Is Joe Girardi’s job in trouble? One columnist seems to think so

There’s a whole to-do in Yankeeland over Bob Klapisch’s Bergen Record column suggesting that Joe Girardi is “managing for his job.”

Klapisch’s main points:

• Girardi has a “history of putting his foot on the gas,” like with the 2006 Marlins pitching staff: “Three of the five starters — Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez – all suffered injuries the following season. And another, Dontrelle Willis, has never been the same.” And now, the writer charges, Girardi is doing the same with CC Sabathia.
• The Yankee manager is too “tight,” as one veteran describes him. Klapisch writes that “Girardi’s confidence has turned to a square-jawed form of desperation.”
• Girardi used a “strategy of fear” in bringing in Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning of the Mets game, and “almost got burned.”
• Why is Joe so tight? Because, the columnist charges, “Girardi knows his managerial career will be over if he gets fired by the Yankees.”
• It’s also because Girardi is under a lot of “pressure” due to declining ticket sales. Klapisch says that the Yankees’ have much “angst over ticket sales — they failed to sell out the Subway Series and are urgently reminding fans that seats are available for the Red Sox series in August.” The writer says “that pressure trickles down to Cashman, then to Girardi and, ultimately, to the players.”

My own thoughts? Girardi should lose his job if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs this year. But Brian Cashman ought to lose his job as well. And Lonn Trost and Randy Levine ought to have lost their jobs already over the new stadium debacle.

Speaking of which, this article makes it sound like there were plenty of seats available for the Subway Series and Yankees-Red Sox games. Sure, there are a plethora of seats – if you don’t mind spending $900 a ticket. Otherwise, there is nothing available. We were at the Friday Subway Series game, and it was packed, as were the other games in the series.

I spent some time this morning looking at Ticketmaster to see what is still unsold for the Yanks-Sox. There is literally nothing available in the grandstand, bleachers, terrace, or even the main section. The only tix still not sold are the still-overpriced Legends Suite ones – the seats Trost is responsible for overpricing in the first place. Just because one Record reader complained to Klapisch about getting emails about ticket sales, doesn’t mean that there are Yanks-Red Sox tickets available.

Besides, how exactly is Girardi responsible for that sales problem? And if, as Klapisch suggests, the pressure to sell these tickets is ultimately trickling down to management and to the players, then some heads need to roll. But it shouldn’t be Joe Girardi’s; it should be Trost’s – and Levine’s.

The columnist also writes that A-Rod can’t handle this pressure. Yet he seems to blame Girardi for Alex’s slumping state now by not giving him a day off. Which one is it? (I agree that Girardi mismanaged giving Rodriguez rest. But to suggest, as Klapisch seems to, that declining ticket sales are ultimately causing negative pressure on A-Rod is just laughable.)

As for Klapisch’s disapproval of Girardi bringing in Mariano in the eighth inning against the Mets, Joe got grief for being too inflexible not bringing him in for the Red Sox game the night before. Which one is it?

Also, was it a “strategy of fear,” as Klapisch calls it with Girardi, when Joe Torre used Mo in the eighth inning in big games for both the Red Sox and Mets so many times? Also, as Squawker Jon noted, the heart of the Mets lineup was coming up then. It’s also curious how Klapisch assigns blame to Girardi, not Rivera, for the Mets scoring in the eighth.

I do think Girardi mismanaged A-Rod’s rest and recovery. And even though I wanted Girardi to replace Joe Torre, I also think Girardi deserves to lose his job if the Yanks don’t make the playoffs this year. But I disagree with the other complaints against Girardi listed in this column.

What do you think about Joe Girardi? Tell us about it!