Don Mattingly and Dodgers officials met in person Monday and recognized they really, really liked each other, but both had doubts about moving forward together.

And the liking each other did not overcome the doubts.

So Thursday, the Dodgers announced the sides had “mutually agreed” Mattingly would not return for the final year on his managerial contract in 2016.

The split was described by people on both sides as amicable, and the relationship was always that. A new, highly paid front office led by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman inherited Mattingly when it took over last offseason and quickly appreciated Mattingly as a person and baseball man. Mattingly also enjoyed the support of the Guggenheim ownership group, particularly operating partner Mark Walter.

But those around Mattingly described a job that had become too often joyless. The Dodgers built a $300 million-plus payroll and, along with it, a World Series-or-bust mentality. That mandate and the constant questions about his job security wore on him.

At the meeting Monday, Mattingly was told he would not be given a significant extension, which told him the Dodgers were in, but not all the way in with him. He returned home Monday night to Evansville, Ind., the sides talked a few more times and Wednesday night team officials were crafting the words in the press release that would announce this divorce.

Mattingly wants to manage again, so he is currently not interested in the Yankees’ hitting coach vacancy, friends of his told The Post. He is considered a strong candidate for the Marlins’ managerial opening and could be in play for the Nationals.

The Dodgers had not finalized a list of candidates, but their director of player development, Gabe Kapler, is likely to be on the list, if not near the top. He played for Friedman’s Rays in 2009-10 and did scouting and development work for the organization from 2011 to 2013. He was known to be well regarded by Tampa Bay’s front office.

As for Mattingly, ultimately Dodgers officials decided they would prefer their own guy. Mattingly adapted well to the analytical bent of the Dodgers front office, but is not a devotee of advanced statistics. There were questions within the Dodgers clubhouse about who was making lineup decisions: Mattingly, Mattingly in collaboration with the front office or a complete front-office dictate. Mattingly would use the word “we” when talking about how decisions were made about who was playing and where in the order he was batting.

But if anything created tension in the organization, it was the front office felt it had to clean up messes in the clubhouse because Mattingly was not good with confrontation. Last offseason, the Dodgers did not sign free agent Hanley Ramirez, traded Matt Kemp and released Brian Wilson in the name of improving chemistry. Still, Yasiel Puig was left behind, as were a swath of expensive players who were expecting to play daily and in some cases weren’t.

Despite all that, Mattingly became the first manager in Dodgers history to win three straight division titles. Mattingly never finished below .500, and had a .551 regular-season winning percentage. However, his clubs went 8-11 in the postseason, never advanced to the World Series and this year were knocked out by the Mets in the NL Division Series despite having — by far — the largest payroll ever.