Jorge Posada knows the dugout well, but that doesn’t mean he’s rushing back into it full-time.
The former Yankees catcher, whose No. 20 was retired by the organization after a career that included five World Series championships in 17 seasons in pinstripes, said he is not sure managing in Major League Baseball is the right path for him. Posada was recently back in a coaching role during the World Baseball Classic, serving as an assistant to Team Italy’s Francisco Cervelli, but the grind of an MLB manager is another matter entirely.
“I don’t know if I could say yes,” Posada told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch at Yankees Old-Timers’ Day this past weekend. “It’s got to be the right situation.
It’s a lot -- I’m not saying never, but it’s hard. It’s really hard.”
Posada also pointed to how much the game has changed since his playing days ended, especially when it comes to how catchers are developed and how analytics are absorbed. That shift, he said, is most obvious behind the plate.
“As a catcher, they’re teaching you differently,” Posada told Hoch. “The way these guys are set up, the way these guys are practicing with their receiving, it’s completely the opposite of what I was taught.
We used to receive the ball. Now, they’re stabbing at the ball.
“That knee down, it’s like you’re anchored. You don’t keep the ball in front of you.
You don’t block the ball. You don’t expect the ball to be in the dirt.
It’s another game.”
For Posada, the issue isn’t just whether he could do the job - it’s whether he’d want the day-to-day demands that come with it. He seemed comfortable helping out with Team Italy, but running a club for 162 games is a different kind of commitment.
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