Two days after Posada asked out of the line-up, and one day after Posada apologized, anonymous "team sources" have informed the Daily News that Posada not simply asked out of the line-up but off the team. Not only that, but he did so amid a flood of F-bombs. Further, the Yankees have put forth the seemingly unlikely story that Posada refused to catch during Spring Training over concerns about past concussion symptoms.
That it gets out that Posada, in a moment of frustration, asked off the team doesn't bother me. But the need to point out that this was done "amid a flood of F-bombs" is little more than a petty attempt to embarrass Posada. To claim a guy who has made it clear he would still like to catch refused to catch, is another such attempt. The Yankees front office seems intent on winning the public perception battle, as they were last winter during the Jeter negotiations. These tidbits are almost certainly coming out only because "team sources" were authorized to reveal them. If Posada is the guy who tried to curse his way off the team and refused to catch, then it's that much easier to drop him in the line-up, release him later, or exile him to the bench.
If you're wondering why neither Jeter or Posada seem to have much good will toward the front office, it's because of things like this. Petty attempts to embarrass players who, while they may certainly no longer be particularly effective, have built the brand that is the Yankees today. The Yankees were not perennial contenders before 1996. Guys like Jeter and Posada (and others) made them so. They deserve better.
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7 comments:
You're right, the FO has no idea what it's doing when it comes to public perception. They always think the fans and media will side with them over any player. It's crazy.
This situation is so stupid.
First, Posada is playing horribly. He didn't hurt the team by taking himself out of the lineup. Plus, a veteran player should be able to request a day off if he feels it would help. This sort of thing probably happens all the time, it's just handled quietly.
Posada, Girardi and the FO all handled what should have been a relatively low-key situation terribly. Posada (and his wife) told the press he sat out because of his back, which wasn't really true. Girardi could have told the press that his conversation with Posada was private, but instead he gave curt answers about how little Posada said when he requested the day off. Then the FO immediately leaked a story about Posada being upset that he was going to bat 9th, followed up by the story about his wanting to leave the team. So now Posada, Girardi and the FO all look like idiots at the same time.
Then the FO compounds the situation by going after Jeter. Jeter probably should have kept his mouth shut, but what he said was innocuous and defensible. Yes, it's really not a big deal for a veteran going through a major (perhaps career-threatening) slump to ask for one day off. If the FO hadn't commented, Jeter's statement probably would have been quickly forgotten. Instead, the FO acts like it's quashing a rebellion. Of course the popular reaction will be to call the FO a bunch of douchebags.
So we've gone from something ordinary (a struggling veteran asking for a day off) to the Yankees looking totally dysfunctional, all because Girardi and the FO wouldn't play off Posada's request as no big deal.
I agree, but I think it's incumbent on the FO to realize that Posada can only tarnish his own reputation (which is hard to do considering what he's meant to this team). The FO has a responsibility to the legacy of the Yankees, that is, the brand. This doesn't help. And I agree wholly about Girardi. Say what you want about Torre, but clubhouse matters stayed in-house under him. Why can't Girardi just wait until Cashman turns on him and then write a book about it like a normal person?
Funny you say that as Girardi's problem used to be he was TOO secretive. He wouldn't admit if players were injured and the media jumped on him, claiming he didn't know how to handle the press. Peter Abraham couldn't stop bashing Girardi about this, even though Girardi arguably was protecting his players.
Torre was a master at masking the team's personality problems, except when it came to ARod. Then Torre helped create the problems by telling the press embarrassing details about his closed-door conversations with ARod. Girardi handled the Posada issue awkwardly, but I doubt he would go as far as Torre did with ARod.
Feud.
I didn't expect things to get ugly between the FO and Jeter and Posada. It's a shame. You're right, the FO has to take care of the brand, and airing out dirty laundry obviously does not help the brand.
Why am I not surprised that Cashman has more and more revealed himself to be the weasel that Torre was shocked to find in one he had imagined to be a friend?
Some of Torre's book may have struck us as TMI, but to date none of it has been shown to be untrue.
I still need to read that Torre book. But for now, I really just hope this dies out. I think with some wins, this story will dissapear, and both the front office and the players will be more at ease.
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