TAMPA — The seat Joe Girardi sits in Thursday while addressing the media on the eve of the first spring-training workout for pitchers and catchers at George M. Steinbrenner Field won’t be hot.
If the Yankees contend for the AL East title as they did last season until they stopped hitting late in the year without Mark Teixeira, the cushion’s temperature won’t rise. However, it would be naive to believe should the Yankees struggle that the manager’s future beyond 2016 won’t come into play.
Yankees brass seemed pleased that after two dark Octobers the club made it to the AL wild-card game last year, beaten 3-0 by the Astros.