Girardi On WFAN: Yankees Have Been Motivated By Trade Deadline
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Could Monday's trade deadline be one factor in the Yankees playing better in recent weeks?
Manager Joe Girardi seems to think so, saying his players have been motivated while knowing that a firesale would effectively signal the end of their season.
"I think everyone wants to feel that you always have a chance to win, and you could make up some ground," Girardi told WFAN's Marc Malusis on Friday. "And if you think about it, if you were to win every series ... you'd put yourself in a pretty good spot. And we've played better and have been winning series."
The Yankees, who open a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Friday night, have won eight of their last 11 games and sit 3 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot in the American League.
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"It starts with our starting pitching," Girardi said of the turnaround. "I think it's been very good, and our bullpen has obviously done the job. And offensively, we've had some timely hits. We haven't scored a ton of runs in some of those, but we've gotten enough, and we've made it hold up."
But a selloff is still not out of the question. The Yankees dealt closer Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs on Monday, and there has been much speculation about the futures of reliever Andrew Miller and outfielder Carlos Beltran.
Girardi said those veterans are doing a good job of blocking out the distraction.
"It's hard not to think about because you want to know where you're going to be at," he said. "Everyone wants to know where they're going to be at. But I think they've done a really good job of whatever it is they're thinking about before the game that during the game they're extremely focused, and they go out and do their job."
To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.
