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NEW YORK -- After being dropped to the No. 9 spot in the lineup, the struggling Jorge Posada went into manager Joe Girardi's office and asked out of Saturday's lineup, according to New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
The GM would not elaborate on the nature of the discussion or what it means long term.
The Yankees believe that they have grounds to suspend Posada right away, but will wait for more conversations about the situation to occur, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.
A source with knowledge of the situation told ESPNNewYork.com that Posada felt "disrespected" about being bumped to the ninth spot in the lineup. He then told Girardi he couldn't play at that point in the order.
In thirty three games so far this year as DH, Posado has put up a .165 .272 .349 line.
Contrast this situation to 1998 when Girardi gracefully stepped aside and worked diligently with Posada in teaching him how to be a big-league catcher. Now is the time for Posada to follow Girardi's example and either "lead, follow or get out of the way."
Posada's contract expires this year and I suspect that the next time we see him in pinstripes will be on Old Timers day.
That looks really ugly but it's only a 70 wRC+, which means that Posada is hitting 70% as well as the average major league hitter. That's not good, but it's not horrifyingly horrific.
Let's break those numbers apart a little bit.
Posada is still drawing walks at the same rate he has been recently and at a better rate than league average.
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He's striking out at the same rate he has the last 2 seasons
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His power is still well above average
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So in three of the most important things that a batter can do, he isn't showing much decline.
So, what's wrong?
BABIP. His BABIP has fallen completely off of a cliff. Posada has the worst BABIP in the majors at .164. 36 points below the second worst player (Vernon Wells .200).
Problem solved, right? He's the victim of bad luck.
Not so fast...There's also this
Posada's line drives are way down while his ground balls are way up. More ground balls usually increase BABIP, but that's probably not true for slow-footed 39 year-old catchers. In fact, Posada has just 6 hits on ground balls this season and is 0-36 on balls fielded on the infield.
He has a .135 BABIP on ground balls. .240 is considered average.
He has a .038 BABIP on fly balls. .140 is considered average.
He has a .600 BABIP on his 10 line drives. .740 is considered average.
One of two things, or-more likely-a combination of them both, Posada is having horrible BABIP luck or/and he's not hitting the ball hard.
His line drive percentage is just 11% this season after he averaged 21% between 2005 and 2010. Those line drives appear to be traded in for mostly ground balls. Posada's ground ball percentage in 2011 is 48%, up from 40% in 2005 to 2010. His fly ball rate has been static at 41% in 2011 compared to 40% in 2005-2010.
Can Posada turn it around and start hitting line drives again on balls he's been grounding out on all season?
Statistics aside, Posada looked lost in tonights Met-Yankee game up in The Bronx. (As a matter of fact, he had me thinking of Willie Mays upon his return to New York as a Met in 1972). The man is at the end of his career, plain and simple--and isn't any more willing to admit it now than Mays was 39 years ago.
The last two seasons Posada has made some boneheaded plays, defensively and on the basepaths. When I first heard that he had removed himself from the lineup, I expected him to announce that he had a serious physical ailment.
This is only the beginning of what I think will play out as a truly pathetic performance. Wait and see: the Yankees will quietly give up on him once and for all after this season--but he'll work like hell to sign on with some other team for 2012, imagining that he's going to be their starting catcher. Then, some time next May or so, when it finally hits home that his real position is going to be on the bench, he'll announce his retirement (not without some harsh words for the teams that didn't believe in his abilities).
The last two seasons Posada has made some boneheaded plays, defensively and on the basepaths.
The last two seasons? His base running has been an issue for him since Day 1. So much so, whenever I see anyone make a moronic base running error I say, "Hmmm, he must have attended the Jorge Posada School of Base Running." Seriously, he has never been the sharpest tool in the shed in that department.
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His base running has been an issue for him since Day 1. So much so, whenever I see anyone make a moronic base running error I say, "Hmmm, he must have attended the Jorge Posada School of Base Running."
Seriously, he has never been the sharpest tool in the shed in that department.
