The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to "mutually part ways" with manager Don Mattingly this morning. If the Nationals had a manager in place, this would probably be a meaningless headline for Nationals fans. The Nationals have not yet hired a new manager though, so expect to see Mattingly's name pop up within the next day or two.
Mattingly went 446-363 over the course of five seasons with the Dodgers, with an 8-11 record in postseason play. Mattingly has a lot of the qualities that Rizzo is looking for in his next manager, including experience and communication skills. Mike Rizzo actually had interest in Mattingly in 2009 before the job was given to Jim Riggleman and again in 2013 before he hired Matt Williams. In 2013, Mattingly was managing the Dodgers but the Dodgers were considering making a change even after playing in the NLCS and losing in six games.
Mattingly dealt with the divas and dealt with the egos in Los Angeles, and to his credit, he still somehow made it work. The Dodgers had the highest payroll in baseball in 2014 and 2015, along with the second highest in 2013. You would think that would set a manager up for success, but that assumption would be wrong. A large chunk of that Dodgers payroll was paying for players who no longer even play for the team (Matt Kemp, Dan Haren, Mat Latos, Hector Olivera). Just lumping huge contracts together and saying "hey look, we have all these superstars" doesn't mean you have a free ticket to the World Series. Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke can only pitch so many games and when your best option behind those two is Brett Anderson, who got rocked in Game 3 against the Mets, there isn't much more Mattingly can do. Mattingly also had to figure out playing time for four outfielders with only three outfield spots. Three of the outfielders were making $18 million per season or more and the fourth was a (at the time) 22 year old diva, who, although he was the most talented of the bunch, needed to grow up.
Regardless of what anybody thinks, Don Mattingly did not have an easy job in Los Angeles. In fact, he probably had one of the toughest jobs in baseball. He was expected to win the division every year because of that enormous payroll. It didn't matter how bad his bullpen was, it didn't matter what kind of injuries he had to deal with. At the end of the day, if he didn't win, he was out. So here we are today, with another quality option for the Nationals.
Mike Rizzo keeps going back to his Arizona ties and interviewing people like Andy Green and Phil Nevin, but the best options are staring him in the face. I keep saying it, but I'll say it again, if Mike Rizzo botches this managerial hire, he's out. So why even take a chance? Do the right thing and hire Don Mattingly or hire Bud Black. If you want to go with Ron Gardenhire, then fine, go with Gardenhire. Side note, I'm taking Dave Martinez out of the discussion because I think he's in line to become the next Dodgers manager. I don't think its a coincidence that Mattingly and the Dodgers parted ways a day after the Cubs were eliminated, especially being that Martinez and Andrew Friedman worked together in Tampa. The bottom line is you have three successful, experienced managers staring you in the face right now. These are guys who know how to relate to the veterans and also know how to successfully develop the young guys. Don't do something stupid, Mike. Use your head, Andy Green and Phil Nevin are great candidates for the Marlins or the Padres, but not the Nationals.
World Series Prediction:
Kansas City Royals vs Toronto Blue Jays: In my previous post, I had the Blue Jays in six. That's clearly not possible. Toronto sends David Price to the mound for Game 6. If you recall, Price dominated the Royals through six innings until Ryan Goins botched a pop up to start the seventh and everything unraveled from there. Game 7 could go either way depending on if we see good Johnny Cueto or bad Johnny Cueto, but based on the past few months, I'm betting on bad Johnny Cueto. I'll stick with my original prediction and take the Blue Jays in 7.
New York Mets vs Toronto Blue Jays: The Mets pitching has just been dominant this postseason and I don't expect to see it end here, even against the Blue Jays daunting lineup. David Murphy finally cools down, but Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes pick up the slack. The Mets win it in 6 games.
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