Jon Heyman spoke with Mike Francesa today on WFAN and had some very interesting things to say about Joe Girardi and his relationships with his players.
Heyman thinks that Yankee players are not big fans of Girardi, and that they think he has communication issues. He also said that he believes the "old guard," including Mariano and Jeter also had a problem with Girardi. He believes this is a big problem and that Girardi better change things or else next year could be even worse for him than this one was.
Kim Jones was also in the studio for the interview and she agreed with pretty much everything Heyman said. Like Heyman she believes it's a problem and she says the most concerning part is that players who really liked him at the beginning of the season cooled on him as the year went on. She also doesn't know if Joe Girardi is aware of these problems because he's so optimistic and sees everything through rose-colored glasses.
You can listen to the entire interview here.
Peter Abraham posted something about this on his blog, and I'd suggest you all read his post before commenting or coming to any conclusions on the Heyman interview. Peter agreed with Heyman too, and added a little insight of his own.
If what Heyman, Jones, and Abraham are saying is true, than the Yankees might really have a problem on their hands with Girardi. Hopefully, for the sake of the Yankees and their fans Girardi will learn from his mistakes and take a new approach into next season. From everything I've seen from him he seems like someone who can chance, and I'm confident that he will. Then again, maybe I'm just looking at this through rose-colored glasses.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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16 Comments:
shit happens when you're not winning
That is true, but I can't remember any of this happening when the '05 or '07 Yankees stumbled their way through those seasons.
By banning candy and ice cream in the club house, Joe G treated his superstar players like a bunch of stupid kindergarten kids who don't know what's good for them.
I guess that's the least efficient way in the world to make famous and successful pro athletes respect you.
These multi-millionaires need to go to Girardi and tell them how they feel. If Girardi is sitting there and telling these guys he doesn't want to hear it, then there's a HUGE problem.
But if Mo is sitting there "furious for much of the season about a lack of accountability," and Posada is upset that the media is being told one thing about his shoulder when another thing is true, get off your chicken-sh** butt and talk to him about it. And if he won't listen, talk to Cashman about it.
If what Abraham says is true, and these guys are biting their toungues all year as a 2nd year manager fails in certain regards, they have themselves to blame.
Just because these guys had 14 years to get used to Torre doesn't excuse them from blaming Girardi when Cano doesn't get punished or reprimanded. While I 100% believe that this team didn't appear to have enough fire lit under their butts, perhaps Girardi didn't want to rock the boat in that regard in his first Yankee season. It's up to the players to grow some testicles and walk into Girardi's office and tell him that he's going to easy on some players, or whatever.
So yeah, I blame Girardi for a lot, and I was expecting him to run a tight ship and it looks like the exact opposite happened. Perhaps he was trying to hard to ease the transition from Torre instead of just being himself. Maybe that was part of the problem.
Any time a guy tries to be someone other than themselves they become very unpredictable, and an unpredictable leader can screw guys up.
If that's what happened, hopefully Girardi will forget about trying to please everyone and just be himself. Perhaps the lines of communication will be better when players know what to expect on a day to day basis.
I'm not mad about a manager who manages him team to 89 wins in a season.
If Girardi's "boot camp" were the cause of injuries, and his "communication issues" made players like A-Rod and Giambi hit .200 with RISP, and Jeter hit into more double plays than anyone, then I would be worried.
They didn't hire Girardi to be an "Accomodator" or "Team friend", he's the manager, players shouldn't be buddy buddy with him. If the Yankees can't come to accept a new manager and yearn for "Mr. T", they should grow up.
Well said Joe, and one would think that if players like Jeter and Mariano had a problem with Girardi they woul've gone to Cashman and the boss about it and one way or the other it would've come out during the season.
It is becoming clear that no matter how nice of a guy Joe may be or how much potential he has to be a good manager someday, that this job was too much too soon for his lack of experience. If it is true that he's forcing Pena out then there is a real problem because he is the only coach there with real experience coaching under the pressure of coaching in this city. Perhaps letting him name all his own coaches to replace Torre's departing guys was also a mistake and some more veteran types should have been place on his staff.
Hey guys, I am wondering if anyone has caught wind of an ultimate Yankee fan package being sold in honor of the team's last game at the stadium? My husband is a huge Yankees fan and he heard you can buy your own minute from the game and the package comes with all this fantastic stuff in it. Anyhow, I think it would be a neat gift, but I am having a hard time finding more info about it on the Web.
This is a big problem and I may even make the change now. I like Joe as a human being but he does not seem to cut it as the manager. I think Tony Pena should be the manager. Not just because he is well respected in the clubhouse but because his style of managing in KC would help the Yankees chances of winning next year. We need to play like we are young, fast, and loose.
francesca know nothing about coaching.He should stick to his bad radio show
Joe,
It's not about a 89 win team, or players taking the initiative to go talk to a manager. A manager is supposed to manage, be the leader of this team, and to communicate with his players.
We shouldn't short-change how important it is for a manager to communicate with his players.
Also we don't know what was said between players and the GM/owners, but that's another thing managers are supposed to be there for; for players to voice their concerns about the team.
Another thing that bothered me from the Abraham post is that Girardi didn't give Tony Pena the same respect as he did "his coaches." Everyone on the staff has to be "his coach."
Danny,
I think you said it best when you said "It is becoming clear that no matter how nice of a guy Joe may be or how much potential he has to be a good manager someday, that this job was too much too soon for his lack of experience."
To me, this hit the nail on the head.
Cass,
I wasn't able to find anything about that. I'll keep looking and if I find out anything I'll let you know.
Good points, Greg!
The thing that bothers me the most about this issue is that it seems Girardi might have it in for Tony Pena. I wonder if Girardi sees him as a potential "competitor" for the managers job? I'll admit that I think Pena would make a pretty good manager and that I wouldn't be upset at all if he were one day given the job.
As this season unfolded I told a bunch a friends that I'd have no problem giving Gerardi one more year to see if he can prove himself a winner (of course, he might only be as good as the players given to him). I'll stick to that, but the stories above sure have me thinking....
Mike
I think Joe had nothing to do with the yankee problems this season. We just had bad pitching and our offense was up and down this season.
Joe G IS the manager.
So he has everything to do with his team's bad pitching and lousy offence.
It is his job to FIX all these problems and he fails.
Thats also true.
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