Oye Vey Jorge

Remember that time where the bread was accidentally left out for too long and that disgusting green stuff got all over it? Or the time where a toy that used to receive countless hours of playing time suddenly became boring and useless? Memories such as these are prototypical examples of the effects of things getting old. Becoming older does mean getting wiser, yet there comes a point in which there are certain things we just can not do anymore. Some people age more gracefully than others; and one person who is not taking aging so well is Yankee catcher Jorge Posada.

In last night's game against the rival Boston Red Sox, Jorge Posada was slated to bat ninth as the team's designated hitter. Then, right before the game started, Posada asked manager Joe Girardi to take him out of the lineup, for he needed to "clear his head."
There are several different versions of this story. One version is that he threw a fit about batting ninth and refused to play. Another version is that he had a bad back that stiffened up just before the game started. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman insisted Posada was not hurt, while Posada claimed he was. Posada, Girardi, and Cashman are locked in a public he-said-he-said situation, and nothing good ever comes of public confrontation. We may never know what actually took place that lead to Posada not playing, but the bottom line is clear as day.

Jorge Posada is too old to get the job done anymore.

This season, Posada has a meek .165 batting average; which ranks very last among 172 players with an at bat this season. Posada also has a wimpy .272 on base percentage. Out of his 109 at bats, 30 have been strike outs. Yes, the Yankee catcher has six homers and 15 runs batted in, yet he has not hit a home run since April 23rd.
With statistics that bad, he is lucky to even be on the team; much less complain about where his is hitting in the lineup, allegedly. But even if his numbers improve, it remains highly unlikely that Posada will return to his former role as primary catcher. For the Yankees signed 27 catcher Russell Martin in the offseason, and backup catcher Francisco Cervelli is 25; compared to the 39 year old Posada. More bad news for Posada is that Martin has played fairly well so far this season, hitting .245 with seven homers and 22 runs batted in.

The decline of Jorge Posada can best be compared to Cleveland Indian fictional catcher Jake Taylor in the movie Major League 2.

Taylor, like Posada, entered the season planning on having an impact, but management decided to bring in two more catchers. For the fictional Cleveland Indians, it was Taylor being replaced by good hitting catcher Jack Parkman and youngster Rube Baker. In Posada's case, Russell Martin has taken the role of Parkman while Francisco Cervelli has been cast as Baker. Taylor eventually decides to retire and become an assistant coach for the fictitious Indians. And although Posada has been a core member of the New York Yankees for 17 years, his presence after this incident is likely to sour the Yankee locker room for a while. Perhaps Posada will follow the rest of the script, and help guide his team to the World Series in a different way. Maybe Jorge  can follow the script, and help a pitcher fix his character concerns; as well as his problem finding the strike zone.

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Very accurate casting New York

 Posada does not have to retire and be the interim manager of the New York Yankees who leads them to the World Series. All he has to do is accept his new role and be a good teammate. Because it is better to age well like wine, as opposed to badly like milk.