Yanks make Posada signing official

[Bob]

11/29/2007 4:30 PM ET

Yanks make Posada signing official

Catcher remains in New York with four-year, $52.4 million deal

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The Yankees' already-challenging offseason could have taken on an added wrinkle this month had their steady catcher, Jorge Posada, elected to dabble deeper into the free-agent market.

Luckily for the club, it never came to that.

The Yankees officially announced a weeks-old agreement with the 36-year-old switch-hitter on Thursday, finalizing a four-year, $52.4 million contract that should keep Posada in pinstripes through the 2011 season.

"I belong a Yankee," Posada said. "I'm really happy that I got the chance to sign a good contract, and really happy that I got the chance to stay with the Yankees. Going elsewhere, I was going to hear the offers, but the Yankees made it really tough."

Along with closer Mariano Rivera, general manager Brian Cashman had identified Posada as the Yankees' main priority players to re-sign leading into the pending free-agency period.

While Posada briefly flirted with other teams -- he dined with Mets general manager Omar Minaya and said the Blue Jays and Marlins expressed interest -- Posada sat mere hours away from being able to discuss financial figures with other clubs on Nov. 12.

That evening, Posada reversed course and directed his representatives, Sam and Seth Levinson, to accept the Yankees' recently increased four-year offer. The deal will make him baseball's highest-paid catcher, giving him $13.1 million per season.

Now, Posada said, there is a chance that he -- like Rivera -- will be able to play his entire career in a Yankees uniform.

"It's really tough to stay with one team," Posada said. "I think the Yankees really made a strong push to keep me in pinstripes, and I was really happy that I got the chance to do that. To have your whole career with one team nowadays is really rare."

Posada opened his career sharing catching duties with new Yankees manager Joe Girardi on the 1996, '98 and '99 World Series clubs. While the two vied for playing time as teammates, they also forged a strong relationship that Posada expects will continue with Girardi's shifting role.

"I don't think it's going to be the same, obviously, because he's a manager now," Posada said. "But I think we'll still have the same relationship that we built from when we were players. It doesn't change anything.

"The biggest thing about it is that I've got a person who really works hard and prepares himself well. He's going to do everything possible to put a winning team out there."

Posada had campaigned for a contract extension in Spring Training before further proving his worth in a historic regular season that saw him earn selection to the American League All-Star team for a fifth time.

Batting a career-high .338, Posada assembled statistical figures that stand alone among catchers, particularly in his age group. Posada is the only catcher to bat at least .330 with 40 doubles, 20 home runs and 90 RBIs in a season when he caught at least half of his team's games.

Stroking a career-high 171 hits and 42 doubles, Posada ranked fourth in the AL in batting average in 2007. He became the first Yankees catcher to finish a season in the league's top 10 in hitting since Thurman Munson batted .297 in 1978.

A career .277 hitter, Posada has appeared in 1,432 regular-season games for the Yankees, hitting 218 home runs and driving in 861 runs.

With baseball's Winter Meetings set to begin on Monday in Nashville, Tenn., the Yankees have wrapped up their largest pieces of internal pursuit, while looking outside the organization at a potential deal for Twins ace left-hander Johan Santana.

"We certainly need a No. 1, and I think that's one of the reasons we are going after Santana," Posada said. "I was really, really impressed with him in the [2007] All-Star Game. I would love to have him."

Posada said that having Santana and Andy Pettitte on the same roster would give the Yankees a "really strong" rotation, though that's far from certain at this point. Pettitte has said that he will not pitch for another club in 2008, and though the Yankees have a standing $16 million contract offer on the table, Posada said he believes Pettitte to be leaning toward not coming back.

"He's got a tough decision to make," Posada said. "He says if he doesn't play with the Yankees, he's not going to play at all. Right now, he's leaning toward retirement. It's tough that he's thinking this way, but we're going to try to push him and get that competitive edge he needs still. Hopefully when it comes February, we'll see him around."

Earlier this month, the Yankees also reached agreements with both third baseman Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275 million) and Rivera (three years, $45 million), but those moves have not yet been officially announced by the club.

Posada said he exchanged text messages with Rodriguez and has spoken to Rivera in recent weeks.

"I'm real happy with Alex," Posada said. "He's the best player in the big leagues. We've got a chance to have him back for a long time. I think the best of Alex is yet to come. He gets better and better every year.

"I don't think I could see Mariano in another uniform. He was really, really important to have back."