Manager of the year?

So the NY Yankees came within a breath of sweeping the Red Sox last weekend and spent the last few days of the season trying to find out ways to lose to Tampa Bay in order to fully piss off Red Sox Nation. I figure I would use the time to talk about Joe Girardi, his season and candidacy for Manager of the Year.

I’ll begin by saying that I really believe there is an anti NY bias in this vote, related to payroll and the perceived notion that they buy a good team and that it takes no skill to manage a team of high priced superstars. Well, how do you think Tito Francona and Theo Epstein are feeling about that right now? They were the dream team this year, picked by all the “experts” to win the American League East, the chosen ones being bestowed the World Series Trophy as early as last February. Money has little to do with it if particular parts are not available or break down or just underperform. Therefore your argument here is invalid…

Let’s take a hard look at what Girardi has done this year. He was an underdog, with no one picking the Yankees to win the East by 6 games. He had to deal with several significant injuries on the club including 3 of the 5 planned relief corps, the starting third baseman, his back up, a starting pitcher for a month or so, just to name a few. There was the distraction of Derek Jeter getting his 3000th hit. In the last month, he had the team prepared to play, rested the veterans appropriatly and got to stick it to the Red Sox once again. They peaked at just the right time. All of these point to just how good a job he has done.

Who else could be in contention for this award? Well I can’t think of another candidate in the American League. No one else over reached projections of how they would do this year. I am beginning to think that Girardi should get it in a landslide. I’m sure Titi Francona will vote for him…from home…while the Yankees move on through the playoffs…