Joe Girardi worked as a broadcaster before his first managerial job with the Marlins. He then returned to television between stints with the Marlins and Yankees and then the Yankees and Phillies. And he is now headed back to TV after time off following his firing in Philadelphia.
Girardi has joined Marquee Sports Network as a Cubs analyst. He will debut this weekend when the Cubs host the Brewers.
The move makes sense on several levels. Girardi played for the Cubs, of course, and he is an Illinois native who attended Northwestern. He also was (and presumably still is) very good on television. The only person who shouldn’t like the idea is Cubs manager David Ross, if only because there is now a guy who could conceivably replace him already in the ballpark.
That said, it feels like it will be a while before Girardi, 58 in October, gets another shot as a manager. If he ever gets one.
Girardi’s time with the Phillies was, in hindsight, a disaster. That they have taken off under interim manager Rob Thomson is a glaring indictment of Girardi. So is the fact there has been seemingly no mention of his name in connection to the now-open Rangers job.
Someone with Girardi’s resume — a World Series title, six postseason appearances, three division titles, 11 winning records in 13 162-game seasons — should be very attractive to Texas. He’s the exact type of hire you would want for a high payroll team built to contend that disappointed under a less-experienced manager. Yet not a whisper by all accounts.
Girardi is a good manager. But a deeply-flawed one. The Phillies may have proven he has not evolved enough to succeed moving forward. But he can certainly still talk the game.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
