11 managerial candidates the Phillies must consider after being spurned by Alex Cora

Ever since he was fired by the Boston Red Sox in April, free-agent manager Alex Cora has been coveted by the Philadelphia Phillies and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Cora, however, has now spurned Philadelphia twice, once in April, when the ballclub turned to Don Mattingly as its manager, and again now in October.

After being denied his first choice, Dombrowski is shifting his focus. Dozens of managers on the open market will be clamoring for the Phillies’ job, despite a disappointing end to the season.

Internal options abound as well, though the front office may look to shake up the roster, and the coaching staff with it, after five consecutive years of playoff regression.

The Phillies Mangerial Suitors

Fan Favorites

On Seattle Sports’ Wyman & Bob show last week, guest Jon Morosi brought up a few names to fill the Seattle Mariners’ vacant managerial position, the most intriguing of which was Raúl Ibañez. Currently, he serves as vice president of baseball development and special projects for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The former Phillie has been mentioned in managerial discussions for several years. At age 54, he may now decide to throw his hat in the ring.

If Chase Utley ever decides to manage, it will probably be in Los Angeles, where he lives, and for the Dodgers, the team for which he now serves as a special assistant. Nevertheless, Utley still remains connected to Philadelphia; he was added to the Phillies Wall of Fame in August. Bringing him aboard is a long shot, but crazier things have happened, and it would certainly ignite the fanbase.

Old Curmudgeons

There is a fine array of future Coopertown-bound near-octogenarians available on the market. The question for all of the below: will they come out of retirement as the crotchety, no-nonsense throwback the Phillies need?

Foremost among this group is Bruce Bochy, a four-time World Series champion and 71-year-old. He’s won 57 playoff games since 1995 and has a .606 playoff winning percentage. He could be the guy to get the Phillies over that playoff hump. 

So too could curse-breaker Joe Maddon, whom the Phillies beat in the 2008 World Series as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, before he led the Chicago Cubs to the promised land as champions in 2016. The Hazelton, PA-born 72-year-old would be close to home in Philadelphia.

Slightly younger is 70-year-old Buck Showalter, last of the New York Mets. He’s never won a pennant in 22 years as a manager, let alone a World Series. He’s certainly fiery, though, a quality nearly every Phillies manager since Charlie Manuel has lacked.

Oldest of the bunch, but perhaps most available, is Ron Washington, at age 74. He’s the only one of this quartet currently serving in an on-field position. As the San Francisco Giants' infield coach, Washington brings with him a lifetime of defensive expertise, something the last few iterations of the Phillies have sorely lacked.

Internal Hires

Howie Kendrick has been on the Phillies staff since 2021, serving in a special assistant role, though he's been a notable presence in the dugout during games. To Dombrowski and the rest of the front office, he’s a known quantity and a positive clubhouse presence, having garnered decades of respect as a baseball lifer. If the Phillies want an injection of youth into their aging roster, Kendrick is an obvious candidate with a penchant for postseason heroics. Perhaps he’ll bring the clutch gene sitting in the manager’s chair, too.

Caleb Cotham is the highest-valued coach the Phillies employ. Since joining the team as pitching coach in 2020, he's revitalized the careers of nearly a dozen Phillies pitchers, from Jeff Hoffman to Zack Wheeler. Would he want a promotion to manager? The pipeline from pitching coach to Major League manager is not littered with success throughout history. The last notable entry in this list was Bryan Price, who flamed out as Cincinnati Reds’ manager after four and a half losing seasons. The last successful pitching coach to become a manager was John Farrell, who led the 2013 Boston Red Sox to a World Series title.

Before you say anything about Dusty Wathan's tenure as Phillies third base coach, you should know he is the winningest manager in the franchise’s minor league history. That doesn’t necessarily mean he would be a great MLB manager, but he has experience and, like Kendrick and Cotham, has been around the club through its ups and downs. If he isn’t made manager in 2026, we may have seen the last of Wathan in a Phillies uniform. Whoever comes in as manager will likely want to hire their own bench coach, the position in which he now serves.

New-School Bouncebacks

Brandon Hyde managed the Baltimore Orioles through their rebuild but couldn’t get them a single playoff win in 2023 or '24. They were swept by the Texas Rangers first, then the Kansas City Royals. Hyde has been out of a job since 2025, but the Orioles’ regression feels more tied to the front office and development staff than the manager. At only 53 years old, Hyde could stick around the Phillies for the long haul if he leads the team to postseason success.

The same is true for 45-year-old Rocco Baldelli, another World Series opponent of the 2008 Phillies. His seven-year tenure as manager of the Minnesota Twins was uninspiring, but like Hyde, it’s hard to place the blame on Baldelli when their front office traded away what felt like half the active roster in 2025, including sending Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia.

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