Jorge Posada does not feel welcome back at the Yankees. He told The New York Post on Tuesday that he believes the organization does not want him there. The five-time World Series champion played his entire 17-year career in The Bronx. Despite his legacy, he says he will not return to help the team because he feels shut out.
Posada spoke to reporters Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman on “The Show” podcast. He said he could help, but he doubts the team wants him. “It’s gotta be the right — I mean, I could, but I don’t think they want me there to tell you the truth,” Posada said. This is a sharp break for a man who won five titles with the club.
The 2011 Fallout Still Hurts
The reason for this distance goes back to his final season. Posada played his last year in 2011. That season was rough for both him and the front office. He was moved from catcher to a part-time designated hitter. He feuded with management over his playing time. “My last season of my career was a really tough one when it comes to handling everything on my part and also the Yankees toward Jorge Posada,” he said.
He noted that he never got a chance to fight for his job. According to him, the front office issued the directive rather than then-manager Joe Girardi. While conversing with Girardi, he clarified that he reached out to neither owner Hal Steinbrenner nor general manager Brian Cashman. He said, “I don’t know what happened. I’d rather just move forward.” That pain from 2011 still stops him from walking into spring training today.
He described the feeling of going to the stadium now. “I don’t feel welcome when I go there, you know?” Even during spring training, I do not feel like — I am simply like, I do not know, I do not feel welcome. Since I believe they do not want me there, I choose not to go. A legend who gave everything to the team now feels like an outsider in his own home.
He Wants Accountability But Not the Job
Posada still cares about the team. He thinks the Yankees need a strong voice to push players. He wants higher standards of accountability. He said mental mistakes get magnified during the playoffs. “You didn’t run to first base?” Get him out of the game. Make him understand that this means something. This is really a job, not a game, and certain guys are failing to do their job. He wants someone to say that certain plays are unacceptable.
However, he does not blame the current leadership. He said general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone are the right people to lead. He stressed that the players are responsible for their own shortcomings. “It’s not on Boonie, it’s not on Cash,” Posada said. Is it on the players? Indeed, because those individuals are the ones who go out there and play the game.
He suggested the team could make changes to the coaching staff. They could bring in someone who would push the players. But that person will not be him. He is too old to go back and feel that rejection again. “So it’s tough to go back and feel that again.” He is 55 years old and has moved on to other roles. He held leadership positions with the Miami Marlins and served as a bench coach elsewhere.
The silence from the Yankees on this specific feeling is loud. Cashman declined to comment for the New York Post story. He only acknowledged the rough patch from years ago. “Sometimes there are rough patches, but you try to get through them,” Cashman said then. The wound never fully healed, and now the player who won five rings says he is not wanted. That is a hard truth for any fan to hear.