Would the Giants consider trading Buster Posey anytime soon?
That was the question posed to KNBR’s Marty Lurie by Patrick Connor on 680 this morning. Lurie believes the answer is no, primarily because Posey is still one of the best catchers in Major League baseball despite dwindling power numbers. That doesn’t mean Lurie sees the Giants holding on to all of their stars over the next few seasons, however, saying that he believes Madison Bumgarner may be the first big name to be traded elsewhere.
“You have to have that one guy who’s going to be the Hall of Famer.” Lurie said of Posey. “Look he’s still a .300 hitter, and you know the power’s not there but it’s still Buster Posey, and I just don’t think you trade him. I think Bumgarner. Because being a pitcher, with the injury, with 2,000 innings, with his age, you just can’t throw $150 million at this guy. I don’t care what happens the next couple of years, you just can’t do it. I think he’s the guy that could go and I think (Brandon) Crawford could go too as he gets older. Absolutely he could go and bring something back.”
Bumegarner, 28, is soon to be due for a massive contract extension after the 2019 season, when he would become an unrestricted free agent.
Lurie also commented on the Gaints’ inactivity during free agency thus far, reminding fans that it is just as important for incumbent players to perform better than last season, as it is for the front office to add reinforcements.
“They haven’t added anything yet,” Lurie said. “They just haven’t done anything other than unloading Matt Moore — which was a gift, I can’t believe that Texas would do that — but they’ve got to have bounce back years from all the people we talked about. They could go out and get Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier and all these other people, but if Belt, Panik, Crawford, whoever is going to play third, Pence, Span, Cueto, Smardzija has got to improve, Bumgarner has to come back, and you need Stratton and Blach to come up, then the whole bullpen has got to come back. We get so tied up with the free agency and trades, but the key to this team is having everybody else come back. That’s what’s got to happen.”
Listen to the full interview below.