Joe Girardi joins MLB Network, still hopes to manage in future

Former Yankees manager Joe Girardi is heading back to TV, but he eventually wants to get back in the dugout.

“I would like to, yes,” Girardi said when asked in a conference call Wednesday if he expects to manage again.

Rob McGlarry, president of MLB Network, announced its hiring of Girardi as a studio analyst Wednesday.

Girardi made his debut at 6 p.m. Wednesday on “MLB Tonight” with Mike Lowell, Billy Ripken and Greg Amsinger.

The four-time World Series champion (three as a player, one as a manager) spent time as a broadcaster with the YES Network and Fox before becoming the Yankees manager in 2008.

Girardi said he had discussions with other entities before landing with MLB Network but ultimately decided it was “the best fit.”

Girardi said it took some time for him and his family, who he always diligently consulted when his contract was up, to move past the Yankees’ decision not to bring him back after 10 seasons with the club.

“You know, I’ve really tried to put it behind me because I understand I could probably think about this for a long period of time, but it really doesn’t do me any good,” Girardi said. “I need to move on with my life, what I would expect someone else to do when there’s change. You need to move on and you need to grow as a person and everything that’s important to do. So I’ve probably been through all those moments, so now I’m focusing on what’s next. ‘What’s next?’ you know, I think it’s important as a person you’ve got to focus on what’s next, not what has happened, and just move on.”

As for the man replacing him, Girardi said he hasn’t reached out to Aaron Boone yet, but he did offer some advice for the new Yankees skipper.

“There’s a lot that comes with being the New York Yankees manager,” Girardi said. “But obviously, he’s a bright man and he’s played baseball for a long time and understands the game and has been around it a long time. I think for every manager, the biggest thing that you have to do is you have to find out what your niche is and then you have to be able to delegate. When you understand what your strengths are and where you don’t feel that you’re as strong as some of the areas, you rely on your coaches more. And it was something that I thought it was important for me to learn because I don’t think you can micromanage because you don’t have enough time in the day with all the demands.”

While Girardi still would like to manage again, he said he didn’t receive any offers from other clubs heading into the 2018 season. It’s something McGlarry said the network is prepared to deal with if and when the time comes.

“One of the things that we look at Joe, obviously he’s had a tremendous amount of success, but the other thing is that he’s just off the field, and he’s got that really recent perspective,” McGlarry said. “When you hire someone like Joe with the amount of success that he’s had in the past, you know there’s a very real possibility that at some point he may go back on the field, and we’re fine with that. That’s happened to us before, and it’s just part of the business.”