For all of those who saw the Boston Red Sox dismissal of Alex Cora as a ray of hope for the Philadelphia Phillies' alarmingly poor 2026 campaign, the dream is now dead. The thrill of seeing Rob Thomson get let go, potentially paving the way for Cora to eventually come aboard to right the ship, quickly had those thoughts extinguished.
Don Mattingly is taking over at the helm as interim manager, and the fine print on that announcement includes the phrase "through the end of the 2026 season," which indicates that no matter what happens, it's Donny Baseball's show from here until the end of the year.
Important note: The Phillies press release says that Don Mattingly has been promoted to interim manager "through the end of the 2026 season." @OnPattison
— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) April 28, 2026
There's an important caveat to that announcement, however. Mattingly has the guarantee of a safe harbor because Philadelphia first reached out to Cora about the job and was rebuffed. That shouldn't shock anyone. Cora was in the second year of a three-year, $21.75 million contract, meaning he collected a parting gift of at least $12.08 million from the Red Sox. With that kind of coin coming in to not work, why not take a breather and spend time with his family?
Alex Cora won't be the Phillies manager in 2026, but the door isn't closed for 2027
Make no mistake, Mattingly is going to do everything in his power to turn this interim gig into a permanent job. He'll have several boxes that he needs to check in order to make that happen.
Preston Mattingly's position as the Phillies' general manager makes it seem like the bar might be low for his father to clear, but the younger Mattingly answers to Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski has worked with and won a World Series with Cora, and the two men have remained close over the years.
Cora's going to sit out the rest of 2026, but he's still young, so it's likely he wants to get back into the game over the offseason. The Phillies will be an attractive landing spot thanks to the big market, massive financial resources, and plentiful stars. The Dombrowski connection could put things over the top. That could lead to Mattingly getting cut loose even if he turns things around as the season unfolds.
Of course, Philadelphia won't be alone. The former Red Sox skipper figures to be the biggest name in the mix and will, no doubt, be in high demand.
A few potential landing spots in particular could lure him away. One is the Houston Astros, where he served as the bench coach for a couple of years, winning a tarnished World Series in 2017. Another is the New York Mets, who offer everything the Phillies do, except a bigger market and even deeper pockets (though no personal connections). There will be plenty of mystery teams that will be unveiled come the offseason as well.
Cora closed the door on managing the Phillies after these dramatic early-season firings, but that doesn't mean that he won't be interested in joining up for the 2027 season. For now, though, he's living the dream, getting paid by the Red Sox to be a family man. You can't begrudge him that.
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