MLB notebook: Girardi steps down as USA Baseball manager

The 55-year-old Girardi has interviewed with the Chicago Cubs and is a
candidate for openings with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

Girardi compiled a 988-794 (.554) record managing the New York Yankees for 10
seasons (2008-17) and the Florida Marlins for one season (2006). He led the
Yankees to a World Series championship in 2009.

Scott Brosius is replacing Girardi as manager of USA Baseball and will take
over Team USA's preparations for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Training
begins in Arizona next week and qualifier games begin next month in Mexico.

--New York Yankees left fielder Giancarlo Stanton was not listed in the
starting lineup for Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against
the Houston Astros due to a strained right quadriceps.

Stanton, who will miss his third straight game, tested his quadriceps by doing
some running drills approximately four and a half hours before the first pitch
of the contest. He ran a few times down the first-base line as well as between
first and third.

"Today I feel like he was better. And probably for the first time, like, saw
some improvement today," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Whether he's
running at 60 percent or whatever, don't feel like he's ready to be an option
in the field for us. I think there's a possibility of that kind of DH role
now. So it's a little bit of a decision for me."

--Astros manager A.J. Hinch expressed before Game 4 of the American League
Championship Series that he will pull his players off the field if fans at
Yankee Stadium throw objects at them.

Astros right fielder Josh Reddick said he had baseballs, water bottles and
other objects thrown at him during Tuesday's Game 3 when Houston posted a 4-1
win over the Yankees to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

"I will pull the team off the field if we get in that situation again where
bottles are being thrown and balls are being thrown and it becomes unruly,"
Hinch said. "There's other ways to support your home team ... It would be a
very ugly scene for baseball, a very ugly scene for the Yankees, if one of our
guys was hit by something from the upper deck. Something tragic could happen
and nobody wants that."

--Cleveland Indians catcher Roberto Perez had surgery to remove bone spurs in
his right ankle.

Dr. Robert Anderson performed the arthroscopic procedure in Green Bay, Wis.

The team said Perez is expected to be ready for spring training in February.

--The San Diego Padres' search for a manager has narrowed to two candidates
with Texas ties, according to multiple reports.

Former Rangers skipper Ron Washington and Jayce Tingler, the Rangers' field
coordinator in 2019, both have second interviews scheduled with Padres
ownership.

Washington, 67, compiled a 664-611 record in eight seasons with Texas
(2007-14) and led the Rangers to back-to-back American League pennants in
2010-11. He spent the last three seasons as the third-base coach for the
Atlanta Braves. Tingler, 38, has been with Texas since 2015, working primarily
in the player development department.

--Field Level Media