The yankees are not bringing back Joe Girardi next season, and I am writing this column on the assumption that they did not want to re-sign him to a new deal. If he chose to leave the Yankees of his own accord, that would be fine. However, if he was effectively fired, this is a very bad move for a team that needs stability.
Why is stability important?
The Yankees need stability because they have a slew of young talent.
They need someone who is going to stand up for them, help them develop, and help them learn how to play the game the right way. Girardi once played for the Yankees, and that makes him the perfect person to bring up all this young talent into the organization. They can fire him if they want to, but they are getting rid of him at a time that they really need to have him. They might think that they can do better, but I do not think that that is the case.
Why move on?
The Yankees clearly think that they can find the next right guy to run the team, and they must think that Joe's message got stale. If that is the case, you could let him go.
However, you better have a solution that is better than Joe Girardi. You can watch him go get another job in about five seconds if you want, but you as the Yankees have to hire someone even better. Are you going to hire Joe Maddon away from the Cubs? If you can do that, you can fire Joe Girardi. If you cannot do that, you probably needed to keep him. This feels like a decision that a fan made, and I would love to hear New York sports personalities pan this move.
Can the Yankees continue this next year?
I think that the talent on the roster alone will make the team just as good next year as it is right now. They can continue the good play that they have had, but I do not think that you can expect them to get even better.
Look at how good the Astros are. Look at what is going on in Chicago or Los Angeles. The Yankees are not the only young and talented people in baseball. They needed to have that manager that will know how to use them. Can the Yankees really find an AJ Hinch on the scrap heap where the Astros found their manager? I do not think that that is possible. The Yankees think that they can do anything they want, but they are dead wrong.
They need Aaron Judge to lead
The Yankees are expecting Aaron Judge to lead their team now that they have gotten rid of the manager he came up under. Joe Girardi has been with the Yankees the whole time Judge has been with the organization, and now he is going to have to lead the team to make a new manager more comfortable.