Report: Girardi & Mattingly Dead Even

ESPN isn't just preaching style over substance in Bristol, now they're stressing unprofessionalism:

The Yankees have barred ESPN from news media conference calls with their managerial candidates this week. The move was in retaliation for the network violating rules covering last week’s call on which it was announced Joe Torre had turned down a contract offer.

Jon Heyman dissed Torre in his last piece, this one judges the Yankees managerial race as a dead heat, "50-50" draw.

One person familiar with the high-level Yankees’ discussions recently called the managerial decision at “50-50,’’ and while that shouldn’t be taken literally, there are signs that they have strong feelings about both Mattingly and Girardi.

Ten of the Yankees’ baseball operations people have been meeting and providing their personal input to general manager Brian Cashman, who will compile the votes and make a recommendation to the trio of Steinbrenners and other Yankees bosses, possibly as early as Thursday.

The word Wednesday was that Cashman’s recommendation will likely be accepted as the new manager, and if Cashman’s recommendation will indeed carry the day, Girardi’s chances to upset the favored Mattingly may be real. The “baseball ops’’ people, presumably including Cashman, were actually said to have favored Girardi if a change were made early in the season when the Yankees got off to a dreadful start.

And Buster Olney believes the next Yankee manager should and will be Joe Girardi.

(source)