Posada, Swisher ponder managing in a changing game

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher shared a dugout again this past weekend, two members of the Yankees’ 2009 World Series championship club swapping stories as they slipped the pinstripes back on for Old-Timers’ Day.

Someday, one of them might wear a big league uniform for another reason.

Posada got a taste of coaching this year with Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, serving as an assistant under Francisco Cervelli, another member of the ’09 Yankees. Though Posada was hesitant to address his prospects, he said he wouldn’t rule out an opportunity to manage his own club.

“I don’t know if I could say yes,” Posada said. “It’s got to be the right situation. It’s a lot -- I’m not saying never, but it’s hard. It’s really hard.”

Swisher was more emphatic: He absolutely could see himself managing in the Majors, and his approach would be more new-school than you might expect.

“There’s obviously a little more information than what we’ve had in the past, which I think is an amazing thing,” said Swisher, currently an advisor to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. “Especially if I get the opportunity to manage one of these days, having all that information is so crucial.

“For me, man, I’m a communicator. I’m a people person. I’ll know what’s going on inside my guys, but being able to have all that data and all that information to make the right choices is so crucial.”

Both men acknowledged that the demands of a Major League manager have changed markedly since Joe Girardi was at the helm in ’09, and even more since Joe Torre piloted the franchise to four championships during the most recent dynasty.

As Posada put it: “Baseball right now has changed so much from what I was taught, and what was completely in my head.”

When their Yankees were racing toward each other in the center of the infield that November evening in 2009, modern analytics were hardly part of everyday conversation. Girardi was frequently derided as “Binder Joe,” a nickname stemming from the information-packed printouts he carried to and from the dugout.

Now, those numbers are not only a tap away; they are an expected part of the game plan. Clubhouse dynamics and communication norms with players have also changed, to say nothing of the rules – the pitch timer, replay challenges and the ABS Challenge System among the most obvious in-game examples.

Swisher said that, from what he sees behind closed doors, that data proves useful.

“I think now the way the kids train is a little different than what we did,” Swisher said. “They don’t spend as much time in the cage as we did, because with the data, you can get so much better faster. You don’t need to be in the cage for an hour to make an adjustment.

“With the data, you go, ‘Where’s my bat path? What’s my spin rate?’ I think 80 to 90 percent of all athletes are visual learners, so being able to show them visual things, it’s easier to make adjustments.”

Early on in his Team Italy tenure, Posada noted that even the art of catching has changed. He hardly recognizes some of what players do behind the plate now.

“As a catcher, they’re teaching you differently,” he said. “The way these guys are set up, the way these guys are practicing with their receiving, it’s completely the opposite of what I was taught. We used to receive the ball. Now, they’re stabbing at the ball.

“That knee down, it’s like you’re anchored. You don’t keep the ball in front of you. You don’t block the ball. You don’t expect the ball to be in the dirt. It’s another game.”

For all that has changed, Posada and Swisher believe some parts of the game remain timeless. Both have endured the pressures of playing in New York, and their triumph remains the franchise’s most recent. That’s why they believe they have something to offer to the current generation of players.

“We can teach them grit, fight, passion,” Swisher said. “It’s hard to talk about skill set, because I think these guys have way better skills than we ever had. But I think just in general, we’ve done it. We got to the top of the mountain. We did that, and there’s an experience that goes along with that. That needs to be told.”