Yankees Part Ways With Manager Joe Girardi After 10 Seasons

Joe Girardi has a long history with the New York Yankees as he represented the team as a player and helped the Yankees win three World Series.

The All-Star catcher would continue his association with the Yankees after he signed on as manager in 2007. Girardi went on to successfully lead the Yankees to their 27th World Series championship in 2009.

Girardi has been manager of the New York Yankees for the last 10 years but after the 2009 World Series championship, the results haven’t been all that great. His contract with the Yankees was about to expire and Girardi had stated that he wanted to discuss things with his family before deciding if he wanted to continue with the Yankees.

The Yankees did not wait for Girardi to make the decision as they decided to part ways with their long-time coach and not renew his contract. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and General Manager Brian Cashman stated that they had a chat with Girardi and informed him of their decision. The announcement was made five days after the Yankees were defeated by Houston in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.

ESPN

In a statement, Cashman said

Everything this organization does is done with careful and thorough consideration, and we’ve decided to pursue alternatives for the managerial position. He (Girardi) 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.

Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox were two of the 10 post season teams that decided to part ways with their managers and New York has now become the third team to do so. The Yankees did not confirm if they have any specific candidate in mind to replace Girardi and have commenced their search to find a suitable replacement.

It will be very interesting to see who New York brings in as a replacement as Cashman has shown that he prefers to bring in people who have been associated with the Yankees. Some of the individuals who could be on the Yankees radar will include former and current coaches such as minor league Yankee managers Jay Bell or Al Pedrique, Tim Naehring who serves as an advisor and is the current vice-president of baseball operations for the Yankees. Kevin Long who served the Yankees for eight seasons and Rob Thompson who served as coach for 25 years could also be approached.