The Posada flap is not done yet: the Yankees’ front office is mad at Derek Jeter

UPDATE: Peace in our time.

11:32 AM: In the wake of the Jorge Posada Sit-down-a-palooza, Derek Jeter had this to say:

“My reaction was that I didn’t think it was that big a deal,” Jeter said about the Posada incident. “If you need a day, you need a day. It’s over. It’s done. It’s not the first time a player asked out of a lineup. Joe says if you feel like you need a day, let him know. It’s understandable ... Let the person dealing with it go first. I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.”

That last bit seemed to refer to Brian Cashman and his in-game comments on Saturday, suggesting that Cashman spoke out of turn. Jeter also said that he didn’t think that Posada had to apologize and that it wasn’t a big deal. Now Buster Olney reports that those comments have angered the Yankees’ front office who, according to Olney, were so mad at Posada over all of this that they considered releasing him on the spot.

Setting that insta-release stuff aside -- really? -- why on Earth someone in the Yankees front office felt it necessary to tell Buster Olney that they’re mad at Jeter over all of this is beyond me. While the big picture issue of what to do with Posada isn’t going away any time soon, this little controversy was over. It was dying, wrapped up with an apology and a standing ovation from the fans 24 hours after the the flareup began. And now someone -- Randy Levine? Cashman? A random Steinbrenner? -- is throwing gas on the fire?

There was a time when the Yankees front office fought with its own players. Then there was an extended time when it did not. That latter period correlated with the greatest success the team had seen in decades. I won’t say that peace caused the success because that overstates the power of harmony in an undeniably chaotic world, but it sure as hell didn’t hurt it.

I understand that Posada’s act was frustrating and that Jeter’s comments could be construed as critical of Cashman (though I think they were pretty tame ). But the suits not taking the high road here is not good for anyone.