Last week, I was looking through all of the players eligible to head to arbitration, and one name that caught my eye was Buster Posey. I thought to myself, “Man, this dude only has two full seasons under his belt and he’s been a huge part of San Fran winning two World Series titles, he’s going to make some serious cash this year.” It’s as if the Baseball Gods heard me, as later that day, news broke that Posey and the World Champion Giants had agreed on a one-year deal worth $8 million to avoid going to arbitration. However, Ken Rosenthal reports the two sides are interested in hammering out a long-term deal, but the Giants are in no rush, as they need time to figure out what Posey’s worth is, financially speaking.

This is going to be a tough task for San Francisco, as the fact that he’s acatcher further complicates things. There is no doubt Posey is the heart and sould of the team by the Bay; he was a crucial part of the championship puzzle for them in 2010, as he hit .305/.357/.505 en route to earning NL Rookie of the Year honors. He only played 45 games in 2011 because of the brutal injury he suffered in a play at the plate, and the Giants struggled to do much of anything offensively the rest of the year.

So, Posey comes back in 2012 (with plenty of question marks about catching), and proceeds to silence all his critics by hitting .336/.408/.549 with 24 homers and 103 RBI, playing half of his games in one of the worst hitter friendly ballparks for power hitters, and playing the most physically demanding position. Not only did he win his second World Series ring, but he went to his first All-Star game, won his first Silver Slugger, first batting title, and took home the NL MVP award.

By doing some quick math, Rosenthal estimates that an extension in the neighborhood of seven years and $120 million could be reasonable enough for both sides to agree on. It will be tough for the front office to figure out, as it’s always unnerving to sign players to incredibly long deals for a lot of money like this one (especially because of his position), but his value to the team is truly unmatched. When he finishes a season, they win the World Series…it’s as simple as that.

Obviously, that kind of trend won’t continue happening for the duration of his career (at least, it’s highly unlikely), but you see my point. The Giants are instantly a better team with Posey behind the plate; the pitching staff enjoys throwing to him, and he is their biggest offensive threat in the lineup. So, I understand why the Giants are taking some time before trying to hammer out a deal since it’s tough to put a price on his value, but it would be smart of Brian Sabean to do it sooner rather than later. As long as Posey stays healthy, I don’t see the 25-year-old backstop slowing down anytime soon, and they can sign him now while his stock is high, but not at it’s ceiling, or they can run the risk of seeing it increase next year. Now, it could also go down a bit if he isn’t able to have another stellar season like 2012, but in my eyes, I don’t see a point in waiting if the outcome is inevitable, and this one should be a no-brainer.

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