The New and Improved Joe Girardi

From Peter Abraham:

Months before his star player admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, Joe Girardi knew he had to change his approach to remain the manager of the Yankees beyond this season. The controversy surrounding Alex Rodriguez only served to underscore that point in his mind.

Girardi approached the Yankees last season like one of the industrial engineering assignments he undertook as a student at Northwestern. If he applied enough of his own hard work and logic to whatever issue came up, he would find the solution. But those pesky variables, other people, kept getting in the way.

Eight days into his second spring training with the Yankees is not enough time to determine whether Girardi truly has changed the methods that led to the reconfiguration of his coaching staff, tension in the clubhouse, and a fractured relationship with the reporters who cover the team. But his reaction to the Rodriguez scandal reveals a man willing to change.

"Joe is Joe; you can't change your personality. But I think he has learned that sometimes you have to spend your time in different ways," said Tony Pena, Girardi's new bench coach. "I see him doing things he didn't do last year, making those gestures. It's good."

"Every manager has so much they want to accomplish in their first year, but then you realize you can rely on other people," Pena said. "Joe knows that now. You need to find that balance."

During an interview in his office at Steinbrenner Field, Girardi was quick to agree with that premise.

"Oh, sure, I have to do a better job of that. It can't be all managing the game. I have to improve the relationships, and finding that balance has to happen every single day," he said.

Girardi also ended the season knowing his personal connection to the players had to be stronger.

"Wanting to know the league took away some of that time last year," he said. "But to get the most out of your players, you not only have to put them in situations to be successful, you have to have a relationship.

"That relationship comes down to me. Players have to believe in their mind that you want to do what's best for them in their life. I was a player that never asked why I wasn't in the lineup that day. My thought process was that a manager isn't going to put a lineup out there he thinks is going to lose. Some guys are more inquisitive. I understand that not everyone is the same and you have to sometimes step out of your comfort zone to get to a player. I think I understand them better."

Johnny Damon, who last year questioned Girardi for benching him without prior notice, said the difference is noticeable.

"Everything has been cool. He has made tremendous strides in talking to people, from the top players to the guys who don't have a shot," he said. "Joe is the guy leading us. You need to know you can go speak to him at any given time, and when he speaks, you listen. I think that's important. We have that now."

I certainly had my share of complaints about Girardi last year, but overall I thought he had an up and down first year as manager. It's nice to see he's looking to improve and isn't too stuck in his ways.

This sort of reminds me of what Tom Coughlin did before last year's Super Bowl run. He realized he needed to change the way he approached coaching so that he could connect with his players better, he did, and the team responded. As we saw a little change in personality can go a long way.