Dodgers management backing Mattingly ... for now
Fingers have been pointed at Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly for weeks now, aimed at him as the likely fall guy for the team's disappointing season so far.
Mattingly turned the tables this week, pointing fingers at his players with the implication that they lack the grit and mental toughness needed to live up to the team's championship expectations.
"We're in last place in the NL West," Mattingly said. "Last year at this point, we're playing with a lineup that had basically nobody in it, that fights and competes and battles for every inch of the field.
"We got more out of our ability (last year)."
The Dodgers led the division by 5 1/2 games at the end of May a year ago despite not having Matt Kemp (out with a hamstring injury) or any of the high-priced players acquired in mid-season trades.
"We talk about it as an organization -- we gotta find a team with talent that will fight and compete like a club that doesn't have that talent," Mattingly said. "There has to be a mixture of competitiveness. It's not, 'Let's put an All-Star team together' and the All-Star team wins. It's finding that balance of a team that has a little bit of grit and will fight you. And also having talent to go with it.
"All grit and no talent isn't going to get you there. But all talent and no grit isn't going to get you there either. There has to be a mixture of both."
Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti declined to comment on Mattingly's remarks. But amid rumors earlier in the week that Mattingly would be fired any day now, Colletti reaffirmed his stance from earlier this month that the Dodgers' problems are "correctable" and a managerial change is not required to make that happen.
"My perspective hasn't changed," Colletti said. "I think he's done fine. I think he's kept it steady. Players still have to play. ... You have to look at our performance as a team on the field. Have we hit well with runners in scoring position? Have we scored enough runs? Have we played enough good defense? Have we made proper pitches all the time? I think it's the easy way out to look at one person."
Dodgers president Stan Kasten offered an endorsement for Mattingly as well.
"I know what Don is trying to do, what his intention is," Kasten told foxsports.com on Thursday. "It's to light a fire, kick-start the team. He's trying everything he can think of. We're all behind him."
