After a 92-win season that resulted in a trip to the NLCS, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has reportedly been awarded with a 3-year contract extension.
Dodgers reach agreement on contract extension with manager Don Mattingly, keeping him in place for next 3 seasons. (via @ramonashelburne)
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 7, 2014
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles has broken the news on the new contract, and while exact details are unavailable at this time, the ESPN tweet above indicates that it is a 3-year agreement. Mattingly was famously on the “hot seat” early in the 2013 season, but when the Dodgers turned on the jets down the stretch (Yasiel Puig!), they cruised to a division title before losing to the Cardinals in a 6-game NLCS.
Mattingly’s 3-year mark in LA of 260-225 is pretty outstanding in today’s baseball, but any new contract coupled with the massive Dodgers payroll brings enormous expectations on the former Yankees great. That said, he’ll presumably have a 100% healthy Matt Kemp to pair with Yasiel Puig, Clayton Kershaw, Hanley Ramirez and Zack Greinke (among others) next season, and with two more guaranteed years after that according to this report, there is finally some stability in that clubhouse.
This isn’t a surprise by any means, but contract extensions are the purest form of an endorsement for a big-league manager, and Mattingly has one.