Phillies' Top Manager Targets As Rob Thomson's Replacement Amid Alex Cora Rumors
The Philadelphia Phillies saw their top option come off the board before they even fully started their managerial search.
The team announced Tuesday it's moving on from Rob Thomson, with Don Mattingly serving as the interim manager.
In terms of who might replace Thomson on a permanent basis, former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the first name that came to mind for a lot of people. However, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported he turned Philly down before the team pivoted to Mattingly.
Mattingly is going to finish out the 2026 MLB season, so the Phillies can circle back to Cora in a few months.
Looking ahead to the winter, these options could be on the table.
Don Mattingly
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Thomson took over for Joe Girardi midway through the 2022 season and helped take the Phillies to the World Series. Not surprisingly, they just stuck with him rather than canvas the market for an outside candidate.
Perhaps history repeats itself.
When Philly is sitting at 9-19, it's bound to have some positive regression regardless of who's in the dugout. It feels safe to assume Alec Bohm won't continue to slug .194 or that Trea Turner will bat .230 the rest of the way. In terms of the pitching staff, the trio of Aaron Nola, Jesús Luzardo and Andrew Painter are too good to maintain an ERA north of 5.00.
Assuming some improvement happens, Mattingly is bound to get some credit.
The 65-year-old has also proven he can do well with a good roster. The Los Angeles Dodgers had a .551 winnning percentage in his five seasons as a manager.
The way in which things ended with Thomson may dissuade the front office from going down the same route for a second successive coaching change.
Alex Cora
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Providing some additional context on Cora, ESPN's Buster Olney reported that "now is not the right time" for him to jump back in an MLB dugout.
Cora's firing points to larger issues within the Red Sox. At 50, he's still fairly young in coaching terms. And he's bound to have some choices when the 2026 season draws to an end.
Given all of those factors, Cora's preference to sit back and get paid by Boston to not work is understandable.
Assuming they get a second crack, the Phillies will make a compelling pitch.
Cora worked with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in Boston, which could be important when he seemed to butt heads with people inside the Red Sox's front office.
Philadelphia has also maintained a top-five Opening Day payroll for six straight years. Whoever comes in as the full-time manager won't have to worry about whether ownership is committed to winning.
Brandon Hyde
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Cora aside, there isn't another manager retread who immediately jumps out from the pack.
Brandon Hyde oversaw a total rebuild with the Baltimore Orioles, taking a young roster with promise and turning it into a 101-win squad in 2023.
The fact the Orioles went 0-5 in the playoffs and quickly fell off doesn't help Hyde's cause, though. By the time he got the boot, Baltimore was off to a brutal 15-28 start.
Some of the organization's problems weren't within Hyde's control, though.
The Orioles' rise coincided with the Angelos family looking to sell the franchise, so there wasn't the kind of investment you typically see with an upstart contender trying to take the next step. The honeymoon period with David Rubenstein didn't last long, either, as Baltimore is still in the middle of the pack in terms of spending.
Maybe Hyde would thrive with a second chance in a setting like Philadelphia.
Ryan Flaherty
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Ryan Flaherty quickly climbed the coaching ladder once his playing career ended after the 2019 season. By 2023, he was named the San Diego Padres' bench coach. The Chicago Cubs poached him for the same role the following year.
Flaherty didn't have a decorated playing career. He appeared in 547 games and amassed 1.0 WAR at Baseball Reference.
But having that experience is beneficial in his current job and if he ever takes the next step up to be a manager.
Should Dombrowski favor a young first-timer to lead the Phillies in 2027 and beyond, Flaherty merits some consideration.
George Lombard
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The same is true for George Lombard, who was getting managerial interviews back in 2020.
The Detroit Tigers ultimately hired A.J. Hinch that offseason but brought in Lombard as their bench coach. He has remained in the job since then.
The 50-year-old worked in the Boston Red Sox's farm system and served as first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2015-20. Over time, he has earned a good reputation for his player development skills.
A lot of Philadelphia's key players are in their mid-30s. A manager with Lombard's profile might be able to augment an aging roster with younger talent who sets the table for the future as the Phillies keep chasing a World Series.
