Recapping Joe Girardi’s Tenure in the Bronx

The New York Yankees and Joe Girardi will no longer be a couple in 2018, the feels are real. Whether the news that Girardi would no longer be the manager of the team next season makes you feel happy, sad or indifferent the fact of the matter is this, Girardi did a great job for the Yankees during his tenure overall. Let’s take a look at that tenure here this morning.

Years: 10

Win/Loss: 910 – 710

Games Managed: 1620

Playoffs: 6

Missed Playoffs: 4

Playoff Record: 28-24

2009 World Series Champions

Three trips to the ALCS

Binders: 1

Fans Annoyed: Far too many to count

Thanks for the memories, Joe, even if they weren’t always so great. 

2018 Free Agency: Joe Girardi – Yay or Nay

Well this didn't work out, did it? I had this scheduled to post today before news broke that the New York Yankees would not be bringing back Joe Girardi for the 2018 season. Oh well. Never waste content.

The New York Yankees have a lot of decisions to make this offseason as far as personnel and players go but the team’s biggest decision this offseason may be what the organization does with their vacant managerial position. Manager Joe Girardi’s contract is up after the end of the World Series and no one knows whether to expect Joe back on the Yankee Stadium bench here in 2018. With the uncertainty facing the team’s future and with the presumable lore that is Derek Jeter and the Miami Marlins will the New York Yankees be in the search of a manager here in a couple weeks? Or should the team make it their decision to part ways? I will tell you what I think should happen as well as what I think will happen here in the post.

As unpopular of a post as this is about to be I think the Yankees should retain Joe Girardi on another three-year deal. I don’t pretend to be omnificent or all-knowing, but does anyone see a true upgrade over Girardi out there on the free agent market as far as managers go? And no, John Farrell is not a better manager than Joe Girardi is in my opinion. I just don’t see a better manager that can handle the bullpen the way Girardi does, not all the time but no one is “on” 100% of the time either, and I just don’t see a better manager that can handle a young team over Girardi. Girardi has handled a young team in Miami before and he did a bang-up job with the Baby Bombers here in 2017 as the team far exceeded expectations in every sense of the word.

Sure, Girardi may be an idiot to some and he may rely on his “binder” far too much at times but the Yankees have never had a losing record during his tenure, the team has a World Series championship and has reached the ALCS three times under his command. The players seem to rally around him and support him, Dellin Betances did so publicly lately, and I just don’t see an obvious upgrade out there to be had. For all those reasons and more though there will be teams out there wanting his services including the aforementioned Miami Marlins.

I think at the end of the day the Yankees will offer Girardi another contract, but I am torn on whether I believe he will accept it or not. The Marlins and the opportunity to manage the likes of Giancarlo Stanton may be exciting for Girardi but I am not entirely sure if Girardi is ready to start over. The Marlins don’t have the farm system the Yankees have and while they have some young talent on the team I think the Yankees are just a better fit right now. At the end of the day I think the Yankees will offer Girardi a three-year deal while the Marlins may offer more but I truly think Joe stays in the Bronx for at least three more seasons, and I am totally okay with that. 

Apple Watches, Cheating and the Evil Empire

Dammit, why didn’t we think of that? The word “that” is in reference to the Boston Red Sox using an Apple Watch to steal signs from not only the New York Yankees but from other teams as well over the course of the 2017 season. Stealing signs have been around since baseball and giving signs have been around and while it technically may not be against the rules (unless you use electronic devices to do so of course which Boston did) it can be a shady thing to do. To be fair I’m sure the Yankees have done their fair share of it, there were always those allegations that Derek Jeter received signs and pitch tipping from some random guy out in center field which I never truly believed, but this is a Yankees-themed site and it was the Boston Red Sox who did it to New York so of course I’m going to talk about it. Here are my thoughts on the whole debacle. 

I will say that I think it’s great that Boston fessed up to the league about it, honesty goes a long way with me, but I am not so sure that manager John Farrell didn’t know about it like they stated. Sure, I’d buy that Dave Dombrowski and other team executives didn’t know about it but I find it highly unlikely that the manager had no idea what was going on here. Rob Manfred says a penalty is coming and I am interested to see what kind of penalty the league will lay down on Boston for this offense. I mean, what can they do? Fine them? Money is a drop in a bucket to a Major League team. They can’t reverse the outcome of games and they aren’t going to make the team postseason ineligible or anything drastic like that so what could they do? I’m not so sure but I’m not expecting much to be honest.  

Will the league follow what the NFL did when the New England Patriots got caught cheating in “Deflategate” and suspend a player for a huge chunk of the season? Tom Brady was suspended four games, or one-fourth of the NFL regular season, after cheating in the 2015 AFC Championship game while the team was also docked a first-round draft pick so maybe something along these lines could happen to the Red Sox for this scandal. I’m thinking the punishment will be more like “Spygate” though, you know that other time a Boston-area team got caught cheating, when the team was docked a 2008 draft pick in the first round while the coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 after filming Jets coaches signals during a 2007 game.  

So what are my thoughts? To hell with the Red Sox. Dock them five-or-ten games and let the Yankees win the division. I’m being a bit extreme and a tad bit sarcastic but honestly something major has to be done. You have executives from teams being charged with hacking other team’s personal files and databases and now there are reports of teams using electronic devices to steal signs. Where does it stop, and more importantly when does it stop? It stops when the league stops it so no pressure, but the future of the game is riding on this decision. A slap on the wrist encourages more cheating but a stern and strong hand nips it in the bud. Stay tuned to see which one we’ll be talking about when the league drops their decision on the Boston Red Sox. 

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait...

Credit:  Rich Gagnon-Getty Images

Yankees 4, Red Sox 1…

What started out as a nice afternoon game in Boston turned out to be an extended night game as the Yankees outlasted the Red Sox.  Chris Sale, with a career ERA of 1.17 against the Yankees, was outstanding on Saturday which generally does not bode well for our guys.  Fortunately, Luis Severino was up to the task and kept the Yankees in the game, setting the stage for late inning heroics.  

Credit:  Associated Press

The Red Sox scored the first run in the 3rd inning.  With one out, Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia both walked to put runners at first and second.  Xander Bogaerts hit an infield roller to third that Chase Headley scooped up, looked to first and then turned around and threw too late to shortstop Ronald Torreyes, covering at third.  Everyone was safe.  Mitch Moreland then lofted a deep fly to left and Betts easily ran home for the game’s first run.  Hanley Ramirez could have done more damage but Severino got him on a line out to Chase Headley to end the threat.  

The Yankees only managed three hits off Chris Sale, which included two doubles, but they were unable to push any runs across the plate.  Sale went into the 8th inning, getting Ronald Torreyes to ground out before Brett Gardner singled to right.  Sale then got Gary Sanchez to go down swinging, but with 118 pitches thrown (and 13 strikeouts), the Sox made the call to closer Craig Kimbrel.  Aaron Judge flied out to right to end the top half of the inning.  

In the bottom of the 8th, the Yankees brought in Tyler Clippard (Yikes!) to replace Luis Severino.  Tzu-Wei Lin promptly singled to center and I had a sinking feeling of “here we go again”.  It didn’t help when the count rose to 3-0 on the next batter, Mookie Betts, but on a full count, Betts popped out to short.  Lin then got a great jump on a steal attempt and was sliding past second baseman Starlin Castro who stayed with the play and took the throw from Gary Sanchez to catch Lin on the foot before his hands reached second base.  The Red Sox challenged the play but the call on the field was upheld (rightfully so).  So good to have Castro back at second.  Dustin Pedroia lined out and Clippard was able to leave the field with his head held high.  

For his Red Sox career, Craig Kimbrel was 30-for-30 in save opportunities as he took the mound in the 9th.  A good point was made during the FOX TV telecast by A.J. Pierzynski with the four-out save attempt.  Aaron Judge, despite the fly out to end the top of the 8th, extended the at-bat which forced Kimbrel to throw 10 pitches.  It’s not often that he throws that many pitches before having to sit and come back out again.  It would be a foretelling comment as Matt Holliday greeted Kimbrel with a game-tying, save-blowing home run to left center over the Green Monster to open the inning. 

Credit:  John Wilcox-Boston Herald

Starlin Castro subsequently reached base when first baseman Mitch Moreland was pulled off the base on an errant throw from Xander Bogaerts and pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second, just beating the tag by Bogaerts.  But Ellsbury was left stranded when Kimbrel proceeded to strike out the side.  The bottom of the 9th brought in Dellin Betances who seems to have left his control problems behind him.  He easily retired the three batters he faced and the game headed into extra innings.

The Red Sox looked like they were in position for the walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th.  Chasen Shreve had been brought in to replace Betances, and he gave up singles to Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley, Jr to put a runner in scoring position with no outs.  It was a little surprising that Benintendi didn’t try to run for third on JBJ’s hit, but thankfully he did not.  Girardi wasted no time in giving Shreve the hook and brought in Adam Warren.  Warren, proving how much he means to this team, retired the three batters he faced, leaving Benintendi stranded at second.  Had Benintendi been on third, he most likely would have scored the winning run when Tzu-Wei Lin flied out to Aaron Judge for the second out against Warren.  

The 11th inning brought an unusual play that resulted in a game protest by Red Sox manager John Farrell.  Matt Holliday walked to open the inning.  Jacoby Ellsbury then hit a grounder to first, and Mitch Moreland threw the ball to Xander Bogaerts for the force out at second.  But Matt Holliday, as we later found out, mistakenly thought that Moreland had stepped on first to retire Ellsbury (he had not) and turned to dive back toward first base.  Bogaerts threw the ball back to Moreland but it glanced off Ellsbury’s leg since Holliday was in Moreland’s way, leaving Ellsbury safe at first.  Farrell argued unsuccessfully that it should have been called a double play due to interference. Despite the 4 minute, 50 second delay, it didn’t really matter as neither Chase Headley nor Didi Gregorius were able to advance Ellsbury from first.

Credit:  John Wilcox-Boston Herald

From there it was a battle of the bullpens until the top of the 16th inning with Boston’s Doug Fister pitching.  Jacoby Ellsbury doubled to left  and Chase Headley singled to center to put runners at the corners with no outs.  Didi Gregorius singled to center which scored Ellsbury with the go-ahead run.  Austin Romine followed with a single to center, scoring Headley while Gregorius took second.  Ronald Torreyes successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third.  Gary Sanchez hit a sac fly to left, scoring Gregorius with an insurance run as the Yankees took a 4-1 lead. 

Credit:  John Wilcox-Boston Herald

Ben Heller (1-0), who had replaced Aroldis Chapman in the 15th inning, retired Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, and Mitch Moreland to win the game for the Yankees.  

Credit:  Michael Dwyer-Associated Press

It was a very long game (5 hours and 50 minutes) but perseverance paid off as the Yankees eventually pulled out the win.  I can’t say enough about the tremendous performance by Luis Severino.  It was the key to the game, along with the dramatic home run by Matt Holliday in the 9th which gave Craig Kimbrel his first blown save at Fenway Park in a Red Sox uniform.  Considering today’s double-header, it is amazing to think the Yankees will have played at least 34 innings in 24 hours by the end of the day.  

The Yankees (46-42) remain in third place in the AL East standings but moved 3 1/2 games behind the Red Sox.  The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Los Angeles Angels again, 6-3, to move 2 1/2 games behind Boston.  

New Yankees first baseman Garrett Cooper had another unsuccessful day at the plate before he was lifted from the game.  He was 0-for-3, with two strikeouts.  Aaron Judge may have been 0-for-6 but I’d still go back to his extended at-bat against Craig Kimbrel in the bottom of the 8th as a key factor for Holliday’s 9th inning home run.

A long hard day but it’s so much better to walk off the field with a win.

Odds & Ends…

Michael Pineda will meet with Dr Timothy Kremchek, an orthopaedic surgeon, in Cincinnati, Ohio on Monday for a second opinion.  Dr Kremchek is the medical director for the Cincinnati Reds.  If Tommy John surgery is needed (as expected), the procedure could be performed as early as Tuesday.  

CC Sabathia will start Game 1 of today’s double-header in place of Bryan Mitchell.  In a flurry of roster moves today, the Yankees recalled RHP Domingo German and added LHP Caleb Smith to the 25-man roster.  Relievers Ben Heller and Jonathan Holder, both of whom would have been unavailable today after yesterday’s game, were optioned to Triple A.  Michael Pineda was moved to the 60-day DL with his right UCL injury and RHP Bryan Mitchell was added as the “26th man”.  

Prior to yesterday’s game, the Yankees activated Starlin Castro and optioned Tyler Wade to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  

I am not sure why it took so long but Manager Joe Girardi has finally said that Tyler Clippard is no longer the “7th inning” guy.  Adam Warren and Chad Green will take over the duties of setting up Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman.  Good move.  Warren and Green have both been outstanding in recent weeks while the bullpen overall as struggled.  

Chance Adams had his latest start for the RailRiders yesterday.  While he did limit the Buffalo Bisons to two hits and one run in 4 2/3 innings, he walked four batters.  It is the command issues that are holding Adams back at this point (along with the development of his third pitch) so yesterday was not a positive outcome.  Adams did not factor into the decision as the RailRiders defeated the Bisons, 2-1.  Miguel Andujar was the hitting star.  He was 2-for-3 and provided the eventual margin of victory with a run-scoring single in the 7th inning.

Have a great Sunday!  In honor of the double-header, let’s have twice the fun!  Let’s Go Yankees!

Does the Rivalry Need a Spark?

Earlier in the day when I wrote up my game preview I mentioned that the rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox hasn’t been much of a rivalry in recent years. Aside from one trip to the World Series the Boston Red Sox have been cell dwellers in the American League East while the reign at the top by the Yankees has come to a screeching halt since Hal Steinbrenner has taken over the team. We thought we would see more of the rivalry after the Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz bro-code breakup but they have since kissed and made up leaving the fans wanting more. Wanting more of a rivalry. Does this rivalry need a spark?

To answer the question simply, yes. While the rivalry will always be a thing with the fans and with the broadcasters on both ESPN and MLB Network they do that so you will tune in or because someone writes their lines for them. The rivalry between the players is just not there anymore. I can’t think of off the top of my head one player I truly hate on the current Red Sox roster and I can’t think of any bad blood or anything between any current Red Sox player and Yankees player. In fact I have a ton of respect for the likes of Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and especially for their manager John Farrell. Both teams have so many new faces and so many young guys though that there hasn’t been enough time to truly brew a true rivalry.

With free agency the rivalry sees new faces in different places all the time and the new guys to see the rivalry this time around most notably are Starlin Castro for the Yankees and tomorrow night’s starter David Price for the Red Sox. Luckily for the Red Sox and luckily for the rivalry Price is the kind of personality and the kind of pitcher that could easily spark the rivalry. Price is not the hot head pitcher that will throw at Yankees batters like Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira but he’s a competitor and a little loose with his lips in some of his interviews. That’s the kind of electric personality that sparks the rivalry not only with the fans but with the players as well.

So how do you spark a rivalry or rekindle a flame that has been lit for close to 100 years? Well besides Michael Pineda throwing at David Ortiz’s head tonight in the contest the best way to do it is for both teams to rebuild and win consistently. The Yankees are in the middle of their rebuild on the fly while the Red Sox are nearing the finish line on theirs in my opinion. The Red Sox have assembles quite the impressive cast of players on the positional side of things but the starting pitching and bullpen is still lacking while the Yankees are stockpiling young talent and a basketball team worth of pitchers on the other side of the equation.

So in a nutshell, yes this rivalry needs a spark and it needs a spark in a big way. No longer do the games last over four hours and no longer do the casual fans care about these games broadcasted on Saturday or Sunday nights. It’s just another game for most until Dellin Betances blows a 100 MPH fastball by David Ortiz in the ALCS or until New York can avenge their 2004 collapse in the playoffs where the World Series got cancelled all because the Yankees got up 3-0 in the series. The Yankees and Red Sox rivalry hasn’t been a true rivalry since then and it won’t be until they are both power houses once again like they were in the late 90’s and 2000’s. 

Nick Cafardo Ranks All 30 MLB Managers

For the write-ups and explanations click HERE to read the original article:

1. Joe Maddon - Cubs
2. Bruce Bochy - Giants
3. Buck Showalter - Orioles
4. Terry Francona - Indians

5. Joe Girardi - Yankees

There’s nothing like managing in New York, and Girardi doesn’t get enough credit for what he does with the egos, the aging roster, and the market. He puts team first, and egos are checked at the door. His handling of Alex Rodriguez last season, in what could have been a trying situation, was masterful. Managing through many pitching injuries and still getting the Yankees to the playoffs is also worthy of mention.

6. Clint Hurdle - Pirates
7. Terry Collins - Mets
8. Ned Yost - Royals
9. Mike Matheny - Cardinals
10. John Gibbons - Blue Jays
11. Mike Scioscia - Angels
12. Bob Melvin - Athletics
13. Dusty Baker - Nationals
14. John Farrell - Red Sox
15. Don Mattingly - Marlins
16. Jeff Banister - Rangers
17. AJ Hinch - Astros
18. Paul Molitor - Twins
19. Kevin Cash - Rays
20. Brad Ausmus - Tigers
21. Pete Mackanin - Phillies
22. Fredi Gonzalez - Braves
23. Robin Ventura - White Sox
24. Chip Hale - Diamondbacks
25. Craig Counsell - Brewers
26. Bryan Price - Reds
27. Walt Weiss - Rockies
28. Dave Roberts - Dodgers
29. Scott Servais - Mariners
30. Andy Green - Padres

Thoughts & Prayers Go Out to John Farrell

I'm a little late to the show here, and for that I apologize, but I wanted to announce that our thoughts and prayers here at The Greedy Pinstripes go out to the manager of the Boston Red Sox, John Farrell. Farrell was diagnosed with Stage I lymphoma that will require chemotherapy. Bench coach Torey Lovullo will manage the last place Boston Red Sox for the remainder of the season. The cancer was diagnosed and found when Farrell was undergoing surgery to repair a hernia.

Farrell has been the manager of the Red Sox since the 2013 season including one World Series victory and is expected to be back with Boston after his nine-week chemotherapy concludes. Once again our thoughts and prayers go out to Farrell. Rivalry or not, cancer sucks.

Girardi: Betances Should've Pitched in All Star Game

After Tuesday's All Star Game concluded without Yankees Reliever Dellin Betances ever getting a chance to pitch, the youngster made sure the media knew that he wasn't upset about what transpired.

The 26-year-old rookie, currently 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA, was the only non-starter on the AL team who wasn't used, an unlucky happening you'd expect to at least frustrate him.

However, so far that doesn't appear to be the case, although his Manager Joe Girardi has now come out and claimed that all players on the roster should play, an opinion he recently revealed to The Star Ledger's Kevin Manahan.

"I would have liked to have seen him get in," Girardi said Saturday. "Obviously, you don't want to see him go two or three innings, but I understand that. You have to hold somebody back. That's why I talk about if you go, you should get a chance to play in the game. I really do. But that is not the way it is."

In the Mid Summer Classic's top of the ninth, Red Sox Manager John Farrell put in Twins' Closer Glen Perkins to finish things, even allowing him to get three outs. 

Now while Farrell's wanting to please the home crowd here is understandable, letting one man go a full inning is not exactly common, making Girardi's argument legitimate.

It would've been easy for Farell to let Betances face a hitter in that last frame, but instead the former seemed to be more concerned with a perfect ending, something most competitive sports simply aren't about.

Betances Not Upset That He Didn't Get to Pitch in the ASG

When an underrated rookie like Dellin Betances makes the All Star Game, it's not unreasonable to believe that he should get a chance to pitch. 

Betances, a 26-year-old prospect who was originally expected to start during his big league career, has put together a 4-0 record and a 1.46 ERA so far in 2014, stats that only get better when you consider that 84 (50.6%) of the 166 outs he's recorded have come via the strikeout.

Still, during last night's Mid-Summer Classic Red Sox Manager John Farrell decided not to use the youngster, something that apparently doesn't bother him, with the Yanks' prized right-hander saying afterwards that he enjoyed the experience despite not getting to pitch. 

"I would have loved to pitch, but I enjoyed it," Betances told Newsday's Erik Boland. "Next year hopefully if things go my way, hopefully I get to participate again."

In the contest's ninth inning, in order to please the home crowd, the aforementioned Farrell allowed Twins' Reliever Glen Perkins to end things, an act that probably didn't need to happen.

Yes, Perkins should've been able to finish the ballgame, but since he was just one of two non-starters to get more than two outs on the night you have to wonder if letting him throw for that long was necessary, as Betances as well as Toronto's Mark Buehrle were still eligible to contribute. 

MLB Replay Blows A Call, Boston Goes Crying To Bud

Can the Boston Red Sox please lose a game to the New York Yankees without Major League Baseball looking into it? Please? Just one? First we had Michael Pineda and "Pine Tar Gate" on Thursday night and then Saturday night MLB and their shiny new replay system proved it wasn't perfect, imagine that, blowing kind of an obvious call.

Dean Anna is the Yankee on base with his foot above the bag and the glove and tag on his back after hitting what was called and "confirmed" as a double and not a single and an out. Xander Bogaerts had Anna out and Boston's manager John Farrell challenged the play and the call on the field was upheld giving Anna the extra base hit.

Thankfully the call had no bearing on the outcome of the game or I would be posting that Heath Ledger meme as The Joker saying something along the lines of "MLB Replay makes a mistake and the baseball world loses it's mind."

You wanna hear the best part about the whole ordeal? All that fancy technology in that fancy command center in New York did not have access to the same angle that the fans and the viewers on television had and MLB even admitted it. We all knew this was not going to be perfect but that just sounds like a broken system to me. Somehow this is Alex Rodriguez's fault, I'm sure of it, he has been too quiet.

MLB did not have immediate access to conclusive angle on Anna play at second. Acknowledges that call should have been made differently.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 12, 2014

Francisco Cervelli Leaves In 4th Inning w/ Hamstring Injury

UPDATE:

Joe Girardi confirms that Cervelli has a hamstring injury.

Francisco Cervelli has left in the fourth inning of the Yankees and Red Sox game with an undisclosed injury. Cervelli was part of an instant replay where he was safe and originally called out, instant replay overturned the rule and Red Sox manager John Farrell was ejected from the game. When details are released about Cervelli's injury we will bring them to you, stay tuned.