If so, I’d advocate we ruin Pablo’s knees for the next 4-5 years at C, and encourage Buster to oil up his infielder’s glove – in hopes of maximizing their usefulness to the Giants. By the time Pablo is worn out, we wouldn’t want to put Buster back at C, we’d just draft another C.

Now, if we had James Darnell, Gordon Beckham, and Alcides Escobar in our minors, I’d say “forget Pablo, make Buster the catcher.” But we don’t.

There aren’t any other post by Grant under the “posts that bore people to sleep” tag.

he could be like russel martin. he’s doing fine with those things in the south. his knees don’t seem to be bothering him…yet. why not put sanoval at catcher? he’s got the build for it. then put posey at 1st or 3rd so his knees aren’t destroyed.

About a month or two I go, I wondered aloud if Posey and Pablo could platoon at C/3B. If they each played about half their games behind the plate and the other half at 3B, they’d both be able to stay fresh as a daisy and the team could keep both bats in the lineup more often. Maybe the idea is catching on.

I seriously doubt Sandoval is staying at 3B for long. In the long run (ie: by the time the Giants are in serious contention again), it’s either C or 1B, IMO (and I don’t buy the “scout” in that BA article who says moving Sandoval to 1B will help his offense). If Ishikawa is a passable 1B, it’s going to be hard to justify Sandoval moving there, particularly since both showed some serious platoon splits in their young careers. Also remember: Sandoval’s lack of height is almost as big a liability at 1st as his weight is behind the plate; a 1b’s receiving ability is as tightly tied to his height as any baseball ability can be tied to a physical attribute.

Of course, Posey may not be a passable defensive catcher by 2010 anyway.

I would have signed Ivan Rodriguez.

Problem solved.

Did you all see the article on SFGate today where Sabean says that Ishikawa is almost as good as gold at first, but is less sold on Sandoval at third? Any cause for concern here?

I continue to think that Sandoval’s only future MLB position is 1B (put me down for body bias, pessimism, hating the Giants, etc.) which would solve this supposed problem.

Trade Molina.
Start Sandoval at C.
Start Raptor Jesus at 3B.

Ok, so it’s not perfect, but it’s what I’d do.

But I thought I read somewhere that Pablo’s original position (in his youth) was at third, and that catcher was a move that the Giants made to see if he could make the switch.

Conveniently, I have no idea where I read this, so I cannot give you a link to back this opinion up.

I’m on board with them splitting time at C, depending on who’s pitching. Pablo could catch Tim, Cain and Zito, and Buster could catch MadBum and Alderson if they’re both here by then. Whoever’s not catching plays first/third/wherever.

Problem solved.

Grant, the Giant’s didn’t draft Orlando Cepeda. They signed him as an amateur free agent.

Well, we’ll see if they stick with it, but I’d do just what the Giants are doing.

Pablo at third and Ishikawa at first. Pablo probably can’t handle third long term, but you get a year to evaluate his bat alongside Ishikawa’s. I’d still like to see Pablo get some time in at catcher.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to Pablo or Travis at first. I’m liking this Buster Posey guy.

If Sandoval proves to be a good hitter, but a poor fielder at 3B, limited (in skills and durability/availability) at catcher and average at 1B… Trade him to an AL club that needs a DH and can send us back parts that we need. (Assuming Ishikawa proves to be a reliable non-platoon player and Posey comes up quickly as a catcher.)

Deric McKamey of Minor League Baseball Analyst for 2008 season: “Defense at catcher and 3B is below average with low agility, but throws well and has soft hands.”

BA Cal League Top 20: “He looks considerably less comfortable on defense. Though he has arm strength and threw out 46 percent of basestealers with San Jose, his hands and lack of agility work against him at catcher. San Francisco also played him at both infield corners, but his squat body and limited athleticism don’t profile well there either.”

BA Eastern League Top 20: “He has a strong arm, but the scouts contacted for this list who had seen Sandoval catch didn’t believe he could play there regularly in the major leagues. Two managers said Sandoval had problems just physically squatting behind the plate, while two AL scouts both used the same cliché: "He can’t catch a cold.” "

Move Posey to SS or 2B ASAP and put Sandoval back at C (when Bengie leaves).

Likely an unpopular opinion…