Posada Season in Jeopardy?

Acoording to a report in the New York Times, Yankees catcher Jorge Posada's season might be in jeopardy after the pain in his right shoulder flared up again before Sunday's game against the Cleveland Indians. Posada will leave the team following the game on Sunday and see Dr. James Andrews to have the shoulder evaluated by the esteemed orthopedist. Posada has already seen Andrews once this season and at that time the Doctor told him that while he does have a tear in his subscapularis muscle, that surgery was not necessary. However, the shoulder still is not getting better and is becoming more of a concern for the Yankee catcher. The Yankees went ahead and placed Posada on the 15 day DL folling their game on Sunday.

Following Sunday's game against Cleveland, Yankee manager Joe Girardi played down the Times report that Posada was going to see Andrews and that there was a tear in the shoulder. Girardi followed that up by saying that they did have an MRI done earlier in the season and it showed that there was nothing structurally wrong with the shoulder, a contradiction to the Times report.

No matter which account is true, at the very least Posada is headed for the 15 day DL so the Yankees can try to get this injury healed and taken care of, so it does not linger throughout the season. At worst this could mean shoulder surgery for Jorge and more or less end his season. Aside from a pitcher, the catcher's role is the position where having a strong throwing arm is necessary to be successful and useful to a team.

There are still a lot of questions, contradictions and speculation, but you can be sure we will update you as we know more. According to our source, the injury is serious the fact he is seeing Andrews only perpetuates that belief.

FANTASY IMPACT

Not good for Posada owners, you better go out and get a replacement for him quickly, as there is no telling how long he'll be out for. Obviously if he is complaining of pain again, it will be a while before he is behind the plate again. Look at players like Dioner Navarro, Ryan Doumit, JR Towles, and Greg Zaun, as possible replacements in your lineup. Yankee back up Jose Molina has also played very well when he filled in for Posada when he missed time earlier this season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia might be the popular name right now, but he is splitting time behind he plate with Gerald Laird, so won't see a whole lot of at bats.

With Posada on the DL, you should stash him there on your roster and see what comes out of this situation. He might only miss a little time, but if it is anything major you want to make sure you have a serviceable guy in there to put up numbers.