Los Angeles Dodger manager Don Mattingly, who led the team to the National League West title and to the league's championship series, said he's frustrated with not having an extended contract and is not sure if he will be back with the Dodgers next season.
Mattingly told the media in a post-season news conference Monday that while his contract for next season automatically kicked in when the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the National League playoffs, he was not happy with hanging in limbo.
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"It’s been a frustrating, tough year honestly,"
Mattingly said in the news conference, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Because I think when you … come in basically as a lame duck and with the ($230 million) payroll and the guys that you have, it puts you in a tough spot in the clubhouse.
"So we dealt with that all year long, and really what it does, it puts me in a spot where everything I do is questioned. Because I’m basically trying out, auditioning to say, 'Can you manage a team or not manage?' It’s a tough spot. To me it gets to that point where, three years in you either know or you don't," Mattingly continued unsolicited.
The Dodgers, which started the season slow, went on to compile a 92-70 record to win the division by 11 games.
"I have tremendous confidence and faith in this guy," Ned Colletti, the Dodgers general manager, said at the same news conference, per the Times. "(Mattingly's contract is) going to be resolved very quickly."
Some, like
Jacob Misener of Sports Illustrated, said Mattingly could very well be interested in the Detroit Tigers opening.
"What this comes down to is Dodgers ownership and Colletti," Misener wrote for Sports Illustrated's Fansided on Monday. "If they want him back, it's time to start acting like it. They've given the media fodder all season long concerning Mattingly, and quite frankly, if the Tigers would actually call, I don't think anyone can blame him if he entertains it."
Mattingly told the press conference that with all things being even, he would like to stay in Los Angeles, but would like to be appreciated, wrote the Los Angeles Times.
"Yeah, I love it here," Mattingly said, stated the Times. "I’ve always said that. I like being here, but I don’t want to be anywhere you’re not wanted."
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