Thanks to Sam Perlozzo's firing in Baltimore, there might be an opening in the Yankee broadcast booth. Joe Girardi is reportedly set to interview for the vacancy with the Orioles, who will be filling the skipper spot with bullpen coach Dave Trembley on an interim basis. If he is hired it will eliminate one of the contenders to replace Joe Torre after this season and/or whenever the Bombers find themselves in need of a new helmsman. With Don Mattingly already in the dugout and a pretty long list of guys who would love to run baseball's biggest franchise that's not a huge problem for the Bombers. Nor is it a huge problem for the suits at YES. They've got Paul O'Neill, John Flaherty, Al Leiter, David Justice, the rehabilitating Bobby Murcer and longtime employee Ken Singleton available to play along with Michael Kay and could always tab Suzyn Waldman for a game or two if they feel less than orgasmic about their other choices. Girardi wouldn't be a huge loss for the quality of the telecasts either. None of the above announcers offer the quality that Jim Kaat brought to Yankee games but none of them have the smugness and know-it-all habits that made Girardi so popular with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria either.
Buster Olney argues that those tendancies make Girardi the perfect man for a job under Peter Angelos. If he gets the job he'd also be working for former Chicago Cubs president Andy MacPhail. Angelos hired MacPhail as COO of the Orioles today and he and Girardi know each other from their respective stints with the Cubs organization. That should make Joe a pretty strong candidate for the job as he was rumored to be a Cubs managerial prospect about as often as he was mentioned as a potential Torre successor. Friendliness with the brass aside Girardi would have quite a job on his hands in Baltimore. Bringing Leo Mazzone and several free agent relievers to town has done nothing to bolster the Oriole staff, funny that Danys Baez and Jamie Walker wouldn't be the salve for all wounds. Perlozzo had nothing to do with those acquisitions nor with the moves that gave Melvin Mora an iron-clad deal and devoted his power spots to Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff and Jay Payton. He suffered for it all the same, though, and so will whoever inherits a job a team as far up shit's creek as any in baseball.
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