Phillies fire Rob Thomson, tried to hire Alex Cora as manager

The Philadelphia Phillies, off to their worst start in over two decades, fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday.

And they apparently had a preferred candidate in mind for his replacement.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged that he offered Philadelphia's managerial job to Alex Cora on Sunday, one day after Cora was fired in stunning fashion by the Boston Red Sox.

Cora ultimately declined the offer Monday, prompting Dombrowski to name bench coach Don Mattingly as Thomson's interim replacement for the remainder of the season.

One day after being declined by Cora, the Phillies officially announced the firing of Thomson, who led Philadelphia to four straight playoff appearances -- including the 2022 World Series -- but did not survive a 9-19 start to this season.

The preseason favorite in the NL East, Philadelphia has lost 11 of its last 12 games and entered Tuesday tied with the New York Mets for the worst record in Major League Baseball.

"I felt like we needed a new voice in there -- a little different feeling in the clubhouse at this point," Dombrowski said. "Rob was the first to admit that he doesn't know what's really going on. He's a little bit surprised by how we've performed. ... I just thought at this time, it was the right time to get a different voice with some different direction."

That voice could have been Cora, who previously worked for Dombrowski when the latter was Boston's top executive from 2015 to 2019. Dombrowski said he talked to Cora on Saturday "as a friend," before they spoke again the following day about the Phillies job.

"We never got down to the nuts and bolts of things, but I did talk to him," Dombrowski said. "He actually called me Saturday night as a friend. I guess he calls me one of his mentors, and we talked because he never had been through that before.

"We talked [again on] Sunday morning. ... We talked about potentially taking the [Phillies] job. I came to conclusion that if he took it, I would make a change. I thought he might take it. But as time went on over the next day, into Monday morning, it was apparent from his perspective he wanted to take time with his family."

Dombrowski therefore pivoted to Mattingly, who will now officially work for one of his sons -- Preston Mattingly is the Phillies' general manager -- in what is believed to be the first father-son manager-GM combination in baseball history.

Cora, for the meantime, will spend his time being "a father first and foremost," according to Dombrowski.

"I think Alex Cora is 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 -- I've been very fortunate in my career. [Cora] has a chance to be in that same category, that's how good he is."

Thomson went 355-270 and had led a Phillies team loaded with high-priced talent that included Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to consecutive NL East titles. Thomson, a 62-year-old baseball lifer finally promoted to his first managerial stint in 2022, signed a contract extension in the offseason through the 2027 season and was again expected to lead the Phillies into World Series contention.

But Philadelphia instead has been one of the biggest flops in MLB, losing 10 straight games before ace Zack Wheeler led them to a win Saturday against the Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies are off to their worst 28-game start to a season since 2002, when they also started 9-19.

The Phillies now will turn to Mattingly, the former New York Yankees great, to resuscitate their season and try to at least keep them in the hunt for an NL wild-card spot.

Mattingly, spending his 23rd straight season as a major league manager or coach, had his mind set on retirement after he left his role as Toronto's bench coach under manager John Schneider following the World Series.

He reversed course after a talk with his family and latched on with the Phillies, enticed by the chance to work with his son and with Thomson, his friend from their Yankees days.

Mattingly managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011 to '15 and the Miami Marlins from 2016 to '22. He was the 2020 NL Manager of the Year after he led the Marlins to their first playoff appearance since 2003.

He said when the Phillies hired him in the winter that he no longer had interest in managing again.

Mattingly played 14 seasons as a first baseman in the major leagues, all for the Yankees, from 1982-95. He was a six-time American League All-Star and the 1985 AL Most Valuable Player before retiring. Mattingly captained the Yankees in his final five seasons.

The Phillies also announced Tuesday that third-base coach Dusty Wathan was promoted to bench coach.

Thomson is the second manager fired in baseball this season after the Red Sox fired Cora and five coaches Saturday.

Dombrowski gave Thomson a vote of confidence last week while the team was in the midst of its losing streak. Dombrowski stood behind Thomson's work and said he has been a good manager since replacing Joe Girardi in 2022.

Thomson led Philadelphia to the 2022 World Series after taking over for Girardi, losing to the Houston Astros in six games. Since then, the club has regressed in the postseason. Philadelphia lost in the NL Championship Series in 2023 in seven games and in the NL Division Series in 2024 and 2025 in four games.

Nicknamed "Topper," Thomson has been with the club since the 2018 season, when he was hired as bench coach under former manager Gabe Kapler.

Thomson was with the Yankees from 1990 to 2017, including 10 seasons on the major league coaching staff as bench coach (2008, 2015-17) and third-base coach (2009-14). He earned his nickname in the Yankees organization for always being on top of details.

Thomson became only the fourth manager in big league history to reach the postseason in each of the first four full seasons to begin a managing career, joining Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone and Mike Matheny. Thomson became only the third manager in Phillies history to win consecutive division titles, joining Charlie Manuel and Danny Ozark.

The Phillies have been awful in what was supposed to be a celebratory season with the franchise set to host the All-Star Game and its surrounding festivities. They've collapsed in every aspect of the game instead, with regulars Alec Bohm and Schwarber both hitting under .200, while starters Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter are all posting 5.00-plus ERAs.

The Phillies just released high-priced bust Taijuan Walker in the final year of a four-year, $72 million contract, letting him go after releasing outfielder Nick Castellanos in February as he entered the final year of a five-year, $100 million deal.

The Phillies haven't won the World Series since 2008 and were mired in a 10-year postseason drought before Thomson led them on a surprise run to the World Series in 2022 dubbed "Red October" that rejuvenated the fan base and made 90-plus-win seasons the norm.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.br/]