Don Mattingly is a lame-duck manager, entering the final season of his four-year deal with the Marlins. Team officials have publicly praised the job he’s done, but that awkward contractual status, the .452 overall winning percentage in Miami and a league-wide trend toward younger, more analytical minds point to inevitable change.
Regardless, Donnie Baseball is here (for now) and needs a staff to assist him at the major league level in 2019. Those hirings are gradually coming together, Jon Heyman of Fancred reports, with additions expected next week. Heyman specifies that the Marlins will have a new pitching coach, assistant hitting coach and first base coach, replacing Juan Nieves, Frank Menechino and Perry Hill, respectively.