The Two Winners and One Loser of the Phillies' Joe Girardi Hiring

In the National League East right now are two happy campers and a third camper whose current mood might pair well with "The Sounds of Silence."

The happy ones are Joe Girardi and the Philadelphia Phillies. The latter hired the former as its new manager on Thursday:

Girardi is the successor to Gabe Kapler, who was fired on Oct. 10 after racking up a disappointing 161-163 record in two seasons as the Phillies manager.

The Phillies' hiring of Girardi is also significant because of the position he's not taking over: namely, the manager's chair of the New York Mets.

The Mets have been connected to numerous managerial candidates since they dismissed Mickey Callaway on Oct. 3, but Girardi seemed to be their preferred choice. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the 55-year-old was the first of three skipper possibilities to get a second interview.

Then again, why would Girardi throw in with the Mets when a more attractive opportunity was just a few hours down the road?

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If nothing else, Girardi won't have a hard act to follow in Philadelphia.

Though Kapler had never managed in Major League Baseball, he was a player for 12 years and had cut his teeth working with young players in the Boston Red Sox (Single-A manager) and Los Angeles Dodgers (director of player development) organizations. He also made a name for himself as a sabermetrics-friendly thinker while working as an analyst for Fox Sports.

Kapler thus seemed to be an inspired choice when the Phillies hired him in October 2017. In theory, his experience with young players and his fondness for new-age ideas would give him a steady hand with which to guide the Phillies out of their rebuild and back into contention.

In actuality, Kapler was in over his head right away, and he ultimately oversaw ugly collapses in each of his seasons in Philadelphia. The Phillies held at least a share of first place in the NL East as late as Aug. 12 in 2018 and June 11 in 2019, yet they missed the playoffs both years.

In retrospect, it's a wonder Kapler even made it to a second season in Philadelphia.

The Phillies' haul of Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura and David Robertson during the 2018-19 offseason moved the team away from the youth-based approach that originally inspired Kapler's hiring. To boot, reports of his botched handling of multiple sexual misconduct allegations during his Dodgers years have raised serious questions about his leadership. Reports of discord in the Phillies clubhouse in 2018 only add to those concerns.

What the Phillies needed after all this was a dash of credibility, which certainly explains why they coveted Girardi.

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Girardi was a respected figure amid a 15-year playing career in which he won three World Series with the New York Yankees. He earned a Manager of the Year award with the Florida Marlins in 2006 and then a championship in just his second year as the Yankees manager after taking over for Joe Torre in 2008.

All told, Girardi went 910-710 and netted six postseason berths as the Yankees skipper between 2008 and 2017. Even at the end of the road in '17, he led his team all the way to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

According to Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman, Girardi was only let go because of "communication and connectivity" issues. In translation, he went from being the right guy for the club's typically veteran-laden rosters to the wrong guy for the increasingly youthful rosters with which he was working toward the end.

Today's Phillies more so resemble what Girardi was used to for the bulk of his Yankees tenure. Their roster isn't old, per se, but it does consist largely of hired guns with big salaries. Certainly more so than Kapler, who reportedly had a hands-off approach in the clubhouse, Girardi has practice working with a team of this particular composition. 

The Phillies will likely bring in even more high-priced veterans this winter. They still have some luxury-tax breathing room despite last winter's $403 million bonanza, so they should be on the prowl in free agency for the arms and bats they require.

According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, the Phillies were also drawn to Girardi's track record as someone who "considered and implemented analytics during his tenure [with the Yankees]." Though it's perhaps fair to call him old school, he's not so old school that he's out of touch.

Meanwhile in Queens, the Mets' failure to end up with Girardi isn't going over so well. Just ask John Harper of SNY.tv or Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post.

To be sure, the Mets shouldn't have hired Girardi just because there was pressure on them to do so.

However, they needed their own credibility boost after two .500-ish (163-161, to be exact) and playoff-less seasons under Callaway, who had never before managed in the majors. Likewise, they also have a veteran-heavy roster that would have suited Girardi well.

It's possible Girardi spurned the Mets simply because they wouldn't match the Phillies' three-year offer, which contains a club option for 2023. Speculatively, it's also possible Girardi was wary about how much support he would get in New York.

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Whereas the Phillies have proved their willingness to spend big bucks in pursuit of wins, it wasn't even two years ago that Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon attempted to defend his family's light-spending habits. With the team's payroll already set to rise in 2020, there may not be many new toys under the tree this winter.

Like any manager, Girardi presumably also wants total autonomy in the dugout. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Callaway didn't have that in 2019 because first-year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen couldn't help but meddle with in-game decisions.

Whatever the case, the Mets' managerial search must march on. Yet the big difference is that they'll now likely be taking a chance on whomever they hire.

Per Sherman, Minnesota Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, Washington Nationals first base coach Tim Bogar and ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez have made the cut for second interviews. Bogar is the only one with major league managing experience, and his consists of 22 games as the Texas Rangers' interim skipper in 2014.

As evidenced by Alex Cora, Aaron Boone and Dave Roberts, a collective lack of experience doesn't mean those three can't be good managers. But given that the Mets' dice roll on Callaway didn't work out, they had the right idea in going after a guy with Girardi's been-there-done-that creds.

Not finishing the pursuit could be something they live to regret.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.