Pros and Cons of Hiring Joe Girardi

It’s been months since Joe Girardi was first connected to the Mets managerial job. In May when the possibility of Mickey Callaway first being fired came up, so did the idea of Joe Girardi replacing him.

There are a lot of reasons that Joe Girardi may be the perfect fit to replace Callaway and take the Mets to the next level. However, there a few red flags that show that Girardi is far from the perfect candidate Mets fans have made him out to be.

Pros

Experienced Manager: Joe Girardi has something that no other candidate for the job has, experience. Girardi was a major league manager for 11 years across two teams and both leagues. There would be no potential learning curve with Joe Girardi. He knows what it takes to put a winning team on the field, he’s won a World Series, and he’s won three Manager of the Year awards.

These are all undeniable facts. Girardi has done everything that can be done as a manager in this league. That is a unique strength that only he has in this search, and it should give him an advantage over the likes of Eduardo Perez and Carlos Beltran.

In-Game Tactician: Girardi is known around baseball as a mastermind when it comes to in-game adjustments. Specifically, Girardi has been praised for his handling of bullpens. Meanwhile, Mickey Callaway was fired due to his poor in-game decisions, especially his bullpen management. Under Girardi’s watch, the Yankees beat their Pythagorean win-loss four times, and his bullpen was in the top half of the league in ERA six times and top 10 in the league four times.

It would be hard to find a manager who can manage their bullpen better than Joe Girardi in baseball today. He just has a knack for making the right move at the right time. Girardi has truly earned his reputation as a tactical genius.

Experience in New York: There is nothing like playing or coaching in New York. The media is constantly down your throat, losing is not tolerated, and you’re put under a microscope like never before. Joe Girardi has thrived under that pressure. He had a winning record in all 10 of his years as Yankees manager, and he won a World Series in New York in 2009.

He has dealt with the media before as well. Girardi was never a media-friendly personality with the Yankees, but he was also transparent. Girardi owned his mistakes and called out his players. He said what he felt needed to be said, and the media respected him for it. The Wilpons always want to put there best face forward, and while Girardi won’t always be that he will always keep from being an embarrassment in front of the media.

Again, theses New York skills are something only Girardi has polished among the candidates. Yes, Beltran spent years in New York as a player, but the pressure is ramped up that much more by the media when you’re a player. That’s something Beltran hasn’t dealt with yet. This should give Girardi a huge advantage in the eyes of the Wilpons.

Cons

Communication with Players: Maybe Joe Girardi’s biggest weakness is his ability to communicate and connect with his players. This has been constant throughout his managerial career. Most associate this weakness with Girardi’s inability to connect to younger players at the end of his Yankees tenure, but that’s only part of it. It is true that Girardi has been criticized by the media and anonymous Yankees employees for his inability to connect with young players. Specifically, Gary Sanchez and Joe Girardi had issues at the end of Girardi’s tenure.

However, this communication issue stretches much further back in his Yankees tenure. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Girardi also had incidents in the clubhouse early in his tenure with the Yankees with team leaders. Specifically, Girardi and Jorge Posada had a poor relationship that fractured the clubhouse and forced teammates to pick sides. It resulted in Posada, Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter all resenting Girardi.

One of the things that makes this Mets team special is their fun-loving clubhouse and their connection to each other. If Girardi were to come in and destroy that atmosphere it could be devastating to this franchise for years to come.

Collaboration with Front Office: Collaboration with the front office has become a key part of being a manager in baseball today. There is not a team in the league today that has a manager who makes decisions without consultation with the front office. It simply doesn’t happen anymore, there are no more lone wolf managers who do it there way or don’t do it at all.

Girardi has a reputation of being a my way or the highway kind of guy. That stems from his run as Marlins manager that ended up in his firing due to an argument with, at the time, owner Jefferey Loria and his role in the decision making process.

While Girardi softened up some when he was with the Yankees there was reported tension between Girardi and the Yankees front office according to reports. It never got to the point it did in Florida, but Girardi and Cashman were never a team. That won’t fly in today’s game.

If Girardi wants a job in today’s MLB he will have to be willing to work with a front office on lineup decisions and managing the bullpen. If he’s not willing to do that and continues to butt heads with the front office he will not have a job for long if he even gets one.

Conclusion

It’s clear that Joe Girardi is an excellent candidate for the Mets managerial job. There is no other candidate with his set of skills available and it’s not close. However, it’s also true that Girardi has major red flags that could mean death for this team if he hasn’t fixed them. The Mets have to do their due diligence in their interviewing and researching Girardi because if Girardi hasn’t improved himself then he shouldn’t be the Mets’ next manager.

On the flip side, if he has improved himself and is truly ready to manage again there is no candidate who even comes close to Girardi and what he could bring to this franchise. This is a complex decision-making process, if the Mets don’t hire Girardi it’s not because they’re cheap or want a puppet. It’s because the Mets simply feel that Girardi hasn’t corrected those red flags, and isn’t the right manager to lead this young team into the future.