[gridlock]

In selecting Girardi, the Yankees set in motion Mattingly’s exit from the team. The former Yankees first baseman announced Monday he would be leaving the team. Mattingly had been groomed to one day replace Torre as manager. Mattingly said it was his goal to manage whe he agreed — at the request of the principal owner, George Steinbrenner — to become the Yankees’ hitting coach in October 2003.

Sorry, Mattingly... Nobody gets to Skipper the New York Yankees just because it is their turn. The Yankees have to do what is best for the team, even if that means saying "no" to Donnie Baseball.

It is a fine balancing act. On the one hand you have to so a certain amount of loyalty, even if you are the New York Yankees. On the other hand, losing out of loyalty to one man is not really an option.

[Alberta's Child]

I wonder if Mattingly's departure is a sign of his disenchantment with the "new ownership" of the team -- i.e., the guy he came back to work for isn't the one running the team now.

Having said that, I never liked the idea of having a guy go from coach to manager for his first managing position. Mattingly should really spend a year or two managing in the minor leagues before he's ready to take on a big-league managing job.