NY Yankees: Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi Equally Wrong in Jorge Posada Drama

It seems over the last five years that New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman has lost it. 

Not his mind necessarily, but his couth, surely. And his class, most definitely. He is no longer a professional who deserves anyone’s courtesy. It’s like trusting a cannibal.

His latest sigh-filled, whiny-pitched, behind-the-back slap was in Jorge Posada’s face, smack in the middle of last night’s game (via mlb.com):

“Well around six o’clock, uh, you know, uh, he came to Joe Girardi’s office and, uh, removed himself from the lineup.”

Cashman was so quick, almost tripping over his last sentence, to add, “It’s not an injury situation, you know, um, so that’s all I can report right now.”

It gets worse. And Posada is not in the lineup Sunday, either.

Talk about throwing someone under the bus.

“I don't know why he made a statement during the game. I don't understand that. That's the way he works now, I guess," Posada said postgame (via ESPN).

I guess Joe Torre, who threw his own fit in a whole book, was correct to dedicate the last three of 477 pages in The Yankee Years to Brian Cashman’s mute, robotic betrayal.

There must be something about the current Yankee organization, and Brian Cashman in particular, that prompts their employees—who are wrong too—to dig their heels in, to feel betrayed by their employers, to need mental health days.

Joe Girardi, Steinbrenner lapdog, is no better than Cashman, using the word “mentally” three times when referring to his once teammate and the historically better Yankees catcher.

“I took it that he needed a day off mentally.  If a guy [a guy?] tells me he needs a day off mentally [which Posada did not specifically say], you’re not sure what you’re going to get that day…” Girardi finished with, “so I went with another guy and thought I’d give him a day off, mentally.”

Was the last “mentally” really necessary? Paint the opponent unstable. Sounds like a high-profile divorce involving lots of money in progress.

ESPN, hysterical over any bone of controversy, in turn lapped it all up with “mental health day” highlights and a discussion hour. 

By the way, the Red Sox beat the Yankees. I think the score was 6-0, but I’m not sure, as news on the actual game is scant.

That’s because, suddenly, 16-year Yankee Jorge Posada, five-finger-ringer, best catcher the Yankees had since Thurman Munson, is a mental patient.

Give me a break.

OK. OK. Yes, he should be batting ninth, if that. He has the worst batting average in the majors (officially). He’s a DH in the AL East batting .165.

And yes, that was inappropriate, walking into the manager’s office an hour or two before a nationally televised game against the arch-rival Boston Red Sox and staging a protest.

But the public (to everyone but Posada) response?

Control-freak Cashman had to head him off at the pass. He couldn’t help but start the damage control. He had to sow the seeds of "I have no idea what is wrong with that person."

Well, it’s obvious.

Posada might be done, DH or no DH. The tank looks empty.

He’s frustrated with himself, first. He’s frustrated with Girardi. He’s frustrated with Cashman. He might even be frustrated with how Jeter’s negotiations were handled.

There’s a communication problem. There are definite, and rightfully so, trust issues. Maybe he did need a mental health day.

You would too if dealing with soulless dullard Cashman and disloyal sop Girardi.

Imagine before the season, Cashman, Girardi and Yankee top brass meeting on the “Jorge Posada problem,” shortly after (or before) the private, at Posada’s home, conversation between the catcher and Cashman that supposedly had everyone on the same page.

There was still some editing to be done.

It would make sense that the front office, in properly considering all possible scenarios, considered how to get Posada out sooner, if things (like his average) went terribly south this summer, which, it turns out, it has.

It’s their job. Many Yankee fans are on their side in fact.

Start early. Little by little, strip a man of what he once was, just in case—no catching at all, no bullpen catching, no public or private support and finally, in front of everyone including Boston, bat him ninth.

But have Cashman and Girardi, unwittingly (or wittingly) derailed a mini Jorge comeback?

Posada has hit safely in his past two games. On Friday, he went one-for-four with a run scored against the Red Sox. On Wednesday, he went two-for-three with two walks and an RBI against the Kansas City Royals. That sounds pretty productive. 

Why knock him down on the way up?

Maybe there is a little more substance to Posada’s protestations than many are giving him credit for. Why bat him ninth now? The way he was playing very recently seemed to bode well for Saturday’s game.

In the end though, I must hoist myself onto the general public opinion bandwagon. It’s the manager’s call, and Posada has been stinking it up. Bat ninth and be happy about it.

But as bad as George Steinbrenner may have been, in some ways, he was never this insidious. This is a public tag-team press on a beloved Yankee—and the second in just a few months. There is something more unsavory about this than the old Steinbrenner-Martin-Jackson headbashing.

At least with Steinbrenner, it was one-on-one or even one-on-two or three. He didn’t care how many players or employees it was, he could take them on single-handedly. He had guttural passion. He challenged players to make it happen.

Not these guys. They can’t wait to publicly slander you, make it harder for you to perform your duties then ship you out the door.

So Brian, Joe (Girardi) and you too Jorge with your announced press conference—act like dignified Yankees. 

Keep it in-house.

It’s too bad Brian Cashman started this trend with the Joe Torre and Derek Jeter negotiations. Torre, Jeter and Posada deserve a tad more respect, even on the way down and out.

When public spats and acts come down from management like this, don’t expect your players to always take the high road.

There are ways to handle things not so disgracefully and publicly. Shame on you Mr. Cashman and your MO.

And I don’t mean Rivera.