UPDATE: Joe Frisaro of MLB.com said the interview between Mattingly and the Marlins "went well" and the "next step appears to be ironing out a deal."
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald also said the two sides are "interested in striking a deal in the coming days."
If they do strike a deal, the Dodgers will be paying $1.6 million of Mattingly's 2016 salary because that's what he was owed in the final year of his contract with Los Angeles, unless the Marlins pay him that exact amount or more on an annual basis, Jackson added.
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Earlier in the offseason rumors suggested the Miami Marlins could chase Don Mattingly if his tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers were to come to an end after 2015. Well, it did last week and now Mattingly and the Marlins are expected to meet.
Miami will reportedly have Mattingly in for an interview on Monday, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Late last week Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that the two sides expressed mutual interest, which resulted in Mattingly emerging as the frontrunner for the managerial vacancy despite the team having already interviewed Larry Bowa, Manny Acta, Bo Porter and others for the position.
"Four other teams have managerial openings, but as was first reported here several weeks ago, the Marlins have strong interest in Mattingly. In fact, it appears they are so intrigued by Mattingly that they'd already put their managerial search on a semi-hold. They have interviewed at least five men, but it's pretty clear they weren't hiring anyone until Mattingly's situation was resolved," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
"Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria seeks experience, and Mattingly got five years of it in a pressure cooker environment in LA. The New Yorker Loria also happens to have a long-standing relationship with Mattingly, the Yankee great. The Marlins have interviewed Manny Acta, Bo Porter, Alex Cora, Phil Nevin and Mattingly's good buddy Larry Bowa. But the search may take a complete turn with the sudden availability of Mattingly."
If the Marlins were to sign the 54-year-old to manage the team, there are two things to keep in mind: Miami will not make an official announcement until after the World Series, according to Frisaro, and Mattingly's salary for 2016 would likely be subject to offset because he's under contract with the Dodgers for next season, FOX Sports' Jon Morosi notes.
Mattingly went 446-363 in five seasons with the Dodgers and never had a losing campaign. He helped the team to three consecutive NL West titles (2013-2015), which was the first time that was achieved in franchise history.
If he goes to Miami, it'll be a completely different situation than the one he had in Los Angeles. The payroll will be much lower, there will be fewer star players and the winning likely won't be as frequent unless he can quickly turn the ship around.
Whatever the case, Mattingly is interested in the opening and he could be going from the NL West to the NL East within the next week.
