AP

Don Mattingly says the family issues he faces would have kept him from managing the Yankees and is relieved he was bypassed for the job last fall.

Mattingly arrived at the Dodgers’ spring training facility today, and said his decision to be moved from the team’s hitting coach to major league special assignment coach for the 2008 season was a no-brainer since it will allow him to be with his children.

“A family decision is always an easy decision for me,” he said.

“It’s the first time ever that I ever made a commitment to someone and not lived up to that, so that was hard. That bothered me, but sometimes when you are talking about your family, you’ve got to do things and that’s just the way it is.”

Mattingly spent the past four seasons as a coach in New York under Joe Torre. After Torre left the Yankees, Mattingly lost out to Joe Girardi to be the manager and followed Torre to Los Angeles.

“I am really grateful I didn’t get it,” Mattingly said of the Yankees’ managerial job.

Mattingly’s private issues became public earlier this month when his estranged wife, Kim, was arrested and charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after police say she refused to leave his property in Indiana.

The couple filed for divorce in November on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

“You never want that. Obviously, that stinks. Obviously you don’t want your laundry out there,” Mattingly said. “I worry about it more from my kids’ standpoint. I don’t really worry about what people think, but the kids, it’s a little bit different story.

“I worry about my youngest, keeping him straight during the transition.”

Mattingly was referring to his 16-year-old son.

During the next three weeks, Mattingly will be with the Dodgers. Then he’ll catch up with them throughout the season.

“The Dodgers have been great,” he said. “They’ve treated me better than I deserve because I have no track record with this organization. I love being with Joe, and they’ve shown me a lot of respect and I’d really like to return that if they want me.

“I am looking at this like a long-term situation for me without anything set in stone.”

Torre said it’s good to have Mattingly around, if only for a while.

“He works hard, he doesn’t expect anything, he has a great grasp on the game,” Torre said. “It’s unfortunate he won’t be with us all year.”