According to a report by Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, designated hitter Jorge Posada told GM Brian Cashman that he wanted off the Yankees when he found out that he was hitting ninth against the Red Sox last Saturday. But a friend of Posada’s says the former catcher was just speaking out of frustration.

In the heat of his anger and frustration Saturday night, Yankee icon Jorge Posada told general manager Brian Cashman amid a flood of F-bombs that he not only wanted out of the No. 9 spot in the Yankee batting order – he wanted out of the Yankees, too, according to team sources.

“It was just something said in the heat of anger and frustration,” a close friend of Posada’s said of the former catcher’s angry comments to Cashman and manager Joe Girardi in which he took himself out of the lineup an hour before Saturday’s game against the Red Sox.

“What happened had nothing to do with being dropped to ninth in the batting order. It was just the combination of everything building up in him – his frustration at not helping the team and the feeling that, right now, he sucks, and that everything in his world is pretty (expletive).

“He didn’t want out, and doesn’t want out,” the friend added. “He was just frustrated and said a lot of things.”

Posada is currently hitting .165 as the Bombers’ DH and is going through some personal issues as well. His son, Jorge Luis, is scheduled to undergo surgery to correct craniosynostosis, which is a condition in which normal brain and skull growth are affected. The procedure, which will take place on June 8, is hoped to be his last surgery to correct the problem.

There have been many fans on the internet boards that are screaming for the Yankees to cut ties with Posada and move on. But nobody knows what this guy is going through and he has already apologized to the team for his immaturity over the weekend. He was in the wrong and he apologized. If he doesn’t start hitting then Cashman and Joe Girardi can figure out what’s best for the team and go from there.

But how many of us get so tired of our situations that we burst out in frustration and say things we don’t mean? Hell, I think I do it on a weekly basis. Let’s cut Posada some slack and see how the situation plays out. He’s a four-time World Series champion and a five-time All-Star. If he’s done, the Yankees will make that decision when the time comes. For now, let’s give the man a little time.

Buster Olney tweets that Derek Jeter’s comments in which he “essentially exonerated” teammate Jorge Posada of any wrongdoing has apparently angered his Yankee bosses.

Following this weekend’s shenanigans in which Posada removed himself from the Yankees’ lineup because manager Joe Girardi was making him bat ninth (oh, the horror!), Jeter said: “Everybody’s struggled. And if that’s the reason why he came out, then he doesn’t need to apologize. If it’s something else, then yeah, but not for that.”

If Olney’s report is accurate and the Yankees are upset over Jeter’s comments, then they need to get a clue. Jeter is still the captain of their team and he’s not going to make a situation worse by scolding one of his long-time teammates via the media. And quite frankly, his comments were rather innocent. He’s been around long enough to know that a situation like Posada’s will eventually get ironed out without him having to say much on the topic. The Yankees’ “bosses” should just let the situation die out.

What would the Yankees have rather had Jeter say? That Posada was being a selfish, stubborn player and should have acted more professional? Even if that’s what Jeter thought, saying something like that would have fueled the situation even more and caused there to be a rift in the clubhouse (which is something the struggling Yankees don’t need right now, especially after they were just swept by their most hated rivals).

I get that the Yankees don’t want Jeter “exonerating” Posada’s mistake. Posada was definitely in the wrong here, which is why he apologized. But he did apologize and that should be the end of the situation. There’s no reason to make a mountain out of a molehill and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees came out and denied Olney’s report, because they look rather silly right now.

Yankees’ designated hitter Jorge Posada chalked up his actions on Saturday night when he took himself out of the lineup to frustration. Then he apologized to his teammates, his manager, his GM and his fans.

“I had a bad day,” Posada said on Sunday. “All the frustration came out. It was just one of those days you wish you could take back.”

When Posada found out that he was hitting ninth in the Yankees’ order on Saturday night against the Red Sox, he told manager Joe Girardi that he was taking himself out of the lineup. It was a childish act by a stubborn player that clearly put his own emotions ahead of what was best for the club. It’s certainly easy to be a team player when things are going well and no sacrifices have to be made. It’s challenging situations like these when you really learn about what kind of character a player has.

And the fact that Posada quickly realized the mistake he made and apologized does show what kind of character he has. He’s a prideful guy and sees his career dwindling. He’s struggling right now and his frustrations came the surface. We all get angry from time to time when uncontrollable situations arise and we fight to wrangle our emotions. And we don’t always handle it right either – just like Posada didn’t. But he did the right thing by apologizing and now everyone can move past this.

“Jorge is loved in our clubhouse,” Girardi said. “Jorge is loved by the fans. Jorge has meant a lot to this organization and I’m not surprised. This has been a great player for a long time.”

That’s right. Posada has been a great Yankee his entire career and this one regrettable incident won’t subtract from his great days in New York.

The Yankees entered the playoffs losers of eight of their last 11 games. But no matter how much they’ve struggled or how many chinks in the armor they may have shown, this is still their time of year.

For five innings Wednesday night, the Yankees were making Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano look like Cy Young. They trailed 3-0 in the top of the sixth, but after Nick Swisher struck out swinging to start the inning, Mark Teixeira doubled to deep left, Alex Rodriguez walked and then Teixeira scored on a Robinson Cano single to right.

After Marcus Thames struck out, Jorge Posada lined a single to right to score A-Rod and move Cano to second. Curtis Granderson delivered the big blow by tripling off the wall in deep right center to score Cano and Posada to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

They never trailed after that.

The Twins scratched across a run in their half of the inning, but Teixeira blasted a 355-foot home run in the top of 7th to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. After allowing two base runners to reach in the ninth, Mariano Rivera got Jim Thome to pop out to third to end the game and give New York a 6-4 victory.

This is the time of year when the Yankees are never out of any game. They may have showed their age throughout the regular season, but there’s no replacement for postseason experience. When the stakes are high, this is when the Bombers are at their best.

Of course, this is still a team that’s going to struggle to win it all. Their pitching is a major concern and Joe Girardi’s stomach must have been in knots watching his ace C.C. Sabathia struggle in the early innings last night before finally settling in. He’s supposed to be the rock of the rotation and if he struggles, then the Yanks are doomed.

Game 2 is set for tonight at 6:07PM ET, as Andy Pettitte will take on former Yankee Carl Pavano.