Biggest Reason Mets Shouldn’t Hire Joe Girardi As Manager
The New York Mets have begun assembling their list of managerial candidates, and they are beginning to set up interviews with different candidates. Judging from what we heard when he broadcasted Mets games this year, Joe Girardi really wants this job. Given his being a very good manager, the Mets should be doing all they could do to hire him.
But . . .
Even with Girardi being the best candidate available there are some red flags with him. He was fired from the Marlins for an inability to get along with ownership, and there probably aren’t any more meddlesome owners in sports than the Wilpons. While he has managed in New York, and he has worked in the media, he was never great handling the New York press. No, he wasn’t bad, but he does have a tendency to be a bit cantankerous, which does not play well in the press.
In terms of the fanbase, Mets fans who have loudly criticized Mickey Callaway for not having a feel for the game are going to go berserk with Girardi and his binders. There is also the issue of how things ended poorly with the Yankees in terms of communication with the players.
Taking all that into account, Girardi is still an excellent manager who would make the Mets better. Yet, there is one massive reason why the Mets should not hire him.
Money.
In Girardi’s last year managing the Yankees, he was making $4 million a year. Even if he accepts some form of a discount, the Mets are still going to owe Callaway $850,000 in 2020. Being that this is the Mets, that money can be damaging.
Adeiny Hechavarria was cut one day prior to his being owed a $1 million roster bonus. Carlos Gomez was cut as he was about to reach bonus levels. That’s at least $1.25 million the Mets could not afford to spend in-season. Connecting the dots further, it appeared the Mets needed to trade Jason Vargas to fit Marcus Stroman into the budget.
The Mets operate with a shoestring budget. Assuming the combined cost of Girardi and Callaway is $4 million, that is going to cost the Mets at least one player, maybe more.
That salary level is just $1 million less than what Justin Wilson will earn in 2020. That means Girardi will cost the Mets a late inning reliever they so desperately need. That puts more of an onus on Seth Lugo and puts the Mets in a position where they will have to completely rely on an Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia rebound.
In addition to the bullpen, the Mets need to add a fifth starter to replace Zack Wheeler. That extra couple of million to Girardi could make the difference between a trusted arm and them having to turn to Walker Lockett or Corey Oswalt.
The Mets could use some bench help too. The money to Girardi likely means the Mets are stuck with Tomas Nido and his bat as the backup catcher. That means there Mets are likely stuck looking at a series of minor league deals to league minimums for an everyday center fielder or defensive replacement. That’s if they can afford that.
Overall, a few million may not seem as much to normal teams, but to the Mets that is crippling to their ability to add players to the roster. In the end, the Mets really need to ask themselves if Girardi alone is enough to overcome a fifth starter, one or more arms in the bullpen, and/or bench depth.
While Girardi is good, he’s not that good. No one is. As a result, the Mets should probably be looking to hire another (read cheaper) manager.
So stupid did Brodie getting four mil didn’t lead to the Mets not spending and Girardi having a binder worth of stats is way better than the last manager proudly ignoring stats.
If you think Brodie changes the way he runs the team with Callaway gone, I don’t know what to tell you.
I heard that Callaway was set to make $1 million for the third year of his contract.
Your point about it costing a player/arm is right, but the other experienced managers will cost about the same, right?
We absolutely must get an experienced manager for next year, and of the experienced ones available, I’d much rather have Girardi.
Unfortunately, it will cost us a player, as you said, but I think it’s worth it, overall.
A manager is only as good as their roster.
And bad managers make teams worse and you are the only Mets fan in the universe that thought Mickey was good at his job.
If the GM is calling the in-game decisions, give me the manager who develops players, keeps the pitching staff healthy, and keeps the players fighting no matter the odds.
Haha right I’m sure he made every decision and decided to walk Knapp ahead of Harper to get a shitty reliever out of a game. You are the only person in the universe that thinks Mickey was good.
I guess the reports of Brodie texting game decisions were wrong, and the multiple reports of how teams gameplan everything and expect the manager to carry it out are wrong too.
@metsdaddy — the most horrifying aspect of that comment is “the GM is calling the in-game decisions,…”
The idea (supported in various credible places) that van Wags is making such decisions on the fly leads me to believe that any number of absurd decisions during games were being made by a novice GM at one very key remove from the game, namely not having any idea if this or that player was capable of performing as the push-button approach novice managers and GMs often use demanded. And that’s in addition to his complete lack of experience.
What we were really looking at was a disastrous hierarchy of absurdity where:
1. The incompetent Jeff Wilpon reserved to himself the right to make all the decisions he pleased, including in the early part of the season not allowing Diaz to get more than 3 outs….
2. van Wags then taking charge of any decisions he wanted to make, such as pulling deGrom from a game if Wilpon hadn’t already ordered that, taking the second weirdly shaped bite of the pie…
3. and leaving to the manager whatever was left after 1 and 2 took their cuts of the decision-making process.
That’s a terrible way to run any enterprise, where you have three very conflicting agendas implemented by incompetent or inexperienced men, all affecting game-level decisions instead of being aimed at winning games. Small wonder the 2019 Mets underperformed despite getting extremely lucky in numerous areas.
In terms of Jeff, it was reported he directly ordered Callaway to only use Diaz in the ninth.
“Even with Girardi being the best candidate available there are some red flags with him. He was fired from the Marlins for an inability to get along with ownership, and there probably aren’t any more meddlesome owners in sports than the Wilpons.”
–Given that Girardi would get the rest of his salary if fired, I don’t see being fired as a drawback at any level, really. And given the Mets window for the next 4 years is only 2020, getting the best possible manager for 2020 should be the fan’s preference.
Not sure why we’re talking about this, though. The Wilpons aren’t ponying up for a 4m-5m AAV manager. They should, though, given it’s the difference in salary between a replacement level OFer and a 1/2-win OFer, or about the cost of TDA, or a good chunk of the difference between Hech and Guillorme. A good manager is worth a couple of wins, and it costs upwards of $20m to guarantee the addition of a couple of wins through the FA market.
A smart team gets the best manager available, regardless of cost, hires the best pitching coach, and the best hitting coach. These are by far the most cost effective things a team can do. The Wilpons, of course, will do none of them.