Joe Girardi, Yankees Reportedly Close to Three-Year Contract

The New York Yankees and manager Joe Girardi are close to agreement on a three-year contract worth between $9 and $10 million, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

Girardi, who guided the Yankees to a World Series title in 2009, has managed the team for three seasons -- missing the playoffs in his first campaign and bowing out to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS this month.

The Post reported that the deal could be finalized Wednesday or Thursday.

It would give Girardi a bump in pay from his previous three-year, $7.5 million deal, which will expire Saturday, perhaps a true sign of the Yankees' shift in practice since George Steinbrenner became ill and subsequently passed away this season.

Girardi, a three-time champion with the Yankees as a player, has been criticized -- as all New York managers are -- for micromanaging and his marriage to statistical analysis. As such, many speculated that Girardi had grown weary of the Bronx and had designs on moving to the Chicago Cubs, one of his home state's teams. The Cubs, though, hired Mike Quade as manager, ending that speculation.

An agreement with Girardi isn't the only piece of offseason business for the Yankees, who are faced with the free agency of established stars Derek Jeter, 36, and Mariano Rivera, 40.

The Post reported that the Yankees will seek a reduction in Jeter's annual salary, which paid him an average of $18.9 million over the last 10 years. The future Hall of Famer made $22.6 million in 2010, when he had one of his worst offensive seasons.