New York Yankees Next Manager: 5 Possible Replacements For Joe Girardi

The New York Yankees are looking for a new manager for the first time in a decade. The team has decided not to bring Joe Girardi back, following the team’s exit from the 2017 MLB playoffs.

The search has begun for Girardi’s replacement, even though the Yankees came just one win shy of reaching the World Series. New York exceeded all expectations in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season of sorts. During Girardi’s 10 years with the Yankees, New York had the best record in all of baseball.

It wasn’t all positive during Girardi’s tenure. After the Yankees won the World Series in 2009, they won just two playoff series over the next seven years. New York failed to make the postseason in three of four years, something that the Yankees had never previously done during the wild-card era.

“I want to thank Joe for his 10 years of hard work and service to this organization,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday in a statement. “Everything this organization does is done with careful and thorough consideration, and we've decided to pursue alternatives for the managerial position.”

Don’t expect the Yankees to bring in a big name to replace Girardi. New York is an analytics-driven organization, and they don’t want a manager like Dusty Baker, who was recently fired, that makes decisions with his gut.

Who will be the next manager of the Yankees? Five candidates stand out among the rest.

Rob Thompson

If the Yankees don’t plan to completely overhaul the coaching staff, Thompson might be their guy. He’s been a part of the organization since 1990 and became Girardi’s bench coach when he got the job in 2008.

Tony Pena

If the Yankees want to stay in-house with someone that has experience as a manager, it could be Pena that gets the gig. He managed the Kansas City Royals from 2002-2005, and in 2003 he led the team to their best record in a decade. The former catcher has spent the last 11 years as either the bench coach or first base coach with the team, and he interviewed to be New York’s manager when Joe Torre left in 2007.

Kevin Long

Long was in the running to become the New York Mets’ next manager, until the team hired Mickey Callaway. Long has spent the last three years as the Mets’ hitting coach, and he held the same position with the Yankees from 2007-2014.

Al Pedrique

The Yankees could decide to promote the manager of their top minor league team. Pedrique has been the manager of the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders for the last two years, leading them to a championship in 2016 and another division title in 2017. Pedrique went 22-61 as the interim manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004.

Pete Mackanin

He might be a long shot, but Mackanin is the one recent MLB manager that has a chance to be hired by the Yankees. The 66-year-old went 174-238 over the last three years as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. The organization relieved him of his managerial duties and gave him a role in the front office when the regular season ended. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Mackanin almost replaced Girardi in 2014, and the Yankees could revisit him as an option.