Friday, July 11, 2008

Who's On First? A Very Angry Jorge Posada.

Jorge Posada is none too pleased about not having caught for six games:
Posada was in the lineup as the Bombers' first baseman, but when asked about his lack of time behind the plate, Posada got testy and made it clear that he still considers himself a full-time backstop.

"I like to catch. Okay?" Posada said. "I'm in the lineup and I'm happy that I'm in the lineup, but I like to catch. I'm a catcher. I'm not a first baseman and I'm not a DH. I like to catch, so I'm looking forward to catching (today)."

I feel for Jorge. Unfortunately, he is an unwitting victim of baseball's recent decision to outsource all Major League catching jobs to Molinas.

On a more serious note, I don't envy Joe Girardi right now. Messing with Posada -- an original new-Dynasty Yankee -- isn't going to make him popular with the fans or the press. The fact is, however, that Posada hasn't been able to throw anyone out since he hurt his shoulder, and Molina is a damn fine defensive catcher. No, the running game isn't everything, but the longer Posada struggles and the more comfortable opponents feel running on him, the more significant his affliction becomes.

The Yankees are 6.5 games out right now, and they simply can't afford to throw games away. Literally or otherwise.

UPDATE: Jason at IIATMS makes a much broader, and much more important point about this: that one day the Yankees are going to go through this song and dance with Jeter, and Katie bar the door when that happens.

6 comments:

Jason @ IIATMS said...

I love Posada, but he has to realize Molina has a superior arm right now. Molina nailed something like 13 straight batters until the other night. Posada's shoulder just isn't right yet.

If Posada can DH when they face a running team, great. He can catch against a slower team. Watch him catch all 3 in TOR starting today.

Mark Runsvold said...

As a "Special Lawyer," what would you advise the Yanks do when Jorge Molina shows up to the ballpark next week?

Craig Calcaterra said...

Laws are laws, so if Posada changes his name to Molina, he has to catch. Really, Girardi's hands would be tied at that point.

Jason -- the article says that Posada will catch tonight and Sunday, so he's probably DHing on Saturday.

Jason @ IIATMS said...

so noted

Anonymous said...

The way I remember it, Girardi taught Posada a lot of things about catching in the mid-90s, and then basically stepped out of the way as Posada took over his job. From 96 to 99, Girardi caught 120, 111, 78, and 65 games for the Yankees, while Posada caught 4, 60, 99, and 109 games for the Yankees.

I wonder how their past relationship plays a role in their dynamic now.

Unknown said...

Didn't we see this with Piazza a couple of years back?