WasWatching.com

Four years or more lost production?The Yankees have to look at the opportunity cost of this situation.Can you sign a catcher that has the production or the team leadership skills of a Posada?If the answer is no,then give him an extra year and start grooming his successor in the minors.They will have at most a three year lead time to do so and can convert him to a DH or first baseman.The alternative is a true rebuilding program,no matter how ingenious Girardi is.

Didn't Heyman also say the Yanks were going to sweeten their offer to Jorge? Couldn't that mean adding a 4th year?

I don't understand why the Yankees are being so passive-aggressive here. They should either give Posada what he's looking for or they should bow out entirely. Why run the risk of pissing him off the way the Yanks did with Pettitte in 2003?

Pay him his money, accept that he'll only be good for two of those years and move on. The team has loads of cash coming off the books over the next two seasons so it's not like they're going to be getting killed on this deal. He can be the team's DH in 2010, once Giambi and Matsui are both gone.

The thing that has me concerned is "Why wait?”
If the Yankees know that he wants 4 years, and if they believe he can get 4 years on the market, and they want him, well, then, just give him the 4 year offer now.

I think the Yankees are playing a small game of chicken here – offering 3, waiting to the last minute before he can talk to clubs…maybe offering the 4th year, or not…and maybe waiting to see what’s on the market for him.

The problem is, once he hits the market, you’ve lost control and anything can happen. See: Pettitte, 2003.

MJ, we almost timed the same comments at the same time!

Great minds think alike Steve!

Hasn't the media said all along that Jorge would listen to what the Yanks offered, but that he would hit the open market no matter what? Apparently Posada wants to see what else is out there. He's going to allow himself to be wined and dined (which is his right). So I think the Yankees have plenty of time to negotiate. Maybe they are simply waiting to see what kind of deal they will have to match from the Mets. The one problem the Yanks face is probably that Omar could potentially run Jorge's price into something absurd. But the Yankees truly do not have an alternative to Jorge...

Four more years for a catcher, who is 37! is insane let him walk away if he wants, loyalty should only go so far. We don't need another Giambi in 2 years.

Same with Mo! The Yankees need to quit pandering to these over the hill players.

Yeah, I don't quite get what the Yankees are doing here. Offer him four and be done with it, because he's going to get offered four to go elsewhere.

As far as loyalty only going so far, I believe that there are some guys that you just take care of, and Posada and Mariano fit the bill in my opinion. The Yankees can afford to take care of guys like that. It's not like Posada couldn't still serve as backup catcher during the last year or two of his career, so the comparison to Giambi, who is worthless defensively, isn't really fair.

Will any team really give Posada four years, he will turn 37 next August? Especially a NL club where there is no DH? Three years maximum with a club option in year four, with a cheap buyout.

The guy did stink at blocking balls this season, an important job for a catcher. Yeah, Torre admits he should have tried to get the 'bug' game stopped, but if Posada blocks one of those two pitches, there's no run scored. People will blame Torre no end while giving the player on the field a pass.

That's the other thing about giving Posada 4 years...it's more than likely his defense will deteriorate faster than his offense. And as Don points out, his problems with blocking balls (and missing balls completely)returned with a vengeance this season (after a 1 year respite under Pena's tutelage). If at least 3/5 of our rotation is going to be under 23 going forward, you really hope your catcher can help not hurt their development. But...the Yankees have no choice here but pay up.