Remember all those times Joe Girardi said how Posada was improving? Yeah, not so much.
Here’s what Posada himself had to say today: “The shoulder is messed up. I have no power when I go to make a throw and there’s pain every time I make a throw. It has been like that all season.”
Sources I have been in touch with say there is a labrum tear and a rotator cuff tear in the shoulder. Posada will have an MRI tomorrow and could have surgery soon. It seems likely that he would need surgery now to have any hope of being ready to start the 2009 season.
Meanwhile, Girardi is clinging to the idea that Posada could rehab and come back as a DH or first baseman this season. That doesn’t seem very likely.
The loss of Posada could force Brian Cashman’s hand in terms of a trade. Losing a switch-hitting, middle of the order hitter is a big blow. The dynamic really changes with this news. I don’t see the Yankees trading for a catcher because decent catchers simply aren’t available unless you want to pry one away from Texas.
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/07/21/g ... t-yankees/
Matsui wants to put off surgery but good luck with that
No Posada & No Matsui for the rest of the year. Not exactly how I envisioned the final season at the Stadium to unfold....
