On Jorge Posada switching from catcher to DH

I saw last night that Laura Posada announced big news on her Facebook and Twitter accounts. She wrote that Jorge Posada, her husband, was going to be a full-time DH next year. My first reaction was that I was glad Jorge came to that decision, and that was a good choice for him to make.

But then I heard the rest of the story, that Posada didn’t exactly make that decision on his own. According to the New York Post, it turns out that Brian Cashman met with him earlier this week, and told him that he would be the team’s DH next year.

Posada is also undergoing surgery today for a torn meniscus, the same operation CC Sabathia recently had.

George King of the Post seems to be trying to make a mini-controversy here, writing:

According to a source with knowledge of the conversation, Posada was “fine” with the message that turns the 39-year-old switch-hitter into primarily a DH, a role he has struggled with and has shown no affinity for previously…

Last year he batted .245 (25-for-117) with four homers and 14 RBIs as a DH compared to .256 (69-for-270) with 13 homers and 42 RBIs when he caught. 

For his career, Posada is a .223 (66-for-296) hitter as a DH with nine homers and 34 RBIs. He is at .279 (1,471-for-5,274) with 246 homers and 954 RBIs when catching.

The fact is, the Yankees can’t keep throwing Posada out there at catcher, when he gets hurt all the time, and can’t throw out runners anymore. And they have to hope that his hitting will improve next year if he doesn’t have the wear-and-tear from catching anymore. Jorge ought to be glad that he got that fourth year in his contract, because I doubt the Yankees would have re-signed him for 2011.

What do you think? Tell us about it!