Only one week after the Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated from the 2015 National League Division Series by the New York Mets, Don Mattingly and the Dodgers front office agreed to a mutual separation.
The split was hardly a surprise, as it was widely expected to take place the year prior when Andrew Friedman was hired as Dodgers president of baseball operations. There also wasn’t any suspense when Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria quickly moved to hire Mattingly as manager of his franchise.
At the time, Mattingly spoke fondly of his tenure in Los Angeles and working with Friedman, Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi and others in the front office. On Monday, in his first return to Dodger Stadium, Mattingly reiterated his positive memories.
“It’s nice coming back to LA and thinking about a lot of the great people I met,” he said. “Pretty much everything here was a positive experience for me, other than us not being able to take it to the next level.
“It’s a little different. I did compare it to when I was with the Dodgers and going to Yankee Stadium, sitting in the third base dugout. It’s a little different view. It’s a little strange, but it feels good to come back.”
Mattingly went 446-363 in five seasons as Dodgers manager, increasing the club’s win total in each of the first four seasons. He also guided the club to three consecutive NL West titles, which is a first in franchise history.
Furthermore, the Dodgers won a minimum of 90 games in each of the past three seasons — a first since 1976-78. However, they stumbled in every trip to the postseason, whether due to a shaky bullpen or Mattingly’s decision making, or both; he was 8-11 in the playoffs.
Mattingly now sits at the helm of a Marlins team that doesn’t face nearly the same expectations as his former club. Leading a young roster that’s still growing and finding itself is something that sits well with the 55-year-old skipper.
“For me, I look at this like it’s such a challenge what we’re doing in Miami. We have a good, young talented group,” Mattingly said. “And having to develop this and build it, and looking forward to making Miami a place where players want to go. Right now, LA is one of those places you want to go.
“I like the situation I’m in. We’ve got a ways to go, but it feels like we can compete. I feel the same pressure to win [with the Marlins], that I did [with the Dodgers].” Mattingly called being involved with changing the Marlins culture part of the “allure” to joining the expansion franchise.
As he did last October, Mattingly downplayed the perception of any animosity existing between himself and the Dodgers front office, and he refuted the notion Friedman and Co. dictated all happenings.
“I felt like I made decisions all the time last year,” Mattingly said. “I enjoyed last year as far as that relationship with Andrew and Farhan. I thought that was really good.” That collaboration involved Mattingly incorporating more data and advanced stats than he was previously known for.
It’s information Mattingly is now implementing in Miami. “We’re trying to get up to speed in a sense,” he said. “That’s one of the areas we’re trying to grow as an organization.”
