Report: Gabe Kapler favorite to become Dodgers' next manager

Less than 24 hours after the Los Angeles Dodgers announced manager Don Mattingly was leaving the club, a strong favorite is quickly emerging to be named his replacement.

Gabe Kapler, the team's director of player development, is the likely candidate to succeed Mattingly, according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.

Rosenthal has been told by numerous sources in the industry that they'd be surprised if anyone but Kapler got the job, but the Dodgers are still expected to conduct a thorough process.

Kapler has only one year of managerial experience under his belt, as manager for the Greenville Drive - the Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox - in 2007. However, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said that prior experience in the dugout isn't everything during a press conference Thursday.

"My sense is we'll have candidates that have prior managerial experience and candidates that don't," Friedman said. "I think for us to cast as wide of a net, have as thorough of a process as we want to end up with the guy we feel strongest about to lead this organization going forward - we're going to go into it with a really open mind."

Kapler and Friedman have a close relationship stemming from Kapler's playing days with Friedman's Tampa Bay Rays from 2009-10, something Rosenthal believes that could ultimately be the deciding factor in the process. However, several other notable candidates, including long-time Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach, and former San Diego Padres skipper Bud Black, are rumored to be candidates for the high-profile position.

Friedman hopes to have a new manager in place no later than the baseball Winter Meetings in early December.