By Emma Rojas ’18

In an email Thursday afternoon, Joe Girardi, 53, the Yankees former manager, announced that the organization will not be renewing his contract. Girardi said, “With a heavy heart, I come to you because the Yankees have decided not to bring me back.”

Girardi played four years with the Yankees as a catcher, winning three World Series titles. He has managed the Yankees for ten years and has coached them to 910 wins. Girardi coached them to six World Series playoffs, however they only won one World Series in that 10 years in 2009 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Last week the Yankees lost in game seven of the playoffs to the Houston Astros. Had they won, they would have gone onto the 2017 World Series.  

“Based off his track record, it was a poor decision,”  Jake Thaw ’20, a Yankees fan, said, “but if the two sides were going in different directions then absolutely [it was a good idea]. A season with disputes between the manager and front office can only end in disaster.”

Thaw isn’t the only one who recognizes that business is business. Derek Jeter, a former Yankee said Thursday at the Fast Company Innovation Festival where he was a guest speaker, “He’s probably one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet…it’s unfortunate, but this is a business. You learn that.”

The team currently has not named a new coach but has many candidates.

Photo used under the Creative Commons Licence