Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Don Mattingly, Dodgers Talking Multi-Year Extension

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Things have been quiet for the Los Angeles Dodgers through two days of free agency, but things have started to pick up. A few days after the Dodgers finished their season, general manager Ned Colletti and manager Don Mattingly had one of the more awkward press conferences in recent memory.



It was there that Mattingly said he wouldn’t be a “lame duck” manager and wanted a multi-year extension and according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLA.com, the two sides are close to finalizing that agreement:

The Los Angeles Dodgers are discussing a new, multiyear contract with manager Don Mattingly, two sources have told ESPNLosAngeles.com.

No deal is imminent, but there is optimism on both sides that a new deal will be completed.

The Dodgers coaching staff has undergone change since the final out was recorded in Game 6 of the NLCS at Busch Stadium as bench coach Trey Hillman was fired. Hillman was arguably Mattingly’s closest friend in the organization, but his firing signaled that the Dodgers wanted a better in-game strategist to be Mattingly’s right-hand man.

However, Mattingly quickly backtracked from his comments made at the season-ending press conference, saying that he’d honor the final year of his contract even if an extension wasn’t reached.

In the past two days, Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach was turned down from for the Seattle Mariners job and is emerging as the candidate to sit alongside Mattingly in the dugout.

If that were to happen, Triple A Albuquerque manager Lorenzo Bundy would likely be Wallach’s replacement down the third base line.

Mattingly’s decisions to bunt in certain situations and overall in-game management came under fire during the playoffs, but it’s looking like he’ll be the manager in 2014 and beyond.

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Ross Gasmer

Ross Gasmer is a Social Media Producer for @TheHerd and was a contributing writer and editor for Dodger Nation. Follow him on Twitter @Ross_Gasmer12

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