Joe for four? There goes the Mattingly plan... but a new successor might be emerging

I always figured Don Mattingly was destined to manage the Yankees. Still do, sort of... but actually, I'm not so sure. Yesterday's retooling with Binders Joe popped that easy Mattingly scenario: He'd leave LA this winter and come East.  Now, four years have to pass. By then, Donnie could be settled into the comfort zone of another franchise - kids in school, wife running for school board - and tell the Yankees what Joe told the Cubs.

So yesterday, amid the mixed relief in knowing that Girardi will stay - (he has his critics) - comes the sense that Mattingly may never come home (at least as a Yankee; the Mets could have something to say about it.)

But a new legacy option has emerged: Paul O'Neill is being courted by the Cincinnati Reds. He could be a decent manager, but he'd never get the call to NYC - not without previous experience. Give him four years in Boehner Country, and he could be Joe's perfect legacy replacement.

Of course, in four years, Derek Jeter will be looking for something to do, other than supermodels. Then there is Mariano: I speak for the Yankiverse in saying that he must never - ever - wear another uniform. Not in a Hollywood movie or to Halloween party. The world would end. So if Mariano gets tired of dunking converts, and he yearns to coach - so long, Larry Rothschild. We've got to make it happen. From there, would he want to manage? And how about the guy I personally think would make the best manager of all: Jorge Posada? He's tough, he's smart, he has everybody's respect. Is he just going to play golf, schtztup the wife and show up on Old Timers Days? No way.

Yesterday, we bought ourselves four years of a smart man, a solid leader, a moral stalwart and a good post-game interview.  But we lost Donnie Baseball. Somewhere, the Fates are wondering what went wrong.