8:52 AM ET: I mean, yes, it’s totally reasonable to think his job is in jeopardy given how poorly the Dodgers have played amid high expectations. But Ken Rosenthal’s latest column is pretty bold in speculating that Mattingly’s days are numbered. Rather than just analyze the team’s struggles, Rosenthal talks about his gut feeling that Mattingly could be fired at any moment. And quotes an anonymous scout who feels the same way:
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.
When I asked the scout why he thought that, he replied, “Gut feeling. The way they’ve been losing.”
Rosenthal is kinda like Buster Olney in that rarely do either of them make predictions or speculate about things without a pretty solid basis for doing so and rarely do either of them tease something that is unlikely to happen. While I don’t have too big a problem with people who handle their beat differently, there’s a conservatism about Rosenthal and Olney that is admirable in the scoop business.
So I can’t help but wonder -- and it is just a wonder -- if maybe Rosenthal has some inside info on Mattingly’s future that, while not quite solid enough to be actionable in a proper news report, gives him some comfort to say stuff like this.
Either way: I look forward to the “Trey Hillman-as-interim-manager, transitioning to Mike Scioscia as permanent manager” era for the Dodgers with great eagerness.