Girardi would have been nice

I was all prepared to lay out the reasons and arguments for hiring Joe Girardi as the next… I was all prepared to lay out the reasons and arguments for hiring Joe Girardi as the next manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Excitement tickled my insides at the opportunity.

So of course, the New York Yankees decide on Monday to offer Girardi their vacant position of manager, which he is expected to take. My excitement reversed to anger and despair.

Damn Yankees. Again.

But all is not lost. The Pirates still have to hire a manager and were likely not to lure the 2006 National League Manager of the Year, anyway. The job is completely up for grabs, and there have been varying reports on who the frontrunners are and even who is just interested in the job.

It’s not like Pittsburgh has competition anymore. The Pirates are the sole remaining club that hasn’t hired a manager after having a vacancy following the regular season. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington has yet to even interview a candidate.

Huntington has rationalized this as an act of respect to Major League Baseball, so no major announcements would come out during the World Series (cough, cough, Alex Rodriguez). This also means he intends to bring in some coaches from the final four teams in the playoffs for interviews.

However, my desired candidate for the job wasn’t a part of those final four teams. He hasn’t managed in over two years, but he was on the staff of one of the playoff teams.

It makes me shudder to say this, but he was a coach for the Yankees this past season. No, it’s not Don Mattingly.

My main man is Tony Pena.

He isn’t much of a homer pick, although he played for the Pirates a few years in the 1980s. Some have called for current coaches and former Pirates Jay Bell and Andy Van Slyke to manage the team, but I still blame Van Slyke for the departure of Barry Bonds from Pittsburgh, so I could never fathom such a move.

The key here is experience. Pena played 18 years in the majors and is the lone candidate with managerial experience.

He led the Kansas City Royals for over three seasons and headed the squad that went 83-79 in 2003. That was the only time Kansas City has breached .500 since 1994.

Oh, and he won American League Manager of the Year that season also. Not bad, huh?

Pena has to be disappointed that he was passed over by the Yankees. He coached first base for New York this year and was one of three who interviewed for the spot. George Steinbrenner’s son Hank said that Pena had a real chance for the job. I’m glad he wasn’t offered it.

Confidence and enthusiasm define Pena’s personality and managerial style. He is also known as being a great motivator on the field and in the clubhouse. All of these characteristics fit the profile of Huntington’s and new Pirates president Frank Connelly’s next leader.

Former Pirates manager Jim Tracy lacked those traits and was promptly shown the door.

Developing talent was another discrepancy of Tracy’s, but Pena fared much better in his tenure at Kansas City.

His 2003 season in Kansas City featured breakout seasons from Carlos Beltran and Raul Ibanez and a Rookie of the Year in Angel Berroa. The pitching was old and terrible, but the Royals still managed to win 83 games. His record the next two seasons wasn’t pretty, but that was aided by management’s decision to overhaul with over-the-hill veterans and wide-eyed rookies.

Sources have been naming Red Sox pitching coach and former Indians executive John Farrell as the favorite, with Indians third base coach Joel Skinner close behind.

Both are affiliated with Huntington, who used to work in the Cleveland organization as assistant general manager and an advance scout.

But is going with what you are familiar with the best idea? Former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield worked with Tracy and scouting director Ed Creech in Montreal, so he brought them to Pittsburgh with high hopes, and failed miserably with each at the helm.

Of course, Littlefield was a bumbling, incompetent fool as an executive. It seems like Huntington knows what he is doing. It’s a bit tough to compare the two.

The truth is you have to go with the best man for the job. The cost of choosing Pena should not be a big issue, because he can be hired for a similar salary to what Tracy made.

Tracy had just left the Dodgers when the Pirates hired him and didn’t burden the payroll. Pena’s experience and desire lift him a notch above the other candidates, so much so that Huntington should chase him no matter the price.

If Pena happens to not be interested, Farrell may be a good second choice. Just look at what the Boston pitchers accomplished in the World Series.

The Pirates Triple-A affiliate manager Trent Jewett is worth a look as well. He’s spent time on the big leagues staff in Pittsburgh and is also lauded as a great communicator and developer of talent.

But for the complete package, Pena has to be the guy – as long as he renounces his association to the Yankees, of course.

The only better option possesses all of Pena’s qualities, except that he’s managed in Pittsburgh before. In fact, he led a team to the World Series last year, and he has a World Series ring