Former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has joined the MLB Network as a studio analyst. The network announced the hiring, which Michael McCarthy of the Sporting News reported this morning.
It came as something of a surprise when the Yanks announced in late October that they would not seek to work out a new deal with Girardi, whose contract expired after his tenth season running the dugout. The team went on to hire Aaron Boone, who had himself worked as a TV analyst with ESPN after wrapping up his playing days.
Upon his entry onto the managerial free agent market, some wondered whether Girardi might catch on with another organization. In particular, to that point the Nationals had not yet hired Davey Martinez to take over. It turns out there was at least some contact between the Nats and Girardi, though clearly interest never developed.
With the move, Girardi will remain in the eye of the baseball-watching public throughout the coming season. Just what managerial gigs will come open during or after the 2018 campaign isn’t yet known, of course, but we can safely predict that Girardi will be among the first candidates talked about in future hiring rounds.
Best of luck to Joe.
Could see him going to the White Sox or Braves after 2018
I think they both could use a winning skipper.
I’m a Cubs fan. I don’t want to see him go to the Sox. Not because I think he’ll be great for them and I enjoy/take pleasure out of Sox fan suffering, but because I’d hate to see Renteria get tossed to the side like some cheap hooker again…… after the Cubs did it to him when Maddon fell in their lap. Personally……. I wish the Cubs still had Renteria. I think Maddon is an overrated POS who has no clue whatsoever on how to manage a pitching staff. He rode Chapman to death in the 2016 postseason and it almost cost them the World Series. He rode Carl Edwards Jr. to death in the 2017 postseason and it cost them a repeat trip to the World Series (among other things….. but still, he rode a reliever despite it clearly not working out). Watch how he treats/manages Kyle Hendricks and it should be all you need to see to judge him in his ineptness at handling pitching. I don’t know how many games Hendricks has been pitching where he’s been stellar and only has like 60 pitches in 5 innings….. and Maddon takes him out. And I’m not talking about game 7 of the WS….. no, that was just one instance in which he did this. He’s done it at LEAST a half dozen times to Hendricks, if not more. It’s hair pullingly aggravating. Then of course there’s him going through relief pitchers like a virgin boy goes through his first condom. Maddon is the only manager I can recall in Cubs history who runs out of relievers, of which teams carry at least 8… EIGHT nowadays, by the 11th inning….. 2 extra innings and he’s ran through his bullpen like Usain Bolt through a ribbon…. as if he’ll get an award from the pitchers’ parents for letting everyone get a turn at playing. This ain’t little league, Joe. But he sure manages it like it is. Then there’s the game where he had relief pitcher Travis Wood play the outfield…… in the SEVENTH inning against the Mariners. Or how about that game where he ran through his bench and had to use a rotation of Strop, Patton, and Wood in the OF, taking turns pitching and playing LF. That must’ve been like some epically long game that went da** near 20 innings, right? Nope. 15. Just 6 extra innings, nothing too crazy. And he started using that rotation in the 14th inning…. only 5 innings into extras. He used all his bench players and all his relievers by the 14th inning. The Reds had to be hurting too though, right? No. Not really. They only went through 5 relievers, and it was their 5th in the 15th inning who sha* the bed, allowing 5 runs to give the Cubs a 7-2 victory….. in 15 innings. Point is….. Maddon is an idiot. He’s one of those guys who makes dumb decisions and everyone knows it’s a dumb decision….. but everything always works out for him, usually because some extraordinary things have to happen…… and they always friggin do. As a Cub fan it’s painful, because 1) my team is winning and I love it, but 2) I just want to see Maddon fail, because his decisions need to be shown for what they are…. complete sh**. I don’t think I would mind it so much if the media both local and national didn’t worship him as if he’s one of the smartest and greatest managers in the game. REALLY wish we still had Renteria. I think we might have more than the 1 ring if he were still here. Or at least the one we got wouldn’t have been so friggin stressful. Pretty sure Renteria leaves a cruising Hendricks in the game to not only finish the 5th inning but likely go all the way to the 8th if not through the 8th inning and then hand the ball to Chapman. Hendricks was cruising with only throwing 63 pitches through 4.2 IP. He allowed only 4 hits and just gave up a bogus walk which should’ve been a strikeout looking on I think the 2-2 pitch. That pitch was CLEARLY over the plate and in the strike zone….. but called ball 3. Hendricks walks Santana on the next pitch and out waddles Maddon. 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 1 BB….. 63 fu**ing pitches. AND I think he had like a 5-1 lead, so it wasn’t exactly a nail biter at the time either, or like he just walked the tying run to get on base…… or like he walked the guy to let the tying run come to the plate. In other words it was almost a blowout in the 5th inning and Maddon makes a pitching change….. for the sake of making a pitching change. He is the epitome of dumb decisions. BUT, like everything else in Maddon’s life, the improbable happens and people then worship him as if he’s a genius just because everything worked out…… in SPITE of his strategy/decisions…… UGH.
Diatribe over. That got a little carried away. If the Sox were to fire Renteria and hire Girardi next year I then hope the Cubs ditch Maddon and re-hire Renteria. But that won’t happen. In the 3 years maddon has been with the Cubs I think he probably has cost them an average of 5 wins each season…. as in he hasn’t managed them to more wins than they should’ve won, but he has lost this team games they should’ve easily won. UGH, I said Diatribe over. I’m done. I swear this time.
Jesus Mary and Joseph… wall of text
TL;DR
I worked my way through it:
“I like Renteria better than that bum Jon Madden. Did you see game 7? He almost loosed it for ((US)). KYLE Hendricks and all cubs pitchers should throw 8 or 1 inning(s) respectively for starting pitchers and relievers no matter what because that’s what people have done for the majority of my viewing since the late 50s.
PS: I don’t like that Jon Madden traded Dan Vogelbach.”
Hahaha scrolled to the bottom looking for this
Too much coke
Phil Coke? never
you have way too much time on your hands
I agree with ya,,,Maddon is over-rated.
Sox fan here. I agree, I like Ricky because of how he handles the team and his coaching decisions are actually pretty solid. He is definitely an upgrade over Ventura. Ventura didn’t handle Chris Sale right when he pitched his final years and was single handled responsible for a couple of Chris’ losses. Great example was the Mike Trout grand slam. Chris was on his way to a great game and labored in the 7th but got through it and hit close to 100 pitches. Ventura put him back out there the following inning and got tagged. Ricky kept the rotation fresh and did the appropriate defensive changes too. I hope sox keep him.
I don’t think anyone read that
Omg I read all of that
Joe Maddon has more rings than all of us.
Wtf! Nobody wants that much of your thoughts on it.
You lost all credibility when you started hating on Maddon. GTFO. The dude helped guide your team to a World Series, and then won the damn thing. Something that didn’t happen in 108 years, and you want Renteria instead? Thank the baseball gods that you are not anywhere near the Cubs front office, because it’d be another 108 years before they’d win one. What an ungrateful individual. You are obviously not really a Cubs fan and know nothing about baseball.
@KB
You are an idiot.
I could only handle the beginning of that eyesore wall of text but Joe Maddon is the best manager in Cubs history and if you cannot see it you are an idiot.
Surprising no one else wanted him.
I don’t think it was a lack of interest, I think Joe himself probably fielded calls and made a decision to stay out of the dugout. 10 years in New York probably had him wanting to take it easier, after they opted not to renew his contract. After being fired by the Marlins he took a year off also, actually turning down an offer to manage the Orioles in 2007.
He has young kids, and working for MLBN allows him to stay in his New York home and be around his family. I wonder if he could be a candidate for the Mets at some point if staying close to his family is important.
I suspect he’ll return to managing in a few years, if not sooner.
He was an excellent analyst for YES in 2004 before joining the team as a bench coach.
Took him 10 years to figure it out
No charisma, gets you jobless
Except he has a job. See article above.
He’s been in baseball consistently since getting drafted in ’86, so your comment makes zero sense. And since this article is about him getting a new job, sooooo…”jobless?” Not so much.
He’s also a very good manager, finding a job won’t be a problem for this guy
My prayers would be answered if the Cards can Matheny after our eventual 3rd place finish and hire Girardi. Perfect fit.
I agree at this point mm gets no more benefit of doubt I gave him a pass his first few years due to being new and let’s be honest who was the best at what the do right off. now 6+ years in mm is making the same mistakes and stubbornness come on when mo has to make roster moves so you stop playing a guy that needs either time off or pine time that’s a red flag for me
Still amazes me that he didn’t go back to the Yankees
I know many were calling for his head for several years, but one win away from the World Series? That’s nuts
I think he will excel at this. Good luck, Joe.
Since Bannisters contract is up at the end of the season I could see him going to the Texas Rangers as there new manager.
Finally, the big free agents start signing deals…
Go back to your room Bobby
Can’t wait for the nightly “it’s not what you want”
Would love that.. Hey Death.
Sup, mike?
Get a room
No thanks.
He might as well join. They have pretty much become exclusively a Yankees and Red Sox channel throughout the season, so at least he will know the players.
Name all he ex players on there that were ex Yanks or Sox
I Dont believe Girardi is done. Hell he may even wear pinstripes again.
I hope MLBN released Eric Byrnes to make room on their 40 man
i love byrnes
DeRosa is the clear DFA candidate there.
Couldn’t be, Dero is the one who brought him on so he can mentor him to a coaching job.
Not me. I have Coulrophobia.
Brian. Kenny.
Surprised he didn’t join another team
He’s a tool
If he says one interesting thing on television, he’ll outdo Aaron Boone.
Boone, meanwhile, needs to win a WS to match Girardi.
Yea cause your opinion will make or break them
Imo I think girardi did a fine job in ny (by no means I’m a nyy fan but I do have to respect them) when you manage a club like nyy it’s not just about baseball X’s and O’s it’s more of being a highly paid babysitter and to get a team full of modonas to play together and not for themselves and the respect he got from them I think in the long run nyy will regret this decision. last thing ok he had some blunders in October this year but remember even the hof mangers blew October games I can’t tell you how many remotes I’ve went through because of tlr
Joe went 4-1 in elimination games in 2017 playoffs, and took a NYY team widely expected to finish last to second-to-last in their division, within 1 game of WS.
He also won the 2009 World Series.
He is a good baseball man, who did not deserve the boot.
so very true xabial mangers like joe are rare finds and to toss him aside like a gum wrapper imo is going to come back and bite them
I still think he’ll land in either Atlanta, Cincy, CWS, or take over for Bochy in SF when he retires. Should be interesting to listen to his commentary especially after a NY journalist referred to Girardi as “the only man to never tell an anecdote”.