Jorge Posada Needs To Suck It Up

Last night’s Yankee drama involving former All-Star catcher Jorge Posada has gotten to the point of being simply ridiculous. This is perhaps the worst case of “he said-she said” of the season.

If you haven’t heard about this, apparently DH (he no longer catches anymore) Jorge Posada asked to sit out yesterday’s game against the Red Sox after being dropped to 9th in the batting order. Posada took offense (which is more than what he has done at the plate) to being dropped to the bottom of the lineup. Posada then asked Manager Joe Girardi if he could have the night off to ‘clear his head’. Afterwards Posada then apparently had an hour long meeting with G.M. Brian Cashman (and additional Yankees brass) in an effort to ask him to reconsider. After Posada still refused the Yankees to the field without him. Cashman then made a statement during the game saying Posada took himself out of the lineup, but it wasn’t an ‘injury situation’. That apparently didn’t sit well as Posada’s excuse later was that he was dealing with a strained back. Posada then got frustrated with Cashman for making that statement, and that is basically where the wheels came off the wagon.

Rumors are now swirling that Posada might continue to refuse to take the field for the Yankees, and they are considering either suspending him or at least fining him. This looks like a situation that will get worse before it gets better, and Yankee fans better hope that it doesn’t become a bigger distraction.

While I’m not a big fan of Cashman making that statement during the game, since in today’s day and age that is going to get back into the dugout. But overall this situation falls squarely on Posada’s shoulders.

Is Posada so much of a child to get upset for batting 9th? I mean he’s hitting .165 on the year and has an OPS of .621 (thank goodness 6 of his hits have gone over the wall). That is simply embarrassing, and the worst in the majors among DH’s. And guess what Jorge, most of those guys aren’t getting paid $13 million this season.

What makes it even worst for Posada is this happened against their biggest rival the Boston Red Sox. Not to mention the Yankees have won just 3 of their last 9 games entering the night and had fallen a couple games back in the American League East. Although it might not have mattered given his recent struggles, but the Yankees did lose their second game in a row to the Sox 6-0. New York managed just 7 hits, and even if Posada was having a ‘back issue’ (which I’m not buying for a second) he needed to handle this situation a 1,000 times better.