Posada Defends Torre

From Anthony McCarron:

Jorge Posada joked that it would "take me about three years" to read all 512 pages of Joe Torre's book, "The Yankee Years." But the Yankee catcher needed no time at all to defend his former manager Tuesday, saying that Torre did not violate clubhouse sanctity with the book and adding that much of the controversial content was already common knowledge.

And, Posada said, the infamous "A-Fraud" monicker for Alex Rodriguez was nothing more than a clubhouse joke uttered solely by former bullpen catcher Mike Borzello - now with Torre in Los Angeles - in front of Rodriguez himself. Rodriguez, Posada said, would be among those chuckling while Borzello tweaked him.

"There was not one player on those teams that said those words," Posada said. "Never. If we heard it, it was just (Borzello) messing with Alex and Alex would be right there and he'd be laughing about it. It was never out of disrespect at all . . . It was never said behind his back by any teammate."

"It really isn't explosive," Posada said of the book. "We'll have to sit down and read it, but what's been said in the media, nothing's been surprising to me. I think he's just talking about his experiences with the winning teams and all that. He hasn't really said anything we didn't know.

"Joe's done nothing wrong, in my eyes. He's been a father figure to me, so I don't think he can do any wrong."

Posada agreed with the idea that Rodriguez is a magnet for attention because of A-Rod's status in the game and his outsized contract.

"You're going to talk about the best player in baseball, you're going to talk about the best player in basketball, in the NFL," Posada said. "Alex is the best player in baseball, so you're going to talk about him. A baseball season doesn't go by without talking about Alex Rodriguez."

As for the suggestion in the book that Rodriguez has a bad case of Derek Jeter envy, Posada said, "I have no idea about that. I don't know where that came from."

While Torre's book will doubtless keep tongues wagging into the baseball season - who knows, after all, if it will have any impact on his new team, the Dodgers? - Posada believes there is "no chance" the Yankees will suffer this season because of any fallout.

"We'll laugh about it," Posada said. "We've got a lot of other things we've got to worry about. We've got to get ready for this season and have a good year."

"Joe's done nothing wrong, in my eyes. He's been a father figure to me, so I don't think he can do any wrong."

Does that mean that if Joe Torre pushed an old lady down a some stairs that it would be OK because "he's been a father figure" to you?