Yankees: Six reasons to bring Joe Girardi back in 2018

Master of the Bullpen

Long before the role of a team’s bullpen became what it is today, Girardi was among the first to rely heavily on his bullpen as his first option when a game was on the line.

In fact, until just recently when all of baseball jumped on the bandwagon, Girardi received criticism for not stretching his starters out and giving them a premature hook when they faltered ever so slightly.

I was among that crew, arguing that Girardi was babying his starters and how could they get better if he didn’t let them pitch out of tight situations.

Girardi was right, though. And his answer to his critics if he ever gave one would probably go something like this: “Look, all I’m trying to do here is win games any which way I can.” And that he has done. And that he continues to do.

Brian Cashman answered the call a week ago because he understands Girardi too. And with the Bullpen by Committee Girardi has at his disposal, not only the one-two punch of Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman, but also Adam Warren, Tommy Kahnle, Chad Green, and the Yankees former closer, David Robertson. He’s going to be a wonder to watch as he hits the right keys, creating a symphony of his own making as the Yankees make their push to the playoffs.

Of course, having some of the highest level arms in the world does North Korea no good if they don’t know how to deploy them. Thus, the challenge for Girardi.

He’s going to be a wonder to watch as he hits the right keys, creating a symphony of his own making as the Yankees make their push to the playoffs.

Master of the New York Media

To suggest that Joe Girardi is a master at handling the New York media is not to say he has them in his back pocket. We’ve been there and done it with Casey Stengel, who would drift off into “Stengelese” or tell a joke when he didn’t want to answer a question.

And it’s also not like Girardi has taken on this responsibility with exaggerated enthusiasm. Instead, it’s more that he’s grown into the chore bestowed on him. And make no mistake, it is a chore, and it’s also one not confined to the city of New York. All managers deal with it.

Some, however, deal with it better than others. And it seems like this year, in particular, Girardi has found the delicate mixture of candor and restraint necessary when it comes to dealing with dozens of media types, all of whom have a job to do and deadlines to meet.

As a person, you wouldn’t call Girardi a “personality.” He’s rarely funny, and when he tries to be funny, his Midwest upbringing can’t carry a tune when compared to the brand of satire and wit usually found in New York humor.

He’s not flamboyant like a Leo Durocher, who never saw a movie starlet he didn’t make a play for. He’s just Joe Girardi.

But what we’ve seen different this year, publicly, is Girardi being emotional. When the Yankees were on their recent 10-22 slide, his head remained down, and he seldom gained eye contact with cameras or reporters asking questions. He was pissed. And he showed it.

More importantly, he didn’t resort to the usual rationalizations that some managers use to “keep the faithful faithful.” Yes, we lost today by eight runs, our starter got whipped, and we made three errors, but did you see that play Didi Gregorius made on that one in the hole? None of that.

Girardi will be candid when talking about his team, but he draws the line when it comes to singling out one of his players, even if circumstances warrant it with the media. If he has confidants or someone who acts as his sounding board, we don’t know about it. And that’s the way it should be.

Goes together like a horse and carriage

Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman are tied together by an invisible umbilical cord that has far reaching advantages.

This gets tricky, of course, because Cashman himself has an expiring contract due for renewal (or not) at the end of the season. Which raises the question as to whether or not Girardi would want to stay on if Cashman is not renewed or decides to go elsewhere.

But if Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t see that he has a team operating in total sync with each other, then he’s missed something essential.

Again, the recent trade to shore up the bullpen is all we need to know about the two men with divergent responsibilities and how they work together. As we discussed, Girardi is a bullpen guy. Cashman knows that, and he responded by acquiring the players necessary to give Girardi his best chance to succeed. That’s not as common as we might think.

The ongoing saga of Chris Carter is another example of how the two work together. Cashman, probably on his own, hired Carter to be the Yankees first baseman. Girardi dutifully bit his tongue and went along with the project until he could no longer take it.

Somewhat publicly, Girardi let it be known he was done with Carter. Again, Cashman responded by releasing Carter, and in a round, about way admitted that his experiment was a failure. Both sides treated the matter as the regular course of baseball business.

At some point, all things must pass, and the relationship between the two must end. And maybe it will. But the Yankees have something good going on here, and it has to be factored in by everyone when decision time rolls around in a few months.

A soft touch on the pulse

During the All Star break, Joe Girardi met with reporters and went “off spin” sending an indirect message to his team that they’d better “be prepared” for the second half of the season.

He didn’t go into detail, and he didn’t name names, but the message was clear indicating he felt like the team wasn’t playing up to (his) par and he was letting them know it. And it had little to do with the fact that the Yankees were in the midst of losing everything this season.

But it had everything to do with Girardi sensing that something was “off” about the team. And after all, managers spend little, if any, time in the clubhouse, respecting the players right to maintain that quarter of privacy.

And unless you go out of your way, and some managers do, to employ the use of a “snitch” who regularly spills the beans for you in late-night texts, you won’t know on a day-to-day basis the

“feel” that is present in the clubhouse.

But someone like Girardi, who’s a baseball lifer, knows without someone telling him.

The same thing occurred in June when Girardi saw some things from his catcher, Gary Sanchez; he didn’t particularly like. Taking an extraordinary and daring step with a young player, Girardi gave him a chewing out for lack of hustle in blocking pitches, in full view of the YES cameras and the millions watching.

Inside, we can assume Sanchez was sizzling at Girardi. But we can also assume that Sanchez knows he was wrong and his respect for Girardi only grew from the incident.

Similarly, this brings us to the next point.

Melding the young and not so young

Until this season, the Yankees have fielded a team of mostly veterans. And because of that, Joe Girardi has had to make little or no effort attending to the mundane chores of managing like making sure the guys who need batting practice, take it. Or, the guy that has an appointment in the trainer’s room at 11:00 gets to the Stadium on time, etc.

And before the season began, there were questions floating around as to whether or not Girardi was the right person to handle the influx of young talent who would be playing at the major league level. Would there be, in other words, a “Generation Gap”?

We can only tell from the outside looking in the fishbowl, but it appears that Girardi has met the challenge. As we discussed before, it’s not a matter of the age difference with Girardi as it is the image he off-handedly projects at times for being aloof and stoic.

But just to make sure, Girardi did something very smart when he publicly named a few players as missionaries to preach the Yankee way. And not only that, but he wanted these veterans to aggressively mentor youngsters like Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, and at the time, Greg Bird and Michael Pineda.

Sure enough, the veterans responded, and a few like Matt Holliday, CC Sabathia, and Brett Gardner took on the job with enthusiasm and glee. And the results are evident on the playing field as well as beyond the playing field with none of those growing pains incidents we see so often from young players trying to grow their head into their bodies.

If anything, the Yankees might think about “youngizing” their coaching staff. These are the guys who work more with the players on a day-to-day basis and the communication between the two elements might be improved in that way, but it is not necessary.

Who would replace Girardi

This is perhaps the weakest argument in favor of retaining Joe Girardi. And that’s because it’s like the spouse who refuses to get a divorce only because “who else would want me?”

And it’s not like there wouldn’t be a line out the door from Yankee Stadium onto River Avenue with guys wanting the job. But let’s face it. Girardi has been here for more than a decade, and during that time a host of potential candidates have been hired elsewhere or are in line for the job when the current manager leaves.

All I can safely say is that it won’t be Wally Backman because the Yankees would never go near him, and it won’t be Don Mattingly, because Mattingly, as one one of those people who forgives but never forgets, doesn’t want the Yankees. So let’s leave the speculation where it belongs – nowhere.

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Traditionally, the Yankees, with one glaring exception in Joe Torre, have always looked internally for their managers. The succession of Ralph Houk, Stump Merrill, Billy Martin, and a host of others including Girardi have all made the grade to manager following previous association with the organization.

To that end, the Yankees have Al Pedrique, the current manager at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Tony Franklin who manages the Double-A Trenton Thunder. Both are highly respected within the organization, but there is little we know about their standing with the Yankees and being equipped to manage at the big league level.

The Yankees would also take a long look at Tony Pena (photo above), who is the current third base coach for the team. Knowledgeable and personable, as well as a man of color, Pena has the credentials to step into the job as quickly as anyone.

While the Yankees or any other team wouldn’t want to go out of their way to engage in the lengthy and risky process of hiring a new manager, there is no way they would let it stop them if they decide a change is warranted or, if Girardi decides to leave on his own accord.

Final Thoughts

Until this season, I’ve never been a big fan of Joe Girardi. Gravitating more to the intellectual type like a Joe Maddon, I’ve always felt that Girardi was a bit too wimpy and too much of a company guy.

And maybe it’s only because I’ve watched him more closely this season, but it seems as though he’s come into his own this year.

Next: Todd Frazier deal reminds of the David Justice trade

Hopefully, the two sides can get together allowing Girardi the opportunity to bring those multiple championships we’ve all been talking about to New York.