Yankees Senior VP & GM Brian Cashman is set to "run the show for years to come" despite not having a contract past '17, and Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner agreeing on Cashman's "recommendation to change managers seals that," according to Mike Mazzeo of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Joe Girardi is not returning to the Yankees after 10 years in the dugout, and Cashman's biggest task will be "finding a replacement that can have as much success as Girardi and Joe Torre before him." The relationship between Cashman and Girardi had "deteriorated" in recent years, and it played out publicly this season when 1B Chris Carter was "performing horribly" as an everyday player. Girardi wanted to go in a "different direction, which he made known to the front office, but said it was an 'organizational decision' to stick with Carter." The next Yankees manager will be "both analytically-and-clubhouse-savvy, and willing to take input and new ideas from the front office." That is the way things are "going to be in the Bronx without Girardi." Mazzeo: "This is Cashman’s team" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/27). The N.Y. Daily News' Peter Botte said not bringing Girardi back "shows you now the power that Cashman has in the organization" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 10/26). SI.com's Jay Jaffe noted there is a chance for Cashman to further "modernize the team in an era predominated by analytics, but with this change comes significant risk" (SI.com, 10/26).
TIMES ARE CHANGING: In N.Y., John Harper writes while it "looks both crazy and arrogant" to part ways with Girardi after reaching Game 7 of the ALCS this season, the move speaks to how strongly Cashman "felt it was time for a change." Sources in recent weeks had made the point that Girardi and Cashman "weren’t nearly as close as they once had been, with friction developing perhaps because the manager resisted ever-increasing front-office involvement." Sources said that Cashman had "concerns that Girardi’s rather famous day-to-day intensity wasn’t creating the best environment for this current wave of young players in the organization." Harper notes this is a "different era in baseball, as GMs and front offices dictate the day-to-day decision-making during the season that was once the province of the manager" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/27). Also in N.Y., Joel Sherman writes there was a "growing sense of fracture" between Girardi and the front office regarding the use of more analytics, with "invisible walls going back up." The front office was "worried that would worsen with a new long-term deal" (N.Y. POST, 10/27). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said Cashman is "part of this new wave of general manager, that he's managing the team." Wilbon: "He won't want to pay a manager a lot of money to have a star manager because he doesn't need it" ("PTI," ESPN, 10/26).
NOT A PERFECT FIT: In N.Y., Tyler Kepner notes Girardi’s style "might not mesh well with a team of players in their 20s." The veteran-laded teams Girardi managed were comprised of "fully formed major leaguers before they played for him." A younger group may "respond better to a manager who projects less tension and more outward calm." During Girardi’s 10 years with the Yankees, managers across MLB "increasingly became extensions of the front office, and the Yankees, with their increasing emphasis on analytics, were no different." If Girardi and Cashman were "still in lock step -- on overall philosophy, game management or both -- their partnership would most likely still be intact" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/27). On Long Island, David Lennon writes Girardi "wasn’t going to fit the Yankees’ new vision, a future powered by the next wave of young players, and they preferred that any generation gap not grow wider." Cashman saw the opportunity for a "fresh voice to help nurture this prized group, a character trait the Yankees didn’t see in Girardi" (NEWSDAY, 10/27). The Boston Globe's Bob Ryan noted the Yankees will be led their young core of superstars "for the foreseeable future." Ryan: "I think that they really feel they want a different kind of personality." ESPN's Clinton Yates noted Girardi was the "old war horse from a different generation of Yankees" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 10/26). In Newark, Brendan Kuty notes Yankees players "quietly bemoaned a lack of communication" with Girardi, especially when it "came to their roles, and struggled to connect with the man" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/27). ESPN.com's Ian O'Connor wrote Girardi "needed to win the World Series to save his job and prove he could reach his players the way his bosses wanted them reached." O'Connor: "These are pinstriped millennials, after all" (ESPN.com, 10/26).
NO REGRETS? In New Jersey, Bob Klapisch writes the Steinbrenners will "ultimately regret this move." Girardi "was not a perfect manager and was never the warmest guy in the room," but that "shouldn’t have been sufficient reason to essentially fire him." There are more "personable candidates out there who’ll do better in front of the cameras." However, Girardi's replacement will "inherit the near-impossible expectation of winning a championship in his first year in the Bronx" (Bergen RECORD, 10/27).
WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT: The STAR-LEDGER's Kuty cites sources as saying that there is a "good chance Cashman will target most of the following traits following in a new leader: a dynamic personality, with stronger communication skills and the ability to bring people together; someone who's analytically curious if not totally driven; and media savvy" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/27). YES Network's Michael Kay predicted the new manager would have a "willingness to dive head first into the analytics situation and manage that way and have a good relationship with the players" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 10/27).
RIDING THE WAVE AROUND THE LEAGUE: SI.com's Tom Verducci wrote aspiring managers in today's MLB "better be fluent in analytics -- not just to have a working knowledge with them, but such a deep belief in them that communicating actionable intelligence from the stat wizards in the front office to the players themselves is genuine and seamless." Both World Series managers -- the Dodgers' Dave Roberts and the Astros' A.J. Hinch -- "fit the modern template." Meanwhile, the three "oldest managers in baseball all lost their jobs this month." Verducci: "The change in what makes a modern manager is the Fourth Wave of a data-based upheaval in baseball" (SI.com, 10/26). SI.com's Jack Dickey wrote front offices are "looking for managers who will care but also execute their data-underpinned marching orders at every juncture." Every GM likely is watching the World Series "with jealousy, given the apparent pliability" of Hinch and Roberts (SI.com, 10/26).
