New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman seems to be wasting no time in the negotiations process with free-agent manager Joe Girardi, as he plans to offer Girardi a raise over lunch on Wednesday, reports Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.
Whether or not Girardi will immediately accept the offer remains to be seen. He'll surely have an opportunity to manage his hometown Chicago Cubs, and other teams with positions available could look to bring him aboard. He could even take a job with Fox Sports, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Girardi claims that the opportunity to be in Chicago isn't actually as appealing to him as it once was (via Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger):
Our home has been here [in New York]. My kids are engrossed in schools here. I haven’t lived there [in Chicago] since 2006. I have a brother still there, a couple brothers there, actually. But my father’s gone. My mother’s gone. So there’s not as much there as there used to be.
Girardi, 48, has been the Yankees skipper since the beginning of the 2008 season. In his six-year tenure with the Bombers, he has a record of 564-408 (58.0 winning percentage), one World Series championship (2009) and an average American League East finish of 1.8.
That being said, Girardi has been at the helm for each of the past two times the Yankees have missed the postseason (2008 and 2013).
He was the National League Manager of the Year with the Florida Marlins in 2006—his first year as a manager—and there are many around the sport that believe he's in line for the AL side of the award this year. John Farrell of the Boston Red Sox and Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians also deserve consideration, but their teams faced significantly fewer issues over the season.
This may have been Girardi's best job at the helm yet.
He battled injuries from his best players—Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Youkilis—while also dealing with injuries from key role players such as Jayson Nix, Travis Hafner, Francisco Cervelli, David Phelps and Ivan Nova.
Despite these hardships, Girardi led the Yankees to an 85-77 record.
Many have questioned Girardi's managerial tactics throughout his tenure in the Bronx, as many don't agree with his constant use of the infamous binder that, for him, holds the answers to all his toughest decisions.
He silenced many doubters with the job he did in 2013, though, and the Yankees would be hard-pressed to find a manager better fit for the 2014 squad than Girardi. Options could present themselves later in the offseason (like Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), but the Bombers aren't in a position to wait.
If they do, then Girardi will likely flee to Chicago.
Cashman seems ready and willing to offer Girardi whatever he wants to keep him in pinstripes. For a team with an uncertain future, locking down a familiar face at the helm is a good start to the offseason.
*Note: Managerial statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
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