Joe Girardi reportedly won’t return to manage Yankees

Joe Girardi reportedly will not return to the Yankees as manager in 2018.

Following a wildly successful 2017 campaign, Joe Girardi will reportedly not return as the Yankees manager in 2018. Despite bringing his team within one win of a World Series appearance, New York will not renew Girardi’s contract. Girardi is the second manager to be fired following a series loss to the Astros after the Boston Red Sox fired John Farrell.

According to David Kaplan, Girardi and the team have mutually agreed to part ways. Even though New York had a wildly successful season for a ‘rebuild year’, Girardi’s return remained a question mark until the very end. In the long run, Girardi spent 10 seasons as the Yankees manager. His four-year contract expired at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Over the course of his managerial career in New York, Girardi had his fair share of success. The 53-year-old won 910 games, losing only 710. He managed to take the Bronx Bombers to the postseason six times and won one World Series (2009). Despite his success, the Yankees front-man has only once lived up to the unwritten expectation of the franchise; win World Series trophies. A series of questionable decisions down the stretch, such as the bad managing in Game 2 of the ALDS, may have eventually cost Girardi his job.

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Quite possibly the most shocking aspect of the whole situation though is the fact the Yankees don’t have a clear cut replacement for their long-time manager. Girardi was familiar with the Yankees program and although that’s not an important check mark for most clubs, it’s a must for the Yankees job. Therefore, general manager Brian Cashman has a tough task ahead of him in replacing Girardi. The Yankees future remains unclear as it’s still early in the process. However, it’s unlikely Cashman would part ways with Girardi without having a name in mind.