An extension for Girardi?
September 23, 2009, 1:30 pmWith the Yankees headed for the postseason, Tim Smith (Daily News) wonders if the organization will consider a contract extension for Yankee skipper, Joe Girardi. Girardi is currently in the second year of a 3-year deal. If the Yankees do not offer him an extension by the end of next season, then he will, indeed, be a free agent. When asked about an extension, Brian Cashman didn’t necessarily rule out coming to an agreement over the winter.
“I can’t tell you we have a policy either way,” Cashman said. “We’ll talk about that at the proper time. Right now, our eye is on getting to the postseason and winning the American League East.”
Smith also questioned Girardi about his contract situation, and was met with, “”I’ve never really worried too much about contracts, because I believe the man upstairs is in charge.” By the “man upstairs,” I’m not sure if he’s referring to God or to Hal Steinbrenner—the two are often conflated—however, whatever the case may be, Girardi’s contract will soon become a significant issue for the Yankees after the season is fully over.
The extension could be granted based on performance—such is the case in New York—and if Girardi and his boys win the World Series, I could see the Yankees tendering him a new contract. Then again, if he fails to reach the World Series after failing to reach the postseason in the first year of his contract, I do think that the Yankees will allow him to become a free agent in 2010, no matter what the team does next season.
What do you think? Should Girardi be granted an extension if the Yankees win the World Series this year? Should he be cast aside if they don’t win it all? In my opinion, I’d like to see the Yankees let Girardi go once his contract is up. He has done a good job managing the bullpen and his rotation, yet his lineup decisions are often heavy handed and his in-game decisions boggle the mind, at times (like last night’s decision to leave Alfredo Aceves in against Bobby Abreu).
Obviously you are an anti Girardi guy, but he’s one of the best managers in the league. He is going to win the AL manager of the year. That makes 2 manager of the year awards… NL and AL… in 3 years managed. It could be he left Ace in last night because Bobby hits well against lefties… maybe he wanted to see what Ace would give him in a playoff like scenario. Given the injury issues, age issues and general roster inflexibility of the yankees this year, not to mention only having 3 starting pitchers at best all year… how anyone could think he has done anything but a great job (remember most pundits were insisting the yankees would struggle to make the wild card in a tough AL East). Extend him now.
I take it back… Coke wasnt available yesterday. So it was Ace or Marte I guess (and he probably is still unsure of what Marte brings… which is why he got 1 batter and 1 batter only).
I used to like Girardi a lot, but I have since soured on him after a series of, in my opinion, strange lineup and in-game decisions. He’s not a bad manager by any means, but I just don’t think he’s the best fit, really. Of course, if there aren’t any better options available when his contract is up, I’d be fine with them extending him.
[...] iYankees wants to see the Yankees let Girardi’s deal expire and let him walk. I’m not too sure. Then again, I wanted to bring back Torre for 2008 and beyond. Regardless of what we want, the Yankees will probably consider an extension if they make the Series. If not, it’ll be a lame duck 2010. I wouldn’t really mind that. It’s fun to say. Lame duck. Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 12:00 am in Front Office. RSS feed | Trackback URI [...]
Girardi is an an overly dogmatic, passive lugnut with a stunning lack of feel for the flow of the game. Let him walk (and puh-lease take Dave Eiland with him!!!!), promote Tony Pena and bring in Leo Mazzone (or Neil Allen).
Unfortunately this will never happen since MRI’s have proven conclusively that Brian – ironically an anagram for “brain” – Cashman has none.
I don’t really know what my opinion is on Girardi yet. I guess I am like the Yankees in that I will see how the post season turns out before I form my opinion. But the Yankees do have the best record in baseball.
That being said, it is tough to take your opinion seriously when when literally in the same sentence you say he has done a good job managing the bullpen and then the only specific critique you give is about managing the bullpen.
Obviously, managing a bullpen is only one aspect of the game. I also offered a cursory critique immediately after praising him. Girardi isn’t all bad—if he were, we wouldn’t be in the postseason and I would, instead, be advocating for him to be fired.
Girardi has never been able to manage pitchers. That’s why the Marlins let him go even though he won manager of the year there. He might win manager of the year with the Yankees too. He’s good in the clubhouse and he’s got a great team. But he absolutely sucks at managing pitchers. All season he’s either yanked them too early or (more often) too late. In the post-season, he’s been consistently too early with his pitchers. It’s a testament to the greatness of the team that they won the first 5 games before it cost them one.
Bobby Valentine is back in the US and looking for a managing job. The Yankees still owe Girardi 2 million dollars and there’s no way they’ll buy him out, especially with the Yankees doing so well in the post-season and Girardi being Hal Steinbrenner’s guy and all, but they should. Bobby V is among the all-time great managers. He revolutionized Japanese Baseball and now he’s back and ready to take on a new challenge and reportedly wants a contending major market team willing to spend circa 4 million on a manager. That sounds like the Yankees to me. Supposedly there aren’t any other options available to Bobby V this year and he’s expected to sit out 2010.
Hey Joe, thanks for stopping by.
We’ve moved to http://www.i-yankees.com. If you could post your comment there, it’d be great. Thanks!