A Rambling Off-Season Manifesto

Who will stay, and who will go?

The ESPNation sycophants are reveling in the Yankees' latest play-off exit. They just can't hide their joy at the demise of the 2007 Yankees. To them, it seems, the Yankees were the team to beat. Somebody tell me; I may have missed the memo, but didn't the Yankees make the play-offs as the American League Wild Card?

Yet they're regarded as if they were favored to win it all. It just makes me scratch my head. Sure, I believed that they were better than the other teams, but I was proven wrong.

So why the speculation about a team that won't play again until March?

Okay... here's who I think is going to be manager of the New York Yankees next year. (Drum Roll, please.) Joe Girardi.

Why do I think that Girardi's going to manage the Yankees? Here's a trio of observations:

First, Girardi has turned down all other offers, preferring to stay in the Yankees' broadcasting booth, rather than earning a lucrative contract as a field manager.

Second, during a late season game in Baltimore, Michael Kay and Ken Singleton asked him where he was going to be managing next season. Red-faced and embarrassed, Girardi said it was a guarded secret as the other two laughed, knowingly.

Third, Girardi was the guy that Jorge Posada learned under, and a young Mariano Rivera pitched to him. Andy Pettitte is a close friend and Christian brother to Girardi.

Overall, Joe Torre has done a marvelous job as manager of the Yankees in his 12 year tenure. His contract is now expired, and he has hinted himself that he thought that this year was going to be his last. Those 12 years in the pressure-cooker of New York take their toll. This shouldn't surprise ANY Yankee fan.

It's kind of amusing as I saw the news of Braves' GM John Schuerholz' promotion to team president. Schueholz is regarded as one of the games' best General Managers, yet during his reign, the Braves won only 1 (count 'em 1) World Series title.  At the same time as praising Schuerholz, some of the same talking heads are sharpening the ax for the neck of Yankees' GM Brian Cashman.

Have mistakes been made? Of course, but hindsight, as they say, is always 20-20. Hasn't Cashman performed at least as well as Schuerholz? I believe that Cashman stays. Has the Yankee farm-system ever looked this good in recent years?

If Joe Girardi becomes the manager of the Yankees, then I'd expect that both Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera will re-sign and stay with the team. I'd rather take them both at their own words, and they've both expressed the desire to stay in the Bronx. Posada will play for his friend. Mo and Andy Pettitte will play for their Christian brother.

Alex Rodriguez will likewise stay in the pinstripes. No one will or can pay the kind of money that the 2007 MVP will command...except for the Yankees. I believe that the Bombers will extend his contract for a lot of money and keep him as a Yankee for years to come.

The Yankees will find some willing team to which to unload Kyle Farnsworth. He has proven his uselessness to the team, unable to find any consistency and pitch 2 consecutive innings or games.

I can see the future without Farnsworth, Brian Bruney, Ron Villone and Sean (Ugh!) Henn. I see a future without Jason Giambi bumbling around at first and trying to pull everything. It is a much, much brighter future at that. I feel great optimism for the 2008 season. All Yankee fans should.

Just do your best to muffle the voices of the naysayers and the "doom and gloom" speculators. Remember, we're Yankee fans...

GO YANKEES!