Quotes from the Posada press conference

Here are some quotes from the Posada press conference yesterday.  Thanks to the Lohud Yankees Blog for supplying the quotes. It was very interesting to hear these things said at the press conference also.  Posada surely will be missed but I am sure he won't be a stranger to the Yankees. 

On Posada staying in the Yankees organization in some sort of coaching capacity

Brian Cashman: “We’ll see. Jorge has been a great Yankee. There’s a lot of great Yankees. The one thing about this that George Steinbrenner setup a long time ago was keeping it in the family to the best of your abilities. And so I wouldn’t be surprised, clearly, at some point, that Jorgie will be working with us. I’m not saying anything in the near term, but he’s a Yankee for life, whether it’s a spring training format or something bigger. But right now, it’s not something anybody’s focused on.”

Joe Girardi: “I think Jorge can do what he wants. I do remember that feeling of wanting to spend that first summer at home with your family because it’s been so long. I did the same thing and after a while I got bored and had to go to work. The hardest part for me when I retired was when spring training started and you weren’t going, and then the season starts and you’re watching games on tv, not playing. It just feels kind of strange.”

Jorge Posada: “I don’t have any plans. I want to spend time with my family. I haven’t had a summer with them, so I really want to spend a summer with them, and have some fun with the kids.”

On whether Posada belongs in the Hall of Fame

Joe Girardi: “I think he’s a Hall of Famer. When you look at his numbers and stack his numbers against the catchers who have been there, what he has meant to this club, and the championships – his numbers are incredible. And the longevity; this is not just a six or seven year career. It’s a long time. The fact that he was able to remain consistent for so long is amazing to me.”

Jorge Posada: “All I wanted to do was be in the big leagues, and when you compare me to people in the Hall of Fame, it’s like… we’ll see. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen, but that’s up to you guys. And hopefully we can talk about it five years from now.”



On the way Posada was used last season

Joe Girardi: “When you’re a manager you’re asked to make some tough decisions. As a manager you’re always going to do what you feel is best to win a game. Maybe some of the things, when you look back you could have handled them differently. But the decisions you make are with the information you have that day. I was doing the best that I could. I don’t look back and say I have any regrets. I love Jorge Posada. Jorge Posada came up when I was a kid, and we shared so many great moments together. I’m not going to let one tough situation take away from the relationship that we have.”

Jorge Posada: “I don’t have an issue with (Girardi). I really don’t. It’s one of those things that, I felt like he was put there in front of this situation and he had to put me as a DH. I think it came from upstairs. I don’t have a problem with Joe… Talking to my wife during the season, and talking with Derek (Jeter) during the season, I knew that this was it. I told him and I told Laura that this was my last year, during the year. But that didn’t change my decision. If I would’ve caught, or I would’ve DH’d, that was probably it anyway.

On not having Posada with the team next year

Mariano Rivera: “His fire, you know? His determination, his passion and his drive for the game. He always was pushing and pushing and pushing to get better. We’re definitely going to miss that, but also learn from that, that we had a guy who no matter what was the situation, whatever adversity he’s facing, he continued pushing. And that was Jorge.”

Derek Jeter: ”It’ll be tough. It goes without saying on the field, you know somebody for that long, but I’ve been with him every day for 15 years, 16 years off the field to eat. So if any of you guys want to go eat on the road, let me know. It’s going to be pretty odd.

Jorge Posada: “I think some of the young kids (will step up to fill the leadership role). I think Robinson Cano, I think he’s going to step up. CC’s great. CC’s a great leader on the team. Teixeira is a great leader on the team. You’ve got Alex and you’ve got Derek and you’ve got Mo still, so their team is well covered… It’s going to be hard for me to watch a game, period. I’m going to watch still because I’ve got friends on the team and I want them to do well, obviously.”