Former New York Yankees great Jorge Posada revealed that a schism exists between him and the only team he's ever known.
Despite winning five championships over his 17-year career with the Yankees, Posada said he no longer feels welcome within the organization.
"It's gotta be the right - I mean, I could, but I don't think they want me there, to tell you the truth," Posada said during an appearance on "The Show" podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, when asked if he'd be interested in coaching or helping the Yankees in some capacity.
"I don't feel welcome when I go there, you know?" he added. "Even in spring training, I don't feel like - I'm just like, I don't know, like, I don't feel welcome. I don't feel like they want me there, so I don't go."
Posada, whose No. 20 was retired in 2015, didn't specify exactly why he feels unwelcome but referenced his final season in 2011. He lost his longtime job as the Yankees' catcher that year and still seems hurt by how his career ended, saying issues from that campaign with longtime general manager Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner have never been addressed.
"I don't know what happened. I'd rather just move forward," Posada said. "My last season of my career was a really tough one when it comes to handling everything in my part and also the Yankees toward Jorge Posada, so it's tough to go back and feel that again."
Posada was one of the most popular members of the Yankees' dynasty in the late 1990s, serving as their rock behind the plate and a vocal clubhouse leader. He was the starting catcher on New York's most recent World Series-winning club in 2009.
The Yankees have gone 17 seasons without a championship despite making the playoffs 13 times over that span. They lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 World Series and have bowed out in the ALDS in each of the last two years. Though the team lacks titles, longtime manager Aaron Boone - a former teammate of Posada's - will return in 2027 for his 10th campaign in the dugout.
While Posada expressed confidence that Boone and Cashman are the right people to lead the Yankees back to glory, he emphasized that he'd like to see changes in the team's culture. The 56-year-old said he believes New York should hold its players more accountable and suggested that adding new faces to Boone's coaching staff from outside the organization could help take the group to new heights.
"(Mental mistakes are) magnified during the playoffs," Posada said. "During the season, if it happens and you don't address it, that's when it becomes a problem. It needs to happen more during the season and make these guys more accountable.
"You didn't run to first base? Get them out of the game. Make him understand that this means something. It's not a game; it's really a job. And some guys are not doing their job."
