Cozy with Posey

So the Giants go safe and take Buster Posey.

For today at least, I'll put aside my various reservations about not drafting one of the plethora of monstrous corner infield prospects and focus on the positives on drafting the consensus best catcher in Posey.

The resume speaks for itself:

First-Team All-ACC, ACC Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger First-Team All-American, CoSIDA Academic All-American and Academic All-American of the Year (finance major, 3.8+ GPA).

Posey's currently a finalist for both the Golden Spikes Award (top college player) and the Johnny Bench Award (top college catcher). From the the ACC Player of the Year release:

Florida State's Buster Posey headlines this year's squad as the ACC Player of the Year, while Alex White from North Caroline (sic) got the nod for ACC Pitcher of the Year. Posey becomes the second-straight Seminole to garner the league's top accolade and the fifth overall. The junior from Leesburg, Ga., leads the ACC in 10 statistical categories including batting average (.471), hits (96), runs scored (75), runs batted in (68), total bases (175), on-base percentage (.571) and slugging percentage (.858). The first-team recognition is the second straight for the catcher, who was recently named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

A 1.429 OPS may leave some people scratching their heads as to why Posey is predicted to max at 20 homers a year as a pro in a bestest-case scenario.

Here's your answer: Dick Howser Stadium, the home of the Seminoles, is a notorious hitters park, akin to Coors Field or perhaps, more appropriately, Grizzlies Stadium.

If the guy couldn't hit for power there, he'd Bust-a Move into the later rounds.

That being said, let's define clutch, shall we? Posey single-handedly saved his FSU team from the brink of elimination at last week's NCAA Regional Tourney in a performance so stunning, even the pater familias was left agog:

With the Seminoles, the country's No. 2 team, facing elimination, Posey over the span of four games went further than even he expected, batting .500 (8-for-16) with five home runs and 13 RBIs. FSU outscored Florida, Bucknell and Tulane 74-35 and advanced in the NCAA tournament because Posey had simply willed it.

"I don't know which home run he hit," said Demp Posey, normally the modest father, "but I was just like, 'Now wait a minute. This has got to stop.'"

That's Nuschler-in-the-'89-NLCS-esque there.

He's played all nine positions in a game (he's also FSU's closer). He hit a grand slam in that game, to boot.

As FSU's closer, you would think he has a gun behind the dish. And you would be right. Guy's used that mid-90s fastball to nail over 40% of would be basestealers. Remember, he's still learning the position after switching from short after his freshman year, so a pop time in the 1.9s already is encouraging. Posey's athleticism gives him the potential to be a Gold Glove backstop.

But don't take my word for it - Posey will be on national TV starting tomorrow as FSU forges ahead in the NCAA tourney. They face Wichita State for a three game set in Super Regional games. Game 1 is tomorrow at 11 AM (ESPN2), Game 2 is Saturday at 9 AM (ESPN2) and Sunday at 10 AM (ESPN) (All times PST).

- This Orioles blogger posted a great writeup of Posey a few days back pleading with the O's to take him even with the presence of last year's draftee, Matt Wieters. Here's another good Posey writeup from College Baseball Blog - extra points as they also called the Giants pick.

Discussion Junction: On a scale of Tom Lampkin to Steve Decker - okay, Joe Mauer - what do you think the Giants got in Buster Posey?