The Marlins will hire Don Mattingly as their next manager, reports Molly
Knight of Vice Sports. Mattingly has agreed to a four-year deal with the
club, but there may not be an official announcement until the World Series
comes to a close, she adds.
Incredibly, the 54-year-old Mattingly becomes the Marlins’ eighth manager
since the 2010 season, Knight points out. He’ll be replacing
GM-turned-skipper Dan Jennings, who bizarrely transitioned from the front
office to the dugout in nearly unprecedented fashion earlier this year after
Mike Redmond was fired as manager. The Marlins will pay Redmond through the
2017 season and only recently had Redmond’s predecessor, Ozzie Guillen, come
off the books, as his four-year contract expired upon completion of the 2015
season despite the fact that he was fired three years ago.
The Marlins interviewed a wide variety of candidates, though reports
throughout the interview process indicated that owner Jeffrey Loria would
consider Mattingly the favorite were he to part ways with the Dodgers. That
scenario came to fruition last week, when Mattingly and the Dodgers mutually
parted ways. Mattingly is said to feel that the team didn’t want to commit
to him for the long haul, though some form of extension was discussed prior
to his departure. (Speculatively speaking, it seems plausible that the
Dodgers only offered Mattingly a one-year extension of his contract, which
would’ve extended it through the 2017 season.)
Though Loria is notoriously fickle with his managers — as evidenced by the
fact that seven men have filled that role from 2010-15 — the New York native
is said to be a huge fan of Mattingly dating back to Mattingly’s days as a
six-time All-Star first baseman with the Yankees. Perhaps, then, that will
buy Mattingly more leeway than was afforded to the men he is succeeding in
his new role.
In five seasons as manager of the Dodgers, Mattingly posted a 446-363 record,
guiding his club to the NL West Division title in each of the final three
years of his term. While the team didn’t win a postseason series under
Mattingly, he recorded a winning record in each of his five seasons and was
generally well-regarded by his players. Notably, Mattingly managed in an
extremely high-pressure market while juggling a large number of highly paid
players on his roster, many of whom had been reduced to part-time roles.
Managing the number of egos and dealing with the L.A. media undoubtedly took
a toll on Mattingly, and he’s likely to encounter a more low-key environment
in Miami. Mattingly said in a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show that
he’s intrigued by the Marlins’ young core and considered it a “new
challenge” that appealed to him (this was prior to his reported hiring but
after his initial interview).
Knight notes that it’s unclear whether or not Mattingly will be able to
bring any of his field staff from Los Angeles to Miami. Pitching coach Rick
Honeycutt and bench coach Tim Wallach would be candidates, though Wallach is
still in the running for the managerial vacancies in both L.A. and San Diego.
The Dodgers did tell their coaches at season’s end that they were free to
pursue opportunities elsewhere, so perhaps Honeycutt could jump ship with
Mattingly.
Don Mattingly 將擔任馬林魚明年開始的總教練 四年約
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/10/marlins-hire-don-mattingly.html