The Phillies are back at a familiar fork in the dugout. Alex Cora has again declined the club’s interest in making him manager, leaving Don Mattingly’s future — and the shape of Philadelphia’s next search — as the next call for Dave Dombrowski.
Dombrowski had pursued Cora for months, and the latest refusal came within the past few days. Cora has decided he will not manage in 2027, closing off the Phillies’ preferred route for the job.
Quick facts
- Rob Thomson was fired April 28 after Philadelphia opened 9-19.
- Dombrowski had approached Cora about the position roughly two days before Thomson’s dismissal.
- Mattingly moved up from bench coach to interim manager after Cora initially said no.
- The Phillies posted MLB’s fourth-best record from April 28 through the regular-season finish.
- Philadelphia ranked 19th in runs with 713 and its bullpen was 21st in ERA at 4.43.
Mattingly took over a club that had stumbled badly out of the gate and steadied it. The Phillies played winning baseball the rest of the way despite an offense that remained in the lower half of the league and a relief corps that carried a 4.43 ERA.
He said during the summer that he wanted to manage again in 2027. Yet the interim label stayed in place through the season, even as the Red Sox made Chad Tracy their full-time manager and the Mets did the same with Andy Green.
That hesitation appeared tied to Dombrowski’s continued interest in Cora. Just last week, Mattingly was viewed as likely to leave in a mutual separation, with a decision expected soon.
Cora’s choice changes the board. Philadelphia can now reward Mattingly’s work by removing the interim designation, or Dombrowski can open the door to a broader managerial hunt.
For now, Mattingly has the strongest in-house case: he inherited a 9-19 club and guided it through one of baseball’s best remaining regular-season runs. Whether that earns him the permanent chair remains the Phillies’ unanswered offseason question.
