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Don Mattingly gets 4-year deal to manage Marlins, per reports

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

It didn't take long for former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to find a new job, reportedly landing in Miami with a reported four-year contract to manage the Marlins. The deal was first reported by Molly Knight of Vice Sports, and confirmed by multiple outlets, including Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.

The deal is expected to be announced after the World Series.

The Marlins were the expected next stop for Mattingly, as the team reported coveted him as early as August of this season. He replaces former general manager Dan Jennings, who came down from the front office to manage the final 124 games in 2015 after Mike Redmond was fired in May.

Mattingly was 446-363 (.551) in five years in Los Angeles, with three National League West titles as manager. But the team won only one playoff series in Mattingly's three postseason appearances, suffering NLDS losses in each of the last two seasons.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman last Thursday, after the Dodgers and Mattingly mutually agreed to part ways with one year remaining on his contract with Los Angeles, was quick to point out the disappointment for the postseason failures didn't rest solely on Mattingly's shoulders.

"We had a regular-season goal that we succeeded at and a postseason goal that we did not succeed in," Friedman said. "We all share that blame."

Mattingly will be the 13th manager for the Marlins (excluding Cookie Rojas and Brad Hyde, each of whom managed one game each in interim duties), entering their 24th season in 2016. If he lasts the entirety of his contract, Mattingly will be the longest-tenured manager in Marlins history.

The only managers to last parts of four seasons in Miami were Rene Lachemann and Fredi Gonzalez — each of whom were fired midway through their fourth season — and Jack McKeon, whose fourth year came in 2011, six years after his first stint with the club.

In Miami, Mattingly is reunited with All-Star second baseman Dee Gordon and a stable of young talent led by pitcher Jose Fernandez and slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who was limited to just 74 games this year but still led the team with 27 home runs.

Mattingly interviewed with the Marlins earlier this week and talked about it as a guest on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday.

"it's just an interesting place because of the young talent that they have, and the challenges that it brings. With a young roster, with a situation that's not going to go out and buy players, you have to be able to work from within," Matingly explained. "I have been with some giant payrolls with the Yankees, what they would do and with the Dodgers, with major markets that's what they do.

"With Miami, you can't make the mistakes you can make in a bigger market. You've got to be able to get your guys to play. You've got to be able to create depth from within your minor league system. It's a different challenge. To be very honest, that's really interesting to me. At this point in my career I'm interested in that type of challenge."

The Dodgers host the Marlins for four games from Apr. 25-28, 2016 at Dodger Stadium, then play a three-game weekend series in Miami from Sept. 9-11.