Optimism for Posada
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Apr 29, 2008 
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No official word yet on Jorge Posada. But word is that his shoulder will not need surgery, only a long period of rest and rehab. I would suspect the Yankees will send him to get another opinion or two. Might as well. But the early news is good.
How long will JoPo be out? That’s the question. The guess is a month based on what I’m hearing. The Yankees probably should have put Posada on the disabled list earlier this month but he wanted to tough it out and keep playing.
If a veteran, respected player says he can keep playing, you have to respect that. Posada is a proud guy and a tough guy. The last thing he wanted was to go on the DL the first week into a new four-year contract.
You should see the look on his face when somebody brings up the idea of playing first base. You might as well ask him if he wants to wear a dress. He’s a catcher, period. Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Jorge Posada – it’s a lineage he takes it very seriously.
If it’s a month, the Yankees can muddle though with Jose Molina and assorted backups. There are three days off in May and if they give him enough time off, Molina should survive.
But now would be a fine time for Robinson Cano to get some of those unlucky line drives to fall in. The days of having a big hitter behind the plate are gone, at least for a month.
Go Phil Hughes!
This is good, I guess.
Great news…Good to have a loyal Yankee that wants to earn his contract money and not take time off or change positions. He has a few years left in him and I am glad we’ve got him.
Cano, snap out of it. He is burying himself in the first month just like last year. If only he could put together two great half seasons.
Thank god! thats great news!! like the name jopo!! is it new??
The Captain, Giambi, and Cano have got to step their games up to carry the load.
Especially with A-Rod out for a game or 2 at least as well. Who knows how long he’ll be hobbling around with the bad quad?
It would also be a good time for Duncan or Ensberg to get hot as well.
yea cano really buried himself the last twobyears. Boy his stats stunk!
Great news. Any word on whether Moeller has been picked up by another team yet?
I think if a player is not playing 100% you should force him into the DL.Giambi and Damon played through the pain and sucked last year.We have a 36 year old catcher who is with us for four years he needs to rest not fight through it.It does nothing to help us if he’s injuried.If he needs surgery then do it.
This is a important player.We have already 4-5 veterns with nagging injuries.
Great news indeed. Here’s to hoping if they get a 2nd and 3rd opinion that they say the same as Dr. James Andrews. And we seriously need to step up in the RISP. Move ‘em over and bring ‘em home!!
The enitre team really isnt hitting other than Godzeera and recently Damon..Bobby Abreu has cooled off considerably as well. The offense really needs to get going for this series.
You forgot Elston Howard in the lineage of catchers. It’s ok that you forgot Jake Gibbs.
Mitch – I showed up to say the exact same thing: how can you forget Elston Howard?
“I think the difference in the race this year will be which teams young players that are called up at mid-season (make no mistake, the Yankees and Red Sox will look from within to fix their problems) make contributions.”
i agree with this about young players from within ,but the difference will be also be influenced by who is lucky with injuries to key players. abreau type acquisitions are going to be hard to come by.
JoPo?!
Berra also played the OF.
how do you pronounce JoPo?
Ugh. Pete, I thought we were past that whole “Po” thing that infuriated me this off seasons.
If I read another post about “Mo” and “Po” I was going to crush my monitor. I’m find with Mo, but the whole Po thing just reeked of tween girl internet laziness.
Call him Jorge. Call him Posada. Call him #20. Anything other than “JoPo”.
Please?
Pete, another great post. Thanks for the insight. I personally thought that he did very well at 1st base and eventually ( in 2 – 3 years ? ) could contribute there AND at Catcher AND as the DH. Jorge is a true Yankee and we’ll all look forward to him healing soon.
Jorge is eventually going to have to put aside his pride and play another position – he won’t be able to catch forever.
I think both Posada and Jeter need to get compfy with the idea that they are getting close to old age for their positions. I know it’s tough for them to accept, but by the time Yogi was Posada’s age he was playing left field. It’s a tough fact of life but for the good of the team you have to move aside for youthful players that can play your position better than you. The Yanks are likely not there yet organizationally with either player (eg, Elston pushed Yogi and nobody is pushing Posada yet and as much as I like the AGs fielding he has to prove a little more with the bat to push Jeter), but these guys aren’t playing these demanding positions into their late 30s if the normal career projections play out and they are going to have to accept that fact.
Go Phil tonight!
Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Jorge Posada – it’s a lineage he takes it very seriously.
That’s some good Company Jorge- you belong with them.
that’s good to hear, hopefully the other opinions he gets say no to surgery as well!
NO Jopo … PLEASE!
He’d look like Klinger from M*A*S*H in a dress. Could be pretty funny admittedly…
I’m very glad to hear Jorge is NOT out for the season by the look of things. That’s great news.
I don’t see Posada going to 1B any time soon. And if he did, my guess is it would be to share duties with Teixiera in the last year of his contract.
This is probably the best possible news. One month will barely affect this season for the Yankees, but it may allow Posada to stay fresher through the end of the season and the playoffs. Long term, the more he can rest, the more likely he is to play til the end of his contract.
the way people gripe about matsui’s LF defense, imagine putting posada out there
A general comment on age in baseball. I have seen 50-60 year olds play baseball like 30 year olds. Lets not get too hung up on age and look more at the individual player/situation.
“The enitre team really isnt hitting other than Godzeera and recently Damon..Bobby Abreu has cooled off considerably as well. The offense really needs to get going for this series.”
So, how about those bets last night?
i’m not sure that we’re going to get a straight story on posada’s shoulder. it doesn’t exactly help cashman making a trade if he knows it’s two months and says it .
my gut tells me this is going to be awhile longer than a month. the dead arm thing and the quick re -injury after resting says there’s something more serious than a month will take care of.
even dr. andrews is only guessing what’s wrong. if he doesn’t go in with an operation he’s going on limited knowledge himself. surgeons often get inside and see more damage than they thought.
if i were cashman i’d write off posada for at least two months and maybe longer. if he comes back in a month having another decent catcher is not the end of the world. the yankees are strong on pitching in the minors. my advice is trade someone and get a good back up catcher.
“Call him Jorge. Call him Posada. Call him #20. Anything other than “JoPoâ€.”
It’s just like that “A Boy Name Sue” song by Johnny cash.
“Russell NY
April 29th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I don’t see Posada going to 1B any time soon. And if he did, my guess is it would be to share duties with Teixiera in the last year of his contract.”
.
Russell….THAT would be awesome !
He’s a catcher, period. Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Jorge Posada – it’s a lineage he takes it very seriously.
While I can appreciate Posada’s pride, but he’s 36 years old and for a guy who was apologetic about getting hurt and hurting the team after signing that big contract, it may be time to look for another gig.
Dickey’s last year as a “regular” catcher (more than 80 games)? Age 34
Yogi’s? Age 35
Thurman’s? Age 32 – with a huge asterisk of course, but even before his plane crash, Thurman was transitioning to play more DH and the OF.
texeira will be at 1b in 09
“even dr. andrews is only guessing what’s wrong.”
Are you a doctor?
You have a strange fascination with the Yankee injuries and you speak as if you are some kind of expert on the subject.
“my gut tells me this is going to be awhile longer than a month. the dead arm thing and the quick re -injury after resting says there’s something more serious than a month will take care of.
even dr. andrews is only guessing what’s wrong. if he doesn’t go in with an operation he’s going on limited knowledge himself. surgeons often get inside and see more damage than they thought.”
You have no idea what your talking about. Please stop.
Pete,
If that is true, that is really good news. I so hope it is true.
I like the dress comment. You never fail to make me laugh.
“texeira will be at 1b in 09″
That’s where he usually plays… question is ‘on what team’?
patrick-
everyone on this blog isn’t just a fan who only knows only what they read. i guess maybe when for two years you catch someone who dr. andrews operated on and when you are catching that pitcher when he cranks it up for a major league gm( during a game set up to sign that pitcher for a major league start) and snaps his medial collateral ligament on the last pitch of his career, than maybe you’ll understand the “strange fascination with the yankee injuries”.
i’m trying to be polite , but it gets old explaining things to jackasses . does that answer your question clearly enough?
I just want to state I love this blog. Pete your doing an amazing job. Started reading around playoffs last year , and have been hooked since. Keep up the great work!
Yogi played 263 games at positions (LF – 260, RF – 136, 1B – 2 & 3B – 1) other than catcher. I understand and appreciate the desire to stay at the position but if it is hurting the team then he needs to move as winning is the objective. The same goes for Jeter at Short.
There’s no way Posada spends 4 years as catcher. So get used to playing 1B and DH. His bat is still valuable, this year included, so he needs to stay fresh. Of course, a month out will keep him fresh as a daisy, but I doubt the Yanks are going to go with a 39 or 40 year old starting catcher down the line.
And I agree it’s about time for Cano to get off the interstate at least. Seems like every time I’ve seen him this year, he’s grounded out to the right side.
Go Franchise!
This one goes under the rubric of “today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday,” or why it is better to conserve your energy than to fret unnecessarily!
All that wasted energy about which catcher to sign, which catcher to trade for, which players to trade away for which catcher, etc. etc. etc. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah.
See now if you took a chapter from my book, you would have just kicked back and waited to see what was going to happen! And if you took the chapter after that one, you would just let the Yankees figure it all out, no matter the outcome!!!
I may not do many things well in life, but I am a pro when it comes to not worrying about. And geeze Louise, life works out in spite of my lack of intervention…