Jorge Posada’s age (37) and health status (being post-op from major shoulder surgery) bring cause for concern with respect to his skills in 2009. However, given his salary, and team need, Posada will be given every chance to be the Yankees full-time catcher.
But, what if his shoulder will not allow him to take advantage of that chance? Think about it…a full-time catcher has to throw the ball about 20,000 times a season. Granted, most of those are tosses back to the pitcher. But, still, that’s some stress on a shoulder. If Posada’s wing is not 100% healed, who’s to say that it can stand up to the demands of being a full-time catcher?
Even if everything breaks his way, do not expect a repeat of the numbers Posada posted in 2007.
16 Responses to “Jorge Posada 2009”
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November 21st, 2008 at 8:55 am
Although it amounts to just bad luck, Posada’s 4 year contract appears to be perhaps one of the worst contracts in recent Yankee history. I very much doubt that Posada will be able to last behind the plate as a 37 year old coming off major shoulder surgery.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am
I dunno.
As much as I HATE the “it seemed like the right move at the time” excuse, this one clearly looked like the only move to make at that time.
I think the Yankees would have been killed to allow Posada to go somewhere else (like the Mets?) and then have some scrub be their FT catcher.
Maybe, if anything, you can blame the Yankees for not having the foresight of seeing this date/contract coming and having someone in the pipeline ready to step in during 2007-2008.
If someone wanted to go that way, I’d probably not fault them for having that opinion.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:23 am
As much as I HATE the “it seemed like the right move at the time” excuse, this one clearly looked like the only move to make at that time.
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I agree, which is why I said it amounts to just bad luck.
The Yanks obviously should’ve had a better pipeline of catchers ready for 2007/2008 but, obviously, projectable ML catchers don’t grow on trees and the fact that the Yanks now have at least two of them (Cervilli and Romine) doesn’t help because they’re going to be blocked by Posada for another 3 years.
It’s unfortunate and unlucky. But I really don’t see how the Yanks can expect Posada to ever catch again. They’ll try, but I have a feeling it won’t work out and he’ll have to accept a full-time role at another position (DH or 1B).
November 21st, 2008 at 9:26 am
~~I have a feeling it won’t work out and he’ll have to accept a full-time role at another position (DH or 1B).~~
Or, they’ll catch him and just to the Mike Piazza thing and look the other way when he only throws out 15% of his attempted steals…
November 21st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Or, they’ll catch him and just to the Mike Piazza thing and look the other way when he only throws out 15% of his attempted steals…
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that was painful to watch. I don’t know, I don’t think he’s going to have THAT much trouble…he could throw it back to the pitcher and to second decently when his arm was badly injured…time can only help that.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Or, they’ll catch him and just to the Mike Piazza thing and look the other way when he only throws out 15% of his attempted steals…
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Is there a correlation between runs scored and SB’s?
November 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am
Is there a correlation between runs scored and SB’s?
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I have no idea but I’m sure that even if there isn’t, there is still an adverse effect when your OF’ers have below-average arms and your infielders have poor range. The total package is worrisome, even if the SB:RS relationship isn’t necessarily tied together.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:54 am
Fair enough, but isn’t Damon the only OF’er with an average arm?
I do agree in general that the Yanks need to shore up their defense. Not quite sure how they’re going to do it.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:55 am
Below average arm for Damon…
November 21st, 2008 at 11:57 am
As much as I HATE the “it seemed like the right move at the time” excuse…
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Why? It’s a valid reason.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
~~Why? It’s a valid reason.~~
To the naked, untrained, eye – it might be…but, it’s still just an excuse.
I don’t expect Joe Fan or John Blogger to be able to see past some things and see others that might be clues as to why something “that seems right at the time” is really a mistake – or, at the least, something full of risk. But, I expect the GM of a $200 million payroll – who, himself, makes $2 million a year – who is armed with a cadre of trained and seasoned scouts, an office full of sabermetricians, and insider access to information via a network of colleagues and valued sources, to be able see past “what SEEMS like the right move at the time” and determine with high accuracy as to what’s right or not at the time.
That’s why I cannot give a GM like Cashman a bye for things that many are willing to write-off with the “it seemed like the right thing at the time” excuse.
Now, that said, the Posada thing, I can understand. They owned him. They knew everything about him. They had him take a physical before signing the contract. There’s no way that anyone saw this shoulder thing coming…so, yeah, in this case, you can waive the “seemed like the right move at the time” flag – and I would not fight it.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:23 pm
But, I expect the GM of a $200 million payroll – who, himself, makes $2 million a year – who is armed with a cadre of trained and seasoned scouts, an office full of sabermetricians, and insider access to information via a network of colleagues and valued sources, to be able see past “what SEEMS like the right move at the time” and determine with high accuracy as to what’s right or not at the time.
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Then I would have to say your expectations are a bit unrealistic, except in cases where a move was a completely boneheaded & wrong (Pavano, Wright and Womack quickly come to mind.).
November 21st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
But, I expect the GM of a $200 million payroll – who, himself, makes $2 million a year – who is armed with a cadre of trained and seasoned scouts, an office full of sabermetricians, and insider access to information via a network of colleagues and valued sources, to be able see past “what SEEMS like the right move at the time” and determine with high accuracy as to what’s right or not at the time.
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Payroll, salary, a cadre of scouts, an office full of sabermetricians, and all the insider access to colleagues and sources in the world wouldn’t have told Cashman “you know what, trading a major league redundancy that’s always hurt (Nick Johnson) for a young potential ace (Javier Vazquez) is a bad move.”
You can come up with your theoretical, idealistic reason why Cashman should be better at his job than Joe Fan or John Blogger but at the end of the day, Cashman and the other 29 guys that do his job still make decisions the way the rest of us do. We all take the best information possible and act accordingly. If it doesn’t work out, well, you just gotta ask if you missed something in the analysis. If you’re comfortable that you didn’t miss anything then the thought-process was sound, even if the results don’t bear fruit.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Payroll, salary, a cadre of scouts, an office full of sabermetricians, and all the insider access to colleagues and sources in the world wouldn’t have told Cashman “you know what, trading a major league redundancy that’s always hurt (Nick Johnson) for a young potential ace (Javier Vazquez) is a bad move.”
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Case in point;
”He’s a winner,” said Jeff Torborg, who managed Vazquez with the Expos in 2001. ”He’s got a real competitive fire and he’s a classy kid. With the Yankees, he’s liable to just pop big time. He’s always been very good but his record’s not been much over .500. This is the kind of guy that could pop it and go 20-8. That’s the kind of stuff he has.”
”I like Vazquez better than I do Colón, partly because he has a good, athletic body and Colón is not in good shape,” one National League advance scout said. ”Vazquez has a lot of pride in what he does, and I feel like he’s got a lot of quality innings left in his arm. He’s got a good delivery and mechanically is pretty sound. He’s not someone who’s been around for six years, gets a big contract and is done by age 30.”
”Vazquez is one of the up-and-coming young pitchers in the game,” Minaya said. ”He’s not only a good talent, he’s a great person, a great citizen. This guy represents baseball as well as any other player. He’ll do fine in a very diverse community like New York.”
“Vazquez is only 27 years old and has a great arm. His command is his biggest asset. The right-hander hits his spots and keeps the ball down, displaying tremendous control. His 2003 numbers are All-Star caliber: just 57 walks in 230 innings with 241 strikeouts. A strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 4-1 is impressive.
I believe Vazquez’s personality also will be a good fit for the Yankees. In fact, the pressure of playing in New York should make him a better pitcher. It’s an opportunity for him to dial up the intensity. I’ve talked to Vazquez a handful of times, and I’ve been impressed with him.
One plus for Vazquez is that he won’t be expected to be the savior. With Joe Torre’s Yankees, it’s all about the team. Remember the 1998 Yankee team that won 114 games and then won the World Series? No one star stood out.
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But because Vazquez is 10 years younger than Schilling, this deal has tremendous upside for the Yankees. It bodes well for their rotation for years to come.” – Tom Candiotti
November 21st, 2008 at 3:20 pm
”Javier has yet to be proven in a big market,” Pedro Martínez said ”In Montreal, he never had this exposure. But I think he’s going to be one of the best pitchers in baseball.”
”That’s the Vazquez I know,” said Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox manager, who observed Vazquez the past few seasons as a coach for the Expos and the Marlins. ”They talk about losing Clemens and Andy. This kid’s going to be a big plus for them. What you see from that kid is what you’re going to get. ”I hate to say this because I’m going to play against him, but he’s a special kid. Joe Torre is going to have fun with that kid.”
November 21st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Vazquez lived up to the hype after the first half of the season…