Don Mattingly Steps Down as Blue Jays Bench Coach, Eyes New Baseball Opportunity
Despite reaching the World Series for the first time in his career, Don Mattingly will not return to his role as bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays after the 2025 season, though he has no plans to retire from baseball.
Mattingly, 64, joined the Blue Jays in November 2022, serving under rookie manager John Schneider, who had been appointed Toronto’s permanent manager the previous month following an interim stint during the 2022 season.
“I had a feeling this was going to be my last year in Toronto,” Mattingly revealed at a Golden Gloves event at the MLB flagship store on Thursday. “And the truth is, when [General Manager] Ross [Atkins] called me, I was delighted. I had a great time there. The organization has been tremendous. The fans there are tremendous. It has been a great internship. But I thought before the year started, I felt like this was like the end with Toronto, and really nothing more than that. “I just felt like it was the right time.”
His contract concluded after the 2025 Fall Classic, and while a return to Toronto was possible – particularly after the team’s heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Dodgers – Mattingly is now focused on pursuing a new challenge within the sport. Speculation about a potential retirement was quickly dismissed.
The veteran coach acknowledged the difficulties of balancing professional commitments with personal life. “I think what I struggle with is trying to balance family, with a 10-year-old son, trying to balance that with still loving what I do, and then balancing travel,” he explained. “I’m 64 years old, I feel good, but the road kind of wears you out. If I were talking about that right now, the last thing I want to do is be on the road, but you never know how you’re going to feel in a month, or whatever.”
The 2025 season represented another near miss in Mattingly’s long pursuit of a championship. Throughout his illustrious playing career with the New York Yankees, he experienced limited postseason success, finally tasting playoff baseball in his final season (1995) with a loss to the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS. The Yankees would go on to win their first of four championships in five years the following season.
Mattingly’s coaching career has also been marked by near misses. He was a member of the Yankees’ coaching staff during the infamous 2004 ALCS, where the team squandered a 3-0 lead against the Boston Red Sox. His tenure with the Bronx Bombers ended in 2007, two years before another Yankees championship run. He later managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011 to 2015, failing to advance beyond the NLCS before being replaced by Dave Roberts. Prior to joining the Blue Jays, he also led the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022.
As Mattingly contemplates his next move, he also awaits the results of the Contemporary Era Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, to be announced on December 7. The six-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner, and 1985 AL MVP is among eight players under consideration for induction, adding another layer of anticipation to his offseason.
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