Just a couple of days removed from the official end of the 2007 season, teams are already putting plans together for 2008 and beyond.
Following several days of speculation, Joe Giradi was officially named as the new manager of the New York Yankees. After Joe Torre’s twelve-year reign in the Bronx, seeing a new guy in the dugout will be strange. Perhaps appointing another ‘Joe’ will make the transition easier?
That transition may be Giradi’s biggest hurdle. When the previous manager has been with a team for such a long period, the successor can often find it difficult to prosper under their shadow. In football, Sammy Lee didn’t last long at Bolton following Sam Allardyce’s tenure in charge, and a combination of Ian Dowie, Les Reed and Alan Pardew helped to relegate Charlton once Alan Curbishley decided to move on. It’s essential for a new manager to stamp his own authority on the team, but this takes time and that’s one thing that is often in short supply.
Giradi has a head-start owing to his previous involvement with the Yankees as a player and more recently as a commentator with the YES Network. The other two candidates for the post, Mattingly and Pena, were part of the Yankees’ coaching staff last season, so the owners clearly wanted to keep it ‘within the family’. Only time will tell whether that’s a help or a hindrance. Maybe a clean sweep, particularly with the possible player changes that may take place this off-season, would have been beneficial? We shall see.
Mattingly has announced that he will not be returning to the Yankees in a coaching capacity and rumours are already swirling that he may soon be wearing a different MLB uniform for the first time in his career. Joe Torre was already being linked with an immediate return to the Majors as manager of the Dodgers even before Grady Little was given the boot yesterday. Reports today indicate that a deal is very close and it’s likely that Torre will be officially confirmed as the Dodgers’ new manager over the next couple of days. Mattingly is one of several former colleagues who Torre will allegedly try to get on his coaching staff. One of the most intriguing would be his hitting coach in 2007, Kevin Long, who is apparently very highly rated by a certain free agent. The Dodgers are one of the teams who look like being a possible home for A-Rod, and a familiar coaching staff may push them forward in the running.
I don’t think it’s any surprise that Torre is jumping straight back on the saddle. He was clearly hurt by the way the Yankees dealt with his situation and he could prove to be a tremendous asset for the Dodgers, especially if he has an extra bit of fire in his belly produced by wanting to prove the Steinbrenners wrong. Whether Grady Little will get another shot at managing in the Big Leagues is more questionable.
Elsewhere, two veteran pitchers have made their futures a little clearer. Andy Pettitte says it’s Yankees or retirement in 2008, while Curt Schilling has posted a story on his blog about filling for free agency in which he lists the teams he would consider joining if he doesn’t return to Boston. Mike Cameron is going to have a late debut for whichever team he joins during the off-season though. He’s received a twenty-five game ban for testing positive for a banned stimulant.
Oh, and the Cardinals are expected to announce John Mozeliak as their new GM today. Mozeliak was Walt Jocketty’s assistant for five years in St Louis and has been serving as the interim GM. Just like the Yankees, the Cardinals are hoping continuity is the best way to move their organization forward. Continuity seems to be an alien concept everywhere else in MLB right now. There’s already been a whole heap of personnel changes over the last three months or so and that trend is only going to continue over the coming months.
Lots to keep up with, lots to comment upon, and lots to gossip about. The Hot Stove is officially bubbling along nicely.
