Dave Dombrowski, the Philadelphia Phillies’ president of baseball operations, didn’t want Rob Thomson to manage his team anymore — but didn’t want to lose Thomson, either.
On the same day he fired Thomson, Dombrowski made a standing offer to the 62-year-old to rejoin the Phillies as a special assistant.
Dombrowski also confirmed to reporters April 28 that bench coach Don Mattingly wasn’t his first choice to take over for Thomson.
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Alex Cora, who was fired by the Boston Red Sox only three days ago, was Dombrowski’s preferred candidate when he made the decision to fire Thomson on April 26.
Cora, however, is reportedly focused on “being a full-time dad” to his twin sons, who turn nine in July, and his daughter, Camila, who is in graduate school.
Thomson guided the Phillies to a 346-251 record in his first four seasons after taking over for Joe Girardi midway through the 2022 campaign. However, Dombrowski decided it was time for a change after Philadelphia got off to a 9-19 start in 2026, fifth place in the five-team National League East.
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Mattingly, 65, was announced as the Phillies’ interim manager. He was promoted to the role from bench coach, the same role he held last season with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Now, Mattingly will get his chance to return to the World Series for a second straight year, in his 13th season as a manager.
Preston Mattingly was promoted to the Phillies’ assistant general manager after serving as the team’s farm director from 2021-23. Now the team’s GM, he’ll be the first person to hold a front office position for a team managed by his father.
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Mattingly, 65, has enough previous experience managing in Los Angeles and Miami that he might not feel undercut by Dombrowski’s overtures to Cora — the Red Sox manager in 2018 when Dombrowski guided Boston to its last World Series title.
“I think Alex Cora’s one of the finest managers in the game of baseball,” Dombrowski said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Hall of Fame managers like Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland and have been very fortunate in my career. I think if Alex Cora decides to keep managing again, he has a chance to be in that same category.”
As for Thomson, it’s unclear whether his dismissal is off-putting enough to keep him from returning to the Phillies in a different capacity.