LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Joe Girardi earned a sizeable extension and raise in October thanks to his excellent work managing the chaos that represented the 2013 Yankees season. From undermanned lineups to underachieving pitchers to Alex Rodriguez’s high jinks, the skipper pulled off a minor miracle just to get the team to 85 wins.
With two-plus months before camp opens, and with some obvious holes remaining, we can nevertheless anticipate the 2014 Yankees should field a roster superior to that of their immediate predecessors.
We also can anticipate some issues Girardi will encounter early in his seventh season, as he kicks off his four-year, $16 million deal. Here are the three that stand out now, before we even know who will play second base, third base or shortstop:
1. Clubhouse culture
That the Yankees stayed relevant into the season’s final week despite a rash of injuries and a weak farm system is testament to Girardi, but also to the makeup of the clubhouse. The players kept fighting, at least until the Red Sox swept them at Fenway Park September 13-15.
Three players who helped create that culture won’t be back, as Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera retired and Robinson Cano bolted for the Mariners and their 10-year, $240 million offer.
Pettitte and Rivera will go down as all-time teammates.
“The leadership that Mariano and Andy brought, that stuff is not replaceable,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. “They’d invest in their teammates and try to work with them away from the field, after a game, well before anybody showed up at the ballpark, on the phone, in the winter time, recruiting. They were different.”
Cano can’t reach that high standard, yet he set an example by being the first guy on the field most days, working on his swing with hitting coach Kevin Long, and by playing virtually every day. He also helped young Latino players transition into the Yankees and the major leagues.
Though Derek Jeter is signed, we just don’t know how much he will be around; his multiple injuries this past season lessened the impact he could have as team captain.
Consequently, Girardi acknowledged he would keep an eye on the team’s culture development. Holdovers such as CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Mark Teixeira and newcomers Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann figure to be involved.
“I think you pay attention to it in spring training,” Girardi said Tuesday. “I think other people will step up and take charge of the clubhouse. … I think it will take on a little different dynamic because of the people we’ve lost and it might take some time to form.”
2. Lineup construction
There will be the baseball equivalent of rush-hour traffic around the Yankees’ DH spot: Jeter. McCann. Teixeira. Beltran. Alfonso Soriano. And, if he somehow isn’t suspended, Alex Rodriguez.
If the Yankees trade Brett Gardner, as they are considering, that would clear up some of the gridlock, and it would make Soriano, Beltran and newcomer Jacoby Ellsbury the three regular outfielders. Nevertheless, trading Gardner also would weaken the Yankees’ outfield.
“I think Joe will use the DH category to give everybody a rest,” Cashman said.
If Gardner stays, he figures to move to left field to make room for Ellsbury. Gardner prefers center field. Soriano prefers not to DH.
“I think there are a couple different things that we can do,” Girardi said of the outfield. “We’ll just wait until the offseason is almost over before we have those discussions. I’ll sit down and talk to Jacoby [Friday, when Ellsbury will attend a Yankee Stadium news conference]. Talk to him, sit down and talk to Gardy, and decide what we’re going to do.”
3. Age
They lost Rivera, now 44, and Pettitte, 41, to retirement. Doesn’t matter. The 2014 Yankees still will be an older squad thanks to Jeter (turns 40 in June), Hiroki Kuroda (turns 39 in February), Soriano (turns 38 in January) and Beltran (turns 37 in April). A-Rod turns 39 in July, for what that’s worth. Ichiro Suzuki turned 40 in October, though he and Vernon Wells (turned 35 earlier this month) figure to be gone.
“It’s something I’ve had to do the last few years,” Girardi said. “The good thing is they’re younger than me, so we don’t have to worry about that. You’ve just got to manage a little bit. Some of it is DH days, some of it is days off.”
Kuroda in particular needs to be monitored, after two straight seasons in which he fell off a second-half cliff.
Plenty more to come in this Yankees offseason. But Girardi has plenty to contemplate already. Just like his players, he will need to stay atop his game even after landing the big contract.