According to a report in today's NY Post, GM Brian Cashman has informed Jorge Posada he will not catch next season on a full time basis. This decision was communicated to him face to face in Manhattan by the GM yesterday afternoon.
Posada is scheduled to have the same surgery CC Sabathia had a year ago to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. He has previously said he could catch through the pain, but his defensive skills have eroded to the point the Yankees are now looking elsewhere for a catcher and will look to use Posada as a DH for the final season of his 4 year, $52 million contract that owes him $13.1 million for the 2011 season.
The Yankees have a number of options internally at catcher in Francisco Cervelli, Jesus Montero and Austin Romine. Cervelli filled in very well during the first half of 2010 while Posada recovered from an injury. He produced at the plate, played solid defense and had a number of clutch hits. He can hit for a respectable average but has no power. He's very similar to Joe Girardi as a player.
Jesus Montero Has been hailed as the next big thing in the Yankees minor league system for the past few seasons. Montero hit .289 with 21 home runs and 79 RBIs at AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre last season and has been said by Gene Michael to have made Buster Posey-like strides at the plate defensively. If "The Stick" thinks he's ready that's good for me. Austin Romine is better defensively but does not have the bat to play at the major league level on a daily basis.
Looking at the free agents listed on MLB Trade Rumors.com at catcher there aren't many options for the Yankees to pursue. John Buck, Victor Martinez, Yorvit Torrealba are names that aren't too old and might fit. Buck hit .281 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs. He also plays solid defense and calls a good game. V-Mart hit .302 with 20 home runs and 79 RBIs. He plays good defense behind the plate and can capably spell Mark Teixeira at first from time to time as well. Torrealba had the least production at the plate with a .271 average, 7 home runs and 37 RBIs. His defense is adequate, but not enough to justify paying what he will ask for when they can pay all three internal candidates they have as much as they would pay him alone.
In other news, Cliff Lee, one of the potential battery mates of whoever catches for the Yankees has a visitor today. MLB Trade Rumors first reported that Cashman is flying to Arkansas to meet with Cliff Lee today. Lee, who lives in Little Rock, is being courted by a number of teams. The Yankees appear to be the most aggressive. If only the Yankee fans were less so with Lee's wife.
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