Nauseating. Pathetic. Embarassment.
Those are just several of the damning words Adam Schein, host of The Post’s daily “Schein Time” show on YouTube, used to describe the exclusive revelation from former catcher Jorge Posada on “The Show” on Tuesday that he does not feel welcome around the Yankees anymore.
And to Schein, when combined with Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe not connecting with Hall of Famer Derek Jeter amid a career of underachievement, it speaks to an issue among the Bronx Bombers’ 26-man roster.
“So, I think this officially is a clubhouse issue. I think this officially is a player issue,” Schein said Tuesday on his show. “I think that Aaron Judge needs to take control of his own clubhouse. I want to know where Giancarlo Stanton is? Where’s the veteran leadership?
“If Derek Jeter can’t get Anthony Volpe on the phone, if Jorge Posada isn’t welcome, if you don’t want to pick the brain of Tino Martinez, then we’ve got problems. It’s as simple as that.”
Posada, a Yankees legend from 1995-2011, revealed on Tuesday’s show that he feels distant from the only team he played for during his career.
“I don’t think they want me there, to tell you the truth,” Posada said when asked by Joel Sherman about possibly helping the Yankees in the future.
“I don’t feel welcome when I go there, you know? 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 did not pinpoint that feeling to any specific instance or moment, although he called his final season in 2011 “a really tough one.”
The Yankees shifted him away from catcher to designated hitter and reduced his playing time, and Posada posted just a .714 OPS.
“So, it’s just tough to back and feel that again,” he said.
Schein believes that Yankees manager Aaron Boone, general manager Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner are absolved of blame in this lingering Posada situation.
He gives Boone a “free pass,” believing a baseball lifer would not turn his back to legends, and doesn’t think Steinbrenner and Cashman would too reject on an esteemed player like Posada.
Posada has indicated in the past that there was some bad beef with top executives about that final season, while he did not blame then-manager Joe Girardi.
Adding this Posada reveal on top of the Jeter-Volpe non-relationship makes Schein believe that the current Yankees are not doing their part to lean on those with championship pedigree.
“Look at Jorge Posada’s resume. Come on? He doesn’t feel welcome at spring training? You’re telling me Austin Wells couldn’t use talking to Jorge Posada?” Schein said. “You’re telling me Anthony Volpe couldn’t use some kind of direction from Derek Jeter? These are guys who just want to be there, because it seems like they care more about winning than the current Yankee players.”
Schein also noted that this group of Yankees having yet to win a title — and has just one World Series appearance in the Aaron Judge era dating to 2017 — only makes this situation worse.
Posada won five titles during his time in The Bronx, including the franchise’s last World Series in 2009.
“If the Yankees of the current group, if they were winning, we’re not having this conversation but they’re losing and they’re fundamentally unsound, and they play at their worse when it matters the most,” Schein said. “The antithesis of Posada and Jeter and those amazing Yankees teams. That right there, that’s painful. … That makes me sick.
“The fact that Jorge Posada, an all-time great Yankee. Blood, guts, sweat, tears, joy, jubilation, a guy who understands what winning is all about, he doesn’t feeling welcome at spring training, the Yankee clubhouse? Man, and you wonder why this team can’t perform in big spots. You wonder why they can’t perform in extra innings. You wonder why they can’t have a lead in a series against the Tampa Rays. What a joke, an embarrassment, that was nauseating. Absolutely pathetic.”
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