Today was the first day of a new era in Yankees baseball.
Out is Joe Torre, one of the most beloved and successful managers in Yankees history.
In is Joe Girardi, a main component of the Yankees dynasty in the late 1990s and Manager of the Year for the Florida Marlins in 2006.
Girardi beat out former Yankee captain Don Mattingly for the job this week. Now he inherits the most prestigious position in Major League Baseball—and a truckload of problems.
The day before Girardi accepted the position, Alex Rodriguez announced that he would opt out of the remaining years of his contract with the Yankees.
Yesterday, two of the last holdovers from the Yankees' latest dynasty—Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera—announced they would file for free agency.
Today's Must Reads
While the Yankees' management will most likely offer both of them whatever they want to stay in the Bronx, the Bombers still might lose two of their best players.
Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu, two veterans who are integral parts of the Yankee roster, both have options for 2008. While Abreu's option is controlled by the Yankees, it's worth $16 million—which may be too much to keep Abreu for another year.
Pettitte's option, on the other hand, is controlled entirely by him. The lefty has a close relationship with both Roger Clemens and Joe Torre. If both are gone, there may not be anything holding Pettitte in New York.
Consider this:
As of this moment, the New York Yankees' opening day lineup is up in the air.
They are already without a third baseman, a position that yielded 54 home runs and 154 RBI in 2007.
They may be without a catcher, with no replacement in line. Posada finished with one of the top five averages in the league (.338) and 90 RBI.
The Yankee bullpen was already in trouble. Now they may be without their one mainstay for the last 13 years—Rivera.
They may also be without Abreu, who had an off year but still managed to knock in over 100 runs.
In other words:
The Yankees stand to lose upwards of 350 RBI, 80 home runs, 15 wins, and 30 saves.
This is the worst-case scenario—but given the way the offseason is going, nothing is out of the question.
Read more articles on the state of the Yankees at www.nyypride.com.
comments (8) write a comment »
write a new comment
10 months ago
They won't be losing that unless they replace the stars with mannequins. Remove the team cancer and a lame manager, and other players can flourish. The offense might be down a bit, but pitching should improve. Remember, the Red Sox won the World Series with an offense that was much worse than the Yankees offense during the regular season. I'm a Yankees fan.
from 10 months ago
Harris with all due respect, how is Joe Torre a lame manager?
It's hard to imagine someone with four world series rings as being too lame. And it's not as if the Yankees haven't done well the last bunch of years it's just that when you're a team that has won 26 world championships, anything short of a WS appearance is considered a failure.
Perhaps it was time to move on without Torre. But it seems to me that as a fan, you should show a little more respect for a guy that was a staple of the club for so long.
from 10 months ago
Yes, I agree that the New York Yankees organization has a cancer... and it's "fans" like you. Sure, in 2004, the Red Sox didn't have the type of offense the Yankees, with by far the largest payroll in all of professional baseball, had. However, they had one thing the Yankees have been sorely lacking for the last several years: PITCHING. In case you didn't get that, it's spelled "P-I-T-C-H-I-N-G!!!" I don't care how many big hitters you have. Without pitching, without defense, you're royally screwed. Offensively, the Red Sox haven't exactly been slouches, but it's the defense that has won them two World Series rings in the last four years and has them as a solid contender for a new dynasty. As soon as your beloved George Steinbrenner learns that, and as soon as he steps back far enough so that the talent doesn't have to deal with his noxious presence so that the actual recruiting can begin, perhaps, PERHAPS, the Yankees will be able to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.
10 months ago
A-Rod team cancer? Last time I checked the only reason the Yankees made the playoffs last year was because of that guys bat. Can't blame the lack of post season wins on him at all. The Red Sox won the World Series because they can flat out pitch from top to bottom. The Yankees the offense will greatly miss A-Rod. They need to get rid of Giambi wh absolutely blows, and make sure Posada stays in pinstripes. Not only that but the Red Sox chemistry on that team was unbelievable. Joe Girardi isn't going to bring anything to the table that Joe Torre couldn't. Joe Torre deserved a lot more than that b.s. that the Steinbrener's gave him. The Yankees had no right to be in the playoffs last year with that team and somehow Torre lead them there. Unless this team completely revamps its starting rotation and bullpen they are in for another wild season.
10 months ago
I have to agree with Aaron here. Yankee fans and the New York media have gotten this impression that Arod is a team cancer when in reality he is simply the best player on the team and someone who everyone expects way too much out of.
The guy was the best player in the AL this year. Just to remind you Harris: 143 runs, 54 dingers, 156 RBI, 24 stolen bags .314 BA, .422 OBP, .645 slugging. And he ain't bad on defense either.
I know he's making record-setting money. I know he choked in the playoffs last year. But he's awesome nonetheless. And I think you guys are going to miss him when he's gone.
A team cancer doesn't come into a clubhouse with two gold gloves at shortstop and volunteer to move to third base. He's without question better defensively than Jeter, but allowed Derek to stick with his original position, thus designating himself as a player just like everyone else (even though he's nothing of the sort) and essentially giving Jeter the ability to remain as the team's leader.
When you give someone that kind of money, it puts a ton of pressure on them. Playing in a place like NYC where everyone expects instant results simply adds to the pressure. The pressure caused Arod to fall short of expectations somewhat in 04' and 05' and particularly in 06'. His lack of popularity made him miserable, as he felt like everyone in town didn't want any part of him.
But Arod put it all behind him this year, bouncing back in a big way and putting up the kind of numbers that New York had been demanding all this time. He performed better in the playoffs to further make a statement. But it was too little, too late.
What does a guy have to do to prove he isn't a team cancer? One man can't win a World Series...
10 months ago
I was really impressed by Girardi's.... temperament?... in the press conference. He seemed right at home, and rightly so. I almost got the "this was meant to be" feeling from it. As long as the players like him, I think it will work out well. He better be at lunch with Boras and ARod as we speak.
10 months ago
First of all, I mentioned that the pitching should improve, and it has to if the Yankees are to contend. Second, it's a misconception that just because A-Rod had good numbers, that he created many wins. After leaving Seattle, the team won a record 116 the year after. After leaving Texas, the team also did better. Instead of trading for A-Rod, the Yankees could have traded Soriano for a good pitcher. The team probably would have more rings by now. Torre is a lame manager based on three reasons:
1. He had never proven himself on any other team.
2. No player ever came to NY and had better numbers than the year before.
3. He consistently made poor decisions with his bullpen and lineup, which is obvious if you ever watch games.
9 months ago
I agree with...all of you actually. Let's start with Alex Rodriguez and get one thing straight: A-Rod is an amazing baseball player and is probably one of the best of all time. However, Harris is correct in the fact that his two previous teams both improved after his departure. Look, I loved the way A-Rod played for us (NYY)...but maybe it is time to move on. Yes, A-Rod was great this season (in the regular season) and he actually achieved the regular season success that he was expected to. Zander said that "[h]is lack of popularity made him miserable, as he felt like everyone in town didn't want any part of him," which is not at all true, especially during the regular seasons of his carrer in NY. Yes, during the playoff's he was booed more than Bill Buckner in Boston, but when it came back to the regular season, he was nothing but loved. Maybe without all the attention on one player, the Yankees can get back to what they do best: win.
Now, Joe Torre. I love Joe Torre...as a person. However, when it comes to managers, he wasn't the best. Did he click with his players? Yes. That doesn't necessarily mean that he did the best when managing them. Yeah, I know, he won 4 World Series in his first 5 years as manager of the Yanks...but what about since then? Maybe his laid-back managing style didn't really suit any of his teams since then, who's rosters were dramatically difference than the one he inherited. So is Joe a good manager? Probably. Is he right for the current Yankees team? Probably Not.
Also, the Yankees issue this year was definitley pitching. Everyone keeps bringing up the Red Sox, which is not a good example. I dont want to get into them, because I dont like them, but their mostley mediocre pitching and their great offense is what kept them afloat this year and won the world series. Josh Beckett (their most winning pitcher) had a great season this year with 20 wins and an ERA of 3.27, striking out a career-high 194 and walking a career-low 40. Besides him, no one was that great. The Million Dollar Investment Matsuzaka had an ERA of 4.40 with a record of 15-12. Yes, I know he struck out over 200 batters, but that can only get you so far. He also walked double the batters of the previously mentioned Beckett. Curt Shilling went only 9-8 and gave up 21 homers with an ERA of 3.87. Tim Wakefield somehow went 17-12 with an ERA of 4.76. No one can say that the Red Sox pitching was amazing and bailed them out of toughjams more than their offense. Mediocre pitching is all the Yankees needed this season to dominate...but the pitching sucked. The only good STARTing pitchers the Yanks had were 2nd-half Mussina, regular season Wang and Petitte. Clemens wasn't good and neither were the 20 or-so "junior-pichers".
Next season for the Yankees should be very different though. A new manager and an interesting staring 5, consisting (as of Novemer 10, 2007) of Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes and either Ross Ohlendorff or Mike Mussina. The line-up looks interesting too, with everyone staying put but having Eric Duncan (look him up, he's in the Yankees minor leagues) come up to play third and having (insert name here) man first base with Jason Giambi.
write a new comment