Jorge Posada

Let me start off by saying this: I love Francisco Cervelli.

I love his game, love his heart.

He calls a better game than most guys who have been around much longer than him, and boy, is he swinging a hot bat right now.

But no matter how much I love Cervelli, he will have to wait his turn to be the New York Yankees' full-time backstop.

Because for now, it's Jorge Posada's job.

Why?

Because he deserves it.

He's hung in there. He's part of the core four. He's done so much for this team, and now, he is worthy of some respect.

The injury bug has been taking out Yankees one at a time. Is the Sports Illustrated cover curse taking its place in the Yankees locker room? The core four appeared on the cover this past week and three of the four have been battling injuries.

Jorge Posada is day-to-day with a calf strain, Mariano Rivera has missed a few games because of stiffness in his arm, and Andy Pettitte had to leave Wednesday's game with stiffness of his own in his left arm.

The New York Yankees have had two Hall of Fame catchers. 

Bill Dickey played during the 1930s and early 1940s. Yogi Berra replaced Dickey and played from the late 1940s until the early 1960s. 

With all due respect to Javier Vazquez, I’m tired of hearing about him and his lack of prosperous pitching.

Give him a break—he’ll eventually get to where he needs to be. Well, at least we hope.

The Yankees did have a three-pitcher rotation in the playoffs this past season, and what did we get? A world championship. They can certainly pull this off again if need be, so Vazquez is not of primary concern at the moment.

Let's start today with a little numbers exercise:

Player A: .333 BA    1 HR    5 RBI    .443 OBP    .471 SLG

Player B: .380 BA    3 HR    9 RBI    .404 OBP    .600 SLG

Player A: 3.57 ERA    0-2 W-L    14 K    1.47 WHIP

Player B: 1.35 ERA    2-0 W-L    14 K    1.20 WHIP

The Yankees had a special guest on hand for their ring ceremony Tuesday afternoon.  It wasn't Yogi Berra, it wasn't Whitey Ford, and it wasn't George Steinbrenner—although they were all there. 

Hideki Matsui was the true guest of honor in the house that the Core Four built.

Although Matsui wasn't with the likes of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, or Andy Pettitte back when the group won their first four rings in the 90s, he still feels like a true Yankee who has been there forever.

When you see Jesus Montero step to the plate, you see more of an NFL linebacker than a baseball player. The 6'4'', 225 pound, 20-year-old catcher hails from Guacara, Venezuela. Signed as a 16-year-old by the New York Yankees in 2006, Montero was tagged as the heir to Jorge Posada—high standards for just a teenager.

I come at this with a bias; this I admit willingly.

You see, I am a Tampa Bay Rays fan.

I would love nothing more than to see the Evil Empire crumble and fall and watch Hank Steinbrenner go off his meds and give his best "like father, like son."

Every year I hope that the "aging" Yankees finally, well, show their age. 

Every year people wonder when these three players' stars will begin to dim.

Many baseball lifers point to center field as the immortalized position in Yankee history—and potentially in all of Major League Baseball. Any list headed by Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle deserves such acclaim, but some may forget what is slipping in under the radar in a close second place.

The Yankees have celebrated a long lineage of world class backstops in their illustrious history.

To say the Yankees have had it good behind the plate for the majority of their history would be an understatement. 

Dating all the way back to the 1930s, and the Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, the Bronx Bombers have had their share of good fortune from the men who don the tools of ignorance, and the tradition carries on today with the oft-overlooked slugger, Jorge Posada.