Is Jorge Posada Done?

Jorge Posada is one of the "Core Four" and has helped the Yankees to four World Series Championships. He has caught 1,573 regular season games. He is now 39 years-old, no longer catches, and is struggling mightily at the plate. Posada currently owns a .152 AVG, 15 hits in 99 at bats. Eight of those hits have been for extra bases, 2 doubles and 6 homers. He has struck out 28 times while walking 13 times which contributes to his .257 OBP. A stat line like that usually leads to a release or a demotion to AAA. A demotion to AAA won't happen, and, because of his prestige as a Yankee-great, neither will a release. But does that mean Manager Joe Girardi has to keep trotting Posada out there as the Yankees DH every game?

Much has been made about the Yankees failure to score without the home run and Posada is the embodiment of this. When six of fifteen hits go for home runs you can see there is not much diversity when it comes to Posada's hits this season. To make matters worse, he hasn't homered since April 23rd at Baltimore. He showed some signs of possibly breaking out of his slump from May 1-3 when he collected five hits, including two doubles, in twelve at-bats. However, he immediately fell into a 1 for 15 slump, one that he is currently mired in. Can he break out of it? Sure. But how reasonable is it to expect a thirty-nine year-old former catcher to be able to to suddenly erupt and bring his stat lines up to his career norms? The answer is, it isn't. One can make the case that he is trying to adjust to being a full-time DH but he has had 29 games in which to show something.

This brings us to the real question, can the Yankees afford to keep trotting Posada out there everyday with little expectation for something positive to happen? Right now, the Yankees might be able to get away with it because guys like Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Russell Martin are all contributing something right now. However, if Posada doesn't snap out of it soon he might force Girardi to bench him. Especially if Eric Chavez comes back from his foot fracture and swings a hot bat. So, right now, Girardi can keep Posada at the DH spot but if he fails to hit over the next two weeks then Girardi should bench Posada in favor of someone who can actually contribute at the plate. Right now, all Posada is doing is holding up the development of Jesus Montero who is stuck at AAA, Austin Romine, who is stuck at AA because Montero is at Scranton, and Gary Sanchez who is behind those two.

At the very least, this should be Jorge's last year in professional baseball. The worst thing that can happen for the Yankees in the long-term is Posada catches fire and hits over 20 home runs and brings his average up to, say, .250, and the Yankees bring him back for next season. That would be Cashman's biggest mistake. Posada's best days are long gone. Sure, he will get a hold of a fastball down the middle of the plate and punish it every now and then but he won't improve much on those breaking balls which have been fooling him consistently all season. He has looked lost up there, as if his bat is stuck in cement and either strikes out or drills the ball into the ground. Personally, if I were in Girardi's chair right now I would have no problem with benching Posada in favor of Eric Chavez, or a Justin Maxwell or Jesus Montero. Hopefully, Yankee fans can enjoy a little bit of Posada before he retires. He is one of the all-time great Yankees and deserves to have a good send-off, hopefully his poor season doesn't sour the experience.