Catcher Jorge Posada has agreed to a four-year, $52 million contract extension with the New York Yankees and New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro couldn’t be more pleased with the move.
Derek Jeter may be the nominal captain of the team. Any number of flashier players have posted all manner of flashier numbers through the years. But it has always been Posada who has represented the greater angels of the Yankees’ soul, bringing a daily professionalism to the ballpark that is as evident as facade in centerfield and The Bat out by the parking lot.
It was no wonder the Mets wanted to import Posada, why they were serious enough about doing that that the Yankees ultimately had to overpay to keep him. They saw in Posada precisely what was missing in their own clubhouse during the endgame of this terribly star-crossed season. They saw what they craved. He wore No. 20 for the Yankees.
And wears No. 20 still. Whatever else this offseason holds in store for the Yankees, that is a wonderful reality this morning. For the first time in a month and a half, the Yankees have answered back.
Posada had an outstanding season last year, hitting .338 with 20 home runs and 90 RBI. As Vaccaro noted in his column, Posada’s impact goes far beyond the numbers. He knows the organization, is a fan favorite, and with the Yankees likely to start injecting more youth in the pitching staff, Posada’s veteran experience will be much needed.
