The New York Yankees will miss the playoffs this season for the second time in six years under manager Joe Girardi and with the season wrapping up and the team out of the postseason, the questions are starting early about the offseason and the future of the team.
Questions about Girardi are starting to come up now that missing the postseason is certain, while questions about Alex Rodriguez have been lingering since he was handed a 211-game suspension and now his appeal is upcoming. The Yankees likely want to keep Girardi, but if he decides to speak with some other teams like a free agent, someone like the Washington Nationals or his home-state Chicago Cubs could make an offer he can't refuse.
Girardi has one of the toughest and easiest jobs in baseball, as he deals with a media spotlight like no other, but he also has the highest payroll in the game most of the time. The manager of the Yankees is probably the most thankless job in baseball, since when the team is good it usually is said that the payroll and the prestige are the reason, but when things go badly, it is the manager who gets the blame. Girardi has done a good job this season and during his career in the Bronx and this season was particularly good, as he patched together lineups every day that the Yankees never thought they would be using.
The Yankees had a rough season from the start with injuries, including ones lingering from last year and the offseason with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, along with Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Travis Hafner and Francisco Cervelli, leaving them with a rag tag bunch of stars and veterans. Girardi has proven to be a good match with the New York media and he already has a World Series to his name, but we've seen how these negotiations can go, just look back to what happened with Derek Jeter when he had to sign a new deal.
The best options for Girardi would likely be the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs, who each could have openings this offseason. The Cubs have been mum on Dale Sveum and his future and Davey Johnson could be gone after the Nationals had a disappointing year after previously winning the division. Buster Olney reported that Sveum might be on his way out since Theo Epstein has not been happy with the way Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and Jeff Samardzija have been developing this season. Either way, the Cubs could be interesting since that is where Girardi is from and with a WS title and a previous manager of the year award to his name, he could be a hot commodity.
