Giants manager Bruce Bochy was recently asked about Buster Posey's ability to man first base. And, per Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com, he thinks Posey's quality defense on the corner is a result of Posey's athleticism.
Bochy also dropped a spicy nugget with regard to Posey playing somewhere else: third base.
“I think he could play third,” Bochy said. “That’s how athletic I think he is.”
Baggarly writes that this isn't an uncommon notion inside the Giants organization, and that many people believe the catcher would be a capable third baseman.
There are several fascinating things that come to mind when mulling over the possibility of Posey playing the hot corner.
For starters, it's entirely plausible. Posey's a gifted athlete, obviously. What many folks might not know is that, while at Florida State, Posey once played every single position on the field ... in a single game.
"To see Buster play all nine positions just shows you what kind of talent the guys has," FSU head coach Mike Martin said at the time. "At no time was I ever worried about a ball being hit to him. Buster looked very comfortable every where he was so that just goes to show you what kind of athlete that he is."
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And, oddly enough, Posey said at the time that first base -- where he now plays when getting a rest from catching -- was the hardest place to play.
"First base was probably the weirdest position for me to play just because I've never really played there before," Posey said. "In the Cape Cod League this summer, I played left and right field in two separate games. Center field was the one position I have never played."
So, yes, definitely plausible. The second point that comes to mind is that Posey would almost certainly make the jump if the organization asked him to. He's clearly the type of guy that's about doing what's best for the organization, and if that meant beefing up the overall batting order by putting him at third, keeping Brandon Belt at first and letting Hector Sanchez catch, well, it wouldn't be surprising if he was fine with it.
Of course, there's always Pablo Sandoval, which brings us to the final point: the possibility of Posey playing third opens up a world of flexibility for the Giants. Panda's an All-Star when he's healthy and in shape, but those two things aren't always occurring, especially at the same time. Sandoval is under contract through 2014 so it's not like we're talking about something that would happen right away.
Besides, the Giants probably won't want to get Posey out from behind the plate for a while anyway. But it's still worth something keeping in the back of your head as the Giants plan for the long-term future.
