A newly told story reveals that Joe Girardi was close to becoming the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007.
Girardi played 15 seasons in MLB from 1989-2003 as a catcher. He spent four seasons with the Yankees, winning three World Series with the team. Girardi later went into managing and won Manager of the Year for the Florida Marlins in 2006 but was fired after the season.
Girardi was out of a job the next season, but Ned Colletti, who was the Dodgers’ GM at the time, says he was close to hiring Girardi to serve as the team’s manager, replacing Grady Little.
Colletti told the story during an interview with Jon Heyman and Rob Bradford on the “Big Time Baseball” podcast published on Monday. He says he nearly had an agreement with Girardi, but things changed when the Yankees fired Joe Torre.
“We had contract discussions on term and rate,” Colletti told the hosts. “Just as we were coming down to kinda finishing it off, at least in my mind, and he (Girardi) had come out here to visit, he was doing network analyst work during the postseason, so he was in L.A. He had a chance to meet ownership.
“As soon as we got to that level … Joe Torre left the Yankees. The minute Joe Torre left the Yankees, I called Joe [Girardi], I knew Joe very well, and I said, ‘Hey, they’re gonna come after ya for that Yankee job … You gotta tell me where your heart’s at.’”
The two teams ended up doing a swap of sorts. Girardi was hired by the Yankees and helped them win the World Series in 2009. Torre was hired by the Dodgers and managed them for three seasons before stepping down.
Girardi has not managed since the 2017 season, though he has been in consideration for a few jobs. There may be one in particular he has his eye on.
