Yankees look forward after dismal '08 season

NEW YORK -- Joe Girardi rounded the corner, bounded into the Yankees clubhouse and began dragging a big garbage can back to the manager's office.

A discouraging season, filled with injuries and disappointments, was going in the trash. For the first time since 1993, the few Yankees who hadn't already done so spent Monday clearing out their lockers and heading home while baseball pressed on toward the playoffs.

"We're all disappointed," Girardi said, matter of factly. "I'm a firm believer this organization is going to do everything it can to get us back in the Fall Classic next year."

With a major league-high payroll that was $209 million on opening day, the Yankees surely didn't expect their run of 13 consecutive playoff appearances to end, and certainly not in their final season at Yankee Stadium. But there they were last week, watching the upstart Tampa Bay Rays win the AL East and the rival Red Sox capture the wild card.

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go.

"We went to spring training, I expected to be playing Wednesday or Thursday," added Girardi, whose first season in charge instead finished with a meaningless doubleheader Sunday in Boston. "That did not happen. That's extremely frustrating."

There are sure to be changes next season, beyond the team moving into a new ballpark, with a bevy of free agents on the roster and a pressing need to revamp the starting rotation. But still to be decided is whether general manager Brian Cashman will be orchestrating the effort.

The Yankees GM since 1997, Cashman's contract expires after this season. He said last week that negotiations on a new deal won't drag out.

"It will be sooner rather than later," Cashman said. "I won't define either sooner or later."

The sooner the better, Girardi said. There's lots of work to do.

After averaging a major league-leading 5.98 runs a year ago, New York experienced a major power outage -- just 4.87 runs per game. And with Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu potentially on their way out, Melky Cabrera's struggles in center field and stalwarts like Hideki Matsui beset by injuries, the offense will need some retooling.

There are even bigger holes on the pitching staff.

Girardi thinks Andy Pettitte still wants to play after an up-and-down year, but wouldn't wager a guess on 39-year-old Mike Mussina, who won an unlikely 20 games for the first time in his career. Girardi hopes to speak with him in a couple months, once everybody has a chance to digest the season.