Former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has taken his name out of the running for the Philadelphia Phillies managerial job, and will instead spend next season with his family. Cora's contract with the Red Sox runs through next year. He'll use that to take a little mid-career break, knowing managerial jobs will be there for him in 2028.
Phillies lead executive Dave Dombrowski hired Cora to manage the Red Sox during his time in Boston and the two are said to be close. Dombrowski confirmed he contacted Cora about the team's managerial job back in April, after firing Rob Thomson, but Cora passed then as well. It seemed like the two would reunite this offseason.
Instead, Cora will take a full season away from the game. Dombrowski and the Phillies must now determine whether to stick with interim manager Don Mattingly, who guided the team to a 79-55 record and a wild-card berth after replacing Thomson, or go outside the organization for a new manager. Here now are a few candidates for the Philadelphia's top dugout job in a post-Cora managerial market.
Don Mattingly: This is not a great offseason to need a new manager. It is a near certainty MLB will lock out the players when the current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1, and, during the lockout, team personnel can not have contact with players.
That includes the manager. Furthermore, once the lockout ends, there figures to be a truncated spring training similar to 2022. There won't be much time between now and Opening Day for a new manager to come in and build relationships with his players, which is about 95% of the job.
Mattingly, 65, is already a known quantity in that regard. The relationships are in place. That's a point in his favor and could lead to his return on a permanent basis.
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