It’s rather likely right now that Joe Girardi will leave the New York Yankees in order to manage the Chicago Cubs? It was reported last Friday that if the Cubs were interested in talking to Joe Girardi, he certainly would listen.
Also, the consensus surrounding the Cubs was that they would not fire Dale Sveum until/if they knew Girardi was ready to come to Chicago. They just fired Sveum minutes ago.
Joe Girardi has excessive local ties, having played for the Cubs and attending Northwestern University in Evanston. He’s also had success managing in very dire circumstances with both the Yankees and Marlins, and managing the Chicago Cubs is of course, very dire circumstances. The Cubs said they will have a decision by the GM meetings on November 11th, if not sooner.
MLB rules dictate that the Cubs must speak before Girardi on October 31st in order to make a potential move. So they’re interested in him. Is Joe Girardi all in with the Cubs?
Here’s a telling tweet from CBS Chicago WSCR morning host Matt Spiegel:
Joe Girardi was asked his gut feeling over the weekend. He said "I haven't made up my mind yet." Said decision would be family based.
— Matt Spiegel (@MattSpiegel670) September 30, 2013
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan and 1620 The Zone, he also writes for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Facebook, subscribe to his RSS feed here