GUESS WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO DON MATTINGLY?

The Los Angeles Dodgers "suck" and when I mean "suck", I mean they have 18 wins, are in last place in the National League West and none of it, and I mean NONE OF IT is Don Mattingly's fault. But, if you are Dodger brass and you give the organization every possible tool they need to win a championship and they aren't winning, well, then it has to fall down on the manager.  Donnie Baseball is the manager. Damn that sucks. There have been alot of stories lately like Ken Rosenthal's of FOX Sports suggesting that the hammer is about to fall on Mattingly, and we'll detail that in a moment, but know this, today's story from ESPN suggests that Dodger brass isn't interested in firing Mattingly. General Manager Ned Colletti is quoted HERE saying: "his manager is 'doing fine' and has kept the team steady despite its last-place showing in the NL West." And Donnie has even said: "I'm still here. Ned didn't tell me I wasn't going to be here tomorrow or today. That's the way I look at it." Sure, I love that because I'm a Mattingly guy, but we all know how quickly investors lose their patience.

I wrote THE PRESSURE NOW FALLS ON MATTINGLY back in December.  It was easy to predict then that if the Dodgers weren't raking in the National League, it would fall on Donnie. I wrote then that Donnie knew that he had a lot of pressure to win. But let's face it, there is one important part of this puzzle and it was crystal clear. Like last year when Bobby Valentine was thrown into Beantown with a bunch of veteran Red Sox for example...veterans are set in their ways and change for no one. Los Angeles is no different. Sure, Valentine, or Mattingly may be the best baseball resource a club could ever have, but if veterans want to play their way and don't want to be told what to do. Their approach is always the same, win or lose. Trust me, I believe that if the Dodgers had a bunch of rookies and upcoming prospects, the molding from Don Mattingly to the Dodgers youth would translate beautifully and they could turned that ship around, but we all knew that Dodger brass would lose their patience early if they didn't win immediately.  Why? I'll tell you why... because investors don't get the game. They think throwing money at veterans solves problems and assures a championship. Well, as we Yankee fans have learned from quite a few years of the Steinbrenner way... it doesn't always work out that way.

Now back to that latest story about "firing" Mattingly, coming from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  He writes in his story titled Ax to fall soon for LA's Mattingly, " I’ve seen it too many times with unproven managers who are in the final years of contracts. A team struggles. A manager’s personality turns. A cloud forms over a club. Watch the games, listen to Mattingly and tell me this is not happening to the Dodgers.... Watching Sunday’s meltdown on television, I thought, 'Mattingly might be gone tomorrow.' And then I got a text from a rival scout, one who has no particular insight into the Dodgers, but is attuned — like so many in the sport — to the game’s day-to-day rhythms.

'Making the call — Donnie Ballgame will get the axe tomorrow,' the scout said.  The scout continued, 'He’s a laid-back manager with a laid-back veteran club. Great dude, but they need some energy. Some fire. Some change with that payroll. Not his fault, but you can’t fire 25 players.'"

Is Rosenthal jumping the gun? Maybe. Again, I don't think it's very fair to stare at Don Mattingly and think he's the cause of this, but like I said, Dodger brass wants results and if they think Donnie can't move the team up the rankings, they'll go out and find a guy who can.  Message to Dodger brass though... I very much doubt any manager can change this club and by the way, Donnie's nickname is "Donnie Baseball" for a reason. Why you'd want to give this guy the axe is a puzzle to me. Let the man manage!

Trust be told, I never liked Donnie in Dodger blue anyway, so maybe, if Rosenthal is correct and Mattingly does get fired... well, maybe it's a good thing for us Yankee fans.  Maybe then we can get our old captain and Yankee hero back.  Maybe then we can have him in the Bronx for Old Timer's day again, maybe for some type of special advisor role with our club, who knows.  Maybe we can bring our boy back to New York and celebrate him like we should have done years ago.  Maybe, just maybe we can slowly creep him in and eventually make him our manager... wishful thinking... and I'm clearly getting ahead of myself.

Whatever happens, I wish Donnie well.  I love the dude and nothing's ever changed years later.  The only difference is I want him back in Yankee blue, not Dodger blue.

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