Don Mattingly, the longest-tenured manager in Miami Marlins franchise history, will not return for the 2023 MLB season. Mattingly and the Marlins have mutually agreed to part ways at season's end. Mattingly and Marlins owner Bruce Sherman released the following statements:
Statements from Marlins owner Bruce Sherman and Don Mattingly: pic.twitter.com/sMOltkyFFi
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) September 25, 2022
Mattingly, 61 years old, has spent the past seven seasons at the helm in Miami. He's amassed a 437-583 (.428 winning percentage) record with just one playoff berth -- that coming during the pandemic-altered 2020 season.
The Marlins entered this spring with high hopes stemming from an active winter and a promising rotation. They instead find themselves entering the final stretch of the season with a 63-89 record, putting them closer to the last-place Washington Nationals than the third-place Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins have had a particularly poor offense. They entered Sunday ranked 27th in the majors in runs scored and 25th in wRC+, a FanGraphs-housed metric that adjusts for ballpark and other variables.
It would be unfair to place all the fault at Mattingly's feet -- he didn't build the roster, after all. Still, managers receive the credit when their teams overperform and the blame when their teams underwhelm. This is a case of the latter scenario.
Prior to taking over the reins in Miami, Mattingly had spent five seasons managing the Los Angeles Dodgers. He found more success there, winning 55.1 percent of his regular-season contests and guiding the Dodgers to three consecutive playoff berths. Andrew Friedman, who took over the front office after the 2014 season, nevertheless decided to move on from Mattingly in favor of Dave Roberts.
The Marlins have seldom shown as much patience with a manager as they did with Mattingly. Indeed, he's the only skipper in franchise history to manage in parts of five seasons. He's also the only individual to manage as many as 600 games -- he's at 1,020 entering Sunday. (Fredi Gonzalez, who ranks in second place, managed 555.)
The Marlins will be one of at least a handful of teams looking for a new skipper this offseason. The Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Philadelphia Phillies fired their managers in-season. The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals could also make changes this offseason.
