Posada to DH Next Year: Who Will Catch Cliff Lee?

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.

Yankees Contact Cliff Lee's Agent

According to a report on ESPN.com the Yankees have contacted Cliff Lee's agent Darek Braunecker. The most coveted pitcher on the free agent market has publicly stated that he'd love to remain a Ranger. Not being open to offers from other teams would be foolish when his team's President, Nolan Ryan, remarked "you'll have to ask those guys over there," when asked how much it would cost to re-sign him.


C.C. Sabathia signed the richest free agent contract of the off-season two years ago with the Yankees on the first official day of free agency. Given the Yankees pressing need to agree to terms with Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera it is not surprising to see them be less openly courting other team's free agents before announcing deals with three of the core four.


The 2008 Cy Young Award winner was 12-9 between the Mariners and rangers this year with a 3.18 ERA. He had 185 strikeouts and only 18 walks, good for better than a 10 to 1 ratio. In his playoff career he went 7-0 in his first 8 starts with the Phillies and Rangers before losing twice to the Giants in the World Series.


Other teams known to be interested in Lee are the Rangers and Nationals.


The first signing of the year was Johnny Peralta with the Detroit Lions for 2 years at $11.25 million. Expect bigger names to "come on down" as the next contestants in the Price is Right!


Source: ESPN

Cliff Lee Dominates Yankees, is Now Their Daddy

Another cool October night at Yankee Stadium began as a celebration of the life of Freddy Sez, the most devoted Yankee fan any of us has had the pleasure of meeting in either the old or new Stadium. It then continued as a celebration of the Yankees dynasty of the 90s with former first baseman Tino Martinez throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to a thunderous ovation. When it comes to bringing out the ghosts of the past to intimidate their opponents in the post season, no one does it better than the Yankees.

With his Yankee legacy already set in stone and the Hall of Fame not too far away, pitcher Andy Pettite took the mound with Hall of Fame captain Derek Jeter just over his right shoulder manning short stop. Both players, along with catcher Jorge Posada and closer Mariano Rivera, were team mates of Tino Martinez's; a sign of both their storied careers and that they will soon be joining Tino in throwing no more than ceremonial first pitches. Tonight one of them fought back the hands of time and turned in another vintage performance while the other one continued to wilt into the twilight of his career.

Derek Jeter came into this game hitting over .400 against Phillies starter Cliff Lee in 44 at bats with only a handful of strikeouts. This was the night for him to break out of his post season slump and show he isn't old yet. This is the type of night that his excellence in built the reputation earning him the nickname "Captain Clutch" that has defined his career.

Andy Pettitte: Big Buck Hunter

Andy Pettitte makes a stronger case for a future induction into the Hall of Fame with every post season start he makes. He has a major league record 19 career playoff wins, winning his last 5 playoff decisions. Beating Cliff Lee for number 20 in the ALCS will make it harder for detractors to doubt his case for the Hall. His pitching opponent for tonight is Rangers ace Cliff Lee, who surrendered one run on 2 hits over 8 innings with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks in his last start against the Yankees on September 8th.

Cliff Lee remarked of Pettitte in a report on MLB.com: "In my opinion he's probably the best postseason pitcher of all time just by the number of wins and the number of rings he's got."