Don Mattingly: Mattingly interview with Marlins ‘went well’

Mattingly traveled to Miami to meet with Marlins officials on Monday, according to multiple reports. The Miami Herald reported that a contract for Mattingly, 54, could be agreed to within days.

The Marlins are searching to replace Dan Jennings, who returned to his former job as general manager.

The change failed to spark a turnaround, and the injury-riddled Marlins finished 71-91 for their sixth consecutive losing season.

Mattingly has a good relationship with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and the Marlins had their eyes on Mattingly as their next manager for a few time now – even before his “mutual decision” to leave the Dodgers last week.

“We have had a year where our numbers are down in terms of the diversity that we have in a few of our key positions”, Rob Manfred said Monday in Kansas City, Missouri, a day ahead of the start of the first World Series since he became baseball commissioner.

“It’s likely that Mattingly-like most managers-would seek the authority to hire his own coaching staff, and the Marlins have publicly said they will grant that authority”, Jackson wrote in the report.

It’s a little bewildering that the Dodgers wanted to let Mattingly go considering the success they’ve had under his watch during the past five years.

Mattingly said he would like to manage again, but he wasn’t sure whether the opportunity would arise in 2016.

Soon before the split with the Dodgers, Mattingly’s agent Ray Schulte told the Washington Post that if Mattingly was unable to continue in Los Angeles, “he’s aware that organizations like Washington and Chicago and Seattle would be great organizations, too”. The New Yorker Loria also happens to have a long-standing relationship with Mattingly, the Yankee great.