Don Mattingly out as Marlins manager after seven seasons
The Miami Marlins will be looking for a new manager this offseason. The team announced on Sunday that manager Don Mattingly will move on at the end of the current season. The news was first reported by Craig Mish and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.
"Today I am announcing that I will not be seeking a contract extension with the Miami Marlins," Mattingly said in a statement. "After meeting with [owner Bruce Sherman] and discussing with [GM] Kim Ng, all parties agreed that it was time for a new voice in the organization."
Mattingly, 61, has managed the Marlins since 2016, and is the longest tenured manager in franchise history. He has a 437-583 record over seven seasons, having never finished first in the National League East. The Marlins did make it to the playoffs once, during the 2020 pandemic shortened season. They defeated the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card game, but then got swept in the NLDS by the Atlanta Braves. That surprising 2020 campaign was the first time the Marlins had been to the playoffs in 16 years, and it earned Mattingly the NL Manager of the Year award.
The Marlins are on pace to finish fourth in the NL East this season, and have already been eliminated from postseason contention.
Mattingly's managerial career
Mattingly has been on the managing/coaching side of the game since 2004, just under a decade after retiring from his 14-year career as New York Yankees first baseman. He got his coaching start with the Yankees, with then-manager Joe Torre hiring him as part of his coaching staff. When Torre moved on to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the 2007 season, Mattingly became part of his coaching staff in LA (after he was passed over for the Yankees managerial job).
When Torre retired as Dodgers manager in 2010, Mattingly was announced as his successor. While the Dodgers didn't make it to the playoffs in his first two seasons at the helm, they made it in 2013, 2014 and 2015. At the time, he was the first manager to lead the Dodgers to three straight playoff appearances.
Mattingly signed a four-year contract to manage the Marlins after the 2015 season, when he and the Dodgers mutually agreed to part ways after another early round exit from the playoffs. And he's been in Miami ever since, quietly managing one of baseball's perennially rebuilding teams.
It's not known if Mattingly wants to continue to manage, but he is expected to address his future plans after Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals.