原文网址：https://tinyurl.com/y99wmfqm
New York Times
Joe Girardi Didn’t Sufficiently Connect With Yankees Players, Cashman Says
现金人：吉拉迪与洋基球员缺少连结
By BILLY WITZNOV. 6, 2017
新闻大意：
从两个礼拜前吉拉迪离开洋基队后，一直保持沉默的洋基总管现金人，在星期一接受访问
时表示：吉拉迪与年轻化的洋基选手间无法良好互动，是导致吉拉迪去职的主因。
从上个球季以来，洋基正成功地将原本充斥老将的队形转型成聚集许多明日之星的球队
，因此队上需要新的声音（来领导球队）。现金人说他主要的考量是：“能全神灌注、与
年轻选手完全沟通与连结的能力。”“因此，对于已在教练位置上坐十年的某人来说，可
能会力有未逮”。现金人也澄清，他并不是因为吉拉迪与分析师间关系不佳、或是季后赛
时没有要求重播挑战而输球，而让吉拉迪去职。
虽然现金人并没有举出沟通不良的具体例子，但这仍有迹可循。例如八月时，吉拉迪曾因
捕手 Sanchez 在防守时不专注，而将他短暂放在冷板凳上并公开指责他。还有季后赛期
间，火球人 Chapman 在一篇要求洋基不要让吉拉迪续任教头的IG贴文上按赞，虽然事后
他说只是一场意外。
不过就在现金人发表看法后，吉拉迪在接受随后访问时，驳斥了任何关于沟通不良的看法
，并强调他与 Sanchez 间的关系是互相支持的。“我想现金人是想找些不同的元素，而
显然我不符合他的期待。”
现金人对可能接任教头的人选依然紧守口风，“目前仍没有面面俱到的完美人选”。但他
承诺遴选的过程将会公开透明，每个候选人在面试后会安排与地方新闻媒体见面。虽然吉
拉迪本身治军严厉且往往让人感觉拒人千里之外，似乎与长袖善舞的前教头托瑞成对比，
“但这并不代表洋基将找一位沟通大师来带队”。“新教头要熟悉数字分析、理解运动科
学的角色、且愿意挑战传统思维。”
新闻原文：
When the Yankees filmed an advertisement for a web development company this
summer, it humorously played off Manager Joe Girardi’s image as a square,
fatherly figure puzzled by the priorities of his younger players.
As it turned out, art was not imitating life — it was forecasting it.
Girardi’s inability to communicate well with an increasingly young clubhouse
was the primary factor that led to his dismissal, General Manager Brian
Cashman said Monday.
Cashman, speaking for the first time since Girardi’s departure from the team
nearly two weeks ago, praised him in a nearly hourlong conference call with
reporters. He described Girardi, whose contract expired after this season, as
an exceptional manager with a tireless work ethic who served the Yankees well
on and off the field during his decade in charge.
But with the Yankees having successfully transitioned over the last year and
a half from a team laden with veterans to one with an abundance of emerging
stars — right fielder Aaron Judge, catcher Gary Sanchez, first baseman Greg
Bird, shortstop Didi Gregorius and pitcher Luis Severino — Cashman said it
was time for a new voice.
The main area of concern was “the ability to fully engage, communicate and
connect with the playing personnel,” Cashman said. “And in saying that,
there might be a tough hurdle for someone that’s been in that particular
position as a manager for 10 years.”
Cashman would not address any specific instances of poor communication, but
some examples were evident this year. Girardi — a former catcher — was so
frustrated by Sanchez’s inattentiveness on defense that he briefly benched
him and publicly criticized him in August.
And during the playoffs, closer Aroldis Chapman liked an Instagram post that
urged the Yankees not to bring back Girardi, though he later said it was an
accident.
In an interview on the WFAN radio station that ran concurrently with Cashman’
s conference call, Girardi disputed the idea that there were any
communication problems and described his relationship with Sanchez as
supportive.
“I think Brian was looking for something different, and evidently I didn’t
fit the mold,” said Girardi, who nonetheless did not give an alternative
reason for his dismissal.
Cashman, who dismissed reports that hinted at increasing friction between him
and Girardi this season or that Girardi did not work well with the analytics
staff, also said that Girardi’s managerial gaffe in the postseason —
neglecting to call for a replay challenge that may have prevented a loss to
the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of an American League division series — had
nothing to do with his ouster.
Asked if Girardi would have been back had the Yankees reached the World
Series instead of losing in a seven-game American League Championship Series
to the Houston Astros, Cashman said: “It’s tough to put a hypothetical in
there. We went where we went.”
After the Yankees lost Game 7 on Oct. 21, they returned home the next day.
Cashman gave his recommendation to Hal Steinbrenner, the team’s principal
owner, the next day, and Girardi was informed the following day, a Tuesday.
The decision was announced two days later, on Thursday morning — an off day
during the World Series.
Though Cashman, whose contract has expired as well, said he had not yet
reached an agreement on a new deal with Steinbrenner, he made clear that he
would like to return. He said there were other priorities: the move of Kevin
Reese from pro scouting director to director of player development, scouting
meetings that wrapped up Friday, next week’s general manager meetings and
the hiring of a new manager.
That last task is certain to garner a great deal of attention. Of the six
teams that parted ways with their managers at the end of this season, only
the Yankees have yet to name a replacement, and Cashman indicated that the
search was just getting underway.
He is winnowing a list of prospective candidates to bring in for interviews.
He declined to say how many people would be interviewed but said that a
previous relationship with the Yankees or managerial experience was not a
prerequisite.
“There’s no perfect person that checks every box,” Cashman said. “I don’
t care whether they’re Hall of Famer categories.”
Asked if Alex Rodriguez, who served this season as an adviser to Steinbrenner
while being paid $21 million for the final year of his contract, was a
candidate, Cashman said, “I definitely do not want to go through who may or
may not be a candidate.”
But he promised a transparent process, one in which — as with the club’s
last managerial opening, which occurred after Joe Torre was pushed out 10
years ago — each candidate will meet with the local news media after being
interviewed.
While Girardi — acutely prepared but with a stilted personality — seemed
the antithesis of the avuncular Torre, Cashman said it would be a mistake to
think the Yankees would be turning toward somebody who was solely a master
communicator.
The best candidate will also have to also be well versed in analytics,
understand the role of sports science and be willing to challenge
conventional thinking.
“It’s an easy narrative to run to the opposite of what you already had,”
Cashman said. “If somebody was too, for instance, structured and demanding,
then you want to go from an old-school, heavy-handed personality to a
new-school players’ manager — that’s not a narrative I’m falling into. We
’re looking for the best person possible.”