Buster Posey holds key to 2013 Giants

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Buster Posey's value to the Giants is easy to quantify. With him, they're two-time champions. Without him, they're not a playoff team. So the key to 2013 seems clear:

Keep the reigning National League MVP on the field.

While it's overly simplistic to suggest that the Giants will go as far as Posey takes them - or that how Posey goes, so go the Giants - it might not be far from the truth. Nobody else on the roster is more of a precious commodity, as we saw in 2010 and 2012 when he was healthy and in 2011 when he wasn't.

Asked if one guy can be such a difference maker, Giants general manager Brian Sabean said, "What he's done with the pitching staff and what he's done in the middle of the order, yeah, he can pull a lot of weight. Baseball is usually not like that, but he's close. There's no doubt he's our franchise player."

Makes a Giants fan wonder.

What if that Scott Cousins home-plate episode never happened and Posey played out the 2011 season instead of missing the final four months with ankle and leg injuries? The Giants won 86 games that year, six fewer than in 2010 and eight fewer than in 2012.

Buster Posey, in town for the Giants' FanFest, does not by nature revel in all of the face-of-the-franchise talk. Buster Posey, in town for the Giants' FanFest, does not by nature revel in all of the face-of-the-franchise talk. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Buster Posey holds key to 2013 Giants 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Maybe we're looking at three deep postseason runs, not two.

"It's probably a tremendously different story if Buster's in the lineup," pitcher Ryan Vogelsong said. "Hats off to our team for how hard we battled. But if we had a second half from him in 2011, we win the division."

Reliever Jeremy Affeldt said, "I don't think it's a coincidence" the Giants missed the playoffs the one year Posey was shelved. "What he brings with leadership and comfortability behind the plate, in the lineup and with the pitching staff, he's a complete package guy.

"When he's missing, you lose a lot of different scenarios. You lose 100 RBIs, and with the Giants, that's a lot of runs. You lose other guys getting pitched to, like Pablo (Sandoval), who'd get more pitches with Buster coming up. Having Buster on this team is huge when it comes to making the playoffs."

Posey, who was in town with most of his teammates at FanFest on Saturday, called the difference-maker praise a "very nice compliment" but said he doesn't see himself in that light.

Of course he doesn't. It's not in his DNA to relish the face-of-the-franchise label in a sport that requires a wide variety of individual accomplishments to succeed as a team.

"I don't think that's the approach you have," he said. "The approach for me is I want to be a guy who can help the team in a lot of different facets, whether it's working with the guys on the mound or contributing at the plate or even being a good teammate and just talking baseball off the field."

When he reflects on 2011, Posey deals with facts, not speculation. Those what-could-have-been dreams aren't in the equation.

"The way I look at it is, it happened," Posey said of the injuries resulting from Cousins barreling into him, triggering months of healing and rehab. "Those are the cards I was dealt. You go on, keep going."

For the record, Posey said his surgically repaired ankle feels fine. Compared with last year at this time, "It's night and day. I couldn't be happier with it." On the other hand, "I'm sure throughout the rest of my career I'm going to have to do some maintenance to keep it strong for balance purposes."

Leading the league with a .336 average while collecting 24 homers and 103 RBIs, Posey appeared in 148 games - 111 as the starting catcher, 29 starting at first base, three as the designated hitter and five as a pinch-hitter. He said he played more than he anticipated and has no designs on giving up catching.

But he does take to heart a comment he once read by Twins catcher Joe Mauer wishing he had caught a little less early in his career to prevent so many nagging injuries.

"I want to catch as long as I can," Posey said. "We did have a good balance last year, playing games at first and mixing in an off day here and there. The big kicker, as for any player, is remaining as productive as you possibly can."

Posey is skipping the World Baseball Classic because he wants a "normal spring training, uninterrupted," and who can argue with him after all the rehab he put in last year? At 25, he should get another opportunity at the WBC. For now, it's about starting the long grind of another season, beginning when he reports to spring training with pitchers and fellow catchers on Tuesday.

"I was excited just to be back on the field and compete last year, having a chance to play the game I enjoy so much," Posey said. "And hopefully, I can keep that feeling with me the rest of my career. I'm very fortunate to do what I love. Obviously, it can be gone quick.

"That's the main thing, enjoying the process and enjoying the game."

And making a difference along the way.