Missing Posada

The extent of Jorge Posada’s injury is unclear, but a shoulder problem for a 36-year-old catcher is a bad sign.

Posada has averaged almost 143 games a season the last eight years, a tremendous load for a catcher. No one questions his work ethic, but catchers tend to break down quickly (Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza) at a certain point and are never the same afterward. The Yankees have committed more than $50 million to Posada through 2011, so it might be time to consider moving him to first base to prolong his career.

No matter what happens, though, the Yankees are sure to get more mileage out of Posada than the Giants will out of Barry Zito. The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner has lost so much life off his fastball that he can no longer throw the ball inside. This velocity dropoff was documented as far back as 2006 with the Athletics, but that offseason the Giants committed $126 million to Zito through 2013.

By comparison, Carl Pavano and his four-year, $40 million contract with the Yankees – which works out to about $8 million per win in New York -- looks like a bargain.