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Report: Alex Cora is Going to Sit Out the 2027 MLB Season
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Alex Cora will not manage the Phillies in 2027, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“Dave Dombrowski, Phillies president of baseball operations, spoke with Cora about becoming their manager in 2027,” Nightengale said in a recent article, “but Cora informed Dombrowski he’s taking the season off, a high-ranking Phillies executive with direct knowledge of their talks told USA TODAY Sports.” Cora was the leading candidate to become the new Phillies manager next season after his time with the Red Sox ended earlier this past season.
The connection was there with Cora and Dombrowski, as the two worked together in Boston. The Phillies, after firing Rob Thomson, turned to Don Mattingly, who was brought in as a bench coach at the beginning of the ’26 season, for the remainder of the year. Mattingly led the Phillies to a 79-55 record after a 9-19 start with Thomson, but the Phillies fell to the Braves 2-1 in the Wild Card Round.
The “easiest” move for the Phillies would be to remove the interim tag from Mattingly and make him the full-time manager. Mattingly, 65, is under contract in 2027 with the Phillies as a bench coach. Mattingly said following the loss to the Braves that he’s willing to continue to coach the Phillies if the organization thinks that’s their best plan moving forward.
As the Phillies head into a big offseason, this isn’t the news that fans wanted to hear. Cora to Philly felt like an easy move, and now, the front office is back to the drawing board to find the best candidate to run the Phillies in 2027.
After countless years of the same problems falling at the hands of the Phillies, it feels like this team needs a true outside voice. Mattingly did pretty well with the Phillies from the day he took over, but I think an outside voice would be the best fit for this current team?
Who could some of those options be? We’ll touch on that soon.
Luke Arcaini has been writing about the Phillies for 6 seasons, and is now in his 2nd year covering for Phillies down at Citizens Bank Park for Crossing Broad. Follow him on Twitter @ArcainiLuke