While the Yankees are dealing with injuries that have shelved their number one starter and starting DH, they’re also attempting to handle the Jorge Posada situation. Posada, suffering from a shoulder heading to surgery, is no longer a viable option behind the plate this year. He’s thrown out just 7 of 39 would-be base stealers and can’t command the running game. His back up — Jose Molina — has thrown out an astounding 25 of 52 attempting basestealers but has a pathetic OPS+ of 48. Jack Curry checked in with Posada and Joe Girardi today and finds that Posada is frustrated with his shoulder but won’t have the surgery sooner. The Yanks need Jorge’s bat, but they can’t afford to stick him behind the plate. How Joe Girardi handles this over the next few months will go a long way in determining the Yanks’ success this season.

PeteAbe passed along a rather impressive statistic yesterday: when Jose Molina threw Jacoby Ellsbury out trying to steal second in the 5th inning yesterday, it was the 10th consecutive would-be base stealer that Molina has gunned down. Despite being a backup for most of the year, Molina has thrown out a league leading 22 base stealers, good for 47.9%, which also leads the league. Just imagine if he didn’t have a .572 OPS.

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.

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.

Chad Jennings notes that career journeyman catcher Chad Moeller was called up from Triple-A Scranton today to help ease the catching burden. There is no word on any accompanying roster moves, but it’s likely that M(VP)olina will hit the 15-day to clear a spot on the 25-man roster, and either Frankie Cervelli or Humberto Sanchez could be placed on the 60-day DL to clear up a 40-man spot.

I was just thinking about this whole catching mess, and I had an idea so ridiculous, so crazy it just might work. Why not sign sign this readily available free agent to not only catch a few days a week, but to provide a little offense? Not a bad idea, no?

Disclaimer: I do not actually believe the Yankees should do this. But I’m in a good mood after a solid win, and I feel like pulling out a hypothetical.

So Jose Molina’s been hitting the ball pretty well in his six games this season. It’s easy to get excited about that, especially at a time when the rest of the team has been struggling to produce runs. Plus, he’s a superb defensive catcher.

What I’m about to suggest is kind of crazy…okay, really crazy. Please, don’t take me seriously. I cannot stress this enough. But imagine if Molina is on the verge of one of those fluke years, where he hits like .320. Hey, it’s happened before.

Bear with me…imagine Molina is our starter. Jorge can then become the full-time first baseman. Would he be any good there? I can’t imagine him being worse than Shelley Duncan on defense. He looked fine last year when he started the game there in Colorado. At the least, it would give us offensive stability at the position.

Plus, he could be the backup catcher. So he catches twice a week and plays first base or DH for the rest, with a day off here and there. Giambi can slot in a couple of days a week, when Jorge catches, sits, or DHs.

This has the added bonus of curbing some wear and tear on Jorge. He’s signed through 2011, so we might as well keep him fresh as possible. With no viable starting catcher likely to emerge by next year, we’re going to need Jorge there (can’t count on another fluke year from Molina; what do you think I am, nuts?).

That also makes either Shelley or Ensberg obsolete. Not sure what to do on that front. But it’s nice to have a little flexibility.

Of course, that’s all completely predicated on the prayer that Molina somehow manages to hit .320. A man can dream, though. A man can dream.

We now return to your regularly scheduled, not-quite-batshit-insane programming.

PeteAbe’s got the word:

The New York Yankees announced today they have signed catcher Jose Molina to a two-year contract. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated infielder Andy Phillips for assignment.

Well, we all knew the Yanks would have to start clearing room on the 40-man roster soon enough. We all know about everything Andy’s gone through and how great of a person he is, but he was given plenty of chances and never really did enough to warrant a job. He’ll land on his feet.

The Yanks still have to clear room for A-Rod, Pettitte and Mo, so this won’t be the last of the 40-man cuts.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of the Roger Clemens 2004 fiasco, the Yankees decided to offer arbitration to Andy Pettitte. In the off chance that he signs with another team, the Yanks will now be entitled to a draft pick. They did not offer Ron Villone, Doug Mientkiewicz or Jose Molina arbitration, but Molina is expected to re-sign with the Yankees any day now. The Viz received a salary arbitration offer too.

Buried in the Marino article which Ben linked earlier:

The Yankees and backup catcher Jose Molina reached an agreement on a two-year, $4million contract.

When was the last time we went into Spring Training with an acceptable backup catcher?

With Jorge Posada under wraps and Mariano Rivera’s return seemingly imminent, the Yanks can now turn their attention to the team’s other holes. First up, according to The Daily News, is the ever-popular backup catcher situation. At the end of their piece on Posada, Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden report that the Yanks and Jose Molina are close on a deal. No word on the length, but I like this move. Molina should lessen the burden on Posada next season.