Joe Girardi Signs New Four-Year Contract with Yankees, Gets to Manage A-Rod Until 2017

Joe Girardi signed a new four-year contract with the Yankees on Wednesday that will keep him in the Bronx until 2017. Knowing that the Cubs and Nationals were both interested in him, Girardi played his cards right and got a deal worth over $16 million total. He’s now the second-highest paid manager behind the Angels’ Mike Scioscia.

The Yankees still face an uncertain winter, but expect priority No. 1 now to shift toward finding a way to keep Robinson Cano in pinstripes.

More than anything, it appears the allure of writing Alex Rodriguez’s name into the lineup card over the next two years — as both their contracts expire in 2017 — was too much for Girardi to pass up. (Can you blame him?)

Girardi re-signing with the Yankees likely helps secure Don Mattingly’s future with the Dodgers. The Cubs and Nationals? Good luck.

We now commence all the binder jokes.