Phillies name Joe Girardi their next manager

The Phillies will have Joe Girardi running their squad, a move that will surely excite the fanbase.

The Phillies have hired former Yankees manager and MLB Network analyst Joe Girardi to be the 55th manager in the franchise’s 137 year history.

Phillies insider for MLB.com Todd Zolecki first reported the news Thursday morning.

Girardi, a former big league catcher, won the 2009 World Series with the New York Yankees against the Phillies. He officially becomes just the second manager in baseball history to manage a team he previously defeated in the World Series as the opposing manager.

Girardi brings a wealth of experience with 988 wins as well as an appreciation for the analytics general manager Matt Klentak, owner John Middleton, and president Andy MacPhail have invested in.

In 10 seasons with the Yankees Girardi’s team’s won at least 84 games every season and won at least 90 games in half of the years he ran one of the most iconic organizations in sports history.

The hiring also reunites Girardi with his former bench coach in New York Rob Thompson, who holds the same position in Philadelphia. The franchise also hired former Yankees scout Brian Barber as their new scouting director.

Overall the move is expected to be applauded by the fan base, who were very vocal in their desire to have Girardi man the Phillies bench. Several Twitter polls showed Girardi with an overwhelming amount of support over Dusty Baker and Buck Showalter, both of whom also interviewed for the job.

Girardi’s next task will be to hire his pitching and hitting coaches, two of the most valuable members of any coaching staff. In New York Girardi had Larry Rothschild, who is still with the team, and former pitcher Dave Eiland, who was fired by the Mets in 2019, running his staff.

Girardi had three hitting coaches during his 10 years with New York: Kevin Long, Jeff Pentland, and Alan Cockrell. Long is currently the Nationals hitting coach in the midst of their World Series run.

The only current player connection Girardi has with the Phillies is reliever David Robertson, who is expected to miss the entire 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. Pitcher Aroldis Chapman could opt-out of his contract and become a free agent, but he’d be leaving over $24 million on the table with the Yankees.

Other layers managed by Girardi during his time with the Yankees who could be available this offseason include Dellin Betances and Brett Garnder.