TORONTO — Don Mattingly was expecting to spend a summer at home with his family. A call from the Toronto Blue Jays convinced him to get back into baseball.
Mattingly, who left his job as Miami Marlins manager at the end of last season, is joining Toronto’s staff as bench coach to Manager John Schneider, the team announced Wednesday.
Mattingly said he’d been contacted by multiple clubs with offers for 2023, but nothing interested him until Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins called to chat.
“Just the first conversation, it felt great, honestly,” Mattingly said on a video call Wednesday. “It piqued my interest right away.”
Mattingly managed against the Blue Jays in 2020 and 2021.
“Knowing the talent and seeing it, I know it’s a really good club,” Mattingly said. “You look at the combination of youth and experience, and an offense that can throw runs up. Over the last few years I’ve seen these guys. They throw runs up in a hurry. I think all the ingredients are there to win.”
The former New York Yankees’ slugger and six-time All-Star joins the Blue Jays after seven seasons with the Marlins. Mattingly won NL Manager of the Year honors with Miami in 2020.
“Credibility and experience are achieved in many different ways, and Don’s is unique for our staff,” Atkins said. “Experience and credibility are words that get used a lot in professional sports, and in life and in corporate worlds. It’s hard to quantify exactly how valuable that is, but I think it’s something that will create that calming impact and influence, and help not only with performance and lack thereof, but also with accountability, which will be huge.”
Before Miami, Mattingly won three division titles in five seasons as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also worked as hitting coach and bench coach for the Yankees, and as hitting coach of the Dodgers before his managerial stint in Los Angeles.
In Toronto, Mattingly replaces Casey Candaele, who was promoted from Triple-A Buffalo to serve as Schneider’s bench coach after the Jays fired Manager Charlie Montoyo in July, replacing him with Schneider. The Blue Jays said Candaele will resume his job as manager of the Triple-A Bisons in 2023.
Mattingly spent his entire 14-year playing career with the Yankees, winning nine Gold Gloves at first base, three Silver Slugger awards, the 1984 AL batting title and the 1985 AL MVP award.
YANKEES: The Aaron Judge watch is expected to kick into high gear with the start of the MLB Winter Meetings on Sunday.
The Yankees have an offer to Judge on the table that is around eight years and $300 million, according to ESPN. This would make him the highest-paid position player in the history of baseball in terms of average annual value. The Yankees are willing to increase the offer depending on how the market shapes up for Judge, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Reports have also indicated that Judge seems likely to sign by the end of the four-day gathering in San Diego.
The other known suitor for Judge is the San Francisco Giants and their offer — or if they have even made an offer — is unknown at this time. The Giants have long been rumored to be a potential suitor for Judge. The current AL MVP grew up in Linden, California, which is about 2 1/2 away from San Francisco, as a fan of the Giants.
Judge, 30, a homegrown Yankee, is a free agent and was named AL MVP after he slashed .311/.425/.686 with an AL single-season record 62 homers and 131 RBI, adding to his resume as he remains on the open market.
The right-fielder turned down a seven-year, $213.5 offer from the Yankees prior to the start of the ‘22 campaign. At the time, it was seen by many as a fair offer, however, the right fielder’s remarkable season surely upped the price tag.
Judge seemingly was unhappy with the fact that GM Brian Cashman announced the exact figures that he turned down.
With their franchise player being courted, Cashman wasted no time in trying to put the AL home run king back in pinstripes and confirmed that they have indeed made an offer.
“Yeah, (we’ve made an offer) we’re in real-time,” said Cashman at Covenant House Sleep Out at Silverstein Family Park on Nov. 19. “We’re on the clock. We’re certainly not going to mess around. Of course, we’ve made another offer, we’ve made offers since spring training.
“In the early stages of free agency, our first conversations with Aaron Judge started the day after our season ended. So we’re serious, we’ve always said we were.”
MARINERS: The Seattle Mariners have begun the process of bolstering their bullpen by signing right-hander Trevor Gott to a one-year contract.
Gott appeared in 45 games last season with Milwaukee, going 3-4 with a 4.14 ERA. Gott had 44 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .204 batting average.
Gott’s signing helps fill a void created when Erik Swanson was traded to Toronto as part of the deal that brought slugger Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle earlier this month. Gott has also pitched for San Francisco, Washington and the Los Angeles Angels.
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