Posada to announce retirement

Baseball Betting Lines

01/23/2012 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees and Jorge Posada have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, at which time the veteran catcher will announce his retirement.

Posada spent each of his 17 seasons with the Yankees and was one of the cogs that helped the storied franchise to its most recent run of five World Series championships since 1996.

The 40-year-old native of Puerto Rico made his big league debut with New York in 1995 and became a regular part of the lineup in 1998 when the Yankees won the first of three straight World Series titles. He was also the catcher for New York's 2009 championship.

However, Posada was relegated to designated hitter duties in 2011 and struggled in that role. He hit just .235 with 14 homers and 44 runs batted in.

In May, Posada asked out of the lineup before a game against the Boston Red Sox when manager Joe Girardi dropped him to ninth in the batting order. He apologized the next day.

Posada was a five-time All-Star during his career, in which he batted .273 in 1,829 games with 275 homers and 1,065 runs batted in.

Selected by the Yankees in the 24th round of the 1990 draft, Posada is among the top 15 in franchise history in numerous offensive categories. He is eighth in games and home runs, seventh in doubles with 379, 11th in RBI and 14th in hits with 1,664.

Posada appeared in 125 career postseason games and batted .248 with 11 homers and 42 runs batted in. He was the team's top hitter during the 2011 ALDS against Detroit, batting .429 with six hits in 14 at-bats.

Only Hall of Famers Bill Dickey (1,708) and Yogi Berra (1,695) have caught more games for the Yankees than the 1,574 by Posada, who also matched Hall of Famer Johnny Bench's mark of catching at least one game in 17 consecutive seasons with the same team.

Posada also joined Bench, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk and Ivan Rodriguez as the only players to record at least 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 homers and 1,000 RBI while playing at least half of his games as a catcher.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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