Upon the 2006 Yankee Preview-The Catcher

The last position player on the Yankees is listed here with the players he is most closely connected to, the pitchers. This battery is listed by many as the biggest question mark on this Yankee squad, and I myself wonder if the on-paper potential can live up to the on-field performance.


Catcher- Jorge Posada

Jorgie is coming off another season of declining offensive stats. 2003's highwater mark of .281, 30, 101 seems more and more like Posada's career season. while still solid by catcher standards, .260, 19, and 70 are not the gaudy numbers we once thought we could regularly expect from the backstop. Jorge was once put in with Pudge, Piazza, and Varitek as elite hitting catchers, but this is a show-and-prove year for him. It remains to be seen if he can rediscover the stroke that made him a dangerous swith-hitting bat in the middle of a hot Yankee lineup. Posada can not hope to hit higher than 7th, as there are too many better bats before him. However, It is entirely possible that he could follow Giambi or Matsui, or follow Cano and Bernie. He could project to hit anywhere from 7th-9th. It could be a good idea to keep him and Giambi away from back-to-back spots, as Jason drawing a walk followed by Jorge rapping into a DP is all too possible, as neither would be accused of being fleet of foot.
In terms of defense and game management, Jorge produced career-high assist and caught stealing numbers, and a career low 3 errors.his passed ball numbers also declined for a third straight year. Posada couldn't get on the page with Unit, and John Flaherty ended up caddying for him the rest of the year. Now Jorge must show that he can handle cathing the big-lefty, as well as (hopefully) many more games of Pavano, Wright, and Wang. I think that we shouldn't expect a ton more at the plate than we saw last year, but HR and reliever questions (because of his switch hitting) can still make him an effective player. His game management should sitll be strong, and hopefully he and Guidry can come together well.

Prediction- .268, 23, 80 .993 fielding ptg


Back-up- The Yankees bid farewell to John Flaherty, and let the free-agent catchers swim on, choosing instead to go with veteran Kelly Stinnett. Stinnett is essentially a career back-up, with the exception of a few years with Arizona. Can't hit worth a darn, but what back-up can with the exception of the flying Molina's. Should be serviceable, and Jorge doesn't typically miss many games.



I'll post this alone and get to the pitchers later