Joe Girardi

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi stands at the top of the dugout watching play in the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, in Arlington, Texas.

(Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)

As the 2016 Yankees struggle to find footing, it's easy to come up with 'what if?' scenarios that would change the current-day look of the club.



From the ill-advised $500M spending spree prior to the 2014 season, to Chase Headley's contract after 2014, to calling up reinforcements from the minor leagues, it's not hard to think of multiple tracks--both in the past and present--that would make the Yankees look very, very different today.



But here's one that doesn't come up often: What if Joe Girardi had left the Yankees to manage the Chicago Cubs after the 2013 season?



Remember that story? Girardi, with his Yankees contract up, flirted with the idea of going to his hometown in Chicago to manage a Cubs roster that looked to be a few years away from contention.



On Tuesday's edition of ESPN's Baseball Tonight podcast, host (and former Yankees beat writer) Buster Olney recounted the story with an added twist: The name of the candidate he believes the Yankees would have hired to replace Girardi prior to the 2014 season. The ramifications of the scenario would be felt across baseball right now.



During a conversation about the early-season success of the Phillies under manager Pete Mackanin, Olney threw out this nugget:



"This is one of those little-known facts," Olney said. "If you remember a couple years ago, there was flirtation between Joe Girardi and the Cubs. Girardi's contract had run out with the Yankees, the Cubs were looking for a manager. If Girardi had gone to the Cubs, Pete Mackanin would have almost certainly been the manager for them. He had been a special assignment scout for them. The Yankees had gotten to know him. He was on a very short list of people they were going to talk to and they loved how direct he is."



Now that's a 'what if?' that gets you thinking. Here's a quick rundown of how it would be impacting all parties involved in 2016.



Girardi: He'd be in the best place of all. Swapping the current Cubs roster for the Yankees? That's an easy upgrade.



Yankees: Could you imagine Pete Mackanin as their long-term manager? Probably not. If Girardi was entrenched in Chicago, perhaps Joe Maddon would be in the Bronx now.



Mackanin: He waited seemingly forever for a full-time gig. The up-and-coming Phillies are a great spot for him and come with little pressure to get to October for a while. The Yankees job would have been a huge spot, but this might end up working out better.



Phillies: Of all the parties involved, they would have easily lost the most. When the Ryne Sandberg experiment went up in flames last June, Mackanin was there to steer a Phillies ship that was near rock bottom. He's stabilized things better than almost anyone else likely could have.

Updated World Series odds



You can listen to the entire episode here and concoct your own 'what if?' scenarios while listening.

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.