TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees may be looking for a DH, but Jorge Posada said last week’s trade of Jesus Montero to Seattle has no impact on him.
Posada, who strongly hinted at retirement again Wednesday night, was asked why not.
“It just didn’t,” he said.
And he said last year’s problems with Yankees management aren’t the reason he’s ready to walk away, although the longtim catcher admitted again “it wasn’t a comfortable situation.”
So that leaves Posada on the verge of ending his career. The only thing left to do is make it official.
“I’m going to get together with people in the next couple of weeks,” said Posada, who didn’t leave much room for doubt. “I want to make that [retirement] day overwhelming.
“I’m not getting ready for another season. I tried and it wasn’t in me. I’m still fighting it, but the more I did, the more I realized I’m not gonna play.”
So he’ll be left with a final postseason in which he performed well, following a tumultuous regular season.
“Just the way it happened was hard,” Posada said at a fundraiser for Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. “You have to learn from your mistakes. It wasn’t a comfortable situation.”
The situation included taking himself out of a game after manager Joe Girardi placed him ninth in the lineup against the Red Sox and not playing regularly at times.
But what was almost assuredly his final season ended on somewhat of a high note, first when he delivered a pinch-hit single to drive in the winning runs on Sept. 21 to beat the Rays and clinch the AL East. He followed that by going 6-for-14 (.429) in the ALDS loss to the Tigers.
Jeter is already planning for life after Posada.
“It’s difficult,” said Jeter, who was given the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for giving back to the community. “I’ve played with him since I was 18 years old. It will be kind of odd … but it’s time to move on.”
Former bench coach Don Zimmer said Posada was “a great hitter. I feel he still could hit, but if he wants to retire now and having only played for the Yankees, that’s a good reason.”
As for who might take the DH spot, the Yankees have reached out to Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, as well as Carlos Pena. The Yankees reportedly have looked into two other aging designated hitters: Vladimir Guerrero, who had 13 homers and 63 RBIs last season with the Orioles, and Raul Ibanez, who had 20 homers and 84 RBIs with the Phillies last season, but a .289 OBP.
The Yankees could give the spot to 29-year-old minor leaguer Jorge Vazquez, or go with a rotation of Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Andruw Jones and others.
But it won’t be Posada.
“I’m content in my decision,” Posada said. “It’s not gonna happen.”