NewsDodgers, Torre talking contract extension
Manager has one season left on current three-year deal
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
11/08/09 8:26 AM EST
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers and manager Joe Torre are in talks to extend his contract for at least one more year, Torre confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.Torre, 69, has one year remaining on the three-year, $13 million contract he signed with the Dodgers after managing the Yankees for 12 years and four World Series championships.
"We were talking about my coaches and I've been thinking about it," Torre told the newspaper. "It's been fun. When I came here, I was curious about how it might go. But the last two years have been invigorating. You see progress and your ego tells you maybe you had something to do with it."
Torre has managed the Dodgers to consecutive National League West titles and appearances in the NL Championship Series, the first time for the club since 1977-78. The Dodgers led the NL with 95 wins in 2009, the most for the franchise since 1985. His two-year Dodgers record is 179-145. His 14 consecutive playoff appearances tied Bobby Cox for the all-time managerial record.
General manager Ned Colletti, who received a long-term extension two weeks ago, said last week that the club is close to finalizing deals with all members of Torre's coaching staff, including hitting coach Don Mattingly, the presumed heir apparent to Torre.
Mattingly, who spoke with Cleveland about its managerial vacancy last month, last week declined a chance to interview with the Washington Nationals for their vacant manager job and he told the Times that an extension for Torre wouldn't change his desire to stay with the Dodgers as a coach.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
