According to a source on ESPN, Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees have reached agreement on a three-year contract that will pay him $3 million per season with a $500,000 bonus for winning the World Series.
According to the report, Girardi never even considered joining the Cubs as manager. He apparently told Yanks’ GM Brian Cashman in August that he wouldn’t leave such a good thing in New York for Chicago, despite this being his home.
Unofficially, my sources tell me that Jim Hendry was never interested in Girardi anyway, but that owner Tom Ricketts wanted Hendry to hold off on a manager until Girardi was officially free to discuss the opening with other teams.
But the Cubs got word through back channels that Girardi wasn’t coming to the Cubs, even if the Bombers didn’t bring him back. And Ricketts didn’t want to be used as negotiating leverage for Girardi.
So the Cubs went ahead and named Mike Quade as their manager and Girardi will be returning to New York as expected.
There are those in New York who maligned Girardi for his misuse of the bullpen and his strategies. One such decision that drew the fans’ ire occurred late in the season when he decided to rest several veterans in a pivotal game against the Rays.
But while many Bronx fans are mixed in their support of Girardi, he was the top choice of many Cubs fans. However, that interest was never reciprocated by Girardi, despite rampant speculation to the contrary.
Girardi won the World Series in 2009 with the Yankees, after ending his stint with the Marlins as NL Manager of the Year in a dispute with Florida ownership. His record in three season with the Yankees is 287-199.
Hendry, meanwhile, never had interest in Ryne Sandberg as a Major League manager, either. His first choice was Freddi Gonzalez, who declined to interview because he knew he was taking over for the retiring Bobby Cox in Atlanta.
In the end, perhaps it was destiny for Chicago to have another Coach Q.
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