Girardi: Next year will be different

From Kevin Kernan:

"I think every experience you go through in life has a chance to make you better if you evaluate it correctly," Girardi noted. "I have learned from my experiences."

"He's definitely adjusting," Damon said. "In Florida he had a whole bunch of little kids. He's finding his way around with us veteran guys. I like the way he manages; the game's not too fast for him. He has a game plan, and that's a start; unfortunately, the horses didn't come through for him this year. He mixed and matched as well as he could. I like him at the post.

"I hope we can go out and get some big players in the free-agent market to see what he can really do."

"Sometimes what you see from me is not necessarily what everybody else sees," he said. "There are times you have discussions that are right to the point. But it's important that you believe in your players, and I believe in our guys."

"I like writing things down," he explained, offering a fascinating look into his world. "I write things down about people, about myself, and then you reflect on that all winter long. Take that into the next spring training and there are things that you will use and there are things you won't use because there is no doubt about it, the makeup of the team is going to be different whether it's one guy or five guys, seven or eight guys. It's going to be different next year."

Bet the over. The Yankees will make significant changes.

Asked about the Yankees' running game or lack of it, Girardi said he was able to implement such a style "with the parts that we had." That's a telling comment.

Some pinstriped parts will change. Girardi should make changes for the better, too. The talk is all about change. Sounds like politics. In this case change is good because standings never lie.

Yesterday I wrote that I felt Girardi was feeling his way through this first season in New York, and that's why we may not have seen the real Girardi. I also said I think he will be very different next season. It would appear that Girardi feels the same way. I hope we're both right.