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Even though it’s a tough decision for manager Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees, the decision to bench Alex Rodriguez for Game 3 of the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers was the correct one.

New York’s decision came just hours before Tuesday’s 8 p.m. ET game, and the Yanks are desperate to pull out a victory, as they trail the series, 0-2, with the series heading to Detroit for Game 3.

ESPN SportsCenter’s Twitter account broke the news about A-Rod’s benching:

BREAKING: Alex Rodriguez not in @yankees‘ lineup for Game 3 vs @tigers

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 16, 2012

Rodriguez hasn’t exactly been hitting the cover off the ball this series, as he’s batted 1-for-7 through the first two games of the ALCS.

That hasn’t been his only problem, apparently. News broke out early Tuesday that A-Rod engaged in some flirting with females in the stands quickly after being taken out in the eighth inning of New York’s 3-0 loss at home, according to Emily Smith of the New York Post.

A-Rod came into this series with enough problems, as the 37-year-old has shown major signs of decline all season long. That trend only became more severe in the Bronx Bombers’ opening series against Baltimore, where A-Rod was benched for the decisive Game 5 that his team eventually won.

It was enough of a problem for the $275 million man to be struggling so badly through a critical stretch, but now it’s obvious that his head just isn’t in the game, instead focused on getting girls to scratch their phone numbers on a baseball for him. 

Maybe A-Rod should take the so-called baseball with his new friends’ phone numbers to the batting cage and see if he can get out of his slump.

To make things worse, fellow team leader Derek Jeter is now out of the lineup and Girardi’s club certainly misses his production.

A-Rod is one of the first players who should be stepping up in this Jeter-less scenario, and he’s instead stepping out of the equation entirely.

If A-Rod hadn’t made this decision easy for Girardi before with his subpar play, he has with this latest rumor. 

The Yankees are a deep team, and it’s safe to say that they have enough firepower to make this a series again. But it won’t be easy against reigning AL MVP Justin Verlander, who is on fire this postseason and seems to be an unstoppable force.

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The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers are exposing the MLB playoffs, and the game of baseball in general, for what they really are.

In baseball, a single pitch in a hitter’s hot zone could be the deciding factor between a World Series appearance or historical insignificance. More often than not, a confident team feeding off of recent success is better-suited for October than a team that appears to be superior on paper.

In the case of the 2012 American League Championship Series, the Tigers are playing the role of the team that’s on fire, and the Yankees are starring as the team that can’t remember how good it was in the regular season.

The series is not over, of course. The Yankees have a huge hurdle to clear tonight against Justin Verlander, but the playing field will be more even if New York can avoid the 3-0 hole.

In order to do so, there are a few things the Bronx Bombers must accomplish tonight. If they don’t, it’s going to be a long offseason in the Big Apple.

Stop striking out and get some hits.

We knew coming into October that the Yankees live and die by the long ball. Strikeouts are part of loading the batting order with power hitters, but the prevailing notion was that New York had enough big bats in the lineup to make up for all the strikeouts. 

Turns out that this was an incorrect diagnosis. The Yankees have given new life to the term “free-swinging,” averaging 9.6 strikeouts per outing in their seven playoff games. They’ve struck out 20 times (against just five walks) in two games against Detroit, which has contributed heavily to their going 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

The biggest offender has been Robinson Cano. The graceful second baseman has forgotten how to hit, batting 2-for-22 with four strikeouts in the playoffs. That’s a .091 clip for a guy that hit .313 in the regular season. With Justin Verlander taking the mound tonight, the Yankees have to find a way to get good wood on the ball fast, or their season will be for naught. 

Keep the lineup steady.

The big story throughout the playoffs has been whether or not manager Joe Girardi should drop Alex Rodriguez from third in the batting order. Girardi did eventually drop A-Rod—but he switched up a lot more in the process. 

Even before Derek Jeter got injured, Girardi had made questionable decisions. Raul Ibanez had played the hero against Baltimore in the late innings, but that didn’t justify putting him in the cleanup spot. Russell Martin hit .211 during the season and shouldn’t be hitting in the five-hole, and Curtis Granderson, while he does strike out a lot, still shouldn’t be hitting seventh. 

The Yankees need to go back to what made them successful—batting the right guys in the right spots and letting them do their jobs. I understand that the bats have been silenced, but it only takes one good game to awaken a lineup. Hitters are creatures of habit, and constantly shifting them around, in addition to the pressure they face in the playoffs, is the worst strategy to try and shake things up.

Regain that New York swagger—before it’s gone for a while.

Part of the reason the Yankees had such a great regular season is because they scared teams with their power and versatility. Few teams can match the Yankees’ lineup from top to bottom, and New York finished second in the majors in scoring.

They seem to have lost all semblance of that confident team in this postseason. The shocking thing is, it’s not like the Yankees have young players who have little experience. This is the oldest roster in baseball, and it’s wilting under the bright lights like its never been on a big stage before.

In order for the Yankees to beat Verlander, they need to remember how good they really are.

Jeter’s injury is a huge blow, but that doesn’t mean guys like Cano, Granderson, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher should be struggling as well. It’s impossible to fathom how far the Yanks have fallen. It seems like literally every player has hit a cold streak at the exact same time, and there’s no way to return to form without gaining back that good old Yankee swagger.

This brings another issue into play: the Yankees’ age.

The roster has an average age of 31.7 years, by far the oldest in the majors. If the Yankees don’t wake up now, they’ll soon see that their amazing run of playoff successes in the last decade will be a distant memory. It’s time to put up or shut up.

The window is closing on the New York Yankees.

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Last night’s 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays could not only be pinned on an ineffective start by C.C. Sabathia, but one can also look no further than the manager as to who was responsible for the key setback.

This season has been a series of high peaks (a 20-7 June record) and deep valleys (5-7 in September so far) for the “Bombers.”  In each case, manager Joe Girardi has been a responsible leader in either giving credit to those contributing wins, or accepting blame for the frustrating losses.

Yesterday’s game is a microcosm of the entire season, and coming out of it are several questions as to why Girardi chose to do (or not do) moves that led directly to failure.

Taking a look at his decisions against Tampa may reveal why Yankee fans are frustrated with their manager’s performance.

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FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal listed the managers who might be in trouble come the end of the season in a column posted this morning.

Among the managers on his list were Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers (in the last year of his contract), Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels, embattled Bobby Valentine of the Boston Red Sox, underachieving Ozzie Guillen of the Miami Marlins, Manny Acta of the swooning Cleveland Indians and Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves.

But at the top of Rosenthal’s list? The New York Yankees’ very own Joe Girardi, and it’s a point worth exploring.

As Rosenthal points out, Girardi isn’t the guy who put the roster together. That falls on Brian Cashman, who assembled an aging team (baseball’s oldest with an average age of 32.7 for the 43 players who have appeared in at least one game in 2012, according to Baseball-Reference.com).

Among the regulars, only catcher Russell Martin and second baseman Robinson Cano are under 30 as of July 1 and both were 29 on that date. The roster is dotted with players older than 35, including shortstop Derek Jeter (38), third baseman Alex Rodriguez (36), outfielder Raul Ibanez (40), outfielder Andruw Jones (35), outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (38), pitcher Andy Pettitte (40), pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (37), pitcher Freddy Garcia (35), pitcher Derek Lowe (39) and closer Mariano Rivera (42).

Of that group of baseball senior citizens, only Jeter and Kuroda have seemed impervious to the ravages of age. Ibanez and Jones are struggling to hit their weight, and Rodriguez, Pettitte and Rivera have spent significant time on the disabled list (in fairness, none of the injuries to Rivera, Pettitte or Rodriguez can be attributed solely to age).

Rodriguez and Suzuki are shells of their former Hall of Fame candidate selves. Garcia, Ibanez, Jones and Lowe are not the All-Stars they once were—not even close.

None of that falls on Girardi.

But here’s what does land squarely in his lap: The Yankees had a 10-game lead in the American League East in mid-July, a lead that began to melt away over a 15-13 August and disappeared early in a September during which the Yankees are just 6-6 and only 29-29 since the All-Star break.

Rosenthal cites the oft-heard reports that the Yankees’ managing partner, Hal Steinbrenner, is not the same quick-trigger firing machine that his father, the late George, was. And the younger Steinbrenner told Ken Davidoff of the New York Post 10 days or so ago that while he was frustrated with his team’s struggles, neither Cashman nor Girardi were in danger of losing their jobs.

On the other hand, should New York fail to reach the newly expanded postseason after having such a huge lead, bearing in mind that the team is spending more than $200 million in payroll this season, that might give any owner pause to consider a change in direction.

In fairness to George Steinbrenner, it should be pointed out that while he burned through Ralph Houk, Bill Virdon, Billy Martin (five times), Bob Lemon (twice), Dick Howser, Gene Michael (twice), Clyde King, Yogi Berra, Lou Piniella (twice), Dallas Green, Bucky Dent and Stump Merrill from 1973-91, the only managers of the club over the last 20-plus years of Steinbrenner’s life and tenure as owner were Buck Showalter (1991-95), Joe Torre (1996-2007) and Girardi (2008-present).

After Friday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees are 81-63, tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the division lead/second wild-card position, three games ahead of the Rays.

Girardi’s career record is 543-411, including a 465-327 mark during his five seasons in New York. He’s won a ring, in 2009, and taken the team to the playoffs three straight seasons.

For most franchises, that would be enough to almost write a lifetime ticket. But the Yankees aren’t most franchises. After all, when a club spends more on personnel than any other organization in baseball, the expectations bar is understandably considerably higher than it is for most franchises.

Do I think Joe Girardi deserves to go? If the Yankees gag away a playoff berth, I think it’s worth looking at, at the very least.

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Entering play on Saturday, July 21st, the New York Yankees have the best record in baseball, surging of late, winning nine of their previous 13 games. The Bronx Bombers lead Major League Baseball in home runs, are eighth in team batting average and first in OPS (on base + slugging percentage).

However, the Yankees are second to last in the American League while batting with runners in scoring position (RISP). Huh?

Of all the major sports, baseball is the simplest to quantify and to project team and individual performance. It’s a sport that is eminently easy to follow statistically, given its large sample sizes and isolated moments of game action.

Baseball’s statistical projections and prognostications are mostly based on past performance and studying trends. In certain respects, this differs very little from the methods behind predicting stock market successes or failures.

These trends project whether a player or team will perform at certain levels given their age, health and the aforementioned past performance. Most teams now employ personnel that help them to gain a statistical advantage that they hope translates to success on the field.

Just like a Wall Street brokerage firm, any general manager or front office person in Major League Baseball can tell you that having all of the best statistical information and algorithms at your disposal does not always guarantee future success.

How else can one explain the Yankees strong overall offensive performance and simultaneous ineptitude while hitting with men on second and/or third base? Manager Joe Girardi is at a loss. Following their victory in Atlanta last month, the Yankees skipper said “Let’s not (talk about it) and let’s see if it changes,” he said. “Let’s try a different way, and let’s see if it changes.”

Something may need to change sooner rather than later; otherwise, the Yankees could be looking at another disappointing October. Given the increasingly competitive battle within their division this season, the Yankees no longer have any “gimme” games.

The Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays have significantly stepped up their hitting this season and each team has batters that can rake on a nightly basis. While none of these three teams match the offensive prowess of the Bombers, two of the three (Toronto and Tampa Bay) are ahead while hitting with RISP. But does it matter?

The two teams which represented their leagues in the Fall Classic last season were the two best hitting teams with RISP during the 2011 regular season. Yet, if you go back to the 2010 season, you find that the San Francisco Giants finished last in the National League in batting average with RISP. In case you forgot, those same Giants won the World Series.

In 2009, when the Yankees won their 27th World Series title, they finished eighth in the majors batting with RISP. The NL champions, Philadelphia, were 23rd. In 2008, the Rays and Phillies won the AL and NL pennants. Tampa finished last in the AL while hitting with RISP and Philly were right smack in the middle of all major league teams in the same category.

The Yankees have enjoyed tremendous success in the regular season during their incredible, sustained run of dominance since the start of the 1994 season. The Yanks have reached the postseason every year but one since the 1995 season, winning five World Series titles and capturing seven American League pennants.

In the Yankees’ past two postseasons, the lack of big hits in big spots have ruined the Bombers’ chances of reaching the World Series. There’s no question that these hitting woes are under greater scrutiny given the magnitude of October baseball.

Baseball players, especially those in New York, understand that all too well. Though the answer that no one seems to have is how to improve in that area—in those moments.

It may give fans no comfort, there simply does not appear to be a consistently proven correlation, over the course of a season, between a superior batting average with men in scoring position and winning championships.

Though it sure couldn’t hurt for the Yankees to improve in that category.

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Have you ever seen that sign that says “maximum capacity is…” before entering a room?  At this rate, the Yankees need to put up one of those signs in their rehab room.  

In the 1993 film The Program, James Caan portrays a hard-nosed college football coach. In one scene, Caan asks his running back, played by Omar Epps, “Are you injured?”  He goes on to say, “If you’re injured, I can’t let you go back in, but if you are hurt than you can play.” 

CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte are injured.

Both Yankee pitchers are the most recent victims of the disabled list.  They are not alone in that undesirable distinction.  As the ballclub appears to be limping into the All-Star break, scheduled for July 7-10 in Kansas City, the timing couldn’t be better. 

The first sign of injury setbacks occurred back in late March, when the team had to indefinitely shut down the highly-touted stud Michael Pineda, who they traded away Jesus Montero for.  Possibly due in part to Pineda showing up to camp out of shape, the pitcher suffered a torn labrum and now fans won’t be seeing his heralded right arm until 2013.

A week later, Joba Chamberlain went on the disabled list for ankle and arm related issues.  He is expected to make an appearance at some point this year, probably in the dog days of summer.  

April didn’t lack news either. Just two weeks into the young season, the team learned of Brett Gardner’s elbow soreness.  Unfortunately, the elbow has undergone setbacks and complications that have lingered to the point where Yankee fans shouldn’t expect to see him until after the All-Star break.

The team knew they’d be losing his great ability to manufacture runs, but nobody accounted for how much the club would suffer from not having his speed out in left field.  Guys like Ibanez, Nix, Wise and Andruw Jones have been exposed in left as they take turns patrolling the corner outfield spot.

In May, the team suffered a huge knockout punch when they were blindsided by Mariano Rivera’s torn ACL, a result of shagging fly balls in pregame warm-ups.  Losing your closer is hard to deal with, but when your closer happens to be the best ever, that one hurts.  

Since May, the team has leaned on Robertson and Soriano to do their best impersonations of the Yankee closer. 

It has certainly been a turbulent season for the Bombers, and their American League East-leading 46-30 record is a little deceptive.  Despite the fact that they lead the majors in home runs, they are barely batting above .200 as a collective unit with runners in scoring position.  

I am not one for statistics, but this is a glaring discrepancy and although it might prevail in the summer months, the Yankees know that this is not a recipe that they can carry into October.  

To the club’s credit, most teams in the league couldn’t withstand the injuries and setbacks that the Yankees have encountered this season.  For them to be 16 games above .500 and hold a four-game lead over first place is an incredible testament to their depth.

Looking into my crystal ball, Gardner’s return to the lineup should relieve some of the pressure on the sluggers to hit home runs.  Add the fact that Sabathia is only expected to miss a couple starts, and Pettitte should come back a few weeks after Sabathia, and it could be a very interesting second half.  

A lot of pieces are going to have to come together for the team to be at their fullest possible strength as September draws near.  Fans should be optimistic, because if there’s anything that New York fans know, it’s that the hottest team entering the playoffs is usually the most dangerous.  

Maybe Joe Girardi can take a page out of Tom Coughlin’s book about grinding through a season, overcoming injuries and playing your best ball late. 

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During the 1995 offseason, New York Yankees general manager Bob Watson and new manager Joe Torre made some bold moves. They allowed free agent catcher Mike Stanley to sign with the Boston Red Sox and acquired Joe Girardi from the Colorado Rockies.

Stanley was an offensive force that Girardi couldn’t come close to matching.

In his three seasons as the Yankees’ regular catcher, Stanley batted .290, hit 61 home runs, and drove in 224 runs. Girardi, in seven years with the Chicago Cubs and then the Rockies, had hit .269 with 18 home runs and 190 RBIs.

Torre told Murray Chass of the New York Times why he was pleased to acquire Girardi.

“It depends on what’s important to you,” said Torre at the time. “My priority is a catcher…When a pitcher has confidence in a catcher, he pitches better…Hopefully we’ll have enough offense. We could make up elsewhere what we’re going to lose behind the plate.”

In his first season with the Yankees, Girardi turned some heads, as he batted .294/.346/.374 and did an outstanding job behind the plate. The Yankees, led by Torre, beat the highly favored Atlanta Braves in the World Series to win their first world championship since 1978.

Girardi shared the regular catching job in 1998 with a young future Hall of Famer named Jorge Posada. Following the 1999 season, the Yankees allowed Girardi to become a free agent. He signed with his old team, the Chicago Cubs.

As everyone knows, Girardi is a shrewd individual. He realized that Posada was being groomed as Thurman Munson’s successor in the long line of great Yankees catchers (Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, and Munson).

In an interview during spring training of 1999, Girardi discussed his plans for the future.

Girardi told sportswriter Buster Olney that general manager Brian Cashman often joked about Girardi becoming the Yankees general manager with Cashman serving as his assistant. Girardi admitted that he was fascinated by the possibility of becoming a general manager.

“It’s something that intrigues me. I want to stay in the game. I’ve been on the field and I want to see what an off-the-field position would be like. I’ve told some of the general managers I’ve played under I have an interest in doing that.”

Cashman told Olney he thought Girardi’s ability to deal with people was a great strength that would help him become an outstanding general manager.

Of course, Girardi eventually did replace a member of the Yankees management team, but it wasn’t Mr. Cashman.

On Oct. 30, 2007, Girardi succeeded Joe Torre as the Yankees manager. In many ways, Torre was Girardi’s idol.

When Girardi was hired to manage the Florida Marlins in 2006, he told Charles Noble of the New York Times that Joe Torre influenced him more than any other individual.

“Joe Torre taught me how to get the best out of your players,” said Girardi. “Know the personality of your players and how the personality affects them on a day-to-day basis. His communication skills with his players are unbelievable. Instead of responding to what a player might say, he thought it was more important to understand why he would say it.”

In his first year at the helm with the Yankees, Torre led them to the world championship. In his first year at the helm with the Yankees, Girardi’s team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the strike-shortened 1994 season, when no team made the playoffs. Going back one year, the Yankees weren’t in the playoffs in 1993.

In 2009, Girardi’s Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, but in 2010, the Texas Rangers soundly defeated the Yankees to win the pennant.

This season, Girardi has his work cut out for him. His team lacks reliable starting pitching, has one ineffective left-hander in the bullpen, and lacks a consistent offense.

Brian Cashman’s contract expires at the end of this season. It has been rumored that he might consider offers from other teams. It would not be wise to dismiss Girardi’s feelings about becoming a general manager.

References:

By, M. C. (1995, Nov 21). Yanks acquire girardi to fill stanley’s spot behind plate. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. B11-B11. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/109483524?accountid=46260

By, B. O. (1998, Mar 19). Girardi sees his future as a general manager. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. C4-C4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/109907704?accountid=46260

Joe Girardi

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Going into Saturday’s game with the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankee Derek Jeter is only nine hits away from 3,000 hits and baseball immortality. 

Once a player reaches his 3,000th hit, he becomes a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Derek Jeter is without a doubt one of best Yankees’ of all time, but is having him bat in the leadoff position the best move for the New York Yankees in their quest at another World Series title?

The 36-year-old shortstop is in his 16th season as a Yankee, his production is down and the Yankees find themselves two games out of first place and only a one-game lead in the Wild Card race. It is only June, but the Boston Red Sox are heating up and change might be necessary before it is too late.

Jeter is only batting .256 with two HR and 18 RBI. He also has an OPS .655 which is one of the worst of any leadoff hitter in all of baseball. He has seven stolen bases and has been caught twice, not exactly leadoff material.

The questions seems to be if not Jeter, than who should lead off? The New York Yankees actually have several options, but Manager Joe Girardi is committed to Jeter, and his team is suffering.

Robinson Cano would be a good fit for the leadoff spot and so would Brett Gardener. Cano is currently batting .281 with 12 home runs, 40 RBI and a .829 OPS. Much better than Jeter’s numbers.

Gardener’s numbers are about the same as Jeter’s with a .266 BA and 15 RBI. His OPS is higher at .725, and he has more stolen bases with 13. Speed is very important at the top of the lineup, and Jeter is not the player he once was.

With the season-ending injury to relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees are going to have to score even more runs in order to keep leads. The Yankees need a jolt at the top of their lineup, and if they wish to make another run at the post season, Joe Girardi is going to have to make some very difficult decisions.

DH Jorge Posada is batting a career low .214 and LF Nick Swisher is also having a terrible season with just a .215 BA. Look for both of these players to be out of the starting lineup by the end of July if they can’t turn it around.

Derek Jeter should reach hit number 3,000 during the middle of next week. Stay tuned to ESPN as they will cover most of his at-bats once he reaches hit 2,999.

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“The players make the manager. It’s never the other way.”—Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson

It’s not easy being a manager in Major League Baseball these days.

From all of the egos in the clubhouse to the increased expectations on the field, being a successful manager today requires a certain kind of individual. He has to be able to deal with the multiple personalities of multimillion dollar stars, and he’s got to be able to deal with them in a way that can still garner their respect. That’s not always an easy task—just ask the managers that had to deal with Manny Ramirez on a daily basis.

If there is a feud between a star player and a manager, very few managers will come out of it on top. Owners are more likely to stick with their $100 million player and assume the manager lost control of his clubhouse.

Just last season, rumors surfaced out of Milwaukee that All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun wanted manager Ken Macha gone. It was already known that Macha had issues relating to today’s players, and surely enough he was fired immediately after the season. Braun was just signed to a $105 million extension.

Out of the 30 MLB teams, there are 12 that have new skippers to begin the 2011 MLB season. Six have had previous managerial experience, three took over on an interim basis at some point last season and three are brand-spanking new.

When ranking all 30 managers it was based on one question—If I could hire any manager currently in baseball to manage my team, who would it be?

Let’s get started.

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It’s hard to be a baseball manager. It’s even harder to manage in New York City. It’s even harder than that to manage the New York Yankees.

With pockets deep enough to absorb almost any contract and make any change at any time, the Yankees possess power no team can match.

That power has helped them create one of the best top-to-bottom lineups in baseball. And all of that power rests in the hands of manager Joe Girardi.

For the Yankees to be 10-6 and in first place in the AL East is quite a feat considering even general manager Brian Cashman declared the rival Boston Red Sox to be the team to beat this year.

The Yankees entered this season with serious issues in their starting rotation, and have already had to send Phil Hughes to the DL with a “dead arm,” replacing him with Bartolo Colon. Colon limited the Toronto Blue Jays to just two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings in his first start of the season Wednesday.

Throw in A.J. Burnett’s 3-0 start (4.37 ERA), and the Yankees rotation has played better than most expected.

The lineup has relied a bit too heavily on the home run (they lead the AL with 30), but you can’t argue with the results.

That said, this season is not without its problems for the Yankees, and Girardi seems unwilling, or unable, to take the necessary steps to fix some of them.

Case in point, the performances of Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter.

Coming off the worst statistical season of his career, many Yankees fans wanted to see Jeter dropped in the lineup. Jeter is batting just .219 this season with a .282 OBP, and Girardi has spent most of his time flip-flopping him between first and second in the lineup.

Gardner is off to an even worse start, batting a woeful .128 with a .196 OBP and three stolen bases in six attempts. The majority of Gardner’s at-bats have come in the leadoff spot, but he has just one hit in his last 26 at-bats.

Despite the obvious struggles of both Jeter and Gardner, Girardi is completely unwilling to make a change. It’s a small sample size and perhaps Girardi is taking his time, but no one would fault him if he dropped Jeter in the lineup.

Gardner, though, may need to take a seat on the bench. But Girardi has said he has no plans to bench Gardner in the near future. Part of Girardi’s decision, or lack thereof, comes from a shortage of options.

If Girardi were to move Jeter down in the lineup and put Gardner on the bench, it would leave the Yankees without a true leadoff hitter and a suitable No. 2 hitter.

Nick Swisher would be the first choice to bat second, but he’s only hitting .273 right now with no home runs, so there’s no significant upgrade there—at least not right now. But it was Swisher who batted second in the Yankees’ 6-2 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday in Toronto.

A leadoff hitter is much more difficult to find than a No. 2. Andruw Jones would seem poised to take over for Gardner in left field should Girardi make a change, but he certainly can’t lead off.

Curtis Granderson is the only Yankee player who might be able to lead off, but his career OBP of .341 says otherwise.

Gardner’s days of leading off are over for now, with Jeter back in that spot. For now, Girardi simply doesn’t have any options that are solid enough to make any significant changes. But once he does, as the season drags on and if Jeter or Gardner don’t show any signs up improvement, does Girardi have what it takes to make the “tough” decisions?

When the Yankees hired Girardi as manager, the biggest problem he’d have to deal with would be his relationship with Jeter. Girardi and Jeter were teammates from 1995 to 2003 and it’s difficult to tell someone you used to share a locker room with that he doesn’t have it anymore, especially with a player of Jeter’s caliber.

When the time comes, and it might not this season, will the decision to move Jeter in the lineup (or to another position) come from Girardi or from the front office? The Steinbrenner brain trust already went around Cashman to sign reliever Rafael Soriano this offseason.

What makes anyone think they wouldn’t go around Girardi when it comes to Jeter?

The decision surrounding Gardner shouldn’t be nearly as difficult.

Despite the lack of a suitable replacement, Gardner doesn’t exactly have the credit that Jeter does. If he continues to struggle and it starts to have more of a negative impact on the lineup, Girardi can’t hesitate to bench him.

He can’t say, “It’s still early,” for too much longer. The only thing saving Gardner from a bench spot is a lack of production from other potential replacements. If that changes, Girardi has to be ready to pull the trigger. The same goes for Jeter.

Whether Girardi can, or will, remains to be seen. 

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