The Posada situation

As first reported by Scott Proctor's Arm, Jorge Posada is a free agent. He is also planning on fielding offers from other teams this off-season to gauge how valuable he is. To the Yankees - at least this off-season - he is extremely valuable. Since the Yankees have no catchers in their system that are Major League ready and since there are no overwhelmingly great options in the free agent or trade markets, the Yankees will be forced to overpay for Posada's services.

Posada will be 37 next August. Posada has also played in at least 131 games at catcher every season since 2000.

I know I have gone on record stating my disdain for Posada. He has had a couple of terrible postseasons and is not an extraordinarily clutch player, at least in my opinion. When he comes up to bat in a huge spot, I never feel like something good is bound to happen. For whatever the reason, he's never been one of my favorite players. I know I take a lot of heat for this, but I can't help the way I feel.

This season was arguably Posada's best of his career. He hit .338 with 20 home runs and 90 RBI at the age of 35 in a contract year. I feel that this season may have been somewhat of an aberration.

Can Posada hit over .300 next year? Absolutely. However, he is seeking at least a four-year deal worth over $12 million per. That would take him to age 40, and as a catcher, that is very old. If the Yankees want to make that kind of commitment to Posada, he would probably have to switch positions if his knees start to give out behind the plate.

If this was another other off-season, I'd say that the Yankees could almost let Posada walk. However, the loss of Alex Rodriguez is going to force the Yankees' hand. Posada has all of the leverage in the world and the Yankees will have to give into his demands.

This will be a moot point in four years if Posada miraculously shows no signs of decline. However, his workload suggests that a decline could be in the future.

Posada has played 86 innings at first base in 18 career games. If he signs a four-year deal with the Yankees, that number could increase drastically.