Ned Colletti to return as Dodgers general manager

Ned Colletti will remain the general manager of the Dodgers beyond this season.

Colletti has signed a multiyear contract extension with the team, a person familiar with the situation said Saturday. Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Dodgers aren’t expected to formally announce Colletti’s new contract. Team President Stan Kasten has repeatedly said he has a policy of not talking about contractual issues involving club executives.

Hired in November 2005 by previous owner Frank McCourt, Colletti is in his seventh season as general manager. Under Colletti, the Dodgers have made the postseason three times and reached the National League Championship Series twice.

Colletti, 58, was in the final year of the guaranteed portion of his contract and his future appeared uncertain when the Dodgers were purchased by Guggenheim Baseball in the spring. New owners often make drastic changes in front offices, as McCourt did in 2004 when he replaced Dan Evans with Paul DePodesta as general manager.

When Colletti worked for McCourt, he usually worked with a tight budget. Unable to pursue the top players in free agency, he often settled for players in the second or third tiers of the market, which resulted in some regrettable signings — among them Jason Schmidt, Juan Pierre and Juan Uribe. But Colletti simultaneously developed a reputation for finding bargains and stretching his team’s modest resources.

Under Guggenheim Baseball, Colletti suddenly found himself flush with cash. He signed Andre Ethier to a five-year, $85-million extension. He acquired Hanley Ramirez in a trade with the Miami Marlins. Last month, he made one of the most significant trades in club history, when he acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford as a part of a nine-player waiver deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Colletti won’t be the only high-profile non-player who will return to the Dodgers next season. Colletti said Friday that the Dodgers intend to honor the final year of Manager Don Mattingly’s three-year deal.

Mattingly talks about returning

Mattingly was surprised by Colletti’s announcement that he would be back next season.

“I didn’t know Ned was going to say anything,” Mattingly said. “I didn’t think about it, honestly. I love what I’m doing. I like it here. I’m pretty vocal about it.”

Short hops

The Dodgers are selling merchandise of Luis Cruz, the career minor leaguer who has become the Dodgers’ everyday third baseman. His replica jersey ($110) went on sale in the left-field tent at Dodger Stadium on Saturday and his player T-shirt ($28) is expected to be in stock by Wednesday. The T-shirts will be discounted to $22.40 as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. T-shirts of Gonzalez, Ethier and Ramirez will also be discounted. … Scott Elbert will throw a simulated game Sunday. He could be activated from the disabled list as early as Tuesday.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com