East Notes: Girardi, Braves, Marlins, Mets/Nats Affiliate

Currently in the last year of his contract, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has been noncommittal about his future in recent weeks. On the heels of a rough few days for Girardi, ESPN’s Buster Olney says he expects Girardi’s time as the Yankees’ skipper to conclude at season’s end (podcast link). Of course, things are beginning to look quite a bit different than they did after a baffling Girardi decision that likely cost them Game 2. Now, the ALDS is tied and the Yankees could well find themselves among the last four teams standing, depending upon the outcome of the decisive game in Cleveland. Regardless of how things play out from this point forward, the long-experienced skipper will surely land on his feet, though Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that some believe Girardi may be interested in some time away from the grind. Interestingly, the Mets have actually talked about Girardi as a possible successor to the ousted Terry Collins, but they “fully expect” him to stay in the Bronx, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.

More from the eastern divisions:

• Braves director of baseball operations Billy Ryan is a candidate to take over as their general manager, along with the previously reported trio of Royals GM Dayton Moore and Nationals assistants Doug Harris and Dan Jennings, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. However, according to the Nationals, the Braves haven’t yet requested permission to interview anyone from their organization (Twitter links). Of course, no matter how the Atlanta organization proceeds, it has more questions to answer than who’ll take over for resigned GM John Coppolella. As David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, some in the game anticipate the league will uncover broad malfeasance by the organization. There are quite a few remaining questions, writes O’Brien, for a club that now has to operate with care to get back on the right track.
• While the Marlins are now formally transitioning to a new ownership group, there’s still some potential work to be done before Miami-Dade County and outgoing owner Jeffrey Loria go their separate ways. As Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald reports, there could be a battle brewing relating to the publicly-financed ballpark deal that brought Marlins Park into existence. The local authorities have already lined up an auditor to review Loria’s group’s assessment of money owed to the government under the financing deal, which seemingly has some room for interpretation as to how much of the sale proceeds must be shared by the ownership group.
• The Mets and Nationals will both undergo some changes at the highest level of their farm systems, as Mark Weiner of Syracuse.com writes. The New York organization has agreed to buy the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, which previously had an affiliate agreement with the Nats. It’s not clear at this point where the Washington organization will end up parking its Triple-A club in the future, though the change evidently will not take place until after the 2018 season.