Schadenfreude 110 (A Continuing Series)

Bill Madden, Daily News:

In the heat of his anger and frustration Saturday night, Yankee icon Jorge Posada told general manager Brian Cashman amid a flood of F-bombs that he not only wanted out of the No. 9 spot in the Yankee batting order - he wanted out of the Yankees, too, according to team sources.

"It was just something said in the heat of anger and frustration," a close friend of Posada's said ... "He didn't want out ... He was just frustrated and said a lot of things."

After a day of apologies and reconciliation on both sides, it appeared the fences were mended Monday, at least until Posada and the Yankees disagreed on another matter: Whether Posada refused to catch during spring training. ...

[S]ources claim that when Posada was asked to catch in a game in the spring, he declined, citing headaches and concern over the concussion syndrome he suffered after taking a foul ball off the mask the previous September. ...

Posada adamantly denied he was ever asked to catch in a game this spring. "Not at all. ... Not even close. ... [T]hey never asked me [to catch in a game]."

Joel Sherman, Post:

For a second straight day the Yankees went into full damage control to defuse simmering controversies involving first Jorge Posada then Derek Jeter. ...

Early Monday, Yankees officials were expressing irritation at Jeter for exonerating Posada for wrongdoing in the aftermath of the DH's refusal to play Saturday night after being placed ninth in the starting lineup.

With the discord being widely reported, Hal Steinbrenner ordered a conference call that included him, team president Randy Levine, GM Brian Cashman and Jeter. ...

The parties on the phone agreed to agree that there was misinterpretation of Jeter's defense of Posada and the club issued a statement Monday acknowledging the call. ...

That the Yankees found Jeter's words so problematic merely underscores the deteriorating relationship between the icon and the franchise.

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

Add A.J. Burnett to the Yankees' long list of problems.

Burnett, arguably the Bombers' most consistent starting pitcher this season, ... suffered a 2010-like meltdown. ...

Pitching with a 5-1 lead, Burnett breezed through the fifth. The sixth? That was a different story. John Jaso doubled and Sam Fuld homered to start the sixth, cutting the lead to 5-3. Burnett retired the next two batters, but those were the last outs he would record.

Evan Longoria singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Matt Joyce's single, reducing the Yankees' lead to one run. Joyce moved to second on Burnett's second wild pitch of the inning, then Upton crushed a 2-2 curveball into the left-field stands, putting the Rays ahead ...

Kyle Farnsworth - yes, that Kyle Farnsworth - closed it out for his eighth save.

Bryan Hoch, MLB.com:

As one of the team's most reliable starters this year, Burnett hopes that one bad inning won't spark all of the here-we-go-again talk that he has worked to avoid since his first day back in uniform this year. ...

The Rays had not scored more than five runs in a home game all season, but they were able to take care of that tricky statistic in just one inning, battering Burnett in a five-run sixth that saw nine batters come to the plate.

George A. King III, Post:

On a day the Yankees wouldn't let the odor of Posada Gate drift into the Gulf of Mexico they continued to stink on the field. ...

[Derek] Jeter and his underachieving teammates coughed up a four-run lead to the Rays on the way to a disheartening 6-5 loss ... It was the Yankees' sixth straight loss and that is a season high ... The Yankees have dropped 10 of 13. ...

Rubbing salt in the raw wound was former Yankee bust Kyle Farnsworth producing a perfect ninth to secure the victory and his eighth save. ...

Rodriguez is in a 3-for-23 (.130) funk. ... Jeter is in a 3-for-18 (.167) slide.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

Winning teams on hot streaks are almost charmed by the process of the nine-inning challenge, figuring out a different way to win today than they did yesterday.

The losing streak is something else altogether: Each inning presents a hazard. What can go wrong now? Who'll be the culprit? The pitchers? The hitters? The fielders? All of the above? ...

[T]he time is rapidly approaching when dismissing this rancid stretch of ball as the product of a "small sample size" will no longer be allowed. ...

The [Red] Sox recovered. The Rays have soared. They are good teams with winning DNA. They figured it out.