Earlier this week, the Yankees announced that Joe Girardi will not return to manage the Bombers next season. But as Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated points out, 53-year-old Girardi might not have lost the job due to the team’s performance or his body of work. The three oldest managers in baseball (Terry Collins, Dusty Baker and Pete Mackanin) all lost their jobs this season, and John Farrell (55) will be replaced by the 42-year-old Alex Cora. This points to a trend in baseball wherein the game is being run by younger players, and it might just be that the ability of younger managers to connect with those youthful stars is being seen as a major asset. Fluency in analytics is also becoming increasingly vital to the manager position. As Verducci also points out, World Series skippers Dave Roberts (45) and A.J. Hinch (43) both fit the bill for this type of “modern manager”. With Girardi lacking the youth and analytic mindset required for the new mold, the Yankees may have simply decided he is no longer relevant in today’s game.
Some other items from around baseball’s Eastern Divisions…
- Red Sox number four overall prospect Sam Travis received his first small taste of major league action this year. But he didn’t fare as expected in the power department, slugging just .342 in the majors and .375 at the Triple-A level. Alex Speier of Baseball America (subscription required and recommended) writes that he spent a lot of last offseason rehabbing from knee surgery, which may have contributed to his struggles. Still, Travis has been seen in recent years as player with a big-league ready bat who needed to improve his defense at first base, and the former second-rounder’s offensive performance didn’t match the billing in 2017. His vastly improved defense, however, has led the organization to give him a shot in left field in the Dominican League, which could improve his prospect stock headed into next season.
- The Braves have been denied permission to speak with Royals GM Dayton Moore, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. The Braves organization is still reeling after the scandal broke surrounding then-GM John Coppolella, but they won’t have the chance to interview the 50-year-old Moore for the open position. Moore declined to comment on the request, stating that he’s “focused on what we need to do here in Kansas City.” The two ballclubs are in very different stages headed into 2018; the Royals are likely entering a rebuild with many key players set to reach free agency, while the Braves seem ready to come out of theirs and focus on contending. But because Moore signed a contract extension with Kansas City back in 2016, club owner David Glass would need to give explicit permission to any club interested in reaching out to him.
So winning isn’t good enough any more?
It’s the experience of the human element. It’s no longer needed in the new experimental algorithm that is the game of baseball. Eventually, 45 will be “too old” to manage and instead of paying a $1-2 million, they’ll just have robots compute numbers to produce a lineup. We’re too far gone to turn back now; 50 years from now, robotics will take over baseball and we won’t even have human beings playing the game. Anything to speed up the game for this ADD generation.
Then they’ll take over the planet.
As well written as that is, I sure hope you’re wrong…
Your argument, like the article, is speculative and not backed up by any sources.
“ADD generation” is right.
Age of 140 characters or less 😉
It doesn’t take a novel to get a point across. This new generation has it right!
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Robot baseball will be awesome!
sounds like the plot of Terminator 2.
I imagine you’re one of those dudes with a storm cellar full of canned goods ready for the takeover?
You sound like you’re sitting in your basement with tinfoil on your head.
Ah yes of course, this is all the Millennials fault. Honestly I’m not even mad.
While I agree this Add generation is a big problem with everything, not just baseball, but no way robots will be playing.
I think the robots should start playing baseball on ice!
Wearing blindfolds!
Nope. It’s a combination of winning and being a good babysitter to extremely well compensated “grown children”. A lot of entitlement in the clubhouse nowadays. You hear and read about it. Now—it’s not ALL players, but enough to warrant it.
Given the “show” by Yuri last night, I guess AJ Hinch fits the babysitter role.
You guys just posted an entire article about the Braves being refused by KC to inveriew Moore a few hours ago. A bit redundant repeating it very similarly here.
We love our Braves updates while waiting for the WS to end…but no news here. Still spurned.
That is the biggest bunch of bull I’ve ever heard as a reason to fire Girardi!! Age??? Are you kidding me??? Isn’t there a law against that??? Age???
He wasn’t fired. His contract was finished. Yankees just aren’t offering him another.
And even if he was fired with years left, he would still receive that money.
Only if it was a guaranteed contract. Most managers contracts aren’t guaranteed.
Except that all baseball contracts, including managers and coaches, are guaranteed.
WHAT? Of course their contracts are guaranteed.
Not the 4th year of new Mets Manager, Mickey Callaway. That one’s a team option.
Terry Francona’s 2019-2020 club options were exercised (guaranteed) 11/4/16. (legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/am… )
Same for Nats Mike Rizzo’s 2017-2018 club option. Here’s a 1:52 video of him talking about his 2017, 2018 club options picked up. (That means adding 2 more years, guaranteed ) youtube.com/watch?v=meuGxmcNYmQ
Brad Ausmus had his 2017 club option picked up. I recommend you read this article by MLB.com on it, which essentially says Managers contracts (and job security) in the MLB aren’t 100% guaranteed. (m.mlb.com/news/article/205024238/tigers-pick-up-br…)
It’s A lot more common than you think.
If Joe Girardi is too old then it won’t be long before MLB is being talked about on the Today Show and Good Morning America, and they won’t be discussing who won the WS.
Who was that guy from the Dodgers who went on Nightline and said “black people aren’t buoyant”?
That’s what this is.
It has very little to do with age, and more to do with the newer thought process that these guys fail to adapt. The type of mindset that says Jayson Werth and Freddy Galvis are two hole hitters over Anthony Rendon and JP Crawford.
It’s about the way the younger guys view the game over the old school “gut feeling” guys.
Go find a 60 year old who can relate to players and implement analytics, and you’ll find a guy worth hiring.
Bud Black.
and notice, he has a job for a contender lol
That was dodger GM Al campanis who made those remarks on nightline.
Is 53 really that big a difference from 45?
Almost ten years
Yeah… but almost 6 isn’t much.
it’s the difference between playing in 2000 vs 2010 potentially, which culturally is a huge differenc
You Brixton are a really special kind of stupid.
And, as someone who has both 45 and 53 in the rearview mirror, yes, there’s a difference, both physically and mentally.
It sounds like Joe wasn’t kissing Cashman’s ass enough basically.
Girardi lost his job because the Yankees had not won a WS since 2009.
That’s not it.
The Yankees woke up one day to discover that they were old, overpriced, and over the hill (2013, I’m looking at you). Joe took 3 if those teams who should have shared the fate of of the 1965 Yankees, and instead they were over .500 and punched above their weight. Youth started to slowly bleed in and Joe did it again in 14 and 15. When the Yankees threw in the towel in 16, the team kept fighting and almost made the playoffs. In game 2 against Cleveland, Girardi flat out blew it, but his team picked him up and won 3 elimination games in a row. They weren’t even expected to contend. I hope that they fight for the next guy. I hope that they didn’t blow it while the team is young and hot…
We’ve been talking about good older players losing their jobs to good younger players and baseball getting younger. We all knew it was just a matter of time before managers got younger too. Good older managers are now losing their jobs to good younger managers
Agism.
That is terrible! Age is just a number for many of us! Ludicrous article…
So experienced guys over 50 should be thrown out like a used douche bag?
The days following the infamous Giradi non challenge all of New York wanted him gone. Now that he is in the wind everyone’s panties are wadded up.
“First you wanna kill me, now you wanna kiss me. Blow.”
“This is my BOOM stick!”
Only wish Theo felt that way and get rid of that egomaniac who thinks he is the smartest guy in baseball Maddon
You mean that smart guy manager who won a world series managing the Cubs and won 292 games the last 3 regular season and in his 3 years had the Cubs in the NLCS ever single year … that egomaniac?
Any manager of any team could’ve won with that team full of talent. Madden is the most overated manager in MLB !
I think Girardi’s problem was not the analytics or age but his inability to deal and communicate with either his bosses or the players. Girardi’s smart and digs the analytics. I am guessing that Teixiera’s comments are right on. Why didn’t he communicate? I’m guessing Joe felt he didn’t have to. He might be a little arrogant.
Girardi doesn’t “dig” the analytics. He went along with it because he was forced to by the FO. He’s just more willing than Torre was, but that’s not the bar to compare oneself to in today’s saber-era.
Why do we just blindly assume that all people over 50 are devoid of baseball analytic skills?
I’m pro black managers, expecially latinos ones like me. But I must admitt that was kind of weird Girardi dismiss this season.
He made a deep, maybe kind of surprising post-season run and players were generally delivering what was expected for their skillls, notably the young ones like Judge, Sanchez and Severino. I think Chris Carter was the only one kind of disapointing (and not that disapointing, considering his strikeout historic).
I think it’s possible, but it’s gonna be tough to Cashman finding a good replacement.
Not sure the up-and-coming YANKEES are going to have much trouble find takers.
More quality out there than MLB positions.
How old was that manager who won the World Series last year? Wasn’t he a superstar of a manager? In just one year, old dudes can no longer manage? Come on…
Maddon is extremely tech savvy and young, in mind and heart. He’s 63 going on 33.
The other older managers are typical “old school” baseball guys — not big on numbers, all instinct and gut, and don’t want to change the game.
Maddon is an innovator.
The point is, this is a young team. Younger than expected to have any success.
Maybe a young manager can grow with them and fit the identity. This is likely because they decided they weren’t going to retain Girardi a while ago, probably even last year after they traded the vets.
You guys do understand that in 10 years the successful young managers will still be coaching and will be in their 50s.
By the way, how old were these managers when they first started coaching?? This isn’t some new trend, its a cycle and not some big surprise.
Finally… I was about to lose hope in hope humanity. (Oh, wait I already have.). But seriously, great comment in a bunch of land mines.
The perfect storm of circumstances let to Girardi not being brought back. He and Cashman didn’t get along, he was not as on board with the analytics as Cashman would have like, though he was darn good the Yankees have a tendency to make these rash decisions on the premise that good is not good enough (even in the middle of a rebuild), he didn’t do much pandering with the media (which I like, make baseball about baseball) but we all know the Yankees, it’s often about everything but baseball. That and the blown non-challenge gave them an out, regardless of the outcome of the series. The only thing that would have saved Girardi was a World Series appearance if not a win. I feel for the guy, manage a great year and exceed everyone’s expectations just to hear, “We’re going a different direction.” sucks. But it comes with the territory because this is the New York Yankees after all.
Jorge Posada could be next Yankee manager?
Yankees want a ‘yes man’ that will be nice to Gary Sanchez
Well Spy, he did hang Sanchez out to dry with comments to the press. As a former catcher himself he should have been right there with him to insure that he turned it around.
Look on the surface Joe’s team had a good year. And Joe avoided any press related drama as he left that up to the Mets to be the queens in queens. Remember his adversarial relationship with his first managing jobs FO?
However this is not the Hero’s of 2009 team nor greatest of the earlier dynasty teams.
This team has had a 180 degree turnaround and Cash gets the credit. So he gets the power to decide and in this case you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Though it is unlikely and uncharacteristic to have a leak, ala Sandy Alderstein, there may be under the surface issues. To the extent that there are even more youngsters in the system that are likely to come up, my guess is that the AAA manager is in his way to the Bronx.
Joe had a great ten year run. Hope he takes some time off before jumping back in.
Given that his clubs outperformed their projections, what evidence, other than his age, indicates Girardi’s lack of an analytical mindset? If none can be presented, it could be called age discrimination. It’s a shame so many think age means you don’t have analytical capacity. By the way, Happy Birthday to Bill Gates. He just turned 62 today. Stick that to your age argument!
Algorithms and sabremetrics are great and all, but it’s only half of the equation. The human element is the other half.
And, in order to be successful, the two must peacefully coexist. When a club relies on sabremetrics, too much, they will set themselves up for failure.
Numbers never tell the whole story.
A great manager will be successful if he surrounds himself with knowledgable coaches who can help him run the team!