Yankees Poised to Continue Their October of Missteps

It started with the Yankees lack luster performance against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. Argueably the best team in the AL, again, the Yankees watched as their team imploded on itself, failing to do the things it had become accustomed to doing during the regular season. Chien Mien Wang put himself on the "hey, why don't we try and get something for this asshole while we can" list for most Yankee fans by going out there and almost single handedly losing the series. The "ACE" of the staff ended up with an ERA over 12. Roger Clemens? Amazing that no one has mentioned what a waste of money he turned out to be. Clemens, whose pro-rated contract averaged out to about $28 million over the course of the year, didn't pitch one meaningful game down the stretch of the season, and lasted a whopping 2 2/3 innings in Game 3 against the Indians.

There was no timely hitting, Jorge Posada played defense like a blind ferret with polio, Derek Jeter drank A-Rod juice before the series, killing rally after rally, and the two man bullpen just wasn't deep enough to keep a good Indians lineup down. It was a nightmare.

In the middle of that was the ill timed, ill fated George Steinbrenner quote that the Yanks would not bring Joe Torre back if they didn't beat the Indians and move on to the ALCS. No one knows for sure what that quote was designed to do. Was it simply an ageing, old man raging at the thought of another first round loss? Was it some sort of strange, football vodoo motivational tool the Steinbrenners cling to as if they invented the Knute Rockne School For Getting The Most Out Of Your Players? Was it an orchestrated attempt by Randy "Rosemary's Baby" Levine to begin the process of getting rid of Torre, a man who, for some reason, he has disliked since becoming team president in 2000? No one knows, but whatever the quote, the interview was meant to accomplish, it failed to miserably.

Then came the Joe Torre offer/non-offer. There wasn't any aspect of Torre situation that was handled correctly. I have already written on this, and more columns have been written about it than on the Watergate scandal in the last three weeks, so there is no need to rehash it. The fact is the Yanks bungled the Torre scenario about as badly as one could have. It was a disgrace. It was embarrasing, and it was the first parlay onto the national scene for the SteinBoys. Not a good first impression at all. The only way they could have made things worse for themselves is if they had simultaneously announced that they were also raising ticket prices and selling only Odouls at the concession stands from now on.

Now come the reports that the Yanks are poised to offer Joe Girardi the managerial job on Monday or Tuesday of this week. Don't get me wrong, I like Girardi, and I think he is a good manager, but this will be yet another blunder in a fall of half assed, idiotic moves that just don't seem to make sense.

First, let's look at this from a PR standpoint, and that should not be discounted in the least. Don Mattingly is the most beloved New York Yankee there is. He is Donnie Baseball. He was the only reason to watch the Yankees for 12 years. Every fan between the age of 27 and 35 has a love affair with the man that isn't about to go away. Hiring Mattingly would begin the process of healing the wounds left over from Joe Torre's ouster (and it was an ouster.........as Mike Francesa has said time and again on his show, if the Yanks wanted to keep Torre, they would have KEPT him. They wanted him to walk away). Mattingly would get the benefit of the doubt from both the team and the fans. There would be an excitement surrounding him becoming the manager. I have even heard fans calling up wondering how many titles Donnie would have to win as a manager to finally have a chance to enter the Hall of Fame, an honor most Yankee fans have desperately wanted for Mattingly since he retired.

Granted, I have been shocked how many fans have called up saying they don't want Mattingly to manage, but I still believe most fans would be comfortable, and excited to see Donnie Baseball as the clubhouse leader.

Girardi offers none of that. He was a Yankee but he isn't viewed AS a Yankee. He was a part-time player, a part-time catcher, the last spoke in the wheel of a championship team that would have, and did, sail on without him. There is no love affair with Joe Girardi. There is no magic between he and the fans. If Girardi begins the season badly, there will be no grace period. The comparisons with Torre will begin immediately. The bench mark for success with him will be ALCS or bust. The fans will turn on him at the sign of trouble, and the Yanks will be put in the awkward position of trying to convince the fanbase to "stick" with their new manager.

Couple that with the fact that Mattingly will more than likely walk away if he is passed over, and the Yankees will have essentially alienated Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, and fired Ron Guidry for Joe Girardi. In what UNIVERSE other than one designed by the brothers Fredo, does that make sense?

Let's also look at this from a man to man perspective. I understand that decisions are made everyday that screw someone else over. I get that. But here is the truth. Don Mattingly has said, from day one, that he would not have come back to coach if it were not made abundantly clear to him that he would have a legit shot to manage the team after Joe Torre left. Now, I don't think anyone guaranteed him the job, but I think he was made aware of the fact that he was viewed as the successor to the job if things went well.

Mattingly served as hitting coach from three years and then as a bench coach this year. He has received wide spread praise from the players. Torre has gone out of his way to compliment Mattingly, stating that he would, one day, make a GREAT manager. It is widely known that he is the players choice to take over for Torre. By all accounts, he has done a terrific job in his role with the team. Now, after proving himself as the coach, after basically being promised the job, after having what has been described as a "very good" interview, he is going to be passed over? It is yet another example of how the Yankees are going to run their business. Word and honor and promises don't matter. Showing someone respect doesn't matter. If someone has to be thrown under the bus, so what. The bottom line is the bottom line.

Everyone could understand the Yankees passing over Mattingly, breaking their word to him, if they had the opportunity to bring in a proven, Hall of Fame caliber manager. If Lou Pinella were being hired over Donnie, everyone would understand. If, oh, I don't know, JOE TORRE were being hired over Mattingly, one could understand. But Joe Girardi? I mean, seriously? Could you blame Mattingly for being pissed off?

Now, let's look at it from the standpoint of team continuity. Mattingly is, as I said before, widely known to be the players choice for the job. He has been a coach with the team now for 4 years. He has been with these guys, through thick and thin, every step of the way. He knows the players and he knows the team. He immediately has the respect of the room. Not only was he a former player, he was a former star. he is a borderline Hall of Famer. He has instant credibility with everyone in that room, from the rookies to Derek Jeter. He watched as Joe Torre handled different players in different fashions, understanding how their personalities worked and how they should and should not be motivated. He isn't on any kind of learning curve.

Girardi? He walks back into the locker room as the former back up catcher. There are already reports that Jorge Posada would rethink signing with the Yankees because Girardi was manager. There are similar reports that A-Rod would be hesitant to sign because of Girardi's reputation for being like Buck Showalter, who he did not get along with in Texas. Would Girardi command respect from the players in the room? Perhaps, but it certainly isn't a given as it is with Mattingly. Joe Torre would, from time to time, call his best players out, in team meetings, to prove a point. He would call a Jeter out, or a Clemens out, to prove that EVERYONE was accountable. Those types of veterans understood that and were fine with it because of who Joe Torre was. You can imagine they would have a similar reaction with Mattingly. With Girardi? Probably not. How about guys like Cano, or Melky? Who is going to have a better chance of reaching them, Girardi or Mattingly? Come on, that isn't even a debate.

So, by hiring Girardi over Mattingly, you could potentially lose your starting catcher, your starting third baseman, and tick off the rest of your players. Again, it is Fredo logic at work here.

Now, let's look at it from simply a baseball standpoint since, if the Yanks announce Girardi tomorrow, that will be the crutch they use to stand on. Girardi has managed one more year than Don Mattingly. ONE. He isn't a veteran manager. He isn't a man who has had significant success with a team. In fact, all Girardi's team in Florida did was NOT lose 100 games. Now, don't get me wrong, he did a fine job just by accomplishing that, but Girardi's resume is, shall we say, pretty damn thin. In actuality, Girardi has less time on the bench of a major league club than Mattingly does. Girardi was a bench coach with the Yanks for one year and then the manager of the Marlins for one year. Mattingly has been a coach for four years.

Most of the people who have championed Girardi probably saw a total of five Marlins games in 2006. How did he handle the players, the team, the pitching staff? I don't really know. I believe he did a terrific job, but doing a terrific job with a bunch of kids in baseball wasteland (Florida) is hardly a guarantee for success in New York. Girardi has never had to deal with the media. He has never had to deal with expectations. He has never been in the spotlight. He managed a team of youngsters in a town that couldn't care less what the organization does. How does that translate into success in New York?

Mattingly has no managerial experience, true. That is, and should be a factor. But can anyone honestly look at Joe Girardi and convince themselves that he will be such a significantly BETTER manager than Don Mattingly that it's worth everything discussed above? No freakin way. In fact, I would argue thata Mattingly, for this team, for this town, because of who he is and because of the managers he has played for in the past, would be the far better candidate than Girardi. The only area that Girardi beats Mattingly in is the one year of managerial experience. Does that REALLY trump everything else? Again, this isn't Lou Pinella. This isn't Jim Leyland. This isn't Earl Weaver or Sparky Anderson. This is a man who managed ONE YEAR for the Florida Marlins, and didn't sniff .500 in the process.

Here is the truth: I love Don Mattingly and always will. Does that influence my mindset, my belief that he would make the best choice? Of course. But I still believe the arguements I have made above. The truth is, if the Yanks were considering an experienced, eminantely qualified manager right now over Mattingly, I couldn't argue with it. I might WANT Mattingly to be manager, but I would understand if he wasn't chosen. But Joe Girardi is perhaps the most overrated one year manager I have ever seen. His resume is, again, relatively thin. His ability to handle a veteran team is suspect. People are acting as if Mattingly is somehow the question mark candidate while Girardi is the guarantee.

I think Girardi is a good manager, and if Mattingly were not in the mix I would have no problem with the Yanks turning to him. But, to me, Mattingly is the better candidate for this team. And I have more selfish reasons for this. If the Yanks turn to Don Mattingly and tell him that they are passing him by for a man with one year of managerial experience, after basically promising him the job years before, there is a good chance Donnie will not only walk, but will walk for a while. I would be pretty upset by that scenario and, I would bet, so would you. So that would mean that, next year, when the Yanks are closing down old Yankee Stadium, Don Mattingly and Joe Torre will be absent. That means that, when the Yankees open the new Yankee Stadium, Don Mattingly and Joe Torre will be absent. I'm sorry, but that DOES mean something to me. It doesn't mean you give someone a job just to avoid that type of scenario, I believe it SHOULD enter into the equation.

Girardi would make a good coach, but Mattingly is the RIGHT coach for this team.