Yankees' Jorge Posada opts for season-ending surgery

New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada confirmed Monday that he plans to undergo season-ending surgery on his troublesome right shoulder, which has landed him on the disabled list twice. 

Posada, 36, was activated June 5 from the DL following a 32-game absence with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff.

But he had to be returned to the 15-day DL last Monday.

"As difficult as it is, I can focus on coming back 100 per cent for next season instead of coming back at less than that now," Posada said.

Posada's shoulder problems have plagued him since spring training, yet he is hitting .268 with three home runs, 22 runs batted and 18 runs scored in 51 games and hoped to keep contributing as New York's designated hitter.

But on Saturday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman swung a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for slugger Xavier Nady to allow Posada to have the surgery.

"Basically, we did not have someone to slot right in there as a hitter," Cashman said. "Now we do with Xavier Nady.

"It gives us the opportunity to move forward with Jorge. He was willing to do what we wanted when there was a need.

"He was delaying the surgery through that need. But now that we have a hitter, I think this was predictable."

Nady, a 29-year-old right-fielder, has 13 HRs, 57 RBIs and 51 runs in 91 games, so fills a power void in Posada's absence. 

"It was best for me, and the team, to have the surgery now," Posada said. "With Xavier here now, there is not as much pressure on me to return."

Posada, a veteran switch-hitter, averaged a team-high and a career-best .338 for the Yankees last season — 51 points higher than his previous best of .287 in 2000.

The six-time all-star is a lifetime .277 hitter with 221 HRs, 883 RBIs and 762 runs in 1,483 MLB games since he debuted with the Yankees on Sept. 4, 1995.

Posada hasn't played since a 4-3, 12-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics on July 19, when he was lifted in favour of reserve catcher Jose Molina in the 10th.