Joe Girardi was so impressive during a 10-hour interview last week in Tampa that he is likely to receive an offer to manage the Yankees on Monday. When Brian Cashman makes his recommendation to the Steinbrenner family today, the GM is expected to ask Hank, Hal and George to accept Girardi as Joe Torre's replacement. Entering the interview process that included Yankee icon Don Mattingly and first base coach Tony Pena, it was believed Cashman favored Girardi. Girardi's preparation and baseball intellect - items Cashman already felt positively about - were strongly reinforced during the interview. Ownership was said to also feel positive about those traits in Girardi.