Burriss absence won't mean much to Giants By Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin March 8, 2010   SAN FRANCISCO--Giant infielder Emmanuel Burriss is not really the player they really expected that was going to be a key player for the drive for the divisional title. Never the less he's a good young player and nobody wants to see anyone hurt for the rest of the season. Burriss might be out for more than a month with a broken bone in his left foot which he reinjured running the bases. He might be out quite a while. It's sad but obviously it's going to slow him down and no team likes to get an injury like this. Fortunately though he is not considered one of the key players on the team in the drive for the divisional championship this year. The Giants will miss any player but Burriss is not a key player it's not like Tim Lincecum going down, then the team would really be shaken up. Burriss doesn't have a shot at making the regular season when something like this happens but injuries do happen and unfortunately you can't always control them. Freddy Sanchez rehabbing: The Giants are hoping that Sanchez didn't come in as damaged goods from the Pirates last season. He's going to miss most of April and he hasn't played that much. When he came in last year he had problems and their saying that he should be okay. Again until he actually goes out there and plays for awhile you just really don't know, there is no question unless Sanchez is healthy he'll help the team. Unfortunately if he's not healthy he's not going to help the team. They did a physical on Sanchez at the time they got him last season and assumed that he was healthy enough to join the team and help out. Unfortunately he's not fine and they say he won't make the opening day roster and it'll be more like mid April to the end of the month. You can expect things until they actually happen. You won't really know. So this is what the Giants are really up against. It's an unknown, everyone in camp is very optimistic that he'll do well. There is no question when Sanchez gets back he'll help the team. He helps them both on the field and he helps them at bat. Sanchez is a key player in that respect. The problem is he's just hasn't had the opportunity to do anything. There is no question he's a good player and he's a winner, he's got a good attitude and he'll definitely help the team. The key is, is he going to be okay? We don't know until he plays. Neither do the Giants really know if and when he'll come back. Buster Posey: It's not sure if he'll be with the team by opening day but they want him to play and they may have him go back down to Fresno. Eli Whiteside will be the backup catcher to Bengie Molina. This was the combination last year and we're assuming they'll stay with that combination this year. Posey wants to make the team and he has the determination and great ability whether he makes the big club the entire season we just don't frankly know. Posey has been playing some first base in spring training and the Giants would like to see him play there if he's not ready to catch and if they can find him another position particularly for a solid player that Posey can be Sabean would be the happier. They don't want him sitting on the bench and that's the key. If he can't catch and if he can play another position they'll keep him. If he can't play that other position he's going down to Fresno. Bengie Molina: First of all we look at last year and Molina had a great year so there isn't a problem in that respect. In addition to that he plays hurt so he's going to be a tough guy to get out there. We have a lot of respect for Bengie and the pitching staff does and it was a key area when they signed him in the off season. Bringing him back, they were fortunate he could have gone somewhere else but the Giants are happy he's back with the club and everything seems to be going pretty well. Mark DeRosa: It was a good sign for the Giants and again you have to look at the season and not just on paper but this was a very good move on their part and DeRosa is going to help the club. DeRosa is not a great star and he's not going to be that great wonderful hitter but he's adequate and he brings a potential to the line up and gives the Giants a little more offense. DeRosa could also play a couple of positions so that also helps manager Bruce Bochy and you could move DeRosa around. DeRosa is a veteran player and of course they haven't seen him before on the team. Veteran players really need to get ready for the main season, so in that sense it's not that much of a problem for DeRosa. The Giants know what he can do and what he can't do it's just a matter of getting him ready for the season and hopefully he'll wind up the way they expect him to and he's going to be an asset to the team. Aaron Rowand: He has a great attitude and certainly plays the outfield well, they were a little disappointed in his hitting and the team is hoping he can provide a little more spark at the plate. Certainly all around he's a hard working player. We're not sure at this stage if he's worth the money they paid him ($9,600,000 for this season) but we'll just have to see. His coming to the West from Philadelphia didn't have anything to do with it he was doing at the plate and he was just a little bit off in regards to his hitting. Obviously he didn't do what they expected him to do, if they knew that would they have signed him? We don't know. He works well and he's good on the club and defensively he's an adequate player, he's excellent, they expect a little bit more from him offensively and the problem is there is a couple of centerfielders they could have had for far less. So is he worth his salary at this stage you would have to say no. We'll just see how he swings the bats this season and judge him then. Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin cover Giants baseball for Sportstalk Radio

Copyright 2001-2010 - Sports Radio Service