From my very, very, very very limited knowledge of a couple dudes that work with the Yanks, the younger players did not particularly like Joe. Take that for what it is, which obviously is pretty much nothing from a random dude on the internet. But I've said numerous times on here to the people that live and die by the numbers, the optimal manager has touches of Scoscia and Billy Beane. Need to take numbers in context, with a grain of salt. Can't live and die by the binder, use it as a reference. Numbers are important, but so are, yes you people in the sub will hate it, intangibles. I was actually lauding Joe for going to Tanaka in game 1 despite the splits because it was so antithetical to his modus operandi. I was really happy with that. Pitchers do get into grooves, hitters do feel hot, and season numbers and splits and advanced SABR and whatnot are important but aren't the end all be all in making a right baseball move. Ceding the opportunity for the division against the Jays because he didn't want to bring in Green on back to back days was fucking eye rolling, for example. I think Girardi is a great dude. But I think he was super mechanical and it was a major flaw. As evidenced by the ALDS, he couldn't escape his very boxed in approach towards everything. He had players pleading to challenge but he didn't have the concrete evidence and almost let the series slip away. That is a significant flaw. Now, I almost think that that experience could've been a major point in his career and altered the way he approached things going forward, but I do understand the position that Girardi was a mechanical dude and lacked a superior ability to be in touch with the human side of the game. And yes, despite the numbers, these guys are still humans and subject to human fallacies, like slumps, clouded minds, nerves, whatever. Those things do not show up in the score sheet and they are important. At least, of course, in my opinion, and the opinion of the organization.