Don Mattingly has agreed to a new contract with the Dodgers that will run through the 2016 season, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke under the condition of anonymity because the deal hasn't been announced.
Mattingly's previous deal was set to expire at the end of the upcoming season. That contract was torn up and replaced with a three-year agreement, the sources said.
In an end-of-the-season news conference last year, Mattingly made clear he didn't want to return as a lame-duck manager in 2014. Of managing in the final year of a contract, he said, "Really what it does, it puts me in a spot where everything that I do is questioned because I'm basically trying out or auditioning to say, 'Can he manage or can he not manage?' To me, it's at that point where, three years in, you either know or you don't."
The #Dodgers have finalized a contract extension with Don Mattingly per General Manager Ned Colletti.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 8, 2014
At baseball's winter meetings last month, Mattingly said he stood by his comments in that awkward news conference. However, he also described himself as "comfortable" and said he was satisfied with the nature of his conversations with the team's owners.
Last winter, the Dodgers declined to exercise Mattingly's 2014 option, which made the third-year manager's job status a consistent storyline throughout the season. The speculation turned out to be warranted, as Mattingly revealed that President Stan Kasten warned him that he could be fired when the Dodgers were in last place early in the season.
Mattingly, 52, finished second in voting for National League manager of year after the Dodgers overcame their slow start to win their division. Mattingly is 260-225 in his three seasons as Dodgers manager.
