MLB

History all that keeps Yankees from releasing Posada

BOSTON — The clock ticks against Jorge Posada, marching relentlessly and remorsefully toward the end of his Yankees marriage — a beautiful relationship gone rancid.

The clock already has sped up on him this year, stripping away first his cherished catching job, then the majority of his at-bats from the right side and now a regular role of any type.

Ten days shy of his 40th birthday, Posada officially became a bench player yesterday. Boston started a righty, Josh Beckett, and Eduardo Nunez was at third, Eric Chavez was the DH, and this was not a one-day event.

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Girardi met with Posada to tell him he was “going with his best lineups,” which after all of these years meant ones without Posada. The Yankees manager prefers several options over Posada such as Chavez and Nunez, who honored the decision last night with a homer off Josh Beckett in the Yankees’ 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox.

When Alex Rodriguez returns, likely in about two weeks, he also will factor into the mix for DH at-bats to reduce strain on his surgically repaired knee.

For now, the Yankees are holding off on summoning Jesus Montero. He is hot at Triple-A (.333 with seven extra-base hits in his past 13 games). However, there remains infighting among Yankees decision-makers if it is the wrong message to promote Montero when he has not dominated Triple-A and at times projects indifference about being there. Nevertheless, if the new DH structure does not work, Montero will be called up; yet another sign the Yankees are in a DH phase of anyone but Posada.

“I’m not happy about it,” Posada said. “But right now I can’t do anything about it.”

In reality, if he were not Jorge Posada he would be treated like Jack Cust and Lyle Overbay, two veterans with somewhat similar numbers to Posada who were released recently by the Mariners and Pirates, respectively. Instead, the Yankees will keep Posada on the 25-man roster in a nebulous role that could include pinch-hitting or an occasional DH start or maybe a game at first.

Mainly, though, Posada has been reduced to legend without a role. The Yankees will play with less bench diversity until rosters can expand Sept. 1, essentially going 24 days with 24 men so as not to have to outright release a dynastic player. They have chosen to go shorthanded rather than deliver that backhand to Posada.

Of course, Posada is a prideful, emotional man, and so we will see if he can sit on the bench near exclusively without imploding. For him, now, DH stands for Done Here. He is about to become Javier Vazquez, not even making the postseason roster, a high-priced bystander.

Remember, on May 14, for another nationally televised game against the Red Sox and Beckett, Girardi wrote Posada in as the ninth hitter and Posada reacted by pulling himself from the lineup. The Yankees viewed his tirade and actions as insubordinate and briefly considered releasing him for the behavior.

The sides made up. But it was all surface. The relationship between Posada and Girardi and also GM Brian Cashman is fractious. Because of that, Posada knew that when his four-year contract expired after this season, he would be done as a Yankee. However, the clock has ticked much quicker toward Posada’s Yankees irrelevance.

He could not save himself with the power/patience combo from both sides of the plate that had marked him as one of the elite hitting catchers in history. Instead, beyond a homer frenzy early in the year and a superb two-week run in June, Posada’s bat went dead. He was homerless in his last 82 at-bats — not just 1-for-17 from his meek right side, but also a jolt-less .246 in 65 at-bats hitting lefty. That contributed to the Yankees’ .702 OPS from the DH spot, third worst in the AL.

This finally motivated Girardi to have a conversation more than four months in the making — to tell a great Yankee that he was now essentially a hood ornament.

“I could see he was disappointed,” Girardi said.

Posada feels the manager and GM do not respect or appreciate him. He has seen the roles he cherished most — being a catcher and being a regular Yankee — evaporate. He knows now that there will be no happy ending.

Posada could not stop the speedy hands of time. Tick tock.

joel.sherman@nypost.com