Yankees Legend Jorge Posada Explains Why He Doesn’t ‘Feel Welcome’ By Team

A player being bitter about how their time ended with their respective team is a familiar sight, but Jorge Posada has a more defined feeling about his relationship with the New York Yankees. “I mean, I could, but I don’t think they want me there to tell you the truth,” Posada said in an interview with the New York Post’s “The Show” when asked if he’d be open to a role in the Yankees’ organization. “I don’t feel welcome when I go there, you know? Even in spring training, I don’t feel like, I’m just like, I don’t know, I don’t feel welcome. I don’t feel like they want me there, so I don’t go.” Posada’s last season with the Yankees was 2011, with him transitioning from behind the plate to being the team’s primary designated hitter in the wake of them adding then-two-time All-Star and 2007 Gold Glover Russell Martin. Francisco Cervelli was also ahead of Posada, who dabbled at first base in the final years of his career, on the catching depth chart in 2011. “My last season of my career was a really tough one when it came to handling everything on my part and also the Yankees toward Jorge Posada,” Posada said. “So, it’s tough to go back and feel that again.” Posada, a five-time Silver Slugger and five-time All-Star, spent his entire 17-year MLB career with the Yankees from 1995-2011 and was on their active roster for four World Series triumphs (1998-2000 and 2009). Posada finished third in American League MVP voting in 2003, a year that saw the catcher total 30 home runs, 101 RBIs and 5.9 wins above replacement, while posting a .281/.405/.518 slash line. In all, he logged 1,664 hits, blasted 275 home runs, posted a career .273/.374/.474 slash line and started 1,450 regular-season games behind the plate for the Yankees. As for the present, the Yankees are coming off a 93-68 season where they swept the Boston Red Sox in the MLB Wild Card Series but were then swept by the eventual AL-champion Tampa Bay Rays in the AL divisional series. In the regular season, New York’s offense was sixth in MLB in strikeouts (1,480), with its collective defense tied for seventh in errors (96). “[Mental mistakes are] magnified during the playoffs,” Posada of the Yankees. “So during the season, if it happens, and you don’t address it, that’s when it becomes a problem. It needs to happen more during the season and make these guys more accountable. You didn’t run to first base? Get him out of the game. Make him understand that this means something. “It’s not a game. It’s really a job, and some guys are not doing their job.” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner revealed in a press conference last week that manager Aaron Boone will return for a 10th season in 2027 and general manager Brian Cashman, who has been in the role since 1998 and with the organization since 1986, has been extended.