MIAMI – His club seemingly headed to a second consecutive last-place finish in the NL East, Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter isn’t ready to disclose whether manager Don Mattingly will return next season.
“There hasn’t been a decision yet,” Jeter said before Miami hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night. “To be honest with you, we’ve been so focused on the trade deadline and see what we could do with it.”
“At the end of every year, we sit down and evaluate all members of the organization, whether it’s the manager, coaches, player development, scouting, front office,” he said.
Mattingly is in the final year of a four-year contract. The former Dodgers manager was hired by ex-owner Jeffrey Loria prior to the 2016 season.
The Marlins began the day with a 44-74 record that was the worst in the National League.
Jeter, the public face of the ownership group that purchased the club from Loria before the 2017 season, credited Mattingly for his leadership during the team’s rebuild. Miami’s new ownership traded former MVP Giancarlo Stanton and All-Stars Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto for prospects.
“To be fair to Donnie, it’s something we need to talk about sooner rather than later,” Jeter said. “There are a lot of things that go into it. Donnie has done a good job.”
Mattingly said he would like to return.
“I’d love to be back, especially if they want me back,” Mattingly said. “I talked about it from the very beginning — I’m comfortable with whatever happens, whatever way it goes.”
“I came here to hopefully turn this thing around, get this going in the right direction. Obviously, there was a little bit of a bump in the road in the middle with the ownership change and obviously with a different direction.”
Mattingly and Jeter were teammates with the New York Yankees in 1995 — it was Mattingly’s last season and Jeter’s first in the majors.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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