Alex Cora says no thanks to Phillies, so here are 3 perfect backup options to replace Rob Thomson

Slow starts have proven to be unacceptable in MLB during the 2026 season. The Boston Red Sox started the season 10-17. That wasn’t going to cut it, so they fired Alex Cora, despite the fact that the manager had a World Series title with the team under his belt. The Philadelphia Phillies soon followed suit. A 9-19 record resulted in the Phillies moving on from Rob Thomson.

The Phillies have long had one of the most talented and expensive cores in baseball, but they just haven’t been able to break through in the postseason. Things really went south for the team this year, and a 10-game losing streak was a low point that necessitated change. The Phillies haven’t hit like normal, their pitching staff has regressed, and an always-suspect defense has done the team no favors, so the hope is that a managerial change will light a fire under the team and get them back into contention.

Cora was initially viewed as a potential replacement for Thomson. When Phillies president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, was with the Red Sox, he hired Cora and saw him win a World Series in his first season.

Bob Nightengale reported that Cora was offered the Phillies job but declined to spend more time with his family, which led to bench coach Don Mattingly being promoted to interim manager.

With Cora no longer an option, who are the best candidates to lead the Phillies going forward?

3. Brad Ausmus

Considering Dombrowski was interested in bringing in Cora, someone with whom he had previous ties, it is possible that he’d consider Brad Ausmus for the Phillies manager job. Back when Dombrowski was the general manager of the Detroit Tigers, he hired Ausmus to his first big league manager job before being fired just a year later.

He saw something in Ausmus then, and perhaps that confidence is still there. Ausmus is currently the bench coach for the New York Yankees. He also previously managed the Los Angeles Angels. The Yankees seem to love him, and they’ve won plenty of games during his tenure with the organization, so perhaps Ausmus is due for another shot at being a manager.

2. Brandon Hyde

Brandon Hyde was made the scapegoat for the Baltimore Orioles’ struggles last season. The team had a young core littered with former premier prospects, but a 15-28 start resulted in the team moving on from Hyde. With Craig Albernaz at the helm this year, the Orioles were expected to take multiple steps forward, but that just hasn’t happened, and Baltimore is still under .500.

Hyde got the best out of some severely undermanned Orioles teams, and he might not have been the problem after all. The Orioles were 421-492 under his leadership despite the fact that they were often in rebuild mode. Hyde can adapt to whatever circumstances are presented to him over a long and grueling season, and he has to be someone that the Phillies consider to be their next manager.

1. Don Mattingly

Mattingly might not have been the Phillies’ first choice as manager, but he is the right choice.

Mattingly’s son, Preston Mattingly, is the general manager of the Phillies. He and Dombrowski should end their managerial search and give Don the keys to the team going forward.

The 65-year-old has long been a high-profile manager, but one who perhaps hasn’t gotten a fair shot at things throughout his career. The Los Angeles Dodgers were always successful under his tutelage. The team won 90-plus games in Mattingly’s final three seasons with the team, but the Dodgers weren’t willing to give him a long-term contract extension. Los Angeles had shockingly never made the postseason in three straight years before Mattingly. They are now on a 13-season streak of making the playoffs, and Mattingly helped kick off the winning ways of what would turn into a dynasty.

After Los Angeles, the Evansville, Indiana native took over at the helm for the Miami Marlins. His Miami teams weren’t nearly as competitive, but that wasn’t completely Mattingly’s fault because the entire core was blown up after just two seasons. He is the leader who should be able to get the most out of the Phillies.

All of the talent is there in Philadelphia; the team just needs a manager who will make the right calls. The Yankee legend was coaching in the World Series as recently as last year, when he was a part of the Toronto Blue Jays staff. Nobody expected such a deep postseason run from the Blue Jays, and everyone is already writing off the Phillies, but things can certainly change with Mattingly serving as manager. The interim tag should be dropped, and Mattingly should be made Philadelphia’s long-term manager.

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