New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi won a World Series last season and also was voted Manager of the Year in 2006 with the Florida Marlins.
The Chicago Cubs currently have an interim manager, Mike Quade, after Lou Piniella left the team in August to take care of his ailing mother. Quade has led the Cubbies to a 20-11 record in his short time as skipper.
They are known as the Cubbies or Baby Cubs because they are using all their young players. These kids are producing at a high level and much of the credit is going to the interim manager.
Despite Quade’s success and the respect he has earned with his team and the league, the Cubs are searching for a proven manager.
One guy rumored to be in contention for the job is Chicago area native Joe Girardi. Now that Girardi has guided the Yankees into a tailspin in September, he has become a bit more edgy with the media and has begun to manage games differently.
He is in panic mode, evidenced by starting Phil Hughes on Sunday when Dustin Moseley was supposed to get the nod against Boston. My opinion is that when Girardi saw the Tampa Bay Rays lose, he wanted to try and “gain a game,” and allowed Hughes to start against Boston to better the Yankees’ chances of winning.
The power of winning last year’s World Series might not be enough for Girardi to avoid the heat of October baseball in New York. The games are more tense, and so is Girardi.
Two months ago, the possibility of Girardi bolting the Yankees for hometown Chicago was, at best, a rumor. Now, it could be more of a reality than Yankee fans think.
Girardi was not saying NO directly at the time as a way of generating a more lucrative Yankee extension, but he might be able to get the same money elsewhere.
If the Cubs were really set on hiring Ryne Sandberg as their new manager, they would have announced it already, same as the Los Angeles Dodgers saying Mattingly will be their new manager.
Win or lose the World Series, there is now better than a 50-50 chance Girardi leaves for the comforts of home. Girardi will relish the chance to coach a young team again, and not be second guessed as much when he makes head scratching moves.
So when Girardi leaves for Chicago, there will be one big open seat for hire, and one much smaller seat across the river in Queens.
Let’s go over the possibilities for the next Yankees manager when Girardi leaves.
Jerry Manuel has no shot. Just thought I would throw that out there for a good laugh.
I personally would love to have Tony LaRussa as manager, but he may not leave St. Louis. Also, if you think Girardi is short with the media, wait until LaRussa gets in front of the New York market.
Also, the last time a former St. Louis manager came to work for the Yankees, it did turn out quite well.
So, with Joe Torre “retiring” from the Los Angeles Dodgers, would it be a good fit to bring back Torre to manage this team of veteran players?
One word: NO.
Despite guys like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte loving the old guy, there is just too much animosity in Yankee land regarding Torre.
Brian Cashman would never resort to bringing him back. Forget about all that hugging garbage on the George Steinbrenner tribute night. The Yankee respected George too much to not bring back Torre for the ceremony, but they do not like him enough to have him sitting in the dugout again.
The Yankees are different now than when Torre first managed here. They are all about innings limits, using their relievers differently than Torre does (meaning overuse of one or two guys), and bringing up younger players to fill roles much cheaper.
Torre has recently said that he is unable to relate to the younger players and can’t get through to them like he can with veterans.
How will that play out in New York now, especially with the tension Torre would create with Alex Rodriguez over the details in his book. Seeing a person you dislike (and do not respect anymore) is fine when it is for one day, for one event, and you only have to speak to them once.
But to acknowledge and speak to the person on an everyday basis during an entire season would generate lots of tabloid headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Torre would not be a good fit for the Yankees.
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