During the midst of an exciting World Series, one of the most regimented organizations in all of sports completely disrespected the game of baseball and one of the top managers in the game.
The New York Yankees have announced that Joe Girardi will not be returning for his 11th season as Yankees manager.
The move comes in the middle of a series and takes away from two teams battling for history the timing is distasteful.
As for the move itself it is totally out of nowhere, especially in a season where the Yankees achieved so much more than the expectations set for them.
The 2017 Yankees were suspected to still be at least a year away from playoff contention. Through excellent baseball, some mid-season acquisitions, and smart baseball the Yankees came within one win of appearing in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Prior to the season it was suspicious that Joe Girardi and the organization had not agreed to a new contract.
That did not seem to be a problem with anyone in the organization, not the owner Hal Steinbrenner, General Manager Brian Cashman (who is working on his own contract extension), and Joe Girardi himself.
Steinbrenner said a manager should be “great at working with both the younger players and the veterans, which Joe is.”
The manager was endorsed by the owner prior to this exciting season and all results from the season should have suggested a new contract would be inevitable.
Instead the shocking move to not retain him has been made.
According to baseball insiders around the league; the relationship between Brian Cashman, Cashman’s staff, and Joe Girardi appeared to sour. The two have accomplished so much together in their ten years working together it is hard to figure they could not sort their differences apart to work together.
In ten years as partners the Yankees accomplished:
- 6 postseason appearances
- The most wins in baseball over the past decade with 910 wins
- 1 World Series Championship
- 2 additional American League Championship Series Appearances
- 10 straight winning records
Then this tweet came out…
Brian Cashman seemed to have all the control in the situation and removed Girardi.
Without a doubt though Girardi is a top three manager in baseball, the only managers worth debating positoning with him are Cleveland’s Terry Francona and Chicago Cubs skipper Joe Maddon.
He will undoubtedly find a new job, Washington is as good a guess as any. If the Nationals have not even contacted Girardi by now then their organization is totally inept and does not deserve an elite manager of Girardi’s caliber.
The real wonder is whether Girardi will jump right into a new job or take some time off.
Following his firing in 2006 by the Miami Marlins, then known as the Florida Marlins, he took a year off before Joe Torre was removed. Girardi is also known to care a lot about his family like many fathers do, it would not be a surprise if he took a year off to spend more time with his family.
Also, is it hard to imagine he might want to wash the bitter taste his removal might leave by taking some time off.
As for the Yankees, the move leaves the teams leadership in question. Brian Cashman should be held responsible next year if the team regresses under new leadership.
There are many former Yankees names in the air: Don Mattingly, Jorge Posada, and Alex Rodriguez for example.
Although, the options are not very likely due to inexperience and in Mattingly’s case managing Miami.
There are suggestions that the Yankees might try to find the answer internally pointing at Rob Thompson, Joe Espada, and Tony Pena as options as well.
It will be interesting to see who takes over the helm and the lofty expectations that will encompass this team next year. Whomever it shall be will need to execute quickly as this team will have expectations to make it to the Fall Classic next season.
The Yankees have ended the Joe Girardi era, arguable over-achieving with many of his teams. The team has a brand new core beginning its own era and at the moment they are without a leader.
As for Joe Girardi, Yankees fans whether he drove them crazy or not owe nothing but respect to the now former manager. When he returns to Yankee Stadium likely with another team he should be greeted with a huge ovation.
Rounding The Bases 
Great article …. Although Girardi record and accomplishments speak for themselves the handling in the media of Gary Sanchez , post season mistakes and old school approach is the reason behind the firing. In addition had this been George instead of Hal Girardi may have been fired after three straight non playoff seasons This reminds me of Buck Showalter sometimes its just time to move on and with a group of really young stars and phasing out the over paid veterans maybe its time for a fresh start and give a coach that will use more sabermetrics and opportunity to polish these kids and put them in better situations to lead.
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Thanks for the comment.
I wasn’t alive when the Showalter move was made but I have been reading and can see the similarities between the two. You’re probably right about The Boss firing Joe earlier had he still been alive, but you could probably say the same about Cashman then. The managerial job Girardi put together to squeeze every ounce of talent out of most of the teams he managed here makes me believe he would have no problem with this new core of young players. I think if they believed Girardi wasn’t the man for the job they should’ve made this move a year ago, the Yankees do not have a problem eating money.
Of course, we don’t know the behind the scenes relationships so this relationship between Cashman and Girardi could’ve soured over just one year. The timing of the move and the mindset that they think they will find a better manager, or a manager who can better handle this roster is what I don’t like. Once again, Girardi took a roster with little expectations and squeezed everything he could out of them. He was assisted greatly by the emergence of Judge, Severino, and other players either continuing their development or veterans playing well; but at the end of the day Girardi was still the guy making the calls.
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CASHMAN is the guy who should get the credit for this year success. The talent of Judge Severino Sanchez Didi was exceptional also the pitching coach AND BULLPEN really accelerated the rebuild but I honestly feel they were waiting for is contract to come off the books. Although I do believe when the Yankees do decide on the coach it will not be on the level that Girardi is but the vets are being phased out and the youngsters are in so its time we get a coach that his personality and knowledge of the game meets the expectations of todays players and style of play.
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Cashman is also the guy who gave all these veterans their contract. Credit is due to Cashman for the success this year as well. He is a top executive in baseball too. He rebuilt an entire farm system on the fly. I am just am getting the sense this is more of bringing in someone who Cashman thinks he can work with better than this being about Girardi’s ability to manage a team.
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