From the moment the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora in April, he became one of the most interesting managerial candidates in all of MLB. After all, it’s fairly rare when a World Series-winning manager becomes available, and the Philadelphia Phillies would quickly become one of the teams connected to him when they had their own opening at manager.
Still, the Phillies are far from the only team that could have interest in Cora. Even a division rival, like the New York Mets, has seemingly been involved. It’s with that in mind that Bob Nightengale recently shared some insight, explaining that the Phillies are still in the driver’s seat to land Cora.
“While the New York Mets would love to hire Alex Cora as their next manager, Cora still is expected to join the Phillies after rejecting their offer to replace Rob Thomson, who the club fired on April 28,” Nightengale wrote. “The Phillies instead turned to Don Mattingly. Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran is the favorite for the Mets’ vacancy when interim manager Andy Green returns to the front office this winter.”
Much of the initial speculation regarding Cora and the Phillies stems from his connection to Dave Dombrowski, Philadelphia’s President of Baseball Operations. The two worked together with the Red Sox, producing the 2018 season, which saw the Red Sox set a franchise record in wins with 108 on their way to a World Series.
Cora has a 620-541 record in over seven seasons as the Red Sox manager. That includes that World Series back in 2018. He also spent time in 2017 as a bench coach for the Houston Astros.
Alex Cora Already Rejected the Philadelphia Phillies
GettyAlex Cora with the Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora on April 25th. Almost reacting to that firing, Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski fired Rob Thomson.
It would later come out that Dombrowski had offered Cora the Phillies’ job before even firing Thomson. Cora, ultimately, declined that offer, choosing to spend time with family instead. Still, Dombrowski had clearly made up his mind to make a change, and he pulled the trigger on Thomson regardless. Don Mattingly was promoted to interim manager instead.
Regardless, it’s clear not much has changed for Dombrowski. He wants to hire Cora with the Phillies on a more long-term basis.
Don Mattingly Has Been Excellent for the Philadelphia Phillies
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly
At the time that Alex Cora turned down the Phillies, Dave Dombrowski turned to Don Mattingly. It was a fairly desperate time for the Phillies, coming into the year with some massive expectations but opening the season at 9-19.
Since then, it’s hard not to acknowledge the excellent job Mattingly has done to turn the season around for the Phillies.
The Phillies now sit at 50-39 on the season. That’s a 41-20 record under Mattingly. It’s also moved Philadelphia to second in the NL East, sitting just 3.0 games back of the Atlanta Braves. On top of that, it’s good for the top Wild Card spot in the National League.
Ironically, it’s a similar position to the one Rob Thomson was in when he took over for Joe Girardi. Initially, he had been the interim, but the spark he created forced the team’s hand into promoting him to the full-time job. Now, with a deep run in October, Mattingly has the chance to do the same thing.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Phillies Connected to Alex Cora as Manager, What it Means appeared first on HEAVY.