The full quote, from @LohudYankees:
“He’s our DH. That’s what he is, unless he plays himself off it.”
This sounds like Jorge is not going to do any catching, something that I do not think many of us expected. Jesus Montero will likely be given the opportunity to win the full-time job, with Francisco Cervelli being his backup. This helps explain why the club is continuing to show interest in Russell Martin. If Montero fails to earn the starting job during spring training, Brian Cashman wants the team to have a legitimate starting option on the roster. Martin would represent such an option, while Frankie Cervelli spent 2010 showing himself to be an ill-fit for an everyday job.
One other implication of this is that it may make it more difficult to get a platoon player in the Matt Diaz or Scott Hairston mold to come to NY. If Jorge was also going to do 30-50 games of catching, the platoon player would likely soak up the DH at-bats during those games. With Jorge being the everyday DH, that platoon spot will be a bench spot that only sees time against the most difficult lefties. I cannot see a player such as Diaz, who has multiple suitors, coming to NY for that limited a role.
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3 Responses to Cashman On Jorge: He Is Our DH
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TIQ IQ
I still fully expect Posada to catch at least 20 games for the Yankees this year if for no other reason than neccesity due to injury, production, trade, etc..
If this is the plan going into the season (with Posada catching no games) then it could explain why Martin is even considering the Yankees offer over the Sox and Jays, if Cashman is approaching him to be a backup in a catching triumverant he easily gets more playing time in Toronto or Boston but if he is being promised a chance to compete for the starting job against 1 player, a rookie with zero big league games and reported terrible D, he has a much better chance of not only playing consistently but also outright winning the starting job for a WS caliber team. He also has a much better chance of making our team in this scenario because he only has to beat out Frankie for a roster spot in Boston he has to beat out both Varitek and Salty (given that 1 of the 3 has to be DFA’d).
Toronto is probably the easiest place to start since Jose Molina was their starter last year and I heard he is from their so as far as that goes we might not be able to compete, however they won’t be as good as the Yanks and Sox so if he cares about winning and the playoffs more than hometown comfort we represent an appealing offer.
I found the “unless he plays himself off it” part interesting as well. I can’t imagine him doing anything to change their minds about his abilities as a Catcher, the DH role is designed to get as much out of his bat as possible at his advanced age. So “plays himself off it” could be taken to mean that he needs to produce at DH, or else he’ll be riding the bench.
You think they are taking a hard line on what his bare minimum production has to be to kind of send the message “you’re done after this, we can’t re-sign you again” because I get the feling Jorge isn’t the ride off into the sunset guy, he strikes me more as I’ll go to the Sox and prove I can still play when I can’t kind of guy.