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Miami Marlins: Don Mattingly as a Manager

By Christian La Fontaine

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The Miami Marlins search for a new manager has been well documented. As soon as it was announced that Dan Jennings would be heading back to the front office speculation exploded. It seemed like anybody was a possible candidate.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and the pool has been narrowed down considerably. The list of guys who have been interviewed now stands at Manny Acta, Bo Porter, Phil Nevin, Alex Cora, and Larry Bowa, who was interviewed twice.

Even though he hasn’t been interviewed yet, there’s been a great deal of speculation that Dusty Baker is also a strong possibility, which makes sense given what the Marlins have publicly stated their criteria is.

After the Los Angeles Dodgers lost last night, there is one more name that can be added to the race, maybe even considered the front-runner, Don Mattingly.

That’s right; Donnie Baseball himself, or The Hitman if you prefer, will likely be the next skipper for your Miami Marlins.

Why?

Well, Mattingly is everything Loria seems to love in a manager. He’s a former player, specifically a great player. He’s been managing for a while, at least long enough to earn the proverbial experienced manager card . He’s affiliated with the Yankees, big Jeff loves him some Yankees. And finally when talking about how he approach’s managing, Donnie Baseball consistently refers to relying on his intuition and baseball smarts over statistical evaluation.

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In the eyes Miami management Mattingly must appear to be the perfect candidate, and if the Dodger’s fire him as it seems likely they will, he’ll fall right into they’re laps.

After reading that you’re probably in one of two camps. Either you hate the idea, or you love it. There’s reasonable arguments on both sides.

If you hate it, you’re probably statistically inclined and worried that Mattingly’s sub optimal decision-making will negatively affect the Fish while he’s here. That’s a legitimate concern, he’s made some bone headed moves over the past few years that have unquestionably made it harder for the Dodger’s to have success.

In contrast those who like the idea likely take a more old school perspective. The Hitman is a leader that everyone can respect. With a roster full of young and impressionable player’s that kind of trait can be very valuable.

At the end of the day it’s really up to you in which camp to pitch your tent. Both sides are correct in their own way. The manager’s is nowhere near as important as most people believe, at the very least Loria would have a tough time bringing himself to fire Mattingly, and that’s something.

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