NEW YORK (AP) -Joe Girardi rounded the corner, bounded into the Yankees clubhouse and began dragging a big garbage can back to the manager’s office.
A discouraging season, filled with injuries and disappointments, was going in the trash. For the first time since 1993, the few Yankees who hadn’t already done so spent Monday clearing out their lockers and heading home while baseball pressed on toward the playoffs.
“We’re all disappointed,” Girardi said, matter of factly. “I’m a firm believer this organization is going to do everything it can to get us back in the Fall Classic next year.”
With a major league-high payroll that was $209 million on opening day, the Yankees surely didn’t expect their run of 13 consecutive playoff appearances to end, and certainly not in their final season at Yankee Stadium. But there they were last week, watching the upstart Tampa Bay Rays win the AL East and the rival Red Sox capture the wild card.
This wasn’t how the script was supposed to go.
Wednesday or Thursday,” added Girardi, whose first season in charge instead finished with a meaningless doubleheader Sunday in Boston. “That did not happen. That’s extremely frustrating.”
There are sure to be changes next season, beyond the team moving into a new ballpark, with a bevy of free agents on the roster and a pressing need to revamp the starting rotation. But still to be decided is whether general manager Brian Cashman will be orchestrating the effort.
The Yankees GM since 1997, Cashman’s contract expires after this season. He said last week that negotiations on a new deal won’t drag out.
“It will be sooner rather than later,” Cashman said. “I won’t define either sooner or later.”
The sooner the better, Girardi said. There’s lots of work to do.
After averaging a major league-leading 5.98 runs a year ago, New York experienced a major power outage – just 4.87 runs per game. And with Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu potentially on their way out, Melky Cabrera’s struggles in center field and stalwarts like Hideki Matsui beset by injuries, the offense will need some retooling.
There are even bigger holes on the pitching staff.
everybody has a chance to digest the season.
“Mike Mussina surpassed everyone’s expectations this year,” Girardi said. “If he goes out, he can go out saying, ‘I had a great season. They didn’t take my uniform away.”’
Regardless, the Yankees are almost certain to go after a couple of the elite free-agent starters coming on the market. CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets will be the big-ticket items, and A.J. Burnett can opt out of the final two years of his contract with the Blue Jays.
“We have a lot of good pieces in that locker room, but I also think there are going to be changes,” Girardi said. “The rotation is something we’re going to address this offseason, get some more depth in the rotation. Get some guys who can give you more innings.”
Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were supposed to do that this season, but the youngsters wound up in the minor leagues, right beside Cabrera. And when Hughes and Kennedy weren’t struggling on the mound, where they combined to go 0-8 for the Yankees, they were struggling with injuries.
Yes, injures. There were plenty of those, too.
Chien-Ming Wang, a 19-game winner in each of the past two years, started 8-2 before hurting his foot running the bases in June. A seemingly innocent misstep ended his season.
t year.
Even durable closer Mariano Rivera revealed in the season’s final week that he had been dealing with a buildup of calcium in his pitching shoulder. He plans to have surgery on it soon.
The offense took a hit, too. Jorge Posada missed much of the season with his own shoulder problems, as did Johnny Damon. Hideki Matsui had a balky knee, and on and on it went.
“I see that as excuses, you know?” said Jose Molina, who was supposed to be the backup catcher but ended up playing 100 games. “We just didn’t get it done.”
Girardi was optimistic everybody will be healthy come spring training.
Posada should begin a throwing program the first week of December, and Matsui – one of the few players to stop by the clubhouse Monday – said he hopes to begin running and doing baseball-related activities by the beginning of January.
“As long as I rehab and prepare for spring training, I should be fine,” Matsui said through a translator. “I should be in much better condition than I was at the beginning of this season.”
Girardi hopes that with a few new pieces, he can say the same for his entire team.
“I think this is a place people want to play. And I got to tell you, I think the new stadium makes it more attractive,” Girardi said, shading his eyes from a spotlight that is sure to build in intensity if improvement isn’t made.
e we should be.”
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