Bernie's departure could still affect the Yankees

From the Daily News:

When the Yankees decided not to include Bernie Williams in their 2007 plans, they had no idea it could have a greater impact on the club down the road.

But that might be the case, according to a baseball source, as several members of the Yankees' late-1990s dynasty - including pending free agents Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera - have privately questioned the organization's loyalty to its longtime players.

"This is no longer the old Yankees, where they made sure to take care of their core players," the source said yesterday. "They let (Andy) Pettitte go the first time, and the way they treated Bernie this year left a sour taste in everybody's mouth from that whole crowd."

Posada admitted he was "somewhat" bothered by the Williams situation, and while the whole thing rubbed him the wrong way, he placed some of the blame on Williams, the outfielder who declined a nonguaranteed spring training invite. "I don't know what happened between Bernie and the Yankees," Posada said. "As a player, you'd like to see the guy here. It's tough to discuss what happened, why Bernie isn't here; there's not an answer."

Rivera said Williams' situation "didn't bother me at all," as the team's invitation to camp gave Williams the chance to win a job (source).

I disagree. I think they are just trying to make a story to cause even more distractions in the clubhouse.

I'm also starting to get the feeling that Posada is leaning towards walking.

From the same article: "They can offer me everything and I would not sign a contract right now," Posada said. "They had a chance to do it in the offseason and they had a chance to do it in spring training; I'm not going to do it right now. That's just the way it is. ... If they don't want me here, I'll go somewhere else. I don't have to play here. I would like to play here, but that's the way it is."

Rivera is saying all of the right things in this situation.

He defended the Yankees' actions with Williams: "He had a chance to be here," Rivera said. "It's not like the Yankees just threw him out over there."

I don't think there's any chance the Yankees will let Rivera walk. However, considering the other catching options, the Yankees must re-sign Posada. They have no one close to being ready in the organization and the free agent list of catchers is barren. The Yankees will really have to blow Posada away during their exclusive negotiating period to show him that they are serious about re-signing him.