Joe Girardi Will Return as Phillies Manager in 2022
The Phillies playoff hopes ended on Thursday night in Atlanta, as the Braves successfully swept the Phillies in a three-game series. Despite not making the playoffs, the Phillies appear to be just fine with their manager. In fact, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made it clear: Joe Girardi will return in 2022.
MLB.com's Todd Zolecki spoke to Dombrowski, who confirmed that Girardi's job is safe for next year:
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Friday evening at loanDepot park that Girardi will be his manager in 2022, which is no surprise considering Girardi is under contract through next season.
“I think he’s done a good job,” Dombrowski said. “I actually talked to him yesterday after the game. I said Joe, ‘You did a good job.’
Recent reports have definitely showed that the organization had many problems, suggesting that neither Gabe Kapler or Girardi are to blame for the bigger problems of the organization.
Dombrowski shook up the organization in a major way, removing assistant general manager Bryan Minniti, player development director Josh Bonifay, and assistant general manager Scott Proefrock from their roles. The reason that the leadership had to change was deep.
Matt Gelb of the Athletic reported system-wide disfunction:
Multiple members of the organization described a “toxic” culture in player development. There was backstabbing and browbeating. There were not just mixed messages, but messages that were designed to mute certain employees. There was working for credit — and credit only — and those who fell into job-preservation mode. There were people, both tenured and newer employees, who no longer felt empowered to coach. Player development blamed scouting for a lack of talent and scouting blamed player development for a lack of progression. Bryan Minniti, who was fired in August, was in charge of both departments. The players were caught in it all — cogs in an organization that could not articulate an actual player-development philosophy.
Getting that portion of the organization correct is important; the manager only has what he has on the field.
There have been some rumblings that Girardi has been giving important feedback to Dombrowski about the future of the organization. It seems that they are aligned and Girardi's voice is respected.
So, as the Phillies miss the playoffs another year, their still-new director of baseball operations will move forward with the same manager for at least one more year.