Underachieving Phillies fire manager Girardi
Joe Girardi managed a Philadelphia Phillies team with the reigning National League MVP, five 2021 AllStars, a payroll above the luxury tax and expectations of ending the NL’s longest playoff drought.
But buried deep in the NL East standings and with a sagging bullpen, defensive deficiencies and slumbering starts from some of the team’s high-priced veterans, Girardi paid the price for Philadelphia’s poor start. He was fired Friday, becoming the first major league manager to lose his job this season after failing to turn a team with a record payroll into a playoff contender.
The move was made with the Phillies at 22-29, having lost seven of their past nine games and sitting in third place in the National League East, 12 games behind the New York Mets and 5½ games out of the second NL wild-card spot.
Bench coach Rob Thomson was named interim manager.
Astros
Slugger Yordan Álvarez and Houston agreed to a sixyear, $115 million contract extension. The deal will begin next season and buys out three of Álvarez’s free-agent years. It represents the biggest contract ever for a player whose primary position is designated hitter.
Twnis
Struggling Minnesota has arrived in Toronto with regular right fielder Max Kepler and relief pitchers Emilio Pagan, Caleb Thielbar and Trevor Megill on the restricted list to comply with the Canadian government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The four players will miss the three-game series against the Blue Jays. Canada requires anyone traveling to the country to have received two doses of a COVID19 vaccine, the second one at least 14 days before entry. Orioles
Baltimore promoted Eve Rosenbaum to assistant general manager. Rosenbaum will oversee roster management, transactions, financial planning and major league operations and administration. She will also continue to play a role in player evaluation and acquisition.
Dodgers
LosAngeles opened the season with an all-time high $310.6 million payroll for purposes of the luxury tax and is on track to pay a record tax of nearly $47 million. Five teams exceeded the $230 million threshold on Opening Day. If that number is unchanged by season’s end, it would be one shyof the most, in 2016.