Don Mattingly, Marlins agree to part ways in 2023
It’s been a rollercoaster over the past few years for the Miami Marlins. With a playoff berth in 2020 followed by two 90-plus loss seasons, the team will be taking a new approach in 2023. Manager Don Mattingly will not be returning as the Marlins skipper next season.
Both Mattingly and team officials agreed that it was time for a new voice to enter the clubhouse. With Mattingly’s contract ending after this season, both sides thought it was best for both parties to part ways.
“I think always, you try to follow your heart, and that’s what I do. Honestly, you know what’s inside of you and you try to be deliberate and let things work through, and you just follow your heart and you know when it’s the right thing.”
Mattingly said to reporters following the news of his departure at season’s end.
The plan for Mattingly, at least short term, is to spend time with his family this offseason and enjoy home life. After that, whatever opportunity lands in his lap is a bridge he’ll cross when it happens.
Despite a 437-584 record in Miami, Mattingly leads with the most managerial wins in franchise history. He will finish in his seventh season with the team, with only one of those seasons being a winning one. The shortened 2020 season gave the Marlins a 31-29 record, making the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
This season is yet another disappointing one for the Marlins. Over 90 losses for the second year in a row, and the future of the team is still a haze. General Manager Kim Ng put an emphasis on the underachieving, and how that factored into the decision with Mattingly.
This year was very disappointing,” Ng said. “We had a lot of bad luck in terms of injuries. The record is not indicative of the talent that we have. We have to do a lot of introspection in terms of our processes and operations on how we fix that. I’m still optimistic about what we’ve got here.”
The Marlins do have talent, which with the right development can hopefully lead to a contending team. Starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara is the potential CY Young winner, and he has no shortage of talent behind him. Pablo Lopez, Jesús Luzardo, Max Meyer, and Edward Cabrera are all under 26 years old and have flashy potential. Sixto Sánchez also remains in the mix, despite not being in the majors since 2020.
That’s just the pitching side of this team. Infielders Jazz Chisholm, Jr. and Jordan Groshans are young highlights, along with outfielders JJ Bleday and Jesús Sánchez. Their farm system ranks No. 16 by MLB Pipeline, which sets up the future of the franchise beautifully.
Despite all the talent, it just wasn’t put together in time for Mattingly. The success Mattingly had managing the Los Angeles Dodgers, which included three postseason berths in five winning seasons, was unable to transfer to Miami. While he won the 2020 National League Manager of the Year, Mattingly has been part of a consistent rebuild.
While this will be a goodbye to Miami, Mattingly has no plans to call it quits just yet. With over 470 wins in 11 years as a manager, it’s a safe bet we’ll see him managing in 2023.
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