BY JACOB EISENBERG

Negotiations rarely end well between a team and its long-beloved star player. The Packers practically shoved Brett Favre away to move on as an organization. The Knicks were knowingly ripped off by the Seattle Supersonics to rid themselves of an ailing Patrick Ewing. The Orioles forced Cal Ripken Jr. to begrudgingly switch positions to compensate for his loss of speed and range. The Yankees disrespected Bernie Williams by refusing to offer him a short-term contract to be the team’s fourth outfielder. Instead, the Yankees offered Williams a spring training invitation and a minor league offer. Now the Yankees are at it again, this time with former catcher and longtime fan favorite Jorge Posada.

Posada, a 16-year veteran, has gained a reputation in the locker room and around the league as a responsible, caring athlete who doesn’t just help his team win games but helps his community as well. Posada sacrificed a lot to make it to the major leagues: in the minors, Posada was exclusively a slow, powerful middle infielder. When Buck Showalter, the ex-Yankees’ manager told Posada that his only hope of making the Major Leagues would be to switch positions to catcher (the most unique and difficult of all fielding positions), Posada accepted without hesitation.

For three years, Posada adjusted to his new position. He learned pitching schemes, catching stances and how to communicate with his pitchers. By 1997, Posada was a consistent backup in the Major Leagues. Although he was clearly more talented than the Yankees’ starting catcher, Joe Girardi, the Yankees brass trusted Girardi to call a game more smoothly than the inexperienced Posada.

For the next two seasons, as the Yankees’ championship run was beginning, the competition for the starting catcher position was intense. Though Posada considered Girardi a mentor, he was also a rival. Eventually, in the summer of 1998, Posada won the starting position outright. As Posada established himself as a feared hitter in the Yankee lineup, the Yankees established themselves as the team to beat in the Major Leagues. In the year 2000, it was clear that the Yankees had an advantage over every other competing American League team – a catcher with superlative fielding and hitting skills.

Despite Posada’s constant contributions to the team, he never really became a focal point in the Yankee lineup. As a five-time All-Star, Posada assumed the role of the most unheralded star on the Yankees’ Dynasty teams.

Unfortunately, Posada saw his production decline with age. By the end of the 2010 playoffs, it was clear that Posada lacked enough arm strength to throw out opposing teams’ base-stealers. One of the most obvious reasons why the Yankees were beaten by the Texas Rangers last postseason was Texas’ mentality that any runner on first would be able to take second with Posada behind the plate.

When the 2011 season started, Posada found himself in the final year of his contract. Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman made clear to Posada that his days as catcher were numbered. As a 39 year old with no position and no speed, Posada was told that he needed to adjust to his new role as the Yankees’ designated hitter. The specifications for being the Yankees’ DH were simple: hit the ball.

By May 14, Posada had the lowest batting average (.165) in the major leagues. Posada’s old rival, Girardi, now the Yanks’ manager, was forced to make a calculated baseball decision and move Posada to the last spot in the batting order.

Posada couldn’t handle the perceived disrespect. For all the games Posada masked injury to play, all the timely hits he had during the Yankees’ playoff runs, he was now being thrown to the curb by the Yankees organization.

With all of the anger and embarrassment Posada felt, he approached Girardi two hours before the game and let the manager know he was refusing to play. Girardi was angry that Posada, a player making $13 million this season for being the least productive player in baseball, felt entitled to refuse demotion in the batting order. When Girardi called Brian Cashman to let him know of the incident, Cashman was tempted to release Posada then and there. And yet, nothing happened…

Nothing happened at that moment for three reasons: first, for all of Posada’s frustrations, he has a rich Yankee legacy. Being a Yankee is part of Posada’s identity. Two months of disappointment was never going to be enough to cause Posada to leave.

Second, the Yankees recognize Posada’s importance to the team. He is a character guy with veteran experience; he is a great mentor to any catcher in the Yankee’s minor league system.

Third, Yankees fans and front office alike still have faith that Posada can bounce out of this slump. Great hitters don’t just lose the ability to hit. For two consecutive seasons, David Ortiz entered the month of June batting lower than .200. The Red Sox stuck with him, and eventually he rebounded to hit at least 99 RBI in both seasons. Although Posada isn’t quite the hitter that Ortiz is, he is more than capable of returning to form before the season is over.

When May 14 came to pass, Posada apologized for his lack of professionalism. The Yankees accepted the apology and decided not to fine or suspend him. Yankee captain Derek Jeter, among other Yankees, threw his full support behind Posada.

“It’s just one of those days you wish you could have back,” said Posada, a day later. Although the day will forever remain on his record, in time it will be a minor footnote in a glorious career. When Yankees fans look back at Posada’s legacy, they are far more likely to remember Posada’s clutch single in Game Seven of the ALCS in 2003 than May 14 of 2011.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, relationships between a team and star rarely end well. As Yankee fans witness the fall of Posada, fans can’t help but look over their shoulders to see a diminished Jeter and an aging Mariano Rivera. One wishes these players would never fade, but this script has played out far too many times before. The only things keeping the Yankees afloat so far this season are the offensive resurgence of Curtis Granderson and the rebirths of Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. If these trends continue, it would not be surprising to hear Cashman say that, for the first time in his career, it’s time to use the “R” words: Reload, Remodel, Renovate and Rebuild.