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Here is your lifeline  Washington Nationals. We have gone from theory to reality in 24 hours.  Joe Girardi  no longer manages the New York Yankees. There is one potential managerial candidate who represents an obvious upgrade from Dusty Baker  both in the near term and long range.  He  is  Joseph Elliott Girardi .
Go get  him .
If the Nationals â and by âthe Nationalsâ here  we are speaking of the Lerner family  which owns the team â even are going to consider  Girardi   they have to go in with two things wide open: their eyes and their wallet.
Baker  whom they didnât invite back  felt  he  was woefully underpaid at $2 million annually  and the main reason  he  is no longer here anymore is because  his  contract was only for two years. Those two years expired  the Lerners had no further financial commitment  there was some ham-handedness in both public relations and game management in the division series against the Cubs  and so  he âs gone.
[ Girardi  made sense for the Nats even before the Yankees let  him  go]
 Girardi  isnât coming here for any two years and $4 million.  His  last contract with the Yankees  the one that expired following this year  was for twice that â four years and $16 million. Thereâs your starting point. If you want  him   Mr. Lerner  be prepared to value the position of manager more than you have at any point in the past. Take a number youâre comfortable with â and triple it.
Joe Maddon hadnât won a World Series when he agreed to a five-year deal worth a reported $25 million. Could  Girardi  ask for such a sum? Sure.
We donât yet know that  Girardi  will require that or that the Nationals will even inquire about  Girardi âs needs. But logic tells you General Manager Mike Rizzo  who did not return a message Thursday  has to reach out. Follow that logic further  and Rizzo has the toughest sell job of  his  career to  his  own bosses.
If Rizzo calls Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and gets a favorable report on  Girardi  â and given their long run together  why wouldnât  he ? â and the rest of Rizzoâs reporting reveals no red flags  then  he  must present a case to ownership that what they have before them is an opportunity. Forget the money it will cost. Consider it found money.
 Girardi âs side is important in this  too. On Thursday  in the hours after the Yankees announced they would not bring  him  back  a person close to the (now former) manager said the situation was too âfresh â and we couldnât yet analyze whether  Girardi  would want to move on to the Nationals â or anywhere else â immediately.
But we do know a bit more about  Girardi âs state of mind than we did at the end of the American League Championship Series  when  he  said  he  would have to consult with  his  family â  his  wife and three children live in South Florida â before deciding whether  he  could be all-in as a manager again.
On Thursday   Girardi  issued a statement that thanked just about everybody in the Yankee organization. But it opened with this: âWith a heavy heart  I come to you because the Yankees have decided not to bring me back.â
Sounds like someone who was ready to reload for another run.  He  just needed to be asked.
One reasonable question  Girardi  would have â and one that  once a manager is in place  could hang over the entire 2018 season â is: Who would I be working for? Not next year but down the line. Rizzoâs contract runs only through 2018. He and his front office built the team that won four division titles in six years and is poised to contend again. If he convinces  Girardi  to come here and convinces the Lerners to pay for him  wouldnât another extension be in line for the general manager?
A final piece: At 53   Girardi  is too young to really be into evaluating  his  âlegacy.â But here is a list of managers who have won World Series titles with two franchises: Sparky Anderson  who did it in Cincinnati and Detroit  and Tony La Russa  who did it in Oakland and St. Louis. Short list. Everyone on it is in the Hall of Fame.
If  Girardi  wins another World Series   he  joins that group. Could  he  do it in Washington? The Nationals have stated thatâs the only goal that matters. A manager who has done it is now available.
Joe Girardi

Leading Tory Brexit supporters have urged the prime minister to take advantage German Chancellor Angela Merkel ’ s weakness and failure to form a government . Theresa May has reportedly agreed with her cabinet to roughly double the offered Brexit ‘ divorce bill  ’ but Iain Duncan Smith   the former Conservative Party leader   urged her to “ sit tight ”  The Times reports . advertisement Jacob Rees - Mogg   Tory MP for North East Somerset   said that it would be “ foolish ” to hike the offer at a time when Mrs .  Merkel  needed to reassure German voters and businesses they will still be able to trade with the UK .  He  told the paper : “ Approving a higher divorce bill at this stage would be foolish … As for Germany   its domestic political concerns make it less likely that it would want to risk the damage that could be done to its industry from the UK imposing tariffs on its exports .” Mr . Duncan Smith added : “ When you look at what is going on in Europe the idea that out of that chaotic situation can come any sort of understanding is clearly not right   so we will have to sit tight .” May Expected to Offer EU £ 40 Billion – But Leavers Ask : What Are We Getting in Return ? The German chancellor ’ s Christian Democratic Union ( CDU ) and sister Christian Social Union ( CSU ) parties recently suffered their worst election result since 1949   with the populist   right - wing Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) surging . Their former coalition partner   the Social Democrats ( SDP )  also had their worst post - war election performance and announced they would quit the “ grand coalition ” and go into opposition . Mrs . Merkel had since failed to form a government with Germany ’ s Free Democrats and the Greens   with ideological differences proving too great . On Monday   she said she was “ very sceptical ” about running a minority government and hinted at fresh elections . Reports of  Mrs  . Merkel ’ s admission came on the same day reports claimed  Mrs  . May planned to double her previous offer to the European Union ( EU ) of roughly £ 20 billion to £ 40 billion . Economic commitments in the region totalling roughly £ 20 billion are to be added to the £ 20 billion already acknowledged as owed in  Mrs  . May ’ s Florence speech . A government source suggested that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Environment Secretary Michael Gove had signed up to the plan   despite previously opposing a large pay - out .
Mrs Merkel

Former Russian economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev   accused of taking a $ 2 million bribe from Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin    told a court on Thursday  he  was the victim of “ a monstrous and cruel provocation .” Russian former Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev   who was charged with accepting a bribe   is escorted by bailiffs after a court hearing in Moscow   Russia December 4   2017 . REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov State prosecutors said the bribe was given last year on Nov . 14 in exchange for  Ulyukayev  approving the sale of state - controlled oil company Bashneft to Rosneft . He says he thought the bag holding the bribe was a gift of expensive alcohol . “ A monstrous and cruel provocation was carried out against me  ”  Ulyukayev  told the court in  his  final statement before  it  hands down a verdict on Dec . 15 . “ This trial has aroused public interest similar to that of a circus  ”  he  added . “ The charges are absurd   the evidence is absurd   and at its base lies the cruelty and impunity of the provocateur .” Rosneft head Sechin   a witness in the trial and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin   has not appeared in court   citing work commitments . Russian prosecutors earlier this month sought a sentence of 10 years in jail for Ulyukayev .

Alexei Ulyukayev