MLB notebook: Girardi steps down as USA Baseball manager

Focusing on a return to managing in the majors, Joe Girardi stepped down as manager of USA Baseball.

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