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Alex Cora Reportedly Declined Phillies Manager Offer (UPDATED)
By Matt Schultz
Published:
The Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday in response to their disastrous start to the season. Don Mattingly has been named interim manager – but not before an offer was reportedly made to someone else first: Former Red Sox manager Alex Cora – who was fired by Boston on Saturday:
It’s no surprise that Cora was offered the job. Folks online have been speculating that he’d be Dave Dombrowski’s first call if Topper were to be canned, given the previous relationship between the two (as the President of Baseball Operations in Boston, Dombrowski hired Cora as manager ahead of the 2018 season; the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series with Dombrowski and Cora at the helm). The fact that he turned it down, however, is slightly surprising to me.
After reading the way the internet talked about Dombrowski and Cora over the last few days, I truly believed these guys were boys. I was picturing 2022 Daryl Morey/James Harden level of bros. In my mind, Dombrowski was going to be at an airport this afternoon excitedly hugging Cora like this:
So I was caught a little off guard to hear that he passed on the gig – and I think it may be a sign of just how rough things are for the Phils.
Cora says he turned down the job so he could have more time to spend with his family. I, of course, do not believe him. This is just what coaches say when they don’t want to take a shitty job – and that, unfortunately, is what I think Cora believes the Phillies’ manager role is: A shitty job.
Having an unemployed lifer baseball guy decline the chance to coach your team… doesn’t make me feel good about my team! Not that it’s a new feeling, of course. Add it to the list of reasons to feel bad about the 2026 Phils.
Anyway, Don Mattingly is the manager now. Good luck, Don. I’m going to choose to believe he’s gonna turn this whole thing around. I feel a 30-game winning streak coming on… It will happen… Please…
EDIT – Dave Dombrowsi confirmed at his Monday afternoon press conference that he did offer Alex Cora the job
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…)