BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 28: Alex Cora #13 of the Boston Red Sox addresses the media before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 28, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
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The Philadelphia Phillies made a big change in hopes of correcting their season as it heads off the rails, but it might not have been the change that the front office was hoping for.
After falling into last place in the National League, the Phillies announced that they had cut ties with manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday and that bench coach Don Mattingly would be appointed as the interim manager for the remainder of the season. Initially, that seemed to be a measured move to promote a new voice that would still offer some continuity for players.
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But shortly after the team’s announcement, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski revealed that he had tried to bring in Alex Cora instead of Mattingly, shortly after he was fired by the Boston Red Sox.
“We talked about potentially taking the job,” Dombrowski told reporters of a conversation he had with Cora on Sunday, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. “I had told him I had really come to the conclusion at that point that if he took it, I was going to make a change. I thought that he might take it, but as time went on over the next day into Monday morning, it was apparent from his perspective that he wanted to take time with his family.”
Dombrowski hired Cora while he worked in the Red Sox front office and he led the team to a World Series championship in the next season. In breaking his own silence about rejecting the Phillies’ job offer, Cora confirmed the explanation that Dombrowski offered to reporters on Tuesday.
“I accepted to be a full-time dad,” Cora texted the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, regarding his decision not to become the Phillies’ new skipper this season.
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It seems likely that the Phillies will still be interested in replacing Mattingly after this season and the chance to reunite with Dombrowski could entice Cora in a few months. But if the Phillies are unable to turn their season around, they might not look like a very appealing option.
“If their stars begin performing closer to their career levels, not an unreasonable expectation, they might again factor into the playoff picture,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote of the Phillies. “If not? Then this season could mark the beginning of the end of one of the great eras in franchise history. And Cora, when evaluating his options, might think twice about joining a team that isn’t what it was, and might not reach that level again.”
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