This is an interesting choice for a lot of reasons for the Yankees. Girardi was voted the Manager of the Year in 2006 in the National League for the Marlins as he took a really young team to a 78-84 (.481%) record. Still, a couple things could be a problem for the Yanks with Girardi calling the shots. He’s a poor in game manager as far as strategy goes but that won’t hurt as bad in the American League because of the DH. He was good with young players but the Yanks will be a veteran team and it will be interesting to see how he does in the locker room with them. But the biggest thing Girardi will have to deal with is the Steinbrenners. The biggest reason that Girardi was fired after being the Manager of the Year was the fact that he couldn’t get along with owner Jeff Loria. If Giradi thought Loria was a hands on owner….wait until he deals with the Steinbrenners.

Alex Rodriguez has decided to leave the Yankees and I don’t blame him one bit. The fans disrespected him often and the media kept following him around late at night on the road trying to destroy his family. Rodriguez was incedible this season for the Yankees as he will likely be named the MVP of the American League at any time. He played in 158 games this season and he was 183 for 583 (.314 avg, 1.067 OPS) with 143 runs scored, 54 homers, 156 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. In 4 post-season games with the Yanks this season he was 4 for 15 (.267 avg, .820 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. A-Rod finishes his Yankees career having played in 629 games in which he was 715 for 2,361 (.303 avg) with 492 runs scored, 173 homers, 513 RBIs and 88 stolen bases. He played in 24 post-season games with the Yankees and he was 23 for 94 (.245 avg) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers and 9 RBIs. The Yankees will miss A-Rod as his replacement will be nowhere as good as he is.

At the trade deadline everyone wanted Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain or Ian Kennedy in any trade and Cashman smartly resisted. The Yankees will benefit from that in the future as all three of these guys could be dominant pitchers in the majors. Hughes started 13 games for the Yanks and he was 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He worked 72.2 innings and he allowed 64 hits, walked 29 batters and whiffed 58. Joba Chamberlain will have the future as either a closer or a starting pitcher for the Yanks and that will likely depend on if Mariano Rivera re-signs with them. Chamberlain dominated in 19 games in relief for the Yanks this season. He was 2-0 with 1 save, a 0.38 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP this season as he worked 24 innings and he only allowed 12 hits, walked 6 batters and whiffed 34. Ian Kennedy started 3 games for the Yanks this season and he was 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He threw 19 innings and he allowed 13 hits, walked 9 batters and whiffed 15. The Yanks pitching staff looks like it will have a bright future.

It’s amazing that the Yankees treated Joe Torre the way they did with a take it or leave it offer. True, he hasn’t won a World Series since 2000….losing in 2001 to the Diamondbacks and 2003 to the Marlins. But it’s hard to argue with the facts in Torre’s defense. He won 10 American League East Division Titles in his 12 years in the Bronx and he’s been to six World Series….winning 4 of them! The Yanks were World Champs under his watch in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Torre compiled a 1,173-767 (60.5%) in his time with the Yankees during the regular season. He also has a 76-47 (61.8%) record in the post season. I would hate to be the guy following Torre. It seems to me that Brian Cashman should have been the one to walk the plank after wasting the Boss’ money on Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa.

The Yankees season is over because of the pitching staff.  Starter Chien-Ming Wang was awful as he only worked 1 inning and he allowed 5 hits and 4 earned runs taking another loss!  Mike Mussina followed Wang in the game and he didn’t pitch that well either as he worked 4.2 innings and he allowed 4 hits, 2 earned runs, walked 4 batters and whiffed 2.  The rest of the bullpen kept the Yankees close as they worked 3.1 scoreless innings but it was too little, too late!

Bobby Abreu (2 for 5), Alex Rodriguez (2 for 5) and Robinson Cano (2 for 4) each hit a solo homer in this game.  And Derek Jeter was 2 for 5 with 1 RBI.  The Yankees lost this series 3-1 to the Indians and they will have to go back to the drawing board.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=271008110