Posey To AAA, Bumgarner To Majors?

Giants General Manager Brian Sabean has confirmed that Buster Posey will soon be promoted from Class-A San Jose, according to Jeff Fletcher and Henry Schulman. Posey, last year's number one draft pick, received a franchise-record $6.5 million signing bonus.

According to Sabean, the Giants wanted Posey to remain in A-ball for the entire first half of the season to work on his catching skills. The first half concluded on Sunday, with San Jose winning a record fifth-straight title. Andrew Baggerly reports that the Giants laid out this plan for Posey back in Spirng Training.

Now, says Sabean, Posey needs to catch higher-level pitchers to take the next step towards the majors. The GM noted that a jump to AAA would allow Posey to improve faster. In addition, the starting catcher in AA would lose his starting job to Posey if Buster moved up only one level. If Buster went to AAA immediately, both catchers could develop at their own paces.

Posey has definitely not disappointed in his first extended action in the minors, hitting twenty doubles and eleven home runs in the first half. His batting average is a steady .328, while his OPS is .970, about the same as his sophomore season at Florida State.

Extremely encouraging is Posey's thirty-six walks and only thirty-nine strike-outs. Angel Villalona has nine walks and fifty-eight K's, while Roger Kieschnick's totals are twelve and sixty-eight. Conner Gillaspe, the best contact hitter on the team, has more walks than strike-outs, but has only one home run.

Despite the possibility of a rapid promotion, Posey will not reach the majors this season. However, Fletcher and Baggerly note that Madison Bumgarner is due for a promotion, and that Sabean mentioned him "skipping a level."

This wording could be interpreted as meaning that Madison would be skipping AAA altogether. Sabean noted that But it might make more sense to have a Bumgarner-Posey battery start in the minors before promoting both of them in early 2010. And Sabean noted that while Madison's fastball was major-league quality, his secondary pitches need work.

Whether or not Bumgarner or Posey skip levels of minor league ball, they will be one step closer to the majors, the goal for Giants players, management, and fans alike.