The Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Rob Thompson late last April after a 9-19 start to the season. Philadelphia hired Don Mattingly as the interim manager. Under Mattingly, the Phillies went 79-55 and got eliminated by the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card Series.
According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Phillies are expected to move on from Mattingly as their manager. Philadelphia president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently reached out to former Boston Red Sox skipper Alex Cora for their manager opening, and Cora said he plans to take the 2027 season off. Dombrowski also reached out to Cora in April, but he didn't want to manage back then, either. Cora had managed the Red Sox since the 2018 season and was let go after Boston's rough start to the 2026 season.
Clearly, Cora is the Phillies' top choice for the manager job. They may consider bringing Mattingly back now that Cora is out of the running. If not, Dombrowski could pursue former Minnesota Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli.
Could the Philadelphia Phillies consider pursuing former Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli for manager opening?
The Twins hired Baldelli to be their manager after the 2018 season. They fired him last offseason and named Derek Shelton as his replacement.
In Baldelli's first year with the Twins, the team broke the single-season home run record and finished the season with 101 wins. Unfortunately, Minnesota lost to the New York Yankees in the 2019 ALDS, but it was still an extremely impressive first season for Baldelli.
The Twins returned to the playoffs in Baldelli's second season as manager. Granted, it was a 60-game season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but Baldelli still deserves props for leading the team to back-to-back postseason berths.
Minnesota disappointingly missed the playoffs in 2021 and 2022. Then, the Twins won the American League Central in 2023 and won their first playoff series in 21 years, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card Series.
Disappointing 2024 and 2025 seasons ultimately led Minnesota to move on from Baldelli. The Twins slashed payroll by around $30 million after the 2023 season, so it wasn't really Baldelli's fault that Minnesota failed to replicate the success of the 2023 season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Baldelli as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman this past offseason. Baldelli previously worked with Friedman for the Tampa Bay Rays.
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