I can see it starting already. I'm talking about the excuses for Joe Girardi. We're going to start seeing quotes from the team and stories written by apologists spelling out the myriad ways Joe's hands were tied this season. There will be lists like this one:
- Chien-Ming Wang
- Phil Hughes
- Joba Chamberlain
- Jorge Posada
- Hideki Matsui
- Johnny Damon
- Alex Rodriguez
- Derek Jeter
All the players on that list have missed some time due to injury, some more than others.
Then we'll have another list
- Ian Kennedy
- Phil Hughes
- Melky Cabrera
- Robinson Cano
That's your under-achievers list.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. There will be more to go around than we know what to do with, but none of them will explain away the failure of this team. The headline on this post is appropriate. The injuries and the under-performing explain why a team with a payroll north of $200M didn't win 110 games this year, they don't explain why this team is trailing the White Sox in the Wild Card race and might struggle to finish above .500.
Take away the salaries of Posada, Wang and anyone else who's been out on any given day and the Yanks still have a higher payroll than the teams who are beating them. By no means is Girardi fighting the odds on a daily basis. He has the most expensive team every time they take the field, he has the most talented team every time they take the field.
The Yanks have lost 10 of their last 15 games, I realize a stud starting pitcher can neutralize a good offense on any given day, but who have they faced? Let's take a look
| Starter | result |
| Jon Lester | Loss |
| Jeremy Guthrie | Loss |
| Daniel Cabrera | Loss |
| Dennis Sarfate | Win |
| Jon Garland | Loss |
| Ervin Santana | Loss |
| Jered Weaver | Win |
| John Lackey | Win |
| Vicente Padilla | Loss |
| Matt Harrison | Loss |
| Tommy Hunter | Win |
| Scott Feldman | Win |
| Jered Weaver | Loss |
| John Lackey | Loss |
| Joe Saunders | Loss |
| Glenn Perkins | Loss |
The guys in italics are the pitchers who can be considered upper-tier. Guys who could possibly shut down a good lineup, on a good day. The rest of the guys are not. Out of the 15 games the Yanks were 1-4 in games pitched by those potential aces, 4-6 in the others. That's unacceptable any time of year, unforgivable when you're supposedly in a playoff race.
This isn't a matter of Girardi's hands being tied by injury, this is a case of his entire roster losing games they shouldn't be losing. The clutch hit has been absent, that's not something you can pin on Girardi, beyond the fact that he doesn't put his best lineup out there day in and day out. But when you have the better team on a daily basis and you still can't win the blame has to fall on the manager. Maybe he doesn't do a good enough job of preparing his team. Maybe he doesn't give his team the best possible chance to win. Maybe he doesn't motivate them. Whatever the case, something is missing.
With this roster, the Yankees should be in the playoffs. They should be beating these teams. They should be murdering these pitchers. At the trade deadline Brian Cashman went out and got a starting left fielder with a great bat to put in the middle of the lineup, a starting catcher and a lefty specialist. He's done his job. Girardi hasn't found a way to put the pieces together and properly motivate them.
The way things look right now, Girardi should be one and done as the manager of this franchise.
I'm not an apologist, although people have made that claim about me in the past. But I've gotten back at them -- each and every one of them. Anyway, I don't think you can lay full blame on Girardi. Yeah, he's made some curious decisions, but I think everyone (players, coaches, brass and G.I. Joe) has an equal stake in this frustrating season.
He's not the only one to blame, but he's up there. With good talent and bad results the manager has to go, in my opinion.
And you're absolutely an apologist, but I won't hold it against you.
Hmm, not sure I agree with that last sentence. Agreed with the rest of this, though. But saying Joe-G should go based on how this season is going doesn't feel right or fair. The blame's on all, making Joe a scapegoat won't help.
I just don't know how much patience you can have with this team, this payroll. Say you have a healthy roster next year, and you add a couple free agents, that isn't going to improve Girardi's decision making. Not to mention the fact, I don't want this guy calling the shots when games really matter, in the playoffs. He's crumbled as the games have gotten more important. If the season ended today, I'd fire him. We'll see how he does from here on out, maybe he can prove himself down the stretch.
Good post, Brian. I think a lot of Yankee fans share your questioning and frustration.
While I don't believe Girardi deserves the entire blame for the Yanks underachieving, he certainly doesn't deserve a free pass. He does have the most talented and expensive team in baseball to play with. He does have ownership that will go out and get the pieces needed to get the job done. And while Girardi did a good job managing the Marlins, for some reason he seems lost when dealing with the Yankees. Maybe it's just not a good personality fit for the job.
Again I raise the issue, maybe out of wishful thinking...
If the Yankees don't make the playoffs, does this open the door for Don Mattingly to come in next season?
Also, if the Yankees don't make the playoffs, does Cashman start paring the payroll and cleaning house? Hard to think of rebuilding with this much talent, but does he rid himself of high priced veterans in favor of young prospects?
And is Cashman secure in his job with the Steinbrenner boys? From the looks of it, Cashman has done his job. He's provided the talent. The talent just isn't producing for Joe Girardi. It really makes you miss Joe Torre, Larry Bowa and Don Mattingly.
I'd love to say it would open the door for Mattingly, but I'm not sure he'd take the job. Also, if Girardi is gone, I think they'd look for someone with a proven track record, having been burned by one inexperienced guy already.
Something else to think about and would like to hear comments...
It takes a different kind of manager to manage an NL team than an AL team.
Before the Phils/Dodgers game last night, Phils announcer Chris Wheeler interviewed Larry Bowa. Bowa commented that while he enjoyed his time with the Yankees, he is enjoying his return to the National League and its style of managing. (For one, the games tend to be faster).
Joe Girardi was a good manager for the Marlins in the National League. Could it be that some managers are more suited for one league than the other?
It's possible. Honestly, I think Girardi had a roster full of hungry young guys in Florida, so his mixing and matching probably yielded better results. With a roster like the Yanks' you need to send your best lineup out there as much as you can and let their talent take over.
He also ruined a bunch of arms on that team (Sanchez, Johnson, etc.)