PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Cora had barely been out of a job after the World Series champion manager was fired by the Red Sox when his old boss offered him a professional lifeline.
Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, wanted to know if Rob Thomson was fired, would Cora be interested in taking over a team with a $284.7 million payroll and World Series expectations that had slogged through April as one of the worst teams in baseball.
Cora ultimately declined, citing family reasons, and a potential reunion with Dombrowski eight seasons after they won the World Series together in Boston was on hold.
Rebuffed by Cora, the Phillies looked down the bench to Don Mattingly.
Only four months after he was hired as Philadelphia’s bench coach, Mattingly was named interim manager to replace Thomson, who was fired Tuesday after the Phillies lost 11 of 12 games and began the day tied for last place in the majors.
“Alex wasn’t going to take the job at that point; should we still make the change? We came to the final conclusion that we were going to make the change, and that it was the best for the club,” Dombrowski said.
Thomson led the Phillies to four straight playoff appearances, including the 2022 World Series, and consecutive NL East titles, but couldn’t lead high-priced talent that included Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner back to the top of the standings through the first month of the season.
“I still think, and I hope because I love these guys, that this team is going to turn this thing around,” Thomson said hours after he was fired. “They’re going to get hot. There’s a bunch of different reasons why, but one is the fact there’s a lot of talent in there.”
Dombrowski, who has led baseball operations for Montreal, Miami, Detroit and Boston, winning World Series titles with the Marlins in 1997 and Red Sox in 2018, made it clear Tuesday that Cora was his first choice to succeed Thomson.
“We never got down to the nuts and bolts of things,” Dombrowski said. “He called me Saturday night as a friend. I guess he calls me one of his mentors and we talked because he never had been through that before. We talked Sunday morning.
“I came to conclusion that if he took it, I would make a change. I thought he would take it. Until Monday morning it was apparent from his perspective he wanted to take time with his family. He wanted to be a father first and foremost and so that’s what he had decided.”
Mattingly will now work for his son
Mattingly, the former New York Yankees great, was named interim manager through the end of the season and third base coach Dusty Wathan was promoted to bench coach. Mattingly will now work for one of his sons — Preston Mattingly is the Phillies general manager — in what is believed to be the first father-son GM/manager combination in baseball history.
Mattingly said there was no awkwardness about essentially working for his son because they both had the same vision for the franchise.
“We both want to win games,” Mattingly said. “We’re like every player. We’re here to win.”
Thomson is the second manager fired in baseball this season after the Red Sox fired Cora and five coaches on Saturday.
Dombrowski gave Thomson a vote of confidence last week during their losing streak. Dombrowski stood behind Thomson’s work and said he’d been a good manager since replacing Joe Girardi in 2022.
Thomson went 355-270 and orchestrated a baseball resurgence in Philadelphia. The 62-year-old, a baseball lifer finally promoted to his first managerial stint in 2022, signed a contract extension in the offseason running through the 2027 season and was again expected to lead the Phillies into World Series contention.
Thomson made the rare move for a fired manager to address the media one final time and said he was so grateful for his time with the Phillies, he would like to stay connected to the organization in the future.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Thomson said. “Maybe right now isn’t the right time. But yeah, I’m all in on that.”
The Phillies instead have been one of the biggest flops in baseball and lost 10 straight games before ace Zack Wheeler led them to a win against Atlanta on Saturday. The Phillies lost to Atlanta on Sunday and fell to 9-19 overall, tied with the division rival New York Mets.
Thomson led Philadelphia to the 2022 World Series after taking over for Girardi, losing to the Houston Astros in six games. Since then, the club has regressed in the postseason. It lost in the NL Championship Series in 2023 in seven games, and the NL Division Series in 2024 and ’25 in four games.
Nicknamed Topper, Thomson has been with the club since the 2018 season, when he was hired as bench coach under former manager Gabe Kapler.
He was with the New York Yankees from 1990-2017, including 10 seasons on the major league coaching staff as bench coach (2008, 2015-17) and third base coach (2009-14). He earned his nickname in the Yankees organization for always being on top of details.
Thomson became only the fourth manager in big league history to reach the postseason in each of the first four full seasons to begin a managing career, joining Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone and Mike Matheny. He became only the third manager in Phillies history to win consecutive division titles, joining Charlie Manuel and Danny Ozark.
“I’ve played for a lot of guys over my 15-year career, and Topper is definitely one of the guys at the top,” Harper said.
Phillies season goes off the rails
The Phillies have been awful in what was supposed to be a celebratory season with the franchise set to host the All-Star Game and surrounding festivities. Instead, they have collapsed in every aspect of the game, with regulars Alec Bohm and Schwarber both hitting under .200, while starters Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter all have 5.00-plus ERAs.
The Phillies recently released high-priced bust Taijuan Walker in the final year of a four-year, $72 million contract and outfielder Nick Castellanos was released in February as he entered the final year of a five-year, $100 million deal.
The Phillies haven’t won the World Series since 2008 and had last made the playoffs in 2011 until Thomson led them to the surprise run to the 2022 World Series dubbed Red October that rejuvenated the fanbase and made 90-plus win seasons the norm.
The Phillies now will turn to Mattingly, who kept the coaching staff intact, to resuscitate their season and try to at least keep them in the hunt for an NL wild-card spot.
Mattingly is ready to lead Phillies into contention
Mattingly, spending his 23rd straight season as a major league manager or coach, had his mind set on retirement after he left his role as Toronto’s bench coach under manager John Schneider following the World Series.
He reversed course after a talk with his family and latched on with the Phillies, enticed by the chance to work with his son and Thomson, his friend from their Yankees days.
Mattingly managed the Dodgers from 2011-15 and the Marlins from 2016-22. He was the 2020 NL Manager of the Year after he led the Marlins to their first playoff appearance since 2003.
He said when the Phillies hired him in the winter that he no longer had interest in managing again. Mattingly said ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Giants those comments were largely out of deference to Thomson’s presence and that he indeed had the spark and desire to help bring the Phillies back into the playoff race.
“I’ve always felt good. I’ve been pretty healthy,” Mattingly said. “I feel like I have energy. But I did want to say that from the standpoint that Thom’s here. I didn’t want anyone feeling like I was here to do something like this. So, I really wanted to leave it like that.”
Mattingly played 14 seasons as a first baseman in the major leagues, all for the Yankees, from 1982-95. He was a six-time AL All-Star and the 1985 AL Most Valuable Player. Mattingly captained the Yankees in his final five seasons.
Much like Thomson did in 2022, Mattingly believes he can return the Phillies to greatness as an interim manager.
“We’re talented enough,” he said. “We know that. We believe that.”