Don Mattingly out as manager, team holds press conference

On Thursday, October 22, it was officially announced that Don Mattingly would no longer be the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Thursday Afternoon two of the team’s executives, President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and General Manager Farhan Zaidi, held a press conference to answer any questions. Vice President of baseball Operations Josh Byrnes was standing off camera, adding a few comments.

The three executives would not divulge any details of what was discussed during their talks with Mattingly that led to the “parting of the ways,” but they inststed it was a mutual and amicable parting.

The mood in the press conference got testy at times as reporters pressed the two for more details and explanation. At one point Zaidi said, “There’s always going to be a desire to label this: Was he let go? Did he resign? Understanding that, and, frankly, I’ve had my own level of cynicism when you hear of people mutually parting ways. But we can sit up here with all sincerity and say that’s how it came about.”

At another point, when they were asked about holding Mattingly accountable for the way the postseason ended this year, Friedman said, “I never appreciate hearing that the way Game Five unfolded was Don Mattingly’s fault. We all share in the blame.”

Friedman said that when they began discussing the future with Mattingly on the Friday after Game Five of the NLDS, they expected “Donnie” to be the manager of the Dodgers in 2016 and they thought Mattingly felt the same. Their insistence being they had no intention of firing the manager after the season was over.

For his part, Don Mattingly has been gracious towards the Dodgers organization about his departure. During a teleconference Mattingly said “There’s a lot of emotions that go into this, a lot of discussion, a lot of talk, but it gets back around to the same thing as we kept talking and going over it. We all came to the same conclusion. This is best for both parties.”

“I’ve been in the Dodgers organization for eight years now. You meet a lot of great people; people behind the scenes. For me I always feel touched by the people — the girls that run the elevator, and the guy at the front gate. The different people… the grounds crew, the security guys. Those people are really special to me. I love the interactions with them. You have a lot of relationships you are moving from, but that doesn’t change the feelings you have for those people or the organization.”

The team hasn’t announced any replacement for Mattingly, or even a list of candidates, but they expect to have a new manager before the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee this coming December. There are a lot of names from inside and outside the Dodgers organization being discussed in the press, but whoever it is will have to be on board with the analytics-style of management, or at least accept it as part of the process.

Mattingly said he would like to manage again, but plans to take a year off before going to another team. There are teams looking for — or rumored to be looking for — a new manager: The San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals.

Don Mattingly had been with the Dodgers organization for eight years, the last five as manager. He was the first Dodgers manager in the team’s history (Brooklyn and Los Angeles) to take take the Dodgers to the National League Division Championship for three consecutive years, winning the N.L. West title in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2013 the team was in last place in the West during June, but then Mattingly and the team engineered an exciting comeback that brought them to the N.L. West title and the postseason.

Barring some unforeseen events, we will see Don Mattingly managing baseball in the future.

below is a video with some of that press conference by Zaidi and Friedman.

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UPDATE – October 29, 2015: It has just been reported on the Miami Marlins official website that Don Mattingly has agreed to a four-year deal with the Marlins.

It has been widely speculated in the press that Mattingly was the prime choice for manager by team owner Jeffery Loria. “Donnie Baseball” interviewed for the job this past Monday and had been in negotiations ever since.

Other men were considered for the job: Phil Nevin, Manny Acta, Larry Bowa and Bo Porter, but Loria was most interested in Mattingly.

The former Dodgers skipper will replace Dan Jennings, who’s Marlins team finished 71-91 in the 2015 season, third place in the National League East Division.

Questions remain about whether he can turn around the Marlins, but when Mattingly took over as manager for the Dodgers he guided the team to three straight National League West Division titles. With the Marlins he will have a good core of hitters, starting with Giancarlo Stanton. What he will need to do is shore up the pitching. Only one of their starters has an ERA under 4.0.

On the other hand, the Marlins took two of a three-game series from the National League Champion New York Mets in September and later went on a five game win streak against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves. So maybe what the Marlins need most is the right manager to turn that win-loss record around.

(L.A. Post-Examiner Staff contributed to this article)

(Video and photos by Claudia Gestro)