Kuzul

Buster Posey is the reigning NL MVP after completing a season where he helped lead the San Francisco Giants to their second World Series title in three seasons.In 2012, Posey hit .336 with 24 home runs and 103 RBI. Posey also led the Giants with an OPS of .957.It was more than his offense that earned him the MVP award, however. Posey was excellent in working with the Giants' pitching staff. He is a student of the game and calls a good game for his pitchers. Posey also does a fine job defensively, throwing out baserunners and blocking pitches in the dirt.Posey provided great leadership for the Giants when they suffered the loss of All-Star MVP Melky Cabrera in August. The loss of Cabrera seemed to galvanize the team, and Posey was a big reason for that. Posey has moved forward with both his baseball career and his marketing persona. He is ...

Tim Lincecum has looked like a different pitcher over his last two starts with Buster Posey behind the plate in place of Hector Sanchez. Over his first three starts with Sanchez catching, Lincecum struggled. He allowed 13 hits, 12 runs, 12 walks and three home runs in 16 innings of work. His ERA was 5.63.In his last two starts against the Padres, Lincecum has suddenly looked like a different pitcher. He's allowed 10 hits, two runs, five walks and no home runs over 13.2 innings. His ERA with Posey catching him this season is 1.32.Given that Posey was also the catcher for Lincecum during his phenomenal run as a reliever last postseason, it seems obvious that he should be catching Timmy. Posey is a better defender than Sanchez, and Lincecum needs all the support he can get at this point in his career.Posey is much more athletic behind the plate than ...

Nobody predicted that the San Francisco Giants would conquer improbable playoff series deficits to climb atop the baseball world for the second time in three seasons.The same critics that doubted the Giants last October claim the rival Los Angeles Dodgers to be the team to beat in the National League entering the 2013 season. It's a supposed safe bet, given name-brand products and a payroll big enough to eclipse half of Hollywood.Bad business decisions don't render champions, though. Big money is a flawed formula, proven to be fallacious in professional sports; it's tried and tired. Just ask the Red Sox and Yankees.The Dodgers didn't buy themselves a championship team. Instead, they bought a heaping landfill of bad contracts and wanna-be success. It's not that the so-called "new blue" won't compete with the reigning champs this summer, but checkbooks have never won championships, nor have clubhouse cancers, like Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley ...

It was a big day in MLB for teams extending their star players.And all these extensions will have a direct impact on the Boston Red Sox moving forward. First, Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers came to an agreement on a five-year extension that will keep Verlander with the Tigers until 2019 with a vesting option for 2020. Total package could be worth $202, according to ESPN's Buster Olney. Almost on the heels of Verlander's deal was word that the San Francisco Giants were locking up star catcher Buster Posey long term with a nine-year, $167 million extension (via MLB Trade Rumors). CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers and star lefty Clayton Kershaw are talking about an extension as well. Given that the market has been set by Verlander, getting the 25-year-old Kershaw under contract seems like a wise idea. Earlier this winter the Seattle Mariners locked up Felix Hernandez ...

There's a lot of speculation that San Francisco Giants' star catcher Buster Posey will eventually move out from behind the plate and become a full-time first baseman.After Posey suffered a catastrophic injury in a brutal collision with Scott Cousins at the plate in 2011, his career seemed to be in jeopardy. No one, including Posey, had any idea how much he was going to be able to play last year after his lengthy rehab.After missing 114 games in 2011 to repair his broken ankle and torn ligaments, Posey returned with a vengeance.He started 111 games at catcher and 29 more at first base. He hit .336/.408/.549 with 24 home runs and 103 RBI out of the cleanup spot last season. He won his second World Series title, the National League MVP and Comeback Player of the Year awards and the batting title. His defense behind the plate was fantastic as well. ...

The San Francisco Giants should have made five moves this offseason in addition to re-signing free agents Jeremy Affeldt, Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro, and extending the contract of Santiago Casilla.A big splash for a free agent like Josh Hamilton or Nick Swisher to improve left field would have made sense. However, once the Giants completed the task of bringing back their key free agents, the budget did not allow for another big ticket item.Thus, the additional moves that the Giants should have made are not as exciting as signing a marquee free agent, but they still would have significantly improved the team.Let's take a deeper look at each of the moves the Giants should have made in order of their significance for the 2013 team.(All contractual data in this article is taken from Cot's Contracts and all statistics are from ESPN.)Begin Slideshow

San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean has made sure his 2012 World Series championship team will stay together for the upcoming season and beyond.During the offseason, Sabean re-signed second baseman Marco Scutaro, center fielder Angel Pagan and left-handed reliever Jeremy Affeldt to new contracts. Scutaro and Affeldt inked three-year deals, while Pagan signed on for four years.This ensures the Giants will have the opportunity to defend their title with the same team that won it last season. With the immediate future addressed, Sabean now has to think about the Giants' long-term future. Catcher Buster Posey will be a significant part of whatever success San Francisco in the years to come and the smart move is to sign the 25-year-old to a long-term contract. According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman, the Giants are beginning discussions with Posey's agent on what's termed a "blockbuster" deal. It's not an urgent situation for the ...

After keeping the core of their championship team together by re-signing free agents Jeremy Affeldt, Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro, the latest rumors pertaining to the San Francisco Giants mostly surround the periphery of the roster.For example, the Giants were rumored to be interested in backup outfielder Endy Chavez before he agreed to a minor league deal elsewhere on Monday.Before missing out on Chavez, the Giants were busy building the depth of their roster by signing free agent outfielder Andres Torres to a major league deal, claiming reliever Sandy Rosario off of waivers and agreeing to minor league contracts with catcher Guillermo Quiroz, infielder Wilson Valdez and reliever Chad Gaudin.With the big transactions of the winter already taken care of, the Giants will spend the rest of the offseason continuing to build up the bench and bullpen.The biggest questions that remain are whether the club will re-sign Brian Wilson, trade ...

ESPN used to run a commercial featuring a young couple having cutesy time on the couch. As unsavory as that image was to a sports fan just wanting to watch game highlights, the visual turned absolutely repugnant once the camera zoomed out to reveal the guy was wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, while the girl was sporting her Michigan threads.Just thinking about it makes you uncomfortable, right?Now imagine a Giants fan and a Dodgers fan embracing on the couch, making out and whispering sweet nothings in each other's ear. I don't know about you, but I just threw up a little in my mouth.Well, that is because the two fanbases don't get along. In fact, they downright hate each other. They hate each other's teams, their team colors, their hometowns and their regional vernacular. They even hate the air the other side breathes (with good reason, at least for Giants fans—LA ...

It’s time we find ways to market Buster Posey to the masses. He’s won Rookie of the Year, the Silver Slugger Award, the Hank Aaron Award, and this year’s batting title, Comeback Player of the Year.Also, he started an All-Star game, won two World Series, and is now the National League Most Valuable Player.  Yes, he's that good, and he's only 25-years-old! Still, outside of Northern California, Posey receives little publicity. He doesn’t play in a typical ESPN market (e.g. Boston or New York), so he’s largely ignored by the national sports media. Fortunately, name recognition can grow quickly with the right publicity, so here are the top-five ways to market Buster Posey to the rest of America.  Begin Slideshow