Anyone who has spent any time at all this season watching our beloved Yankees realized something was amiss. From the first series of the year, parts of the team failed to click. The problem was, nobody could put their finger on it and they were still winning, so what the hell, right?
Over the last two weeks, that nagging voice in the backs of our heads has become a full roar, overwhelming everything else in our baseball-related worlds. Six straight losses and 10 of 13. The problem is obvious, if you just step back for a moment. This is not a team; it is a collection of talented players, each one looking out for their own interests. Placing their own (often inflated) egos ahead of the group. Three incidents particularly point up the lack of leadership and chemistry.
- The Jorge Posada situation: Once upon a time, Jorge Posada wouldn’t have dreamed of throwing the type of temper-tantrum we witnessed on Saturday, especially against the Red Sox. Any player trying that would have been faced down by his teammates long before reaching the manager’s office – and Posada would have been the one leading the charge. Posada, as much as I love all he meant to past Yankee glories, quit on the team before one of the biggest games of the year. All over the perceived injustice of hitting 9th – even though his .165 batting average is dead last in the majors. Screw the team; just give me my at-bats with RISP so I can keep striking out.
- The Derek Jeter incident: The day after Posada opted out of the line-up, Jeter offered a defense of Posada instead of calling him out. I don’t mean in the press – that would have been the wrong way to go about it, and Jeter’s pretty bland answers were the right move there. I mean in front of the team. Jeter, the ostensible captain of this forlorn bunch, should have stepped up and let it be known that if anyone else wanted to quit, they needed to go through him first. Instead, he did nothing until called out by management.
- Post-game yesterday: All the reports I’ve read this morning regarding the post-game clubhouse yesterday show a clubhouse in dangerous need of repair. Rafael Soriano offered this tidy bit of analysis – “To me, I don’t think (the) bullpen (is) the problem. I think it (is) the hitters.” So, a relief pitcher who thus far has made 16 rather ineffective appearances (5.40 ERA, 76 ERA+) and now heads for the DL, is offering up half the team as sacrificial lambs.
If that isn’t evidence enough, then simply watch the results. This team is obviously distracted by something. The mental errors are staggering and affecting every facet of the game. The talent is as good as any team in either league, yet the Yankees sport the seventh best record in the AL.
I’ve read plenty of articles recommending minor tweaks – calling up a couple of minor leaguers, shifting the line-up and the like. But for any of those moves to have a snowball’s chance of working, the team needs to believe and trust in the manager. Joe Girardi, for whatever reason (maybe because he’s a clubhouse mouthpiece for the front office?), does not have that confidence from his players.
Yes, the team needs a shake-up. There are few situations in which replacing the manager is actually the correct move. Managers generally get fired because they have bad teams that not even Casey Stengel could turn into winners. But, when the manager loses the clubhouse, when he no longer effectively leads the team, then firing the manager is not only the correct response.
It is the only response.
Ray Rothfeldt
M. B. Rozell
Kevin Rozell
I don’t think firing Joe Girardi right now is the answer. In fact, it would send a message of approval to Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter over the way they behaved. But I think Girardi does have to take a stand here.
That’s kind of the point, Lisa. He’s had his chances to prove that he is the BMOC – and failed. IMHO, he lost the respect of the players and cannot be an effective leader. I mean – can you imagine Jorge or Soriano mouthing off like that, if Girardi has control of the team?
Totally agree. This team is 51-49 in their last 100 games. Need a new voice
It’s a delicate situation. You can’t fire Girardi, and expect a new manager come in, and the very first thing he has to do is discipline Jeter and Posada. It will not work, Ray. My point is that firing Girardi would send the opposite reaction, that he didn’t kiss up to those two enough, not that he was too weak.
And I wouldn’t say Girardi has lost the respect of his players, because in the cases of Jeter and Posada, he never had it in the first place. And that’s on them, not him.
The older generation had some respect for Clueless Joe, because at least they won and he shielded them from most of the FO nonsense. Now that he isn’t even doing that, he has lost both the old core and the newer guys. The real question is, will the egos in Tampa allow a real baseball guy to come in and straighten things out? I doubt it. They had their chance last Winter, when Donnie Baseball – a guy every player in the locker room would have marched into battle with – was available and instead rehired Girardi.
Last time I checked, Girardi helped lead the Yankees to a ring
18 months ago, while the last seven years of Torre’s tenure were ring-less. But Mr. T let Jeter and Posada do whatever they wanted, so they were cool with him.
Anyhow, I’d like to see some evidence of the idea that Girardi has lost the entire team before firing him. Like I said, he never had Jeter and Posada in the first place.
And you really think Donnie Baseball would have shaken things up? I doubt it. He was Joe Torre Jr. And to top it off, the Yankees would never have been able to easily fire him, because he is a Yankee name. You know, kind of the way Girardi is finding it hard to move Posada down the lineup.
“They had their chance last Winter, when Donnie Baseball – a guy every player in the locker room would have marched into battle with – was available and instead rehired Girardi.”
Donnie means something to Jeter, Posada, and Mariano. What is your evidence that the rest of the team would have “marched into battle” with Mattingly?
You’re right – Mattingly respects Torre’s tutelage. He also credits some of the guys he played under for his managerial style, like Billy Martin and Yogi. So yes, he would have shaken things up – but done it behind closed doors, without the media scrutiny. And the idea that Torre never went to the media as a last resort is laughable – remember A-Rod hitting 8th in the playoffs? That was a much bigger insult and to a higher profile player, in an even more meaningful situation.
As for why they would play for Mattingly and not Girardi: if you need to ask that, then you haven’t been the game for long. It’s the same reason guys went to war for Tony LaRussa, Billy Martin and others like them. As for not being able to fire him, should the time come? This is the same organization that fired Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Casey Stengel, Ralph Houk, etc. Not an issue.
So…why are you such a defender of Clueless Joe?
There is absolutely no way the Yankees should fire Joe Girardi. I mean, sure, he has made some stupid mistakes, like leaving A.J. in too long last night, but so does every skip at some point. Wasn’t he the manager hoisting the World Series trophy just two seasons ago? Yes. And if his players played the way they were capable of last fall, he would have done it again.
Firing Joe would simply spell DISASTER. This team is not in last place by an insurmountable deficit. They are 3 games out. In the middle of May!!!!!!
This team is clearly under-performing, and some of the blame, of course, will fall on Girardi. Maybe if George was still here, Joe would be on the hot seat, but he shouldn’t be. I mean, tell me who you’ll get to replace him? Exactly.
I understand fan’s frustration, and I can see why some may want Girardi to go, but he is still a good skipper. He just needs to fire this team up somehow. Go out and argue balls and strikes. Throw your cap. Kick some dirt. Do your best Billy Martin. That did it for the Yanks in 08, in 09, and I think it can work in 2011. Not saying that’s the solution, but my main point is:
GIRARDI CAN NOT, AND WILL NOT, BE FIRED!!!!
I don’t suscribe to the theory that Joe has lost the team.
Posada begging out of the game because of bruised feelings was immature and selfish. He apologized to the manager and the team so it should be a non issue.
Jeter’s defense of him was typical in that they came up at the same time and had all the success together. Everything Derek said was unoffensive, generic Jeter press speak. Again to me, a non issue.
The fact is Jorge can’t hit anymore like we expect Jorge to hit. He’s 40 yrs. old, on the last year of his contract. His defensive skills are long a thing of the past. Thank God we have Russel Martin behind the plate or we’d be in a bigger mess than we are now.
To me the problem with this team is that Cashman didn’t plan the exit of his core group well. Also, he didn’t have a clue what to do after we lost Cliff Lee to the Phils. There were so many question marks with this pitching staff in the winter. Was Andy coming back? Can AJ rebound? Can Phil give us another good year?
Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Kevin Millwood (who opted out,by the way), Mark Prior being the salvation of the Yankee pitchiong staff. And they haven’t been.
I think the blame is on Cashman but of course, firing the GM in the middle of a season isn’t going to get anything accomplished and I really don’t know if I would want to see Cash fired. He is definetely a good GM IMO.
Ray, I never said Torre didn’t go the media. I said he protected Jeter and Posada, his guys. That does not contradict what he did with A-Rod.
“As for why they would play for Mattingly and not Girardi: if you need to ask that, then you haven’t been the game for long.”
What does this even mean? Most star players are unsuccessful as managers, as history shows. The best managers are generally the ones who weren’t stars. Can you give me specific evidence, more than that you say so, to prove your assertion? Thanks.
“It’s the same reason guys went to war for Tony LaRussa, Billy Martin and others like them.”
Don Mattingly has been a big league manager for all of six weeks, and you’re comparing him to those two? Good grief. Where is your evidence of this assertion (and don’t give me the “I don’t understand baseball” nonsense as a response. It’s insulting.) Besides, Mattingly hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire with his managerial skills so far, you know.
“As for not being able to fire him, should the time come? This is the same organization that fired Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Casey Stengel, Ralph Houk, etc. Not an issue.”
Please stop putting words in my mouth. I NEVER said that they couldn’t ever fire Girardi. Let me explain it again, for the umpteenth time, that firing Girardi right now would send the message that Jeter and Posada were wrongly treated by the manager. It’s the opposite message that you think it would send. I don’t know how much clearer I can make that for you.
I can double click in the Name field and mystic7 comes up automatically. I can double click in the Email field and my email address comes up automatically. Why is it, then, that I can double click in the Comment box, but “Bums. BUMS!!!” doesn’t come up automatically? Can someone fix that, please.
Because that’s all I have to say about this group of bums. I guarantee you can trade Cano, or Texeira, or A-Rod, or Granderson, to ANY half way decent team and make them contenders, yet this group all playing together just stumble along, getting their asses kicked by teams who then go on and get their asses handed to them by the Tigers or Twins. How many times do we have to watch the Angels sweep the Blue Jays and then watch the Blue Jays take 2 of 3 from the bums IN Yankee Stadium, no less! Bums. BUMS!!!