LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said Friday that manager Don Mattingly will return in 2013, regardless of the team's struggles this month.
Entering Friday, the Dodgers had lost seven of their last eight games and had gone 6-12 since the blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox in which they acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto and took on $260 million in salary obligations.
Under a new ownership group that includes ex-Lakers great Magic Johnson, the Dodgers have changed direction drastically from the Frank McCourt years, but Colletti said he's not contemplating a change in the dugout. Colletti said he hasn't "given it much thought."
"I think he's done a really good job of keeping it together and there's never an excuse. He doesn't give any and he doesn't take any," Colletti said. "I don't have any doubt that our efforts every day are there, and I think that's one of the main jobs of a manager, to make sure guys are into it.
"You know that if you get beat, it's not a happy room, it's not one people take lightly and are cavalier. It means something to everybody and that's a credit to him and his staff."
Mattingly is under contract through 2013. The Dodgers are 156-149 in his two seasons as manager. Previously the Dodgers' hitting coach, Mattingly took over for Joe Torre following the 2010 season.