Major League Baseball

POSADA TAKES A SEAT

Published Oct. 20, 2010 10:14 p.m. ET

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Hip, hip . . . take a seat, Jorge.

With A.J. Burnett on the mound last night, Yankees manager Joe Girardi sat down Jorge Posada and played Francisco Cervelli at catcher instead.

The move appeared to be working well until Burnett got bombed in the sixth inning of the Yankees' eventual 10-3 loss. Cervelli went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in the game. Posada pinch-hit for Cervelli in the eighth and struck out against Derek Holland. Posada then grounded out in the ninth.

It's the second straight postseason Girardi has shown no faith in Posada's ability to catch Burnett. Last year, Jose Molina caught all five of Burnett's playoff starts.

Posada played the good soldier before the game, choosing not to blast Girardi's decision.

"It's tough not to play, period," Posada said. "It is what it is. I'll be prepared [to pinch-hit]."

Burnett and Cervelli worked together for most of the year. Posada last started a game that Burnett pitched on Aug. 2. Cervelli caught 25 of Burnett's starts with Posada catching in eight.

"One of the things that we have here is we have a 39-year-old catcher that doesn't play seven, eight, nine, 10 days in a row," Girardi said. "We don't have that. Jorge used to do that and Jorge was extremely durable. Jorge has caught a lot of games and done it very well.

"So my thought process was, if you have a guy that's not going to catch 10 days in a row, it's easier if the backup catcher catches the same guy every time, because all of a sudden you're not throwing him with a guy that hasn't seen him for four weeks and he's not exactly sure what he's doing in a certain situation or what's been working."

Posada will be in the final year of his contract next season, and it sounds as if he should be prepared to be the designated hitter a lot in 2011.

The Yankees have Cervelli, along with top catching prospects Jesus Montero and Austin Romine, waiting to take over behind the plate.

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