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| Joe Girardi's done one hell of a job with this Yankees team, even if they don't get to October. (Credits: Mangin/MLB via Getty Images) |
Say what you want about the true effect baseball managers can have on their squads. If you want to stick with the old moniker, "You're only as good as your starting pitcher," then stick to your guns. However, there's this cerebral aspect of the game that goes deeper than just pitcher vs. batter. Managers construct the atmosphere in the clubhouse, they pick and choose their in-game spots and they either break or instill confidence in all of their role players and a majority of their starters. Managers matter.
I'll be the first to admit that last night's sweep-clinching loss for the Yankees is most likely the death knell. Although they sit a mere three games out of both wild card spots, they have the tough task of jumping three teams with 12 games remaining. A favorable schedule with the likes of San Francisco, Houston and Toronto remaining leaves the Yanks with a small ray of hope. But there's been something about this team all season that's a bit "too little, too late." Want to find a scapegoat? Look at the financials. Look at the miserable contracts. Look at the fledgling "ace" CC Sabathia. Don't look Joe Girardi's way, though.
Not only has Girardi had to slog through a brutally tough AL East, but he's had to do it undermanned and do it with distractions galore. Mark Teixeira's played 15 games. Kevin Youkilis has played 28 games. Derek Jeter a mere 17. He has his boys sitting 3 games out of the wild card with the likes of Eduardo Nunez, deteriorating Lyle Overbay, Brendan Ryan and Mark Reynolds going in and out of the lineup. A portion of the lineups Girardi's trudge out there are making the '27 Yankees squirm in their graves. He's watched CC Sabathia implode game after game. The Phil Hughes experiment is now officially a disaster. Andy Pettitte is well...a 41-year-old pitcher. David Phelps doesn't belong on a major league mound and yet he still has 12 starts. If it wasn't for Hiroki Kuroda the Yankees rotation would contend for the league's worst (they still might). And yet even with all of these disasters, injuries and lackluster performances, the Yanks are still very much in it.
None of that compares to the job Girardi has done handling the absolute circus that Alex Rodriguez is. He's done a magnificent job of keeping his clubhouse headed in the right direction, even though it's unlikely they'll reach their destination. The war between A-Rod and the Yankees front office would be a completely valid excuse for this team to spiral out of control. But, Girardi's holding on to his job for dear life and I think he's doing a spectacular job in the process. Heck, he's even resurrected the ever-underachieving career of Alfonso Soriano (47 ribbies in 47 games in his return to Gotham).
Unfortunately for the 2009 World Series Champion manager, it's playoffs or bust. He deserves a second chance in the Bronx and I'm just not sure he's going to get one unless the Yankees are playing in October. It's just the Yankees way. There's no settlement on mediocrity. Girardi probably won't even get the praise he deserves from the New York media and that's just unfair. Unfair, as we know, is New York's middle name.
It'll be interesting to see if the Yankees can rise from the dead and capture a wild card spot. A three-game set at home vs. Tampa seems like a place where the season will hang in the balance. Girardi's been up against it all season, maybe he'll inspire one more uprising in what may be a perished Yankees unit.
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