BOSTON — Until third baseman Alex Rodriguez returns from the disabled list the Yankees will try to win the AL East or put a choke hold on the AL wild card with Eric Chavez as the designated hitter against right-handers and Eduardo Nunez at third.
And that means the soon-to-be 40-year-old Jorge Posada is another step closer to the door.
“We are going to see how this works, try some different things and see how it works,” manager Joe Girardi said after talking to Posada prior to last night’s game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “I told Jorge he is still going to be a big part of this and we are going to need you, but we are going to do some different things.”
Girardi said Posada’s roster spot isn’t in jeopardy today or when Rodriguez returns — which could be next week when the Yankees visit Kansas City and Minnesota. Rosters expand from 25 on Sept. 1.
Girardi did not rule out seeing catching prospect Jesus Montero in the big leagues at some point, but it won’t be tomorrow when the Yankees open a homestand against the Angels. If Montero is promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre it will be for his bat and not his defense because Girardi is hesitant to throw a raw rookie behind the plate in the middle of a pennant race. And Montero’s bat is far more developed than his receiving skills.
Though Girardi mentioned the possibility that Posada could get back in the lineup and get hot, that’s not the way to bet.
“Joe talked to me and said he was going to put the best lineup [on the field], and right now I am sitting on the bench,” a glum Posada said. “I am very disappointed. I want to be out there, but right now it’s all about winning ballgames.”
Chavez went 0-for-4 and Nunez homered off Josh Beckett in the Yankees’ 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox last night.
“I am not happy about it, but I can’t do anything about it,” said Posada, whose reaction to being dropped to ninth in the order on May 14 against the Red Sox was to pull himself from the lineup, causing a major firestorm. “But I put myself in this position.”
When Posada pulled himself from the lineup on May 14, he was batting .165. By the end of June, his average was up to .240. But a recent 3-for-17 slump dropped Posada’s average to .230 and led Girardi to replace him with Chavez, who was on an 8-for-18 (.444) hot streak going into last night.
Girardi said he was sensitive to Posada’s feelings.
“You could see the disappointment and you can understand that,” Girardi said of the talk with Posada, a core member of four World Series-title teams. “But at this time I felt that we had to do what I did [yesterday].”
Since Posada has not caught an inning this year, is not going to be used as a pinch-runner and the Yankees don’t often use pinch-hitters, Posada’s at-bats will come when Mark Teixeira needs a rest at first.
Teixiera has started 104 games at first and was the DH six times in the Yankees’ first 112 games, and admitted to being “dog tired” this past week in Chicago. Posada has started at first seven times.
Taking into account Chavez’s injury history — he played 64 games in the previous three seasons and missed 71 games this year with a fractured foot — Posada could return as the DH against righties. Yet for now, he is part of a very short Yankees bench.