Via Baseball Musings comes a complementary piece to my farewell to Joe Torre: According to reports out of Yankee camp, Joe Girardi is really cracking the whip this year, and so far, both the veterans and young kids in camp in Tampa are responding well.
As John Harper writes in the Daily News, the Yanks went with Girardi over Mattingly to bring some discipline to what the Front Office had viewed as a lax team:
That was part of the reasoning for choosing Girardi over Don Mattingly as the new manager. After all the years of Joe Torre’s calming influence, Cashman and the Yankee brass wanted someone who would be a little tougher on players.
And although Girardi has downplayed it, his first camp has included considerably more running for the pitchers and catchers than Torre’s camps, and the same is expected today for the first full-squad workout.
Meanwhile, in a piece in The Post, Jason Giambi talks about how Girardi’s demands made him work harder this offseason. Girardi, as Pinto at Musings points out, knows that a good offense will outweigh the benefits of a good defense and wants Jason Giambi at first base. Giambi responded in turn, and it seems that, right now, the players are willing to show deference and respect to someone who isn’t much older than they are and has their attention. This can only be good news for the Yankees.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.