Joe Girardi audio from today
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Podcast on Nov 01, 2007 
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Here is my tape of Joe Girardi’s meeting with the print media today.
Some foof asked a stupid question in the beginning about where he likes to go eat in Chicago. But after that it was all baseball.
Girardi is a direct guy who gives direct answers, as you will hear. He had his problems with the writers who cover the Marlins. But working with the media is one of the things he told the Yankees he learned about during his year as manager. Brian Cashman said that was a subject that came up during the interview.
Working as a broadcaster for a year should help that as well.
Ultimately, winning or losing will define him as a manager. But media relations is a major part of the job in New York. For better or for worse, it’s how a public figure gets defined. A manager speaks to the fans via the media.
It’s pretty simple. If there is some question about the team, the manager can answer it or we will find somebody else who will. That could mean a player, an agent, a team executive or anybody. You don’t get a job at a newspaper in New York by giving up easily.
Joe Torre had a way of taking a bad situation and smoothing it over. He almost never said “no comment” or “that’s a team matter.” He came up with an answer.
Girardi is a smart guy. He will come up with a way to answer questions. He’s been around New York and he knows how it works. He will get advice from Torre (he already has) and he will learn. I hope so, anyway.
If you don’t think this stuff matters, ask Art Howe. He was finished as Mets manager three months into the job and still hasn’t recovered.
Anyway, here’s the audio from Joe Girardi:
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how do you guys feel about this yankees lineup for 2008:
trade damon for crede, and resign Vizciano, Pettitte, Abreu, Posada and Rivera
C-Posada
1B-Duncan
2B-Cano
SS-Jeter
3B-Crede
LF-Matsui
CF-Cabrera
RF-Abreu
DH-Giambi
Bench:
Molina-C
Betemit-1B/3B
Darin Erstad-OF/1b
Sardinha-OF/3B
Alberto Gonzalez-SS/2B/3B/PR
SP-Wang,Pettitte, Hughes, Chamberlain, Mussina, Kennedy
CL-Rivera
RP-Britton, Ohlendorf, Ramirez,Kozlowski, Vizcaino,
point is that our offseason could be finished within the next three weeks
Hmm, I’d be wary of playing Matsui and Giambi at the same time, and Damon’s a better left fielder, much as I love Godzilla.
Duncan’s better at outfield than first base…but what about, say, Duncan playing the OF, and moving Matsui to first?
Or do I really have no idea of what I’m talking about?
I would not trade Damon for Crede. Damon (when healthy) is a legitimate leadoff hitter and a real offensive threat. If Damon is going to get traded, it’s going to be for something a heck of a lot more than just Crede. Crede is not an everyday player.
Well, if I thought I was a Joe G fan before, now I know!
Y’all are forgetting that Garrett Atkins will hold down the Hot Corner for the Yanks for the next 10 years.
He’s in the Rockies today but the Bronx by Opening Day.
Atkins is available…Rox best prospect is a 3rd baseman.
Get ‘em C$ !!!
Wow, someone threw a hardball question about him talking to other teams after he was offered his dream job with the Yankees. He paused, said “no”, and said he won’t get into it because sometimes there’s a need to protect family and other people. There’s probably a story there, but he looks like a saint compare to Torre’s dealings with the Dodgers.
mel: I think 20 years from now when Joe G decides he doesn’t want to manage any more, he should be the Yanks’ PR guy, no?
Rebecca,
Yes, he’ll be Hank’s own Howard Rubenstein. If we can just get him to use adverbs and say the years correctly!
I mentioned this in response to a blog post by Pete sometime last year when he used it another time, but I just wanted to say again …. I love the word “foof”.
steve:
I am not happy with that bench at all.
Mel:
What did Torre do that Girardi didn’t do exactly?
The Dodgers approached Girardi first, over the weekend, Girardi turned down their offer then cut his deal with the Yankees, at a higher rate than what the Yankees set out to pay. As was his right, he used the Dodgers to leverage the Yankees.
Then Torre made his deal with the Dodgers. Grady Little was out, it was just a matter of how the Dodgers were going to do it. When the manager doesn’t speak to the GM for three weeks, that is an indication.
Beyond that, business is business.
Here’s an offer I’d like to see A-Rod accept:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....BHeadlines
Girardi was officially introduced here and hopefully this will be the start of a very successful tenure with the Yankees. I feel like it will be.
I had supported the idea of taking a look at Joe Crede to play third base, but I was absolutely BLASTED and ripped apart for saying that this morning, so that’s the last time that I EVER mention his name. I feel like a traitor for saying this, but the best fit for the Yankees at third is Mike Lowell. Lowell is just a consummate pro on the field and in the clubhouse and he speaks highly of his time in the Yankees’ farm system, or so I’ve heard.
Pete: I think the difference is (and correct me if I’m wrong because I might be) that when Girardi was contacted about the Dodgers job, most of us were still wondering whether or not Torre would be managing the Yanks, and thus it didn’t attract much notice?
But again, I might be wrong.
Regarding the negotiating question.. was it a real surprise that qn came from Joel Sherman..
pete Abe: could u honestly say that in 2006 if Lou Pinella had done the same thing that Torre did to Grady.. you would rationalise like u are doing now?
we know its a Business and all.. but the fact of the matter is Torre was negotiating a deal when another manager was under contract.. whether that manager was dead man walking or not..
what shud have he done? well tell them dont talk to me unless there is a vacancy? how do i know that he did not know that.. ur own story abt the 3 yr contract..
Rebecca: This was last weekend, during the WS. Torre was long gone from the Yankees at that point. Girardi had been interviewed by the Yankees and took a call from the Dodgers. That helped him negotiate a better deal with the Yankees because he had options. That’s fine, his right.
When Girardi passed, the Dodgers went to Torre, who they also had been talking to at the same time.
I’m not clear at what Torre did wrong. Or Girardi for that matter. As for whether somebody else was technically the manager, that’s window dressing. Jobs in all professions change hands regardless of such thing.
99 percent of us got a job somebody else had or somebody else wanted. Companies pick who they want and somebody else is out.
Can we all agree here that Joe Crede is not the answer for us at third?
It was pointed out this morniong that he has never had an OBP higher than .310!!
He is also 30 years old and has a bad back. What is there about this that people fail to understand?
Didn’t Crede win the third base Silver Slugger award last year? And I know those awards are bogus.
Pete: Okay, thanks!
My sense of time this semester is extremely warped.
Can tell you the years of Henry VII’s reign, but not what happened last week. Go figure.
Anyone have the video from Jeter’s interview today? Dr. Acula? I’d like to see it.
TIA!
(I don’t think Girardi or Torre did anything wrong, I don’t think either is necessarily a saint, but I do think an edit button would be way, way cool
)
OK J-Dawg we’ll let you slide for thinking Crede this AM. At least I will … maybe you hadn’t had your coffee yet. I agree Lowell at 3B would be the best for the Yanks, with the added benefit of being a loss for the Sox. Probably cost 1/2 what A-Rod got paid, or 2/3 what A-Rod would have cost after the Texas salary obligation is factored in.
The difference can fund Pete’s idea of a free beer night for us bloggers. I’m not letting that one go, Pete.
An ESPN article has the Toledo Mud Hens making A-Rod an offer. It gives him incentives for hitting 75HR and said he’s have to compete with their 3B for the position. Also asked if he’d be willing to change positions. I wonder if it has an opt-out clause.
They were kidding of course. The Mud Hens, not ESPN.
Rebecca – Did you go to Indian Hills?
As for trading Damon, I really don’t see the need for that unless something blows the Yankees away. He can still cover the ground pretty well in the outfield, he still gets on base, and he is still a good leadoff hitter, although his average wasn’t quite as high this year as it normally is. He still has a knack for those long at-bats where he fouls pitches off and drives pitchers absolutely crazy. I think that he will come to spring training in better shape this year and ready for battle. If he can stay free of those leg problems that were bugging him this year, I would expect him to post the numbers that we are accustomed to seeing from him.
NO TO CREDE!
What ever happened to the get together in Westchester? I recall Pete mentioning it a few months back.
Motown: YES!
Do I know you?
No, I read in one of your comments that you went to high school in the same district as Chris Simms.
I went to IHHS too (but class of, and I can’t believe I am admitting this, 1978). Ouch.
Anyone else from Bergen co?
Actually, 1982 (was not in the honors math program, apparently)
Chris went to school up on Franklin turnpike right?
Pete,
You’re closer to the action than any of us (as much as some like to believe otherwise), so I’ll trust what you say. If so, that makes Torre the victim of perception here. It appears that Torre had the job before the body was even cold. That’s not what it is, but just like an infield hit, it was a bang-bang play. So much has happened that the timeline is fuzzy, but when you broke the Torre story (congrats) was Grady Little still the manager?
As for Girardi, I don’t know what if anything happened there. There was a lot of “Girardi was still talking to the Dodgers after he accepted the job” thrown around and the reporter did ask about it.
But it’s not a big deal to me. I heard a hitch in Girardi’s answer which led me to believe that maybe the stories were true. And even if they were true, it didn’t look as bad as the bang-bang play in LA. Business is business and I’m glad that none of these guys ended up on the street.
Jennifer – what town are you from? I grew up in Oakland, but live in Morris County now.
Jennifer, he went to Ramapo in Franklin Lakes
Motown: OMG, was Knaus teaching then? Or Kuzma? Kuzma’s retired, not sure about Knaus, but they’re two reasons I’m majoring in history.
My brothers both went to Ramapo, my older one ’98, my younger one ’07.
So yeah, my older brother knew Simms really well, and, uh, I didn’t, cos I’m six years younger.
You wouldn’t believe what they’ve done to the school though…
I think it’s fine what Girardi did. Dodger approached him around the same time Yankees did. When you’re interviewing for a job, it’s completely within your right and in fact smart to hear all options. Sure Yankees might be his dream job, but he owed it to his family to know what the other options are in terms of money and where they’ll live. It would be bad if Girardi left NY hanging for weeks while he is mulling over the other option, but he didn’t, it was a day or two tops, so no harm done. And using one job offer to drive up salary for another is just smart negotiation, nothing wrong with that.
About Torre and Grady, my guess is Grady already knew he had to go no matter what, the Dodgers just didn’t want to pull the trigger until they had a new manager in place. If it wasn’t Torre it would be someone else. So it’s not like if Torre said no, Grady would get to keep his job.
I thought he went to Catholic school, the name escapes me at the moment. I went to flhs years back, than ramapo college.
Jennifer: Fair Lawn HS? My parents grew up in Fair Lawn!
Simms went to Ramapo.
The Catholic schools in the area, though, Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco are insane at football. ESPECIALLY Bosco. Ranked one of the best in the nation.
I don’t really know what they put in the water, but it’s something.
No problem with any of the actions of Torre and Girardi in any of their dealings (LA or NY). That’s the business of baseball.
Neither guy did anything wrong.
Put it another way. Joe Torre had the courtesy of going to see his bosses and telling them goodbye.
Too bad the former third baseman of the team couldn’t do the same.
Kuzma was my track coach. And I think Knaus was there too. I had Steinkamp who was excellent, but I think he retired a while back.
I could care less about Girardi talking to the Dodgers. He didn’t sign on with the Yankees yet, he had every right to talk with them.
Steinkamp did, but they named an award after him.
I can’t imagine Kuzma as track coach, that is hysterical! I was in his study hall junior year…used to spend it sleeping or wandering in the cafeteria or library. One of the nicest guys, ever. HUGE deal when he retired.
Knaus is the best, though…and a Yanks fan to boot!
Don Bosco Thats it!! I thought he went there!!
Too funny about parents such a small world!!
I always thought Girardi and Posada had a great relationship. According to Buster Olney, there’s some sort of a rift. Pete, have you heard anything about that?
My parents were next door neighbors. Talk about freaky.
I think there’s another pro guy that went to Bosco, but dunno who.
I heard Joel Zumaya hurt his throwing shoulder doing moving some things near those fires in California.
Was he helping Carl Pavano move his stuff?
Ranting Guy: Of course!
Kuzma clearly changed from the 80s. He was very high energy-nonnapping when I was there. Very intense. Tough coach. Girardi-esque.
Oh, Kuzma had tons of energy!
It’s just having the morning classes I did, by the time I got to study hall, I was usually ready to break…
He’d play music and make us dance and stuff. It was great.
You know, originally I really wanted Girardi to have his old number 25 back, just so that it was like he was just coming back, never left, blah blah. But 27 seems so appropriate.
I like it.
Pete
Enquiring minds want to know what happened in Miami with Girardi. For as evasive as he’s been to the questions about it, I’m surprised no one is turning over rocks. This IS New York. While it may be too gossipy for the Journal News,tell those guys over at the Post that you work with that we are waiting.
Mike Lowell: NO! product of fenway dont bring him here.
Fantastic answer to Joel Sherman re: the Dodgers question. Girardi has learned a few things since his Marlins tenure.
that’s funny some of you went to the same HS and whatnot. my family is from that area also (hawthorne). i often wonder if i’ve ever met some of the people on here, but the subject just never came up.
Pete, when is the charity event you were mentioning having in west chester?