1. AJ has much better numbers pitching at home (in NY).

2. I trust Andy more pitching on the road in the crucial game-3.

3. Who would you rather have pitching Game-7? Game-3 starter goes again Game-7, more often than not.

SO, I let CC & AJ start at home, have Andy & Joba ready to go on the road. CC goes Game-5, come back hom with AJ & ANDY for games 6 & 7.

If CC wins game-1…. 3rd game has more pressure anyway.

There is also this “problem” in that Burnett’s best games this year have come with Posada catching him.

Again, its all well and good to have opinions. Everybody has them.

However, facts still count and the fact is, Burnett’s issues this season are no different than they have been in any of his previous seasons.

That’s why its just about impossible to logically place the blame on his struggles to Posada.

This is who he is, and has always been as a pitcher, in his career.

To ignore that is not using all of the evidence available to reach a logical conclusion.

If you go back and read my post you will see that your response ends up being unresponsive just because I didn’t bring up any point that would be answered by what you’ve pointed out.

Your response is probably valuable for anyone at this point who is ascribing blame. I’m not. Just looking for answers.

I will say that the media was not off base at all to be questioning something when the raw data at least were seeming to say one thing. The point at which the media picked up the story was when Jorge came back off the DL and the Yankees went 12-23 after being on a tear. At this point they were looking back on what Molina and then Cervelli had accomplished and what happened when Posada took over again. It was fair game to question. I mention this time and again but posters seem to gloss over it at their convenience: Posada even said at that point in time that he needed to do a better job of communicating with his pitchers. So maybe there was room for improvement on both sides of the equation.

*****************************

My bottom line is that all I care is that the Yankees win their games and don’t exhaust themselves in the process every time AJ takes the mound. I don’t care if the tooth fairy catches his games if it works.

Mike Mussina, as tempermental as he was, had issues with Posada. That too has been reported as ‘fact’. I don’t know if he ever said it, as I wasn’t there, but it was reported, for what it’s worth.

Some people do better paired with some over others. It’s human nature. Some double play combinations work better than others. Jeter works better with Cano than he did with Soriano. Is that a fact? Maybe, but it’s definately my opinion.

Trisha has a right to her’s, whether I agree with it or not, and in this case I happen to think – and read slowly – that there MAY be some validity to the appearance that AJ seems to have difficulty working with Posada. Different individuals are just that – DIFFERENT. Posada calls differently from Molina who calls differently from Cervelli. It’s probably based on their individual experiences in the league, their knowledge of the batter, and even the situation. Sometimes that knowledge may work to the advantage of the pitcher. Sometimes lack of that same knowledge may allow the pitcher to recommend what he feels comfortable with and the ‘lesser’ experienced catcher may validate that comfort level by acceding to the choice of that pitcher. Who knows? We certainly don’t. It’s all opinion.

Saint

Amid all this nonsense with Posada, several facts get in the way…

1. Nobody in MLB evaluates catchers using Catchers ERA. Nobody. That’s a fact. Don’t believe me? E-Mail Pete and ask him.

Its a useless statistic because there are too many variables that go into it the statistic doesn’t measure. Therefore, quoting it is dumb and the folks who do so to make a point have no idea what they are talking about.

2. The “media being all over a story” is not proof of anything Trisha. The fact is, there isn’t a division race to cover so, the media has to look for something to talk about. A manufactured controversy is one way to get eyeballs to their stories.

3. AJ did the same thing, melted down after adversity, in his last start with Molina behind the plate. Didn’t get a call, walked the next 2 guys, and hit gave up a 3 run HR, that put the Yankees behind in the game. Same situation as last night, and he did the same thing, with a DIFFERENT catcher. See a pattern?

4. AJ Burnett has pitched like this HIS ENTIRE CAREER. It doesn’t take much to go back and look at his entire career and see these spikes, both upward and downward, in production.

Logic would tell you that if he has pitched like this his entire career, it can’t be one catcher’s fault for his inconsistency.

5. The Yankees have the best record in baseball. Jorge Posada has been the catcher for most of those wins. Now tell me, if he was so bad, how are they winning AND pitching better?

6. AJ’s best games this season have been with Posada behind the plate, In fact, if you look at his last two years of work, one could argue the majority of his better pitched games in the last 2 years have come with Posada behind the plate. Again, look it up and you will see that’s the case.

All this, “it has to be Posada’s fault” nonsense fails in one important area. The facts.

The fact is, AJ is a very erratic pitcher. He has been that way his entire career.

Its also a fact that Posada, an asset to the team, is not gonig to be benched in the post-season when there is no evidence whatsoever he is the cause for ANY pitchers struggles, let alone AJ Burnett’s.

When someone can offer real proof…..proof that supercedes all of the facts I laid out above, then you might have a point that Posada is at the root of Burnett’s struggles.

To do so however, one has to ignore AJ’s entire body of work in his career and that’s pretty hard to do and sell that Jorge Posada is at the root of his struggles.

It is in the realm of possibility that there is something that works better for AJ when he throws to Molina. You are probably right that Posada is not going to be sat down in the postseason, but I think it could end up being a mistake. It isn’t for the same reason but Wakefield had his own catcher in the postseason and it wasn’t Varitek.

There have been a number of posters who have voiced concern over this issue and for the people who don’t think there is any issue to just keep writing us off as idiots is as unfair as for us to do the same about all of you. I don’t know how else to say it but neither you or anyone else here corners the market on truth. When the entire media was all over the issue you found an excuse for that too. Maybe you people should step back and ask whether you are the ones who might not have it totally right.

In any event, I have gotten past the point of worrying about why it is happening. I would just like to see it resolved. And if the resolution is that AJ is such a headcase that he needs babysitting by someone who will coddle him, at this point I say do it. It’s about winning. Maybe he has it stuck in his head that he can’t work with Posada. Again the reason to me is irrelevant right now. If he works better with Molina, give him Molina. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Molina caught one game in the postseason or caught only the games AJ would be throwing.

That’s my opinion. Will it happen? You may be right that it will not.

But people who are concerned about this have the right to feel that concern and voice that concern. I happen to believe there is a lot to be said for the perspective that
AJ needs to be paired with someone other than Posada. Again, the reasons at this point in the season turn out to be the least of my worries.