Don't Jump on Buster Posey Train Yet

If you've been keeping an eye on Buster Posey lately, you'll notice that his average draft position is starting to creep up. Over the the last week he's moved from being selected in the 24th round to the 23rd round, and that movement has likely all been in the last few days after news came out of San Francisco that Posey was going to be looked at for an infield position.

It's easy to see why fantasy GMs are clamoring over Posey. The soon-to-be 23-year-old catcher belted 18 home runs and hit .325 in 422 minor league at-bats in 2009. This tryout on the infield seems to be a way for the Giants to get his promising bat more major league exposure, until he takes over his future role as the team's everyday catcher.

I spoke with FanHouse's own Jeff Fletcher, who has been covering the Giants for 13 years. I asked him if fantasy baseball enthusiasts should be getting excited about Posey playing on the infield.

"(Bruce) Bochy was very clear that this would be just to see what he could do as an emergency fill-in at another infield spot, like first or third, since he played infield in college," Fletcher commented. "He said Posey is still a catcher for the long-term."

Fletcher also spoke about the packed Giants infield. "My feeling is the Giants already have so many infielders who can play multiple positions (Uribe, DeRosa, Sanchez, Sandoval) that they'd never need Posey anywhere but catcher."

For those of you in dynasty or keeper leagues you should already have Posey on your roster -- disregard what I am about to say to single-year fantasy owners.

Mixed-league GMs should not be drafting Posey. Even if he does make the big-league roster from day one, he's not going to play much. He'll spell Bengie Molina at times, but his infield usage will be curtailed to times of a team emergency. If Posey isn't going to be a everyday player -- Fletcher feels it will be June before that happens -- he should remain unselected on draft day.

Do you remember Matt Wieters and all of his pre-draft hype last season? Fantasy owners gobbled him up in the middle rounds and he spent months in Triple-A. He sure did show promising upside after June, but his final stat line was surpassed by other options -- guys like Miguel Montero and Mike Napoli -- who were left undrafted or selected much later in 2009 fantasy drafts.

You shouldn't waste a draft pick on a guy who may only play a partial season, especially at the catcher position. Leave Posey for the waiver wire or some other league member who can waste that roster spot on a guy who won't play until June.

Your team will be far better off in the long run.