PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Phillies have the option to extend manager Joe Girardi’s contract to the 2023 season, but as of now, they haven’t.
So far, he’s entering 2022 in the final year of his three-year contract, but he’s not phased by it.
“It doesn’t make my job tougher,” Girardi said Sunday in Clearwater, where Phillies spring training is underway. “I’m gonna do the same job no matter what. And I’ve never been extended in a season before, so it’s something that I’m used to. You play it out and just like players, managers have to perform.”
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Girardi managed the Yankees for 10 seasons, which included a World Series championship in 2009. However, that was the only trip his New York clubs made to the Fall Classic. After the 2017 season, during which the Yankees fell one win short of getting back to the World Series, Girardi wasn’t retained.
He’s also played for a number of teams and worked for multiple broadcasting networks when he wasn’t managing. While 10 years managing one club is a pretty good stint, Girardi recognizes that’s not the norm in the baseball industry.
“The one thing that I think it’s important to do in this game is to have a home base,” he said. “And I have a home base, in a sense. It’s where I live in the offseason with my family — that’s my home base. And that’s not gonna change.
“You learn that this is just kind of your life. You don’t know where you’re going to be for a long time. But the one thing that I know that’s going to be a constant is my wife, Kim, and the kids. And that’s, I think, how you deal with it. You’re going to move around, and you’re going to live in different places and different apartments. And here, you’re gonna have to get things ready. And so you just get used to it.”
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The Phillies are 110-112 in Girardi’s two seasons so far as manager. Last season was their first winning campaign since 2011, but they were only two games over .500 and missed the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season — the longest streak in the National League.
The competition remains stiff in the National League East with the defending Atlanta Braves, as well as the New York Mets — whose owner, Steve Cohen, has a reputation for being a big spender. Girardi spoke highly of Phillies management and said he feels pretty good about what the Phillies have.
What they have to figure out at the moment is who is going to play center and left fields. They also need to decide if Didi Gregorius will be the everyday shortstop over Bryson Stott, and make sure their pitchers are ready to go.
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Ace Zack Wheeler is behind because of shoulder soreness from December, which seems to have subsided. Zach Eflin is recovering from knee surgery, and Ranger Suárez is delayed to camp because he hasn’t gotten his passport back, per President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski.
There are many questions left unanswered for this Phillies team, and it’s not just the players — it’s the manager’s future, too.