Jorge Posada was so angry at being dropped to ninth in the order Saturday that he not only said he wanted out of the lineup, he also said he wanted off the Yankees.
Sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney on Monday that the 39-year-old lashed out about the lineup move and being relegated to full-time designated hitter. The New York Daily News first reported the story.
"It was just something said in the heat of anger and frustration," a source close to Posada said, according to the Daily News. "He didn't want out, and doesn't want out. He was just frustrated and said a lot of things."
Saturday was filled with conflicting reports. Posada said he had a stiff back. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that Posada sitting had nothing to do with an injury.
But Posada, who is batting .165 and has yet to get a hit against a left-hander this season, later apologized for pulling himself from the lineup.
"It's just one of those days that you wish you could have back," Posada said Sunday.
Posada was not in the lineup Monday against Rays lefty David Price.
The rift between the Yankees and Posada also existed in spring training. Team sources told ESPN that Posada refused to catch during a spring training game as he was worried about the concussion he suffered behind the plate late in the 2010 season.
Posada, however, refuted that this occurred in comments made to the New York Daily News, which first reported the incident.
"Not at all. Not once. A hundred percent," he told the newspaper. "Not even close. They told me to go to the bullpen and stuff so I caught in the bullpen every once in a while, but they never asked me [to catch in a game]."
Controversy and confusion has swirled around Posada for days. Sources told Olney Monday that Yankees brass was frustrated that team captain Derek Jeter didn't condemn Posada's actions on Saturday. A conference call with Jeter and team officials put out that fire.
Posada has spent his entire 17-year career with the Yankees. He's a five-time All-Star who batted .248 last season with 18 homers and 57 RBIs. Though he is hitting just .165 this year, he does have six home runs and 15 RBIs.