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Dodgers' Mattingly: 'If you don't win ... there's always someone that has to pay'

Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA TODAY Sports

Don Mattingly expected the ax would fall following the Los Angeles Dodgers' early postseason exit. Thankfully for the manager, it missed his head. 

"L.A. is a big city, and if you don't win or don't move forward fast enough, there's always someone that has to pay – the assumption is, somebody's going," Mattingly told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

After winning the National League West, the Dodgers were ousted in four games by the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series. As a result, Los Angeles named Andrew Friedman as the team's new general manager, replacing Ned Colletti, who remains on as a senior advisor. 

Mattingly admits that he didn't worry if he would be the casualty of the Dodgers' shortcomings and holds the success his team accomplished in the regular season in high regard.  

"I never felt we didn't do a good job this year," Mattingly said. "Winning the division is no easy task. It gets thrown off to the side when you don't win a world championship, because that's the final goal. But I take some pride over the work of a long season. I'm proud of the staff."

Mattingly, who owns a 354-293 record in four seasons with the Dodgers, has two years remaining on his deal. 

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