Should Don Mattingly stay or go? It will be up to Derek Jeter

Don Mattingly is about seven weeks away from doing something no Marlins manager has done; complete his contract.

Matting signed a four-year deal to manage the Marlins in October 2015 after splitting with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He will leave Miami having managed more games than anyone else in Franchise history, passing former manager and current third base coach Fredi Gonzalez.

Mattingly joined the Marlins with a young team filled with promise in 2016 but a tragic boating accident killed their best pitcher and after the 2017 season, the franchise exchanged ownerships and a new plan was put into place.

While the last two seasons have been spent at the bottom of the National League, the Marlins young players have shown improvement and the farm system has been built up from the one of the worst to one of the best.

Mattingly said he wants to remain the Marlins manager and be there for the eventual turnaround, whether it be in 2020 or beyond.

“I’d love to be back, especially if they want you back,” Mattingly said. “You don’t want to be anywhere that you don’t feel like it’s the best situation. You don’t want to get in the way of anything. If they think they want to go in a direction, then that’s something you just deal with at the time.”

That decision will have to be made by Marlins chief executive officer Derek Jeter. He said on Wednesday at Marlins Park that he plans on addressing Mattingly’s status before this season ends.

“To be fair to Donnie, it’s something that we need to talk about sooner rather than later,” Jeter said. “We have touched base, and we’ll continue to talk.

“Donnie has done a good job. But then again, we’ve got to sit down, like we do with coaches every year as well, and ask, ‘How can we get better?’”

Both Jeter and Mattingly spent their entire playing career with the New York Yankees and were recognized as legendary captains during their careers. 1995 was Jeter’s rookie season and Mattingly’s final season. Ironically, 24 years later, the power dynamics between the two have switched.