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Jorge Posada says “No shot” to Return with the Yankees
Few Yankee fans actually expected Jorge Posada to return to the team in 2012. But hearing him say it so definitively after 17 major league seasons will still come as somewhat of a surprise to most Yankee fans. But until Posada actually signs with another team, no matter what he may say, there will still be fans assuming he'll wear the pinstripes next year.
And that false hope will come even after quotes like this from Posada: "I don't think there's even a percentage of chance that I can come back."
That seems pretty definitive to me. Of course, rarely can we actually hold athletes to their word, because saying one thing to the media and doing the opposite is all too common. But it seems doubtful that the Yankees will try hard, if at all, to bring Posada back to the Bronx for another season. Though he came up with some big hits at the end of the season, his role was completely diminished, if not at times non-existent, and one gets the feeling that if Posada decides to play at all next year, that he will want to get steady playing time. It seems unlike he'll get that on the Yankees.
Fortunately, even if Posada does go to another team, it doesn't seem like his career with the Yankees is going to end on a sour note. There was the mid-season craziness when Posada pulled himself out of the lineup for a Sunday night game and refused to play, but it seemed as if he was happier toward the end of the season.
And quotes like this make it obvious that Posada will always hold the Yankees in the highest of esteems after such a long, illustrious career with the team: ""I will always be a Yankee," he said. "The New York Yankees for me is my second family. It will be tough to put on another uniform for real and learn another set of rules and all that stuff."
Seventeen years with the same squad is beyond rare in this day and age. Few players spend the majority of their careers in one city with one team, and Posada is part of a small group that has led the Yankees to a number of World Championships during their careers. He's made five all-star teams, hit 275 home runs as a catcher and finished as high as third in the MVP race.
And most importantly, Posada will always be remembered as a player adored by fans, and one who steered clear of trouble and controversy throughout a tumultuous decade of steroids in Major League Baseball. He caught a number of fantastic Yankee pitchers, and provided plenty of dramatic moments with his bat.
Whether Posada decides to hang it up, or plays another year or two with another club, he'll always be a Yankee, and that's just the way it should be.
Photo Credits: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
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