Author Topic: Mattingly to the Nats in 2014? (Read 1202 times)

sportsfan882 · « **Topic Start:** May 23, 2013, 03:32:07 PM »

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/danny-knobler/22290260/for-mattingly-could-an-la-firing-lead-to-a-national-opportunity

Quote

Remember when Fredi Gonzalez got fired by the Marlins?

Best thing that ever happened to him. He stepped out of a mess in Miami, and soon enough he stepped right into a great situation with the Braves.

There are already some in baseball who predict that something similar could happen to Don Mattingly.

Mattingly hasn't yet been fired by the Dodgers. He may not be fired.

But if he is, keep the Nationals in mind.

Mattingly wouldn't be as sure a bet to replace the retiring Davey Johnson as Gonzalez was to replace the retiring Bobby Cox in Atlanta three years back. But the connections are there.

People who know Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo say Rizzo is and has always been a Mattingly fan. The Nationals considered Mattingly as manager once before, according to sources, although they never officially interviewed him for the job at that point.

Rizzo, not surprisingly, didn't want to come anywhere near discussing Mattingly or the Nationals' succession plans for Johnson, when CBSSports.com colleague Jon Heyman spoke to him this week. Mattingly still has a job, and the Nationals still remain fully focused on 2013, not 2014.

Eventually, though, they will need someone to take over for Johnson, who has said that this will be his final year as manager. Both ownership and the front office are believed to strongly favor hiring a high-profile manager, rather than simply promote someone like Randy Knorr or Trent Jewett from Johnson's coaching staff.

There are some obvious differences from the Gonzalez situation. Gonzalez worked with the Braves before going to the Marlins, and he and Cox were and have remained close friends. And the Dodgers, for all their faults, are nowhere near the mess that the Marlins were then and still are now.

Still, it's easy to think that the Nationals job is a better one, given the young talent on the roster and the commitment of ownership. The clubhouse environment with the Dodgers is challenging enough that one friend of Mattingly's said this week that he was almost hoping that Mattingly would get fired.

"He might be better off going somewhere else," the friend said.

As Heyman wrote Wednesday, Mattingly does not seem to be hoping for that himself. If he does get fired by the Dodgers, it's not as if he would be guaranteed to get a job elsewhere, with the Nationals or with anyone else.

There's no guarantee that he would end up like Gonzalez.

It is, according to sources, a real possibility.

GburgNatsFan · « **Reply #1:** May 23, 2013, 03:42:51 PM »

Thus begins a 20 page thread rife with conjecture and theoretical hypotheticals.

Kevrock · « **Reply #2:** May 23, 2013, 03:48:27 PM »

WELCOME DON MATTINGLY

PowerBoater69 · « **Reply #3:** May 23, 2013, 03:50:58 PM »

No policies against facial hair here.

monkeyhit · « **Reply #4:** May 23, 2013, 04:20:35 PM »

Hope they fire him soon!

Nathan · « **Reply #5:** May 23, 2013, 04:24:31 PM »

FIRE MATTINGLY!

PowerBoater69 · « **Reply #6:** May 23, 2013, 04:35:14 PM »

Quote from: monkeyhit on May 23, 2013, 04:20:35 PM

Hope they fire him soon!

Not before he benches everyone

imref · « **Reply #7:** May 23, 2013, 04:45:18 PM »

I'm kind of hoping for Ryne Sandberg, though I expect he's Charlie Manuel's heir apparent in Philly.

imref · « **Reply #8:** May 23, 2013, 04:45:38 PM »

Quote from: GburgNatsFan on May 23, 2013, 03:42:51 PM

Thus begins a 20 page thread rife with conjecture and theoretical hypotheticals.

so um, how is that different from any other thread in here?

shoeshineboy · « **Reply #9:** May 23, 2013, 07:00:24 PM »

I'd rather have a Girardi who is getting the max out of an aging Yankee squad than a guy who can't win with a massive payroll and a load of talent.

Smithian · « **Reply #10:** May 23, 2013, 07:29:10 PM »

In this sport most managers are unimpactful compared to football or basketball. Lots of average managers have won plenty of games. I think Davey Johnson is a really good one but many on this board will argue that. He's won before so I don't think he is holding the Nats back. Personally feel the most important job of a manager is to keep the locker room calm and keep the guys competing. Seems Riggleman lost the locker room and that lead to a downfall.

Post Davey I hope the manager is Randy Knorr. I want a quiet manager who won't gather headlines nationally. Seems Knorr would fit that role.

Optics · « **Reply #11:** May 23, 2013, 07:33:54 PM »

I'd rather get Bo Porter back from Houston.

But really, as someone already said baseball is the one sport where coaching/managing matters the least.

GburgNatsFan · « **Reply #12:** May 23, 2013, 08:10:45 PM »

Ding ding ding ding ding....

Quote from: imref on May 23, 2013, 04:45:38 PM

so um, how is that different from any other thread in here?

welch · « **Reply #13:** May 23, 2013, 08:39:25 PM »

This is a splendid twist on the discussions about Rick Eckstein. Distrust the batting coach? Well, now...how about if the Nats next manager also happens to be the best hitter in post-Ted-Williams baseball?

Williams made a hitter out of Brinkman, he improved Unser, and he made a better hitter out of Hondo.

(Although I like what Girardi has done with the Yankees, and Cashman has said that if they miss the playoffs, then just about everybody will get tossed.)

Smithian · « **Reply #14:** May 23, 2013, 08:52:49 PM »

Quote from: welch on May 23, 2013, 08:39:25 PM

This is a splendid twist on the discussions about Rick Eckstein. Distrust the batting coach? Well, now...how about if the Nats next manager also happens to be the best hitter in post-Ted-Williams baseball?

Williams made a hitter out of Brinkman, he improved Unser, and he made a better hitter out of Hondo.

(Although I like what Girardi has done with the Yankees, and Cashman has said that if they miss the playoffs, then just about everybody will get tossed.)

But Don Mattingly isn't getting Matt Kemp to hit.

Coaching in baseball is so random. Matters a lot in college, not so much in majors. I think pitching coaches matter a lot and it matters for base running and fielding but I don't buy it for hitting. And like I said, overall coaching just isn't that important in baseball.

Give me Randy Knorr who won't generate headlines. Just keep the lockerroom happy and don't over manage.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #15:** May 23, 2013, 08:57:13 PM »

He had the gonads to sit Ethier, I bet he'd have the stones to bench Espinosa, too.

Terpfan76 · « **Reply #16:** May 24, 2013, 12:16:23 AM »

I didn't know that Tony Gwynn was gonna be the next Nats manager... Considering he's the best hitter since the Splendid Splinter

BH34Natural · « **Reply #17:** May 24, 2013, 12:24:55 AM »

Two words for ya: Piniella

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #18:** May 24, 2013, 12:32:53 AM »

Quote from: BH34Natural on May 24, 2013, 12:24:55 AM

Two words for ya: Piniella

Where's the second word?

Baseball is Life · « **Reply #19:** May 24, 2013, 06:31:23 AM »

Meh on Mattingly.

blue911 · « **Reply #20:** May 24, 2013, 07:11:46 AM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on May 24, 2013, 12:32:53 AM

Where's the second word?

Not

imref · « **Reply #21:** May 24, 2013, 07:29:10 AM »

Maybe carp can talk larusa into coming out of retirement?

shoeshineboy · « **Reply #22:** May 24, 2013, 09:53:56 AM »

Quote from: blue911 on May 24, 2013, 07:11:46 AM

Not

This. Lou Piniella is a joke.

NationalHeat · « **Reply #23:** May 24, 2013, 09:59:29 AM »

I really like Don Mattingly. Think he would be a good fit, too.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #24:** May 24, 2013, 10:05:20 AM »

Quote from: blue911 on May 24, 2013, 07:11:46 AM

Not

That's what I was hoping...