Brian Cashman's To-Do List Just Got A Little Shorter

As expected and predicted, the Yankees have re-signed Joe Girardi to be manager of the team. The deal is being reported as a 3-year deal worth $9 million. Welcome back, Joe. He may not be my most favorite Yankee manager, but he's done a fairly decent job. I wish he'd put a little less faith in his binder, but I get why he uses it.

Signing a manager had to be the top item on Brian Cashman's offseason to-do list. Cross that one off the list. Next up I would imagine is hiring a pitching coach. I don't expect that to be a long and drawn out process. I wouldn't be surprised if that's signed, sealed and delivered by this time next week. Once that's done things will start to get interesting. Both Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are free agents. There's no doubt in my mind that both Derek and Mo will be back in Pinstripes for another go-around. The real questions (and the interesting parts) are for how much and for how long. I'm most curious to see what happens with Jeter. He's in the latter half of his career and is coming off a down year, arguably the worst in his career. But he's Derek Jeter. He's the Yankee captain. They have to show him some kind of respect, right? Can't wait to see how that develops.

In other news, the Yankees officially declined options on Kerry Wood, Lance Berkman, and Nick Johnson. Don't be shocked by that. It all comes down to money. The amount the Yanks would have had to pay to pick up their options was a lot higher than their value. They could always try to re-sign them at lower salaries. Personally, I don't think they will. Wood will sign with someone that needs a closer and earn more than he would as a setup guy for the Yankees. Berkman is a possibility but only at a much lower salary, like in the $5-10 million range. And Nick Johnson? Yeah, we won't go there. No chance Cashman makes that mistake again, right?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie