There's a lot to discuss in Yankeeland these days. A great deal of turnover and change, with more to come. Like many Yankee fans, I was sorry to see Joe Torre go, and especially in such sloppy fashion. Now the team seems to have bungled contract negotiations with his replacement, Joe Girardi, but this might just have been unavoidable, and a deal will surely be completed. Girardi was a gamer as a player, he had the respect of his teammates, and had his moments of genuine Pinstripe glory. Most of us are familiar with the resume. It's said that he understands baseball's New Math but has not thrown out the lessons of the Old School. That makes him, in theory, an ideal skipper. I worry a bit about his NL pedigree; I hope the Yankees, now having lost their biggest bat, aren't transformed into some kind of more-patient Angels. But we shall see. Girardi has yet to sign on the dotted line, and once he does he'll have to remake the Yankee coaching staff (look for Dave Eiland as the new pitching coach). Given the circumstances, I suspect he will be given considerable leeway on the field as he eases into his job—obviously, he and Cashman have a healthy rapport. Even the tabs might cut him some slack. A manager is only as good as his players, and we really don't know what the Yankee roster is going to look like right now. As for Joe Torre, I'm surprised at the rumors he'll be moving all the way across country to take over the Dodgers, but it's not the first time a Brooklyn-bred baseball operation has headed out to Los Angeles. Don Mattingly's son is in the Dodger system; perhaps he will become the heir apparent there, and maybe, in the end, it will be a better situation for him. More on Mattingly later.
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