No teleprompter needed for Girardi's speech-Klapisch

"Feb. 23. ...That's the day the clubhouse will be closed, the manager will stand in the middle of the room and for approximately 45 minutes, the Bombers will listen to Girardi's state-of-the-team address....

• Girardi is about to leave his own imprint on the Yankees in a speech that could define his managerial legacy. After years of frustration in Florida and the Bronx, Girardi now has to explain to his team the difference between chasing a title and defending one...

In fact, there are enough baseball executives who think the Bombers are set to run off another mini-dynasty. They have the AL's most talented roster, they have a $200 million payroll and, most importantly, they're being run more efficiently than at any time in the last 20 years.

• “I think Brian [Cashman] has learned a lot about running a team,” said one rival executive. “He's made some mistakes, but if you go around and ask people what they think of the Yankees, the answer you'll get is that they're intelligently run.”

The corporate IQ filters down to Girardi, who did a much better job with his players in 2009 than he did in 2008. He cleared out the anti-ARod residue he'd inherited from Torre, Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi, maximizing the infectious optimism generated by CC Sabathia, Nick Swisher and, yes, even Johnny Damon, whose what-me-worry personality will be sorely missed....

“I've got a good group of veterans who I can count on. That's important to me,” Girardi said. He was talking about Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Posada, of course,

• his clubhouse cops who'll be watching Robinson Cano
• and Joba Chamberlain, in particular....

But you can make book on this much: Girardi has been thinking about that state of the team address all winter. The Yankees can leave the teleprompter at home."

• Joe Girardi faces many challenges to repeat," Bob Klapisch, NorthJersey.com, 2/6/10

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