To understand why the Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi on Friday, let's begin with a number: 233.
Take that number, multiply it by 1 million and think of it in terms of dollars, and you start to get an inkling of what is going on. That's the Phillies' 2022 payroll -- $233 million, fourth-highest in the majors, per Spotrac -- and it's well into luxury tax territory.
A payroll like that sets a clear standard of expectation for everyone in a baseball organization. That is: to win a championship. You don't spend that kind of money on a baseball roster for any other reason than that.
Now, let's consider two more numbers, both percentages: 1.3 and minus-14.1.
Those figures, respectively, represent the Phillies' current chances of making the playoffs and how much those chances have dropped over the past week, according to baseball-reference.com.
If you're a manager overseeing a ballclub attached to the numbers we've mentioned so far, you better watch your butt. Thus, Girardi is out, having now been let go three times during his managerial career even though he's won a World Series, been to six postseasons in 14 years and is 185 games over .500 during the regular season, ranking 30th all-time among managers.