Is Buster Posey Already an All-Time Great?

Buster Posey is 28 years old and is already considered by some to be one of the greatest catchers of all-time. Heading into his age 29 season, are we witnessing one of the greatest careers in baseball history? There are many factors when deciding whether or not someone is an all-time great. First and foremost is a comparison to others that play his position. So let's take a look at where Posey stacks up against the rest of his peers.

If you simply look at Wins Above Replacement, Posey is the 37th greatest catcher to ever play. Not exactly an all-time great. However, when you compare the number of games played versus the 36 catchers above him, it looks more impressive. Posey has played in 753 Major League games. By comparison, every other player above him has played at least 1,062 games and some have played over 2,000 like Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra.

Bench was a 14 time All-Star, a two time World Series champion, a two time National League MVP, as well as a Rookie of the Year, and ten time Gold Glove winner.

Berra was an 18 time All-Star, a 13 time World Series champion and a three time American League MVP.

When talking about all-time greats, Bench and Berra are head and shoulders above all other catchers. For Posey to come close to either, he would need to maintain his current level of success for another decade.

If you look at catchers who had a season of 4 WAR or above, Posey is 20th all-time. He has had four straight seasons with a WAR of 4 or more. If he were to have three more seasons at that level, he would be tied with Berra for 6th on the same list. This not only shows how rare a 4 WAR season is for a catcher, but also how close Posey is to be in the conversation with the all-time greats.

Posey has a NL Rookie of the Year award, an NL Most Valuable Player award, a batting title, as well as being a three time All-Star among other accolades. He has also won three World Series. When you start looking at other catchers with similar resumes, the number shrinks even more.

Roy Campanella was an eight time All-Star, a World Series champion, as well as a three time NL MVP.

Gary Carter was an eleven time All-Star, a World Series champion, as well as a three time NL Gold Glove winner.

Mickey Cochrane was a two time All-Star, a three time World Series champion, as well as a two time AL MVP. He would have gone to more Midsummer Classics, but they weren't created until the end of his career.

Carlton Fisk was an eleven time All-Star, an AL Rookie of the Year and one time Gold Glove winner.

Joe Mauer is currently a six time All-Star, an AL MVP, a three time batting champ, as well as a three time Gold Glove winner.

Yadier Molina is currently a seven time All-Star, a two time World Series champion, as well as an eight time Gold Glove winner.

Thurman Munson was a seven time All-Star, a two time World Series champ, as well as an AL MVP and a Rookie of the Year. He was also a three time Gold Glove winner.

Mike Piazza was a 12 time All-Star and a NL Rookie of the Year.

Jorge Posada was a five time All-Star and a four time World Series champion.

Ivan Rodriguez was a 14 time All-Star, a World Series champion, an AL MVP as well as a 13 time Gold Glove winner.

You could argue that Posey is already among the ten greatest catchers of all-time. You could argue that other catchers like Gene Tenace, Ted Simmons, Joe Torre and others are still better than Posey. Wherever you place Posey on an All-Time list, it is clear that he is knocking on the door to be a part of the conversation and we are currently witnessing one of the greatest careers of all-time.