The Philadelphia Phillies face an offseason that demands change after yet another playoff faceplant. The manager’s chair, where interim skipper Don Mattingly has not been guaranteed the job for 2027, is the most immediate concern.
However, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, the team is seriously considering re-hiring Mattingly after being spurned by Alex Cora.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has made no secret of his desire to have Cora manage the club. The two won a World Series together in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox, and Dombrowski publicly said he offered his old friend the Phillies job after firing former skipper Rob Thomson.
Don Mattingly appears to have a decent or better chance to be retained as Phillies manager. Went 79-55 to get into playoffs after taking over 9-19 team and has the respect of players and front office, as I said on @MLBNetwork
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 13, 2026
Unfortunately for Dombrowski, Cora decided against returning to a big-league dugout next season, instead choosing to schedule an African safari and collect the $7.25 million he’s still owed from the Red Sox.
Can you blame him?
With Cora out of the picture, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll take the reins of the Phillies next season. The easy choice is to stick with Mattingly, and there are plenty of reasons to do so. The former New York Yankees superstar piloted the Phils to a 79-55 record after an atrocious 9-19 start, earning a Wild Card berth in a season that looked lost in April. On top of that, his son, Preston, is the Phillies general manager, second-in-command to Dombrowski.
The Phillies should cast a wide net before deciding to run it back with Don Mattingly next season
There are only 30 managerial jobs in Major League Baseball and plenty of qualified candidates to take them. Would continuity for continuity's sake put the Phils in the best position to finally capture a long-awaited World Series?
The current era of Phillies success began in 2022 when Rob Thomson took over Joe Girardi’s sinking ship. Plenty of regular-season success followed, but the playoff results trended downward after a miracle run to the National League pennant that season. The front office valued consistency, keeping Thomson and his entire coaching staff for three-plus seasons and running back similar lineups year after year in the hopes that they’d finally break through.
The same old core doing the same old thing every October hasn't gotten the job done, and repeating the mistakes of the past with the same roster and coaching staff will, in all likelihood, lead to similar results in 2027.
Don Mattingly did a fine job in a difficult situation this past season and merits some consideration moving forward. However, the Phillies need to conduct a thorough, exhaustive search of managerial candidates to ensure they hire the right man for the job.
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