The Philadelphia Phillies already know who their next manager is. It’s Alex Cora — and the only thing standing between him and that job is Don Mattingly making a World Series run. That’s what Bob Nightengale reported in his Sunday Notebook column for USA Today on August 16.
The twist? Mattingly has gone 56-39 as interim manager, flipping a 9-19 team into a 65-58 contender that’s sitting second in the NL East with a 61.5% chance of reaching the postseason, per Baseball-Reference. And Philadelphia is already planning around him.
The Plan Nobody Has Announced
Nightengale didn’t bury the lede. His column put it plainly:
«Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, who took over for Rob Thomson on April 28, not only must lead the Phillies to the postseason, but likely to the World Series or even win it to be asked back. Alex Cora, who turned down the job when Thomson was fired, is expected to be the Phillies’ next manager barring a World Series berth or title.»
— Bob Nightengale, Sunday Notebook, USA Today, August 16, 2026.
This isn’t a loose rumor. Nightengale also reported that team president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is set to receive a contract extension this winter — a signal that the franchise is already building toward the future. As Nightengale wrote: «his job is not only safe, high-ranking officials say, but that he also will receive a contract extension this winter.»
How We Got Here: Cora Said No the First Time
When the Phillies fired Rob Thomson on April 28 — with the team sitting at 9-19 — Dombrowski called Cora, who had just departed Boston after only 27 games with the Red Sox. Cora turned the job down to spend time with his family. Bench coach Don Mattingly stepped in as interim.
What happened next surprised everyone. Mattingly steadied the ship completely, going 56-39 and pulling the Phillies from that brutal 9-19 start to their current 65-58 record.
The Cora-Dombrowski connection runs deep: the two won the 2018 World Series together in Boston, and Dombrowski has never been shy about ranking Cora among the best managers in the game.
On August 11, Cora broke his silence on the Dirt from the Dugout podcast with Karl Ravech and Justin Musil, acknowledging that he plans to return to managing — though he didn’t name the Phillies or give a timeline.
The Mets Want Him Too, But Philadelphia Is Ahead
Nightengale noted that the New York Mets also have interest in Cora for their own managerial vacancy. But the same column makes clear Philadelphia is leading that race. The Mets’ preferred candidate, per Nightengale, would be former player Carlos Beltrán.
The math for Mattingly is steep: he’d need to accomplish something that happens once every few decades to rewrite the franchise’s plan. Reaching the World Series with a 61.5% postseason probability isn’t impossible — but it’s not the safe bet either.
For now, Philadelphia is running two stories at once: an interim manager having the season of his life, and a manager-in-waiting who said no once and, by all accounts, won’t say no again.
