Buster Posey is one of the best players in the game of baseball pure and simple. The 2010 NL Rookie Of The Year is the leader of the Giants offense and game caller for the pitching staff. In 2013, he had down year in respect to his incredible 2013 season.  Posey still slashed .294/.371/.821   The two time champion signed a contract extension that will see him make $164 MIL from 2013 – 2021.  In this article, I explain why I think the team has to move the Slugger to 1B.  The 26 Year Old has a career slash of .308/.377/.864.

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The Giants are at a crossroads in their nucleus.  When healthy and at optimum levels, the Giants can hang with any team in the MLB – as shown by taking home 2 out of the last 4 World Series Titles.

But here is the problem.  This club needs two Starting Pitchers, potentially an OF, a Utility Infielder, meanwhile the franchise must address their long term goals.

The Twins were smart enough to make Joe Mauer a permanent 1B – and it is time for the San Francisco Giants to do the same with Buster Posey.

The Giants resigned Tim Lincecum – and let Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong walk. In a pitching strong NL West, the team should concentrate in adding Starting Pitching as their #1 priority.  For the very reason they also don’t have a franchise power hitting First Baseman or Outfielder on the horizon, this franchise should spread the talent in depth at all positions.  By moving .841 OPS guy (Brandon Belt to LF), the team could move Posey to 1B – and ensure that he can maximize his AB.  To finish out the merry go round of positions, the club would need to sign a Free Agent Catcher.  Brian McCann would cost too much and  A.J. Pierzynski already has come and go from San Fran, which leaves Carlos Ruiz.

Yes, he will only be 27 heading into next year’s campaign, and is a veteran of just 359 Games caught in the Majors, but it is becoming apparent the team should go through with this move.

With the OF position in San Fran being made up of 2 good offensive players in Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence already, you could live with another above average fielder and hitter.

You do not need to sign a superstar via Free Agency.

So why not move Brandon Belt to the OF, move Buster Posey to 1B – and sign a guy like Carlos Ruiz?

It would be different if the Giants had an awesome 1B already, or even stocked OF for that matter, because in the grand scheme of thing – you must look at all 3 positions combined – for offensive makeup.

There is no doubt that San Fran had a distinct advantage over other team when Posey was behind the plate the last 4 years.

He is that far more superior in offensive output than other teams, but here is the thing, the LA Dodgers have changed the dynamic in the Division you are in.

As it stands right this minute, this squad is designed to have its best run capability in the next year.

Pablo Sandoval and Sergio Romo are Free Agents in 2015, and Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford will start their Arbitration Eligible years.

Factor in escalating salaries for Madison Bumgarner and Hunter Pence, coupled with the $38 MIL combined you are already paying for the tandem of Lincecum and Matt Cain, and there is not much wiggle room to spend on the team.

Posey’s deal also exponentially goes higher from 2015 – forward as well, from $12.5 MIL in 2014, to $16.5 in 2015, to $20 MIL in 2016, and then $21.4 MIL every year until 2021.

Since the Dodgers are spending over $220 MIL a year on payroll, and feature 3 aces currently on their Pitching Staff, you have to adjust to this.

Signing Tim Lincecum, in a classic overpay, was actually a good move, because you didn’t lose an asset, and it was just for 2 years.

The Giants don’t have a lot of free cash to spend in payroll. 

With the $7 MIL Buyout they just gave to Barry Zito, the team is already at $110 MIL slated for the 2014 season.

The club has to bring in two quality Starting Pitchers for the rotation.  This should cost at least $10 – $15 MIL – and this is just for a back end of the staff guy.

The same thing will happen every year with their core.

Between his incredible performance in 2010 that led the Giants to the World Series title, and led him to the 2010 Rookie of the Year award, and his MVP-worthy performance in 2012 that gave the Giants their 2nd championship in 3 years, it seems that whenever the Giants have Posey on the field, they have a fighting chance. When he was hurt in a home plate collision 2011 – the team struggled.   As a permanent Catcher, you sacrifice too many Plate Appearances and Games Played to warrant a massive salary.  Just like Joe Mauer in Minnesota, Posey should be moved to 1B – to preserve his health.  The 2012 NL MVP – will make $159 MIL over the next 9 seasons.

So now I ask, do you really want your $20 MIL a year guy killing his body behind the plate, when he is under contract till 2022?

Go and sign Carlos Ruiz for a 2 year deal, at about a 1/3rd of the salary.  This can set up your team for a few years with the kind of flexibility.

The only real prospect the team has is Gary Brown – and he had a brutal campaign in AAA Fresno, hitting for a .660 OPS.

You can’t go out on the FA market and get a productive OF.  Plus who knows whether or not they will hit once they play their home games at AT & T Park.. 

As for Belt, I would gladly take his 2013 numbers – .289/.360/.841 in LF.  At 60 XBH in 509 AB last year, he is perfect for an OF, yet his 17 HRs and 67 RBI would not be great as a 1B.

Carlos Ruiz would be a perfect solution to Catch Full – Time for SF – if they were to move Posey out to 1B. At 34 years old, Ruiz has a 3 Slash of .274/.358/.770 for his Career 2548 AB. The Catcher has also appeared in 10 series in the playoffs.  He is an excellent game caller, and the price would certainly be right.  As the Boston Red Sox showed us this year, sometimes it is  better to go the route of a deep lineup.  The roster lineup on offense would be  1. CF – Pagan 2. 2B – Scutaro 3.  3B – Sandoval 4.  1B -Posey 5.  RF – Pence 6. LF – Belt 7. SS – Crawford and  Ruiz as your #8 hitter in the lineup.  Just like Sandoval and Scutaro, Ruiz is also a great contact hitter “K’ing only 325 in 2946 Career PA.”

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners ***

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A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Chief Writer‘ Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s featured article.  Hunter is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports.

Hunter grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia and played baseball with Sheldon Bream (Sid Bream‘s son) at Liberty University in the NCAA.

His favorite player is Brian Wilson (how could you guess?), and he hates when people can’t think outside the box! 

His favorite expression – is ‘drive that one out that out and you have 110 LBS worth of crap in a 100 pound sack!

You can reach Hunter on Twitter  Follow @stokes_hunter21

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