Joe Girardi rejects UCF’s offer to manage baseball team

Joe Girardi’s baseball career is not over.

But there’s not going to be a chapter at the University of Central Florida.

Girardi rejected an offer for the head coaching job at UCF baseball, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

The former Yankees manager is currently a color commentator for the Chicago Cubs’ broadcast on Marquee Sports Network, a role he’s held before at MLB Network and Fox between managerial stints with the Yankees and the Phillies.

Girardi, who had a 14-year major league career as a catcher on the Cubs, Rockies, Yankees and Cardinals, is a four-time World Series winner — three as a player, one as a coach.

He was a backstop for three Yankees championship teams during the peak of their dynasty, winning rings in 1996, 1998, and 1999.

The Illinois native returned to the Yankees to take the helm as manager in 2008, holding the position until 2017.

He led the Bronx Bombers to a championship in 2009, the Yankees’ first title since 2000.

It was the last ring the Yankees’ “Core Four” of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte won together before retiring.

The Yankees have not returned to the World Series since.

Girardi was fired after the 2017 campaign when the Yankees fell one game short of a World Series berth in a surprising run.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said Girardi would likely have been canned even if the Yankees had won the title.

He landed his next managerial job in 2020 when the Philadelphia Phillies hired him to help steer the team toward contention.

That tenure ended in disaster, however, as the Phillies let go of the former Yankees skipper just 51 games into the 2022 season after the team got off to a rough start.

Following Girardi’s firing, the Phillies took off.

Rob Thomson, a former bench coach with the Yankees and Phillies, helped lead Philadelphia to a remarkable turnaround, which culminated in a National League pennant and just two wins short of a title.

UCF is looking for a baseball coach after parting ways with Greg Lovelady, who spent seven seasons in charge and led the Golden Knights to one NCAA Championship appearance.

But they’ll have to find another name than Girardi.