This was about Jorge Posada yesterday and a fracture with the organization he loves.
But this is not just a Posada problem for the Yankees, as bad as the blood feels right now, as ugly with a chance to get uglier as matters stand between a proud, hot-blooded player and an organization that responds strongly when it feels unjustly attacked.
In the big picture, this is about what happens when teams try to take aging icons into their twilight and how difficult it is to make that end happily ever after. Yesterday it was Posada, because he was dropped to ninth in the order before pulling himself from the lineup, setting off a five-alarm Bronx Zoo flashback.
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But this is larger than Posada. The Yankees have more aging icons than any team. If this storm happens when Posada is dropped in the lineup, what occurs when it’s his pal, Derek Jeter? Maybe that explains why manager Joe Girardi has resisted that move through various Jeter slumps the last two seasons. What happens if or when Mariano Rivera cannot handle the final three outs or Alex Rodriguez slumps himself out of the cleanup spot?
Organizations will tell you there is nothing harder than transitioning a great player as his skills fade, because often a key ingredient to greatness for the player is arrogance in his skills. That arrogance does not diminish as the production does. Posada, for example, insisted before yesterday’s game that he was not in a slump, but rather was “in a little hole.” He was batting .165, the lowest among 193 players qualified for the batting title.
With the whole team struggling, particularly offensively, Girardi looked to jolt the group by batting Posada ninth for what would have been the first time as a starter since May 14, 1999, or 12 years to the day exactly.
Initially, Posada told the media, “I put myself in this spot,” and that it was his job to hit his way back to something more prominent.
But in his facial expressions and body language, Posada was clearly miserable and irritated. He already had lost his catching job. His relationship with Girardi is uncomfortable dating to their time sharing catching duties in the late 1990s. Now he was suffering the indignity of being a DH hitting in the traditional pitcher’s spot.
Posada and the Yankees agree on this: The player went to Girardi and asked to be removed from the lineup an hour before first pitch because he needed to clear his head, and Posada mentioned no injury problems at the time.
Beyond that there was quite a lot of discrepancy and discord. Posada and Girardi both say Posada did not mention being insulted as a reason for pulling himself from the lineup. But other Yankees officials say Posada did. Posada said a sore back was a contributing reason he did not play. But general manager Brian Cashman countered that Posada never saw any of the team’s training or medical staff about such a problem.
Posada admitted feeling disrespected in his recent handling, and criticized Cashman for talking to the media during the game to explain why the player was not in the lineup. Cashman said he directly told Posada what he was going to say: “I told him this is your creation and you’ll have to explain it.”
The Yankees would not say if they would seek to punish Posada, but the team claims it could dock Posada two days’ pay for last night’s action and also could go after what remains of his $13.1 million salary this year if he refuses to play a second straight day. Posada says that won’t be an issue, that he will be available tonight. Besides, the Yankees would have almost no chance to actually win an arbitration to void the contract.
Still, the disharmony between legacy player and his manager, GM and organization is now overt. Posada did not simply chalk this up to a bad personal day, which might have defused some of the heat. Instead, he flip-flopped on different reasons in explaining his decisions. Meanwhile, the Yankees do not exactly sound in forgiving mode.
You wonder if this unnerves a clubhouse at a fragile time; the Yankees lost 6-0 to Boston last night and are reeling. And this all just feels like a coming attraction. If Posada survives now, it won’t be much longer if his average does not rise.
And if it’s Posada today, which aging Yankees icon will it be tomorrow?
joel.sherman@nypost.com