San Francisco Giants: Top 7 candidates to replace Bruce Bochy
5. Joe Girardi
Back to another former manager who could be getting a call this offseason with the various managerial openings across the league.
Joe Girardi sports a fifteen-year playing career and an eleven-year managerial career. He’s taken six of those eleven teams to the playoffs and has only managed a losing season once — his first and only season with the Florida Marlins.
He won National League Manager of the Year anyways.
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Despite his accolade that season, tensions with then-owner of the franchise Jeffrey Loria led to his firing. He spent a year in broadcasting before being scooped up by the New York Yankees.
With the pinstripes, Girardi would put together a 910-710 record. He led the team to a World Series victory in 2009 — the Yankees’ last world championship.
But, as is the case with many sports figures on the east coast, the blame heavily fell on him when the Yankees were unable to repeat that kind of success in the coming years.
After finishing his final season 91-71 and being eliminated in the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros in seven games, the Yankees, somewhat surprisingly let Girardi go.
General manager Brian Cashman attributed the decision to an issue in “connectivity and communication” with the clubhouse.
There were rumors that Girardi may not have been a perfect fit with the next wave of young talent for the Bronx Bombers. There were rumors that he had issues with closer Aroldis Chapman.
There were even rumors that Yankees’ owner Hal Steinbrenner would have fired him if the New York Yankees were able to win the World Series that season.
It seems that the Yankees may have fallen victim to the expectations of their rapid fanbase and their unrealistic expectation that the franchise should only allow a Joe Torre clone to take over.
For the time being, Girardi is an analyst with MLB Network, but he’s voiced his interest in returning to the dugout.
Girardi seems like he could be a solid fit for the San Francisco Giants because he’s demonstrated success for both playoff caliber and rebuilding teams. The latter has to be a very relevant need for a young, rebuilding Giants team.
In an interview with Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports, Girardi explained why he loved the Miami clubhouse role so much.
"“You know what, I had a blast with the rebuild in Florida. The unfortunate situation is that I didn’t get to see it through. I was only there for the one year. Working with those young players was rewarding. It was exciting. It was fun to watch them understand that they did belong at that level.”"
Complaints about connectivity should be worth looking into, but it hardly seems like enough to derail some of the success Girardi has over the course of a decade as manager.
He could offer the Giants another decade of his expertise, finally getting a chance to show his ability to work with a rebuilding club.
There will likely be a number of clubs that are interested in Girardi this offseason. He interviewed for both the Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers last offseason. He’s already being linked to the possible openings in Chicago and New York — the Mets, this time, not the Yankees.
It feels like it’s only a matter of time before Joe Girardi gets his wish to become a manager again. Could it be with the San Francisco Giants? Maybe.
But it seems obvious that he didn’t get a fair look before unceremoniously being booted from the Bronx. The Bay Area should be a bit more kind.