As we head to October, many have looked back at the job Joe Girardi has done this season and look forward to his lame duck contract status for next season. Tyler Kepner did a profile on him yesterday, looking at the changes he’s made and the expectations he faces heading to October. Our very own Chris H says World Series or bust for Girardi, while RAB’s Joe Pawlikowski appears agnostic.
Let me state up front that I’m a big fan of Girardi. I wanted Torre replaced after 12 seasons (actually after year 10) and like Girardi’s disciplined, thorough approach to managing. We haven’t seen any reporters stump him in a post game show with match ups he was unaware of. The Joba Rules weren’t a personal affront to the manager. We haven’t seen anyone coming up with a sore arm in September from overuse. We didn’t see this team sleepwalk though April and May and then to try to cram for a playoff appearance in September, only to show up in October out of gas. All of these things happened in the latter Torre years, but don’t happen anymore under Girardi.
Don’t be surprised when Girardi wins 2009 Manager of the Year. There really isn’t another AL candidate (except Ron Washington) and winning 100+ games in NY should do the trick. Tigers aren’t that good, Angels/Sox had good, but not outstanding years. If he does win it, that will be his 2nd MOY in his 3rd season of managing. Which is not bad for a guy who some think ‘has no feel for the game’ or ‘anyone could manage this team’ which is a notion that few in Baseball would agree with, due to the expectations attached to the job and the mercurial nature of the game.
But the notion that the Yanks HAVE to make the World Series this year or any other is borderline irrational. It shows a fundamental lack of understanding the nature of the playoffs, almost zero consideration for the other teams, their talent level and their own desire to win. The reality is that there are at least 4 teams on equal footing (Yanks-Dodgers-Red Sox-Cardinals) for the World Series this year, and if Brad Lidge gets his act together in the next 2 weeks you could make that 5 equal teams. All of those teams are every bit as good as the Yanks are overall, stronger in some areas and weaker in others. If the Yanks faced any of them Vegas oddsmakers would have the Yanks as either slight favorites or slight underdogs. They’re evenly matched, and one of the teams that’s a notch below (The Angels) has always given the Yanks trouble. This is not going to be a cakewalk, and if I had to bet my own money, I’d pass on placing a bet.
I understand that winning it all is the goal, but no matter how much you spend on talent it’s still tough to win games. Look at what happened to the Mets this year, who had the highest payroll in the NL. Then once you get to the playoffs, we all know it’s a crapshoot. In a short series anything can happen, bad teams beat great teams all the time. Mike Scioscia’s Angels won 100 games last year and lost to the Red Sox in the ALDS, and I didn’t hear one word about firing him. Actually, they just gave him an insane extension of 10 years. Yet in NY, if the Yanks were to lose a short series to Verlander and the Tigers, everyone would be calling for Girardi’s head.
I think managing the New York Yankees is the toughest job in all of sports. No manager has to deal with the expectations he does, and only Francona has to deal with a media that is as big and as critical as the NY press corps. But he’s up to the job, he embraces the challenge wearing #27 on his back. Joe Torre always went out of his way to lower expectations, understanding the difficulty of the task at hand.
It’s the hardest job in Baseball, period. The nature of the sport and the expectations of the job simply don’t coincide with each other.
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I could not agree more. I think Girardi has done a first-rate job this season. Although I would like to see the Yamkees win it all and would be disappointed if they were knocked out in the ALDS, I think playoff performance is part luck and part a matter of top-of-the-rotation excellence. On that score, it is up to the GM to provide the talent, not the manager. My bottom line: how the Yankees do in the post-season is more a reflection on Cashman than Girardi.
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I’m with the Steve and the Scout. With as much as happens in a game multiplied by 162 you can always find stuff to nitpick, but overall Joe G. has pretty much nailed it this year. Think about where Torre might be with this group. Bullpen exhausted. Matsui in a wheelchair. Dozing on the sidelines.
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Excellent post. It’s amazing how many Yankee fans take Girardi for granted.
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Totally agree with you other than this one point: “…we didn’t see this team sleepwalk though April and May and then to try to cram for a playoff appearance in September, only to show up in October out of gas. All of these things happened in the latter Torre years, but don’t happen anymore under Girardi.”
- Last year we missed the playoffs under Giardi & as much as people want to give Torre a bad rap I think more of the Ws&Ls had to do with the pitching that Cashman afforded the team. I like Giardi alot but I don’t think Torre was as bad as people make him out to be.
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Steve S Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I don’t disgree. Last year was a transition year in many ways, and I don’t think Torre would have won with that 08 staff either. But I think the 05 and 07 Yanks were clearly out of gas by October, and Proctor, Vizcaino and Quantrill were all uselesss by the end of the year.
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e mills Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
“…we didn’t see this team sleepwalk though April and May and then to try to cram for a playoff appearance in September, only to show up in October out of gas. All of these things happened in the latter Torre years, but don’t happen anymore under Girardi.” SSS
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When you look at the two Marlin teams that won, the 88 Dodgers, and both of the Twins teams that won it all, you see that the worst team can win it all with a bit of luck and a hot streak.
A lot of people think the late 90s Yankees teams won because they were more ‘clutch’, but if a couple of flukey things don’t happen (Jeffrey Maier in particular) they don’t win all four or even get to one. Also, if Mo doesn’t blow saves in 2001 and 2004, the former wins it all and the latter goes to the series.
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I don’t think Girardi will manager of the year, although that would be cool if he did. I think Scoscia will get the honor since the Angels basically had no rotation for most of the year.
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The other Chris H Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
The Yankees had no bull pen to start off with, No Arod and no bench to speak of before the Hinske and Hairston trade I say he has a real good shot at manager of the year.
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I am sorry this guy(Girardi) gets a ton of money to manage a 200 million dollar team. If he can’t at least get to the world series then maybe he should go. If he gets bounced by the Tigers I think he will go. An ALCS loss to the Sox and I guarantee Stenbrenner will want his head. You can’t suffer two indiginities to the organization in five years. As in every publicly followed organizatiob be it political or baseball, heads have to roll if expectations are not met.
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With regards to this post, I don’t think I ever said WS or bust, really. I noted that the Yankees would probably offer Girardi an extension if they got to the World Series (and especially if they won), which is fine. The point is, the Yankees don’t have to sign Girardi to an extension in the winter. Their hand isn’t forced at all. They could very well wait and see he does next season before entertaining a new contract. Personally, I’d like to see him go, but that’s not necessarily based on winning it all.
Also, I think we have to remember that while we can talk about how managing in NY is the toughest gig in baseball, I would argue that a guy like Trey Hillman, whose organization is run by a group of idiots, probably has it a lot harder from a winning perspective. Media wise and expectation wise, this is the toughest gig, but given the practical advantages the team has over the other AL East members and the rest of the league, I would argue that Girardi’s job isn’t the toughest job in all of baseball.
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