Former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has been an unemployed manager for a full calendar year now. But, he’s not just going to take any opportunity that comes his way, ya know.
Almost exactly a year ago, the Philadelphia Phillies fired Girardi after a disappointing 22-29 start to the 2022 season. Of course, Philly eventually turned things around to grab the final NL Wild Card spot and rode that to the World Series last October.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported on Thursday evening that Girardi was on the verge of returning to the dugout. Not in the big leagues, though — in college baseball:
Joe Girardi has been offered the head baseball coach position at the University of Central Florida, sources tell me and @juanctoribio. Girardi, who has managed the Marlins, Yankees and Phillies and won the 2009 WS, has not made a decision yet as to whether he will accept the job.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) June 8, 2023
As we can see from the above timestamp, Feinsand fired off that tweet at 1:47 p.m. ET. Not even two hours later, he updated us on this situation by saying Girardi wouldn’t be accepting that job offer from the University of Central Florida:
Joe Girardi has decided not to accept the position as head baseball coach at the University of Central Florida, per source.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) June 8, 2023
Well, jeez — that escalated quickly. Baseball is baseball, but being in charge of a college baseball program is a lot different than managing in the big leagues. They’re both a grind, but they’re each a unique grind in their own special way. Plus, one would imagine he weighed it against his current job as a color commentator for the Chicago Cubs with Marquee Network.
Girardi went 78-84 in 2006 for the Florida Marlins. It was his first opportunity to manage and he won NL Manager of the Year honors, yet was let go at the end of the season. His next opportunity came in 2008 with the Yankees. After missing the playoffs in the final year of Old Yankee Stadium, Girardi steered his club to a World Series title in 2009.
There were a couple of other close calls with trips to the ALCS. After failing to beat the Astros in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS, he was relieved of his duties in favor of Aaron Boone. It was a successful tenure for the former backstop, though. He went 910-710 during his 10 years on the job in the Bronx.
Before getting the axe in Philly, he went 132-141 overall. His best year came in 2021 when the Phillies finished 82-80. Will Girardi manage again? That remains to be seen. After saying no to UCF, you’d have to think he’d only head back to the dugout for an MLB squad.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
