As the Yankees are finally starting to look like the competitive team we knew they could be, one more missing piece of the puzzle could rejoin the Bombers on the next home stand. Jorge Posada will head down to extended spring training to play in a few games this week. He’ll test his in-game throwing for a few days, and if all goes well, he could be back in the lineup during the first week of June. Teams will run on him until he throws out a few guys, and I hope the Yanks don’t aggravate Posada’s arm further. It will no doubt be a relief to have his bat in the lineup.

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When Alex Rodriguez went down with a quad injury that will keep him on the shelf for a few weeks this year, he hadn’t been off to the same start he enjoyed last year. Admittedly, that’s not a fair comparison. How often does any player hit 14 home runs in a month while single-handedly carrying a team?

But despite a slower start, he still had a vital role in the lineup. As the cleanup hitter, he was hitting .272./330/.506 with 4 HR and 10 RBI in 81 at-bats. Those are poor numbers by A-Rod’s standards, but to suggest that the team doesn’t miss him is wishful thinking at best.

In his absence, the Yankees’ replacement third basemen have been downright awful. The three replacements — Wilson Betemit, Alberto Gonzalez and Morgan Ensberg — have now enjoyed 70 plate appearances as third basemen this year. Collectively, they are hitting .239 with a .271 OBP and a .269 slugging percentage. That is utterly woeful.

Things don’t look much better behind the dish either. As a catcher, Jorge Posada hit .321/.345/.429 this year in 29 plate appearances. The other three catchers have put together 114 plate appearances and are hitting .224/.263/.348.

While it’s easy to say that the Yankees were a .500 team without A-Rod and, hey, wouldn’t they still be a .500 team now, that ignores the reality offered by those who have tried to replace Jorge. The Yankees are missing a ton of offense right now, and it’s showing in the product on the field. The middle of their lineup is weak; Shelley Duncan had to hit cleanup against lefties, and even Derek Jeter found himself penciled into the four hole for one game. The bottom of their lineup — drawing well below league-average production from the C and 3B spots — has become a terrible liability. It’s a cascade issue.

The Yankees probably could have withstood an injury to either A-Rod or Jorge. They probably would be two games behind Boston had just one of them gone down. But with both out, this team’s offensive production slides off the table. Get well soon, guys.

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In an Ed Price notebook today, we learn that a few anonymous sources claim that Jorge’s injury is not season-ending. An official diagnosis is forthcoming. More interesting and concrete, however, is the news about the Yanks will handle Jose Molina. They recognize that Molina cannot catch every single day; he is, after all, a career backup catcher. Expect Molina to play three days in a row with Chris Stewart sinking or swimming during those other games. Molina’s health and freshness is riding on Stewart quite a bit.

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Tyler Kepner, writing on the Bats blog, reminds us that not only will we miss Jorge Posada’s offense while he’s on the DL, but we’ll miss his toughness as well. It’s hard to overstate what Posada means to this Yankee team. He’s a feared switch-hitter in the middle of the order with an excellent feel for his pitching staff. While a few Yankee fans may criticize them for signing an old catcher to a four-year deal, this injury is not age-related, and it’s a blow the Yanks will have to absorb for now.

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Sit down. Take a deep breath. And read the bad news on Jorge Posada. The Yanks’ catcher was a very late scratch today because his shoulder tear is not improving, and he will be visiting Dr. James Andrews this week. Posada, who seemed to aggravate his shoulder while throwing out Grady Sizemore yesterday, will end up on the disabled list, and the Yanks now have to pray that Jose Molina can shoulder the load. They have no true backup catcher right now as Chad Moeller has not cleared waivers yet. Doug Mirabelli is a free agent possibility.

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When Jorge Posada returns to this catching duties — which, by most accounts, could be some time this week — opposing teams will and should run like the dickens off of him until he shows he can throw out baserunners. This could present something of a problem for the Yanks over the next few weeks. I hope the Yanks hold back on Jorge behind the plate until they are 100 percent sure he’s ready to go.

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The Yankee catching situation, in which their backup backup catcher has now started five games this season, may clear up soon. While Pete Kerzel at MLB.com reports that Jorge Posada is still out indefinitely from behind the plate, Ed Price tells us that Jose Molina could return as early as tonight. At this point, it’s clear that the Yanks are begin less than forthcoming with news on Posada’s shoulder.

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As of yesterday evening shortly before game-time, Yanks’ manager Joe Girardi said that Jorge Posada is not quite ready to resume his catching duties. Posada, filling in as the DH recently, made a series of 40 throws from around 150 feet, Ed Price reported, but his shoulder is still not up to par. The Yankees can afford to take their time with Posada. A healthy shoulder later on is much more important, and we can deal with Chad Moeller for a few more days.

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Jorge Posada is considering getting a cortisone shot for his sore throwing shoulder. The Yanks’ catcher say the effectiveness of such a shot would be about 50/50 though considering the source of the pain. I’m really starting to wonder just how badly Jorge’s shoulder is hurt. I think it’s more than the Yanks have let on so far.

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After consulting with famed surgeon Dr. James Andrews and team doctors, Jorge Posada learned that his shoulder is only strained. According to Yanks’ manager Joe Girardi, Posada will probably be out somewhere around a week before he’s ready to catch again. Right now, the Yankees should proceed cautiously with Jorge; they need him healthy this year.

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