That’s the implication from Andrew Marchand’s story over at ESPN New York today, which says that the Yankees “will reconsider Jorge Posada’s future with the team if his numbers don’t improve by the All-Star break.”
I’m not sure how else you can read that other than to say that he’d be released if he’s not hitting by then. I mean, what else could “reconsider his future” mean? Every player’s future is being considered by his team at all times. For this to be any sort of news, it has to mean that the Yankees would cut the Ringo of their Core Four* if he can’t find his stroke.
So get cracking, Jorge! In a world in which teams carry 12 and 13 pitchers at a time, there isn’t much room on the roster for a part-time DH who can’t do the one thing that DHs normally do.
*Note: this is not a slam on Ringo or Posada. I love both of them. Even named a cat after Ringo once (though he may have been named after the cat in the Dada song “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow,” I’ll never tell). But let’s be honest: Jeter is Lennon, Rivera is McCartney, Pettitte is George Harrison and Posada, for all of his charms, has to be Ringo by the process of elimination. Also: this makes Joe Girardi Pete Best!