The Girardi Era Begins, And It Will Start With Pitching

When the Yankees and Joe Torre parted ways a few weeks ago, I figured Don Mattingly would be the next Yankee manager. I felt “Donnie Baseball” would be given the job because he was Torre’s most recent bench coach, and because Mattingly would be a very popular choice --- something I thought would influence the Yankees since they received a very negative backlash when they let the popular Torre go.

Well, as we know now, Hank Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman didn’t succumb to “the most popular choice” but instead, picked the man they felt would best be able to lead a revamped Yankee team with a new organizational philosophy.

In picking Joe Girardi as manager, and telling their most potent offensive player, “see ya”, the Yankees sent a loud message to the “Yankee Universe”. The message that was sent was, pitching is going to be the top weapon of the 2008 New York Yankees.

The Yankees selected their former catcher as manager, because they wanted an experienced man to handle a staff that may feature the young arms of Job Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy. In my opinion, this is why Girardi got the job over Mattingly.

In Thursday’s press conference, Girardi said, “Pitching wins championships” and hinted he and Brian Cashman will focus on building a very solid starting staff and pen to help bring world championship #27 to this storied franchise.

If you’re a Yankee fan, you really can’t argue with the direction Girardi is planning to lead the Yankees in. The ALDS failures of 2005, 2006, and 2007 had nothing to do with clutch hitting, managerial decisions, or bugs. The Yankees failed to advance in the playoffs because Randy Johnson and Chien-Ming Wang could not get the job done in the first round. Simply put, the Yankees have been very short on quality pitching since the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Steinbrenner, Cashman, and Girardi all know this, and that’s why I feel you will see the Yankees build a team around solid pitching, and focus less on offense.

Soon, I can almost guarantee that you will hear rumors that the Yankees are in hot pursuit of

Minnesota

While we can all hope that Chamberlain, Hughes, and Kennedy can contribute greatly in next year’s rotation, we all must realize that plugging in three kids in a rotation is very risky if your goal is to win a world championship.

The Yankees need another experienced and quality starter to join Andy Pettitte and anchor this young rotation. Santana should be that guy, and the Yankees will probably pull out all the stops to acquire him.

As we know from his playing days and his experience as a Yankee bench coach, Girardi is a very well-prepared individual. I’m certain the new Yankee manager has already given Steinbrenner and Cashman some examples in how this team can improve and reach their ultimate goal.

In the next few months, I expect the Yankees to make a flurry of moves, and most of them will involve improving their pitching. Steinbrenner, Cashman, and Girardi all have the same plan. Now we will see if they can implement it successfully and ready this team for 2008.