Don Mattingly will return as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers next season with a new three-year contract that takes him through 2016, quieting speculation his future with the club was in doubt.

A person familiar with the agreement, speaking on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized, said Mattingly is getting a raise from the $1.4 million he made last year. By comparison, Yankees manager Joe Girardi, entering his seventh season in New York, is starting a four-year, $16 million agreement after a three-year deal worth $9 million.

Mattingly had sought the stability of a multi-year deal.

"I just want guys to know the organization has confidence; it's important to me as a manager," he said from his offseason home in Evansville, Ind.

Mattingly has a 260-225 record in his first three seasons with the Dodgers, who reached the NL Championship Series last season, automatically triggering a contract extension.

- Associated Press

(China Daily 01/10/2014 page23)