Girardi Meets With Cubs

Joe Girardi, considered a leading candidate for the Chicago Cubs’ managing job, interviewed for the position on Monday.

The Florida Marlins fired Girardi last week. He guided them to a 78-84 record and kept them in contention for a playoff spot until late September despite having the majors’ youngest team and lowest payroll.

“Joe and I spent the better part of the day together,” Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry said. “I thought it went very well, and I think Joe appreciated coming down to Wrigley Field and seeing a lot of the people he knew from his playing days here.”

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While owner George Steinbrenner decides whether to keep Joe Torre, New York Yankees players are supporting their manager.

It was unclear whether Steinbrenner and Torre have spoken since the Yankees were ousted from the playoffs.

“He gave us every opportunity,” reliever Ron Villone said. “He put us on the field at the right times. I mean we came through in a lot of different ways. We had some injuries. He put the right lineups out there for us to jell and do the right things to win enough games to make it to the playoffs. You can’t point the finger at him. You can only point it at us,” he said.

The Daily News reported Sunday that Steinbrenner was ready to fire Torre and insert old favorite Lou Piniella as skipper.

Piniella said. “No, we haven’t talked at all about that,” Piniella said. “In fact I haven’t seen Mr. Steinbrenner in 10 months. Talk to my agent about these things.”

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Cliff Floyd’s injured left foot will be the focus when the New York Mets work out today before the NL Championship Series opener against St. Louis, and General Manager Omar Minaya admitted it would be a risk to keep the outfielder on the roster.

“He’s feeling better,” Minaya said. “We won’t know about Cliff until he goes out there [today] in the workout and we get a feel for where’s he at.”

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The Minnesota Twins will send left-hander Francisco Liriano to their spring training and minor league facility in Fort Myers, Fla., today to start a therapy and rehabilitation program for his injured left elbow, General Manager Terry Ryan said.

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Umpire Jerry Crawford was picked as crew chief of the AL Championship Series and Tim Welke was selected as crew chief for the NL Championship Series.