Did Joe Torre just have some sort of magic winningness about him? Why did Joe Girardi, who by all reports should have been a very competent manager, fail to lead the team to the postseason for the first time since 1993? Let's see if we can find out.
One notable issue for Girardi is his relationship with the press. One avid NoMaas fan, Peter Abraham, has called Girardi a liar on more than one occasion, and a number of other media members have shown discontent with Girardi's disseminating of information. Even Grade-A superpimp Brian Ca$hmoney has seemed dissatisfied with Girardi's handling of the press.
The question in many minds is: so what? Does this have any bearing whatsoever in how well the team plays? I don't have an answer for that. I find it hard to believe that Derek Jeter hit into so many double plays this year because he was worried about Peter Abraham being able to write an accurate story. That being said, this was an area in which Girardi performed poorly.
A more relevant problem for this Yankee team was its lack of run production. After finishing in the top 5 in all of baseball in run scoring every year since 2002 (and finishing first 3 times), this Yankee team scored only 4.87 runs per game, the lowest total the Yankees have had since 1992, and finished 7th in the AL in runs scored.
Why did this happen? One of the best things the Yankees had going for them during Joe Torre's tenure as manager was outstanding offensive performance from positions that are more difficult to get offensive production from (SS, 2B, CF, C), thanks to standouts like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and Alfonso Soriano. With Robinson Cano, Jeter, and Melky Cabrera all having poor showings this year, and Posada missing most of the season to be replaced with Funky Cold Jose Molina, this advantage evaporated, and the Yankees "defensive positions" posted a .703 OPS, the lowest at those positions since 1990.
One area in which the team showed a tremendous amount of improvement was the bullpen. Obviously, a great deal of credit must be given to All-Galaxy closer Mariano Rivera, who posted a 308 ERA+ and a 0.665 WHIP, and is so incredible that nobody really seemed to notice. However, Girardi also managed to coax respectable performances out of Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras, two players largely ignored by Torre. Girardi seemed to trust his minor league scouts, and would give multiple shots to young players even if they failed once or twice. Sometimes you end up with a useful player as a result. Sometimes you end up with Ross Ohlendorf, who can't stop disappointing you.
The rotation was another story. Mike Mussina surprised everyone but his mother and Jonah Keri by bouncing back and having a successful season. Everybody else was a disappointment. Joba Chamberlain showed incredible flashes of brilliance, but injury issues and excessive coddling held him to only 100 innings. Andy Pettitte showed bad luck or age or something when he tailed off at the end of the year, and Chien-Ming Wang stupidly hurt himself in a stupid interleague game while stupidly running the bases, causing him to miss most of the season. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were colossal disappointments, providing fewer than 80 innings of atrocious pitching. Girardi's in this? Well, it's hard to figure out how the manager is responsible for injuries or busts in his pitching rotation.
In conclusion, this season is on the failure to perform of the players. Unless this was the result of not having ice cream and candy freely available in the clubhouse, it is hard to pin this failure on the manager. That being said, certain players who have responded well to motivation from coaches in the past (Robinson Cano, I'm talking to you) regressed severely this year, showing major decline offensively and defensively. Girardi bears some blame for his team's underperformance, but most of it is the result of risky roster construction and poor execution by players.
Final Grade: B-