WOW Girardi Had a Marathon 8-Hour Interview

So… I suppose I didn’t account for this with some of my recent posts on David Ross and his chances of becoming the next Chicago Cubs manager.

Joe Girardi finishes an eight-hour interview process with Cubs Wednesday. David Ross on deck for Thursday.
Source says Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Yankees special asst Carlos Beltran also on Cubs candidate list. pic.twitter.com/OICQbEzwkq

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) October 10, 2019

While I do have to admit, interviewing the Peoria native, former Northwestern and Cubs catcher for eight hours can be a sign that the Cubs could have strong interest in Girardi. I mean, I have been on long interviews in the past. I have been on eight-hour interviews and didn’t receive an offer in the past. But I would say this isn’t a normal sort of thing – well… expect in sports and except when there are big character/culture questions the Cubs needed to have answered.

Girardi was fired from his gig as the Florida Marlins manager after a single season for telling the owner to be quiet. Now, I agreed with Girardi at the time, as Jeffrey Loria needed to be told to shut up. But, that wasn’t the start of the issues between Joe and ownership. Loria was very much against the hiring of Girardi in Florida. Larry Beinfest backed Girardi, but his (Girardi) inability to build a bridge between the clubhouse, management, and ownership is what eventually did him in.

“Joe is not returning because it was not a good fit,” Beinfest
said. “I will take some of that blame. I’m in charge, and it’s my
job to make sure everything runs as smoothly and efficiently as
possible.”

Beinfest said while introducing Fredi Gonzalez

You have to understand, the Marlins have always needed to pinch pennies. Firing a first-year manager, that signed a three-year contract, after winning a manager of the year award has to start to tell you how difficult he was to work with.

Then there was the whole 2009 New York Yankees World Series thing…

It seems that far too many people give him credit for a World Series title, but the 2009 team had a completely loaded team. Guys like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Petite, Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, A.J. Burnett, C.C. Sabathia, and of course… Mariano Rivera.

He would then manage the next five seasons with multiple future HOF players on his roster. At times there were up to five potential HOF players on his rosters.

But, after a 2017 season where Girardi led the team to an ALCS, he wasn’t asked to come back.

Teixeira went on record with Mike Axsia of CBS Sports to say that the Yankees needed a better communicator.

“Everyone loves Joe, everyone respects Joe, he is a good manager, he is a good man,” said Teixeira, who now works for ESPN. “But with baseball the way it is played today and the need for a manager to be a better communicator and communicate with the front office the reasoning for doing things and to be a little bit more relaxed — especially in a place like New York, where the pressure is everywhere. He just wasn’t the best man for the job anymore.” 

“The communication and the highs and lows of the season weren’t Joe’s best assets and he will probably tell you that,” Teixeira continued.

From Brian Cashman’s mouth, and while he was even dressing it up a bit, it didn’t come off much better.

General manager Brian Cashman decided the New York Yankees should part ways with Joe Girardi because he felt that the manager’s “connectivity” with the clubhouse was not good enough.

“That’s the primary position,” Cashman said.

Brian Cashman said that his issues were with Joe Girardi's ability to "engage, communicate and connect with playing personnel."

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) November 6, 2017

There were many stories from New York which stated Girardi and Gary Sanchez, as well as Aroldis Chapman, did not get along at all. Cashman was very stringent on the fact that communication and connectivity in the clubhouse would be huge with their next hire.

So, while I think that an eight-hour interview is likely a good sign for Girardi, I think it is an even better sign that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are leaving nothing to chance with their next hire.

The Mark Loretta interview wasn’t this long because they’ve interacted with him for a year. The Will Venable and the David Ross interviews this week will not be as long either. But I bet the Joe Espada and Carlos Beltran interviews will be a bit longer.

None of them will be eight-hours long though.

Theo was very adamant that the Cubs will be considering the culture with this next hire. With so many black marks in Girardi’s past management stops, they had to keep him for eight hours. You just can’t understand how Girardi would address culture in a couple of questions.

“So, Joe. When it comes to culture, do you promote a good culture?” Theo would ask in this fictional conversation

“Theo, I create the best culture in the clubhouse,” Joe emphatically responds.

“You’re hired!” Theo confirms.

NO! They had to spend time with him. They had to find out what makes him tick, what gets him excited, what makes him upset, and how he actually is as a person. All the management stuff has been on display, but his record or ability isn’t in question. His ability to blend 26 different people, personalities, backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, and how he would get them all working together for one singular goal is.

I still stand by the thought that Girardi isn’t getting this job. I think the best options have yet to interview, and I also think we will have a new Cubs manager well before the World Series begins. (They may not introduce them until after to respect MLB rules).