Don Mattingly will manage Dodgers, even with Joe Maddon available

When introduced last week as the Dodgers president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman said Don Mattingly would “definitely” manage the team next season.

That remains the case, even in the wake of Joe Maddon’s sudden departure from the Tampa Bay Rays, Friedman wrote in a text message Friday.

The Rays announced earlier in the day that Maddon exercised an option to terminate his contract with them.

Maddon is the only manager with whom Friedman worked in his nine seasons as the general manager of the Rays. Because of their close relationship, there was widespread speculation that Maddon would one day follow Friedman to Los Angeles.

Friedman said last week that he and Mattingly are “very aligned on a lot of things philosophically.”

“I had one manager in the 10 years I’ve been doing this and I’m looking forward to working with Donnie for a long time,” Friedman said at the time.