Klapisch: Clock Ticking on Girardi

From Bob Klapisch:

Sooner or later, the Yankee manager will have to answer for his team's lackluster play; they're 0-23 when trailing after the seventh inning. If this were Year 2 of Girardi's administration instead of Year 1, the sweat already would be gathering on his forehead. Lucky for him that the post-Joe Torre era is in its infancy, and that Girardi was hand-picked by Hank Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman. But the landscape figures to change dramatically by 2009 when Girardi's warranty officially expires.

By next year, he'll be expected to be firmer, more authoritative, more in command of his own clubhouse. So far Girardi has been virtually invisible. One Yankee insider says the manager has been intimidated by the might of the team's corporate machine — in other words, Steinbrenner. The source said, "This isn't the way Joe managed [the Marlins]. It's like he's running scared now, trying to please everyone, always trying to say the right thing."

Girardi is going to have to find a way to restore both Kennedy's and Hughes' confidence after Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina are gone. The manager will have an even bigger problem getting Derek Jeter to loosen his tentacles around shortstop. If the captain refuses to gracefully surrender the position in the next 2-3 years, Girardi's response – or lack of it - could make or break his career in the Bronx. And we'll see how the manager handles the bellicose Steinbrenner. The players will be able to judge for themselves whose side Girardi is really on.

For all of Torre's faults in his final two years in pinstripes, it's nevertheless true that he kept the clubhouse insulated from controversy, including the ones that started in Tampa. You could feel Torre's presence in the room; he didn't even have to say a word.

Girardi has yet to make such an imprint. True, it's still early, and he gets a free pass in 2008. ... But no grace period lasts forever in the Yankee universe. If the Yankees are loitering at .500 midway through 2009, Girardi may not be hearing little voices, but he'll find it impossible to ignore the ticking clock.

A couple things: He needs to be "firmer, more authoritative, more in command of his own clubhouse" now, and not wait till next year to do it. I also don't think he's done a very good job, the only major impact he's made, from what I can see, is removing candy bars from the locker room.

Besides that, like the article says, he has been invisible, and he certainly wasn't hired to be invisible. He was supposed to be a great baseball mind, who would bring energy back to the team - a mix of Joe Torre and Billy Martin, Hank Steinbrenner said. When he was in the broadcast booth he certainly sounded like he knew his stuff, but maybe Klapisch's source is right, and he's "running scared." If true, that needs to change very, very soon.

If you had to grade Girardi's performance so far, what would you give him?