Sorry Donnie, Joe Girardi Is Next Yankee Manager

Girardi was selected over Don Mattingly and Tony Peña, who were members of Torre’s last coaching staff with the Yankees.

“The Yankees have expressed interest in Joe becoming manager,” Girardi’s agent, Steve Mandel, said in a telephone interview Monday. “We’ve decided to have discussions with them and we’re moving forward. No timetable has been set, but it’s a process we’re letting take place.”

In selecting Girardi, the Yankees wasted no time moving onto other business after Alex Rodriguez’s agent announced the player’s decision Sunday night to opt out of his contract. Unless the Yankees change their stance of not chasing Rodriguez as a free agent, he will be the second significant departure, after Torre, since the Yankees’ were eliminated from the playoffs on Oct. 8.

The third could be Mattingly, who had been groomed to one day replace Torre as the manager. Mattingly said it was his goal to manage when he agreed – at the request of the principal owner, George Steinbrenner – to become the Yankees’ hitting coach in October 2003.

This is a solid baseball move. Girardi is a solid baseball guy who won manager of the year with the Marlins in 2006 before getting fired because he kept fighting with management.

Don Mattingly had never managed in the bigs before, and while he's known to be a keen baseball intellect, I'm not sure if he was ready for the job. I guess we wont find out whether he's got the goods in pinstripes.

Expect Mattingly to pursue a managerial job elsewhere, as will Tony Pena.

The next big question for the Yankees will be what they will do with Alex Rodriguez, who is the best player in baseball and is the most likely winner of this year's MVP for the American League.

And since I'm mentioning baseball, I guess I should mention this - the riots in Boston following their four game sweep of the Rockies in the World Series. Where's the call for parity in baseball now that the Sox have won twice in the past four years. When the Yanks won those four World Series in the 1990s, everyone was complaining about the lack of parity and how the Yanks were spending their way to winning.

What about now?

Now, we're hearing about a sea-change in baseball - the Sox are a powerhouse. The Sox aren't spendthrifts, except for manager Terry Francona, who is one of the most underrated and underpaid managers in the game.

There's always next year.