Yanks have mishandled Posada, in every way

You don't embarrass your stars, even when they're fading.
You don't slap your stars in the face, even when they're wrong.
Jorge Posada was wrong to ask out of the lineup, from everything we can tell from Saturday's madness at Yankee Stadium. But the Yankees have been wrong on Posada all year.
They've mishandled this in almost every way possible, and it makes you wonder even more how the next 2 1/2 years will go with Derek Jeter.
And don't think Jeter hasn't noticed what the Yankees have done to his friend.
What exactly did they do?
First, they told him he would never, under any circumstances, catch so much as an inning -- or even a bullpen session. They had Gustavo Molina (.228 career batting average) catch three games, just so they could avoid putting Posada behind the plate. On opening day, manager Joe Girardi said that Posada would "probably" be his emergency catcher, ahead of utility infielder Eduardo Nunez.
Then, on Saturday, Girardi put the struggling Posada in the ninth spot in the batting order, for the first time in 12 years. Even with Posada's .165 average this year, it was such a drastic move that the only reason to do it would be to embarrass him.
Benching him would have been a better option. Tell everyone -- and tell him -- that you think he needs a few days away.
Don't drop him to ninth, on national television, with the Red Sox in town. Not unless your goal is to embarrass him.
I checked with a few people in baseball Saturday night, asking for their thoughts. And their thoughts were the same as my thoughts.
"To Posada, who has had a great career, it's a personal slap in the face to hit ninth," said one former big-league manager. "Hit [Brett] Gardner ninth. Girardi has to understand that Posada's got more friends on that team than [Girardi] does."
Yes, I know, Posada said publicly -- before and after the game -- that hitting ninth wasn't an issue, and that it wasn't why he asked out of the lineup.
I remember another proud player saying that being dropped in the batting order didn't bother him, then going up to the plate and telling everyone he would take three straight strikes (which he did).
My guess is that tempers will cool down and that Girardi and Posada will come to some sort of understanding, and that if Posada starts hitting he'll keep playing.
Girardi seemed to be heading in that direction after the game (a 6-0 loss to the Red Sox that dropped the Yankees out of a playoff position), to the point of saying that Posada told him in their brief pregame meeting that he just "needed a day."
"Sometimes we need a day to clear our head, and take a deep breath," Girardi said.
Posada also seemed to be heading towards mending fences. He also used the line about "needing time," although he inexplicably brought up the idea that his back was stiff.
But he also said, "I still want to be here. I love playing, and I love playing for this organization."
Posada saved his venom for general manager Brian Cashman, complaining that Cashman would choose to go on television to discuss the situation during the game.
"That's the way he works right now," Posada said.
Fortunately, a player-GM relationship isn't crucial, as the Rangers will tell you. Has it hurt them one bit that Michael Young doesn’t like Jon Daniels?
Yes, Young is hitting .351, not .165. But it's also true that Rangers manager Ron Washington has already had Young start 13 games in the field.
How a manager handles his stars, fading or otherwise, is absolutely crucial, because every other player in the clubhouse is watching. It's why Red Sox manager Terry Francona consistently stood behind David Ortiz during Ortiz's horrid starts the last two years.
Francona did drop Ortiz as far as seventh in the order, but he made sure Ortiz knew he was appreciated.
It's no surprise that it was Ortiz who said Saturday of the Yankees and Posada (according to the Boston Herald): "They're doing that guy wrong."
Ortiz is right, even if in this instance, Posada was wrong.
The Yankees have been doing that guy wrong.
He may be a fading star, but he's still a star.
And you don't embarrass your stars, even when they're fading.