RUMOR: Joe Maddon Not Considering Dodgers
Friedman: "Nothing has changed on our end and Don Mattingly will be our manager next season and hopefully for a long time to come."
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) October 24, 2014
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With another postseason run that fell short of winning the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers were rumored to be among the teams that would make front office changes in the off-season.
The change came in the form of hiring Andrew Friedman away from the Tampa Bay Rays as president of baseball operations and reassigning Ned Colletti from general manager to an advisor role under team president and CEO, Stan Kasten.
Given Friedman’s working relationship and friendship with Rays manager Joe Maddon, speculation immediately led to duo reconnecting in Los Angeles. However, Maddon said he wanted to remain with the Rays and Friedman said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly would “definitely” manage the team in 2015.
While that could change given Maddon’s opting out of his contract with the Rays, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports says Maddon isn’t considering it a landing spot:
early word: maddon not considering LA an option at all. he understands friedman is committed to mattingly.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) October 24, 2014
Furthermore, ESPN LA’s Ramona Shelbourne reports a Dodger source as saying the news isn’t tied to them:
Dodgers source says Maddon news reported by Buster Olney has "nothing to do with us"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) October 24, 2014
For good measure, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports also cites a source as saying Maddon isn’t heading to the Dodgers:
Source: Maddon NOT heading to #Dodgers.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 24, 2014
Maddon is the lone manager Friedman worked with during his time with the Rays organization. Along with stating Mattingly would manage the Dodgers next season, Friedman also said he expected the two to have a long relationship, similar to what he had with Maddon.
Maddon’s contract was set to expire after the 2015 season and unless he had signed an extension, it was likely to cast a shadow over Mattingly’s head, who has two years remaining on his contract. For what it’s worth, Mattingly recently said that speculation isn’t something he pays much attention to.
With Maddon now free, Mattingly could face the pressure on a much larger scale until the former Rays manager settles in with a new team. Currently, the Minnesota Twins are the only team with a vacancy at manager.
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Dodgers Introduce Andrew Friedman As President Of Baseball Operations
opted out of his Rays contract…today..hmmmmmmm