The length of the extension is unclear, but the newspaper says it probably will not be for the four years Mattingly is seeking. Mattingly's contract with the team is up after this season, with a club option for 2014.
In his third year at the Dodger helm, Mattingly led the team to 92 wins and that National League West title. L.A. is battling the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.
Still, rumors have persisted that Mattingly's job is in jeopardy. And indeed it might have been had the Dodgers lost the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, USA Today reports.
The newspaper says some veteran players are "privately complaining about Mattingly's managerial ability." In fact, the complaints were a focus of a conversation some players had just before Game 4 of the NLDS, one player told USA Today.
CLARK CHALLENGES PUJOLS
Former major league star Jack Clark says he will take a lie-detector test about his allegations that Albert Pujols took performance-enhancing drugs — if Pujols will do the same.
Clark, a four-time All-Star who played in the majors from 1975 to 1992, made the offer in a letter sent from his attorney to Pujols' legal team, STLToday.com reports.
Pujols sued Clark Oct. 4 over comments Clark made Aug. 2 on a radio show he co-hosted on St. Louis' WGNU 920 AM. Clark said he “knew for a fact" that Pujols took performance-enhancing drugs because Pujols' former trainer, Chris Mihlfeld, told him 10 years ago that he "shot (Pujols) up." The lawsuit alleges that Clark made "malicious, reckless and outrageous falsehoods" that have damaged Pujols' reputation, humiliated him and caused him mental anguish and anxiety.
Now Clark is proposing the two settle the matter through the use of dueling polygraph tests. Under his proposal, Pujols would be asked if "he is being deceptive when he asserts that he has never used steroids or performance enhancing drugs while in the minor and major leagues."
Clark would be asked if he is being deceptive in describing what Mihlfeld allegedly told him.
Mihfeld has denied the allegations, and the company that hired Clark and co-host Kevin Slaten announced the two had been told not to return to work. Clark and Slaten technically couldn't be fired because they were independent contractors, but they no longer have a show on WGNU.
HUNTER OK AFTER FALL
Torii Hunter was still shaken up but in good spirits Monday, a day after he fell into the Boston bullpen in a futile effort to catch David Ortiz's tying grand slam.
The Detroit right fielder indicated he'll be ready to play Tuesday in Game 3 of the AL championship series, but the day off between games was welcome.
"I feel like I played a football game," Hunter said. "I'm just going to go ahead and get a massage, get some treatment, try to get in the hot tub, loosen up a little bit. I'll be fine."
Hunter went racing toward the fence on Ortiz's line drive and overran the ball slightly before trying to jump back and catch it. His momentum took him over the short wall, but he was able to stay in the game.
"I hit the top of the wall when I came over — it hit me in the ribs and I lost my breath," Hunter said. "They told me I fell on my head and stuff like that, and I was just kind of out of it for a minute, a little groggy."
SURGERY FOR GRAY
Athletics rookie right-hander Sonny Gray will have surgery on his left thumb to repair a torn ligament.
Gray injured his glove hand on a comebacker by Detroit's Prince Fielder in a 3-0 Game 5 loss in the A: division series Thursday night, which ended Oakland's season. He underwent an MRI exam Friday. The date of surgery is yet to be determined.
In addition, 2012 Gold Glove right fielder Josh Reddick is likely to have arthroscopic surgery on a sprained right wrist that twice landed him on the disabled list for the two-time reigning AL West champion A's. Reddick will be examined by Dr. Mark Belsky, a hand specialist in Newton, Mass., who performed surgery on Reddick's left wrist in November 2011.
Right-hander Jarrod Parker will rest a strain in his right forearm.
Contributors: Justin McGuire, The Associated Press
