His New York Yankees are up 2-0 over the Twins in the ALDS, but there remains uncertainty whether manager Joe Girardi, who is in the final year of his contract, will return to the Yankees next year. But even if he departs, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that he’ll be coming to manage the Chicago Cubs.
As the Yankees worked out to face the Twins in their American League Division Series, I polled a dozen people who either work for the Yankees or deal with them on a regular basis.
Asked to rate the chances Girardi will change jobs after the playoffs on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being the least chance, the New York insiders gave replies ranging from a -1 to a 3.5.
“The door’s open,” one said, “but just a crack.”
None among those surveyed thinks there is even a 50-50 chance Girardi is sufficiently weary of New York and all that life there entails to pull the plug. That could change if something goes very bad against the Twins, but one person close to the Yankees’ brain trust offered a take that must be the worst fear for anyone who covets Girardi in the Cubs’ dugout.
“If he does go somewhere, it won’t be (to Chicago),” he said. Chicago Tribune.
As discussed previously, the Cubs seem content to wait on Girardi’s Yankees so that they have the opportunity to kick the tires on the former Cub. Still, while it is unlikely that the Cubs’ apparent top two choices – Mike Quade and Ryne Sandberg – will be jetting off to somewhere else any time soon (or, that is, before they know whether they’re getting the Cubs’ job), if the Cubs sense that Girardi is not going to happen, they may just have to go ahead and make a decision. The longer they wait, the more they suggest that Quade/Sandberg are mere fall-back options.