Thursday, September 03, 2015

Something Fishy Going On With Don Mattingly?

Don Mattingly has been linked to reports of his candidacy as manager of the Miami Marlins, and even the Dodgers' own website is happy to report on this:

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly on Wednesday dismissed any talk of him leaving Los Angeles, despite rumors swirling about him going to Miami as a potential replacement for Marlins interim manager Dan Jennings.

Mattingly said he first heard of the rumors when his son, Preston, called him about them Wednesday morning.

"He's the one that informs me what's going on. I have no idea where that comes from," Mattingly said. "I'm happy. I'm not worried about anything as far as that goes. I'm happy here. I feel like I'm a Dodger. That being said, that's about all we need to talk about as far as me."

Hmm, is that all? Mark Saxon of ESPN.com keeps pontificating:

Then again, the new front office of Andrew Friedman inherited Mattingly from former general manager Ned Colletti. Mattingly had no previous ties to any of the major three decision-makers above him in baseball operations -- Friedman, general manager Farhan Zaidi or vice president for baseball operations Josh Byrnes. Also, no team has ever had a payroll anywhere close to the Dodgers' -- approaching $300 million -- so there's no telling how far they might have to go to save Mattingly's job.

Mattingly is signed through 2016. He grumbled about his uncertain status shortly after the 2013 season, after the team declined to announce his option had been triggered with a first-round win over the Atlanta Braves. After an awkward press conference, with Colletti sitting right next to him, the Dodgers rewarded Mattingly with a three-year contract extension.

And here's where those Ron Roenicke fears start multiplying.

2 comments:

Fred's Brim said...

That Marlins guy sitting behind the plate must have been doing some advance scouting

Robert Fiore said...

Look, Andrew Friedman and his crew know what they bought and what they expected it to produce. If Mattingly doesn't produce it he goes.