Burnett denied that he had anything to do with the decision by Yankees manager Joe Girardi to pair him with Jose Molina as his personal catcher – a decision that will force one of the team's veteran leaders, Jorge Posada, to the bench for Game 2 of the American League Division Series, as well as a potential decisive Game 5.Interesting... I had been under the impression that it was Burnett who told Girardi that he wanted to throw to Molina. I'm still not sure what the truth is, but I'm glad Burnett is coming out and saying these things, at least to get some of the heat off his back....
"It's making me out to be the bad guy again," said Burnett, stopping to talk on his way off the field from the pregame workout Wednesday. "It comes down to Boston when I said, 'Why, why, why?' But over my career, I've done that a handful of times.
"But if you ask people who I played with, I don't show guys up. I'm upset with me for so many times in the past; I've struck him out with a curveball in that situation. And it's just ever since things got blown out – we have a great relationship.
"Inside the clubhouse, on the field and like you mentioned, I've even gone to Joe in the past and said, 'Hey, give me either one.' It's his decision. And obviously Jorge's upset. He's a big part of this team. He's a leader on and off the field, and hopefully his mind will be right to get in there and get a pinch hit when the time comes."
That said, this is not something he needs to be focusing on the day before he makes his first postseason start. It probably would have been better off had Girardi made this decision public weeks ago and given Posada and Burnett a few weeks to let the media talk about it before the playoffs had started.
