Marlins Hire Girardi as Manager
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MIAMI – The crowds will be smaller, the budget tighter, the odds of winning longer. Still, the chance to manage lured Joe Girardi from the Yankees to the Florida Marlins.
The Yankees’ bench coach accepted a three-year contract yesterday to take over the Marlins.
It’s the first managerial job for Girardi, who also interviewed for the Tampa Bay vacancy. He spent 15 years as a major league catcher, then went into broadcasting in 2004 and came out of the booth to join the Yankees’ staff this season.
“I am extremely pleased to have Joe in our organization, and I look forward to his input as we start focusing on next year,” Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said in a statement. “Joe was known as an intelligent player with great leadership skills, and he will bring those traits to his new position.”
Girardi declined to comment until today, when he’ll be introduced at a news conference.
He was apparently Loria’s first choice from the outset and was the first candidate to interview with the Marlins owner. A follow-up interview took place October 12 in New York with Loria and general manager Larry Beinfest.
The 41-year-old Girardi succeeds Jack McKeon, who led the Marlins to the World Series title in 2003 but resigned after the team finished a disappointing 83-79 this year.
Girardi, a member of three World Series championship teams with the Yankees, goes from a franchise that had a payroll of $206 million at the start of the season to a team with a payroll of $60 million. Still, the Marlins have won two World Series titles since 1997.
Girardi interviewed twice for the Devil Rays job vacated by Lou Piniella. An Illinois native with an engineering degree from Northwestern, Girardi also weighed the option of turning down the Marlins to remain with the Yankees until the Chicago Cubs’ job becomes available.
McKeon, 74, led the Marlins to three of the four winning seasons in franchise history, but there was a consensus within the organization that a managerial change was in order. Players complained that McKeon was too abrasive, and clubhouse tension mounted as the season soured.
Girardi becomes the seventh manager for the Marlins, who played their first game in 1993.
