New York Yankees Part Ways with Joe Girardi

Posted on October 26, 2017, by Bryan Zarpentine

Image via nydailynews.com

After 10 seasons in the Bronx, Joe Girardi’s tenure managing the New York Yankees is officially over. The Yankees indicated Thursday that Girardi will not be offered a new contract after his existing contract expired at the end of the 2017 season.

“With a heavy heart, I come to you because the Yankees have decided not to bring me back,” Girardi said in a statement he sent to several media outlets Thursday morning. “I’d like to thank the Steinbrenner family for believing in me and giving me this wonderful opportunity. I would like to thank (GM) Brian Cashman and his staff for hiring me and always trying to improve the team.

“Finally, I’d like to thanks the fans for their great support as a player, coach, and manager and the lasting memories of their passion and excitement during the playoff games, especially the final six games, which will remain in my heart forever.”

Immediately after New York’s season came to an end, there was much speculation over whether or not Girardi would return in 2018. The odds remained good that he would be back. However, neither side was willing to say with certainty whether they wanted the relationship to continue. Based on the phrasing of his statement, it seems like Girardi was willing to return in 2018 but the Yankees chose to go in another direction.

“I want to thank Joe for his 10 years of hard work and service to this organization,” Cashman said in a statement. “Everything this organization does is done with careful and thorough consideration, and we’ve decided to pursue alternatives for the managerial position.

“As Hal Steinbrenner and I mentioned to Joe directly this week, he has been a tremendous Yankee on the field and away from it, as a player, coach, and manager. He has a tireless work ethic, and put his heart into every game he managed over the last decade. He should take great pride in our accomplishments during his tenure, and I wish Joe and his family nothing but success and happiness in the future.”

The Yankees will now look for a new manager for a team that has a good core of young talent and one of the strongest farm systems in baseball. Cashman will no doubt be looking for someone who can get the msot out of that young talent. Of course, dealing with the New York media is also a challenge the new manager will have to handle.

Current Yankees bench coach Rob Thomson and first-base coach Tony Pena have emerged as two internal candidates the Yankees could consider. Recently fired managers like Dusty Baker and Brad Ausmus could also end up on New York’s radar. However, it’s too early to speculate in what direction the Yankees will go.

As for Girardi, it’s unclear if he’ll want to jump back into the managerial ranks. The Tigers, Red Sox, and Mets have already filled their vacancies, so his options at this point would be limited to either the Nationals or Phillies, two very different jobs.

Of course, Girardi spent much of his playing career in the National League. He also managed the Marlins in 2008, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him jump at a chance to manage a National League team. He may also want to take a year off before taking a managerial job in the big leagues.

Regardless of what Girardi chooses as his next step, he should have plenty of options available. He could possibly return to broadcasting or even take a front office job. Girardi has a good run as manager of the Yankees and the baseball world has by no means seen the last of him.