Is Joe Girardi laying groundwork to be Aaron Boone's Yankees successor?

Adam Weinrib

League Championship Series - New York Yankees v Houston Astros - Game Seven / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages

Everything vintage has become new again in certain sectors of New York City. Amid all the Bushwick throwbacks Brooklynites have to wade through every weekend, it would seem like a pretty good idea for the Yankees to make a vintage play to stay relevant in the Bronx, too.

New YES Network analyst/extremely familiar face Joe Girardi popped by the YES Hot Stove show on Tuesday night, and made it seem like his gig in the Yankees' booth might end up similarly to Theo Epstein's role with Fenway Sports Group.

Namely, he's here for a good time, not a long time.

Girardi made it plenty clear on YES' latest show that he views the booth as an "interim stop" on the way to his next managerial chapter, a position he hasn't held since 2022 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Crucially, that team dismissed him, then ended up in the World Series thanks in part to his successor.

Girardi on YES: said he wants to manage again. Should the Yankees consider bringing him back if Boone can’t get the job done this year? pic.twitter.com/t3dO07IsS2
— Dugout Station (@DugoutStation) February 7, 2024

Yankees alum Joe Girardi wants to manage again after YES Network gig

The Bad Man Gary Sánchez is gone now, Joe. It's safe to come out and toss your hat in the ring.

In reality, if Aaron Boone's seat gets hot in 2024, something's gone terribly wrong (or, rather, something's gone terribly wrong again). You, sitting at home, may not like him, but he has the support of his mega-star and the mandate of his boss. Odds are higher that Boone gets extended after guiding this team to the playoffs rather than canned at the end of the year.

Besides all that, it would still be stunning if Girardi was the disciplinarian the Yankees chose to lead this current roster, if they opt for a disciplinarian at all. The Yankees are forward-thinking and data-driven; hiring Girardi would represent only one of those ambitions. It's far more likely the Yankees pluck up a 38-year-old former catcher on the cutting edge for his first managerial gig, rather than look to their broadcast booth for an infusion of familiarity. If they planned to do that, they should've just hired Carlos Beltrán.

Sorry, Bushwick. Put your throwback Girardi jerseys -- which you definitely have! -- back in the mothballs. He might be angling for a job, but it would take one hell of an ad read/record in the Aflac Trivia Question for the Yankees to consider giving him one.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.