Highlights from Monday’s news conference introducing Don Mattingly as Marlins manager:
### Marlins president David Samson: “Watching Kansas City last night… we were all thinking about what it takes to win a World Series. We have two of them here and what it would take to win a third World Series. That has been our goal since 2003. Jeffrey Loria has a singular focus on that. He is in charge of this team. He was an integral part of choosing Don Mattingly.
We interviewed a lot of capable managers. We [want to] commit this is last manager’s press conference we ever do. We’ve done too many.
“When we sat down with Don Mattingly… we all saw down with all the candidates. When we sat down with Don, it felt different to all of us. What Donnie has, forget the three division championships. Forget Donny baseball, the career he had. His drive as a manager, his ability to take a team and develop and mold. His desire to be a Marlin was so apparent from the beginning. He’s a lifer. He’s a family man and we’re a family here. His drive was something that came across and oozed from him. It became the natural thing to offer Donny the position. We were thrilled when you accepted.”
### Marlins president baseball operations Michael Hill: “There is a lot of talent in that clubhouse. We need the right man to lead that clubhouse. We all arrived at the same conclusion. I’m extremely pleased and happy to have him aboard. It’s fitting the day after the season officially ends that a new beginning starts today.”
### Mattingly: “On behalf of my whole family, we are thrilled to be here, excited for the opportunity to come to Miami. We were talking early to Jeff Conine, Tony [Perez] and the Hawk [Andre Dawson], the consensus around baseball is this is a talented club, a young talented club with a good core that has a good chance to develop. That was the single biggest thing I was intrigued with coming to Miami is chance to develop, teach, help mold a young club…. This is a place we are going to have to develop through the minor league system, continuing to teach, develop at all time.”
### Mattingly said he was concerned that the Marlins might blow up the roster but Loria and Samson eased his concerns: “I told David I signed a four year deal, plan on being here at least 10. It’s important to be able to do it year in and year out. That was my biggest fear is blow it up and start over. I wanted to be part of something that would continue to grow. I plan on coming here and winning…
“The conversations with everyone. Two different sets of conversations – in New York [and] Miami. I felt very comfortable with the group here that we’re building something. Also understanding the challenges of this market. It’s not a New York or L.A. where you can go endless finances. It’s a situation where you have to continue to build. The conversations made me feel comfortable with that. Saying they wanted me here for a long period of time is something every manager thrives for.”
### Samson, on the manager turnover and why Marlins fans should think this is sustaining when Ozzie Guillen and Joe Girardi lasted one year: "Every situation is different. We're four years into the new building. There is something about Donnie that sounds and hears and smells like continuity. There is less show. With Donny, it's just baseball. The core is different [from 2012]. The roster is different. The front office makeup is different."
### Mattingly, on going from team with highest payroll to lowest: "For me the finances don't have anything to do with it. Any organization always wants to build within the minor league system. It's all the same for me. Nobody talked about Kansas City a couple years ago. All of a sudden, those young guys come of age. Everyone that tried to contact me about this place, every one of them talks about the talent here, that it's a good young club. I'm going to have high expectations. I tell players, 'I expect to win every day.' That's the way we're going to go about our business."
If I have any style, it's no style at all. Not a lot of BS with me. Straight forward, let's go. This is a group that's been playing a little while, There have been guys here who have put a year or two behind them. To me, they are poised to move forward.
### Twitter: @flasportsbuzz
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