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Don Mattingly thinks he has Dodgers closer in Jonathan Broxton

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The Dodgers’ next manager believes he has found the team’s next closer.

The old one.

The one who saved the All-Star game for the National League in July, only to lose his job as the Dodgers’ closer the next month.

You know, Jonathan Broxton.

“I think we can count on him,” said Manager-to-be Don Mattingly before the team’s 7-5 loss at Arizona on Friday night. “When he goes home, I want him thinking he’ll be the closer when he comes back.”

General Manager Ned Colletti said he was of the same mind-set, adding that he was unlikely to search for a new closer in the off-season.

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Then again, Colletti might not have a choice.

The Dodgers are saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, have to sign at least two starting pitchers and an outfielder this winter, and owe Broxton $7 million next season as part of the two-year, $11-million deal they signed him to last winter.

Hong-Chih Kuo’s four elbow operations would likely eliminate the left-hander from becoming a full-time closer and catcher-turned-pitcher Kenley Jansen lacks the experience to handle the role, at least by current Manager Joe Torre’s estimation.

For his part, Broxton said he was certain he would recapture whatever it was that made him a two-time All-Star.

Broxton said that when the Dodgers’ season ends and he returns home to Georgia, he won’t look back.

“Get away from it, not talk about it,” Broxton said.

Broxton smiled as he talked about his off-seasons plans, saying he would hunt at Chipper Jones’ ranch and play golf.

“Get away and enjoy life,” he said.

Broxton, who insisted his second-half collapse was nothing more than a symptom of “missing my spots,” said he doesn’t have any physical issues. He has only three saves since the All-Star break, but said he wouldn’t reflect on this rough period.

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“It’s the past,” he said.

That was the method Broxton used to recover from traumatic postseasons in each of the last two seasons.

The turning point for Broxton this season was on June 27, when he threw 48 pitches in blowing a four-run lead at home against the New York Yankees. Broxton recorded the last four outs of a 9-4 victory the previous day.

Broxton went into that June 27 game with a 0.83 earned-run average. His ERA in 31 games since: 7.58.

But Torre said he believed Broxton’s issues were psychological and that his decline had nothing to do with his usage in the Yankees series. Torre added that at some point, Broxton would have to do some soul-searching if he intended to regain his form. “There are some scrambled eggs up there,” Torre said, referring to Broxton’s head.

Short hops

Matt Kemp homered for the third consecutive game, but the Dodgers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-5, at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, guaranteeing them to finish the season with a sub-.500 record. … As part of annual tradition of letting his players manage at the end of a season, Torre turned decision-making duties over to catcher Brad Ausmus, who is set to retire this winter. Ausmus chose utilityman Jamey Carroll as his bench coach, bullpen catcher Mike Borzello as his pitching coach, catcher Russell Martin as his hitting coach and reliever Jeff Weaver as his bullpen coach.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

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