Dave Dombrowski talked with Alex Cora about replacing Rob Thomson as Phillies manager: 'I thought that he might take it'

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 28, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — Alex Cora won’t manage another team this season after getting fired by the Red Sox on Saturday night.

Not that the Phillies didn’t try talking him into it.

Dave Dombrowski spoke with Cora by phone on Sunday to gauge his interest in replacing Rob Thomson, even though Thomson still was managing the Phillies in Atlanta at the time.

“I’d really come to the conclusion that, if he took it, I was going to make a change,” Dombrowski said Tuesday. “And I thought that he might take it.”

But Cora, owed more than $13 million from the Red Sox through 2027, told Dombrowski that he wants to take time with his family. A source close to Cora said Tuesday that he’s content to be “a full-time dad” and spend the summer at his home in Puerto Rico.

The Phillies changed the manager anyway. Off to a 9-19 start, 10 1/2 games out of first place entering Tuesday’s games, and with the worst run differential (minus-54) in the majors, they fired Thomson on Tuesday. Don Mattingly will manage the team on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

After that?

Maybe Cora will be ready to dive back into managing.

“I think Alex Cora is one of the finest managers in the game of baseball,” Dombrowski said. “I say I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Hall of Fame managers like Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland. I think, if Alex Cora decides to keep managing, he has a chance to be in that same category. That’s how good he is.”

Should we assume, then, that Cora will manage the Phillies next season?

“No,” Dombrowski said. “You should not.”

But the admiration between them is mutual. Cora, 50, considers Dombrowski to be “a mentor,” according to the source. Dombrowski was among the first people in baseball that Cora called Saturday night after getting axed.

Dombrowski hired Cora in Boston in October 2017, and they won the World Series together a year later.

Thomson said it didn’t bother him to hear Dombrowski was searching for his replacement while he was still employed. He characterized their relationship as “rock solid.”

“I don’t really think too much of it,” Thomson said. “I think Dave’s just doing his due diligence. He had made up his mind, and he was going to move forward. Dave and I have a close relationship, but that doesn’t stand in the way of him doing the right thing for the organization. I respect that.”

It’s unclear whether Dombrowski made an official offer to Cora, although he said “we never got down to the nuts and bolts of things.” Dombrowski said he knew by Monday morning that Cora wasn’t interested ... right now.

Cora and his fiancée, Angelica Feliciano, have twin sons who turn 9 in July. His daughter, Camila, is in grad school at the University of Miami. Another source said Cora is looking forward to spending a summer at home for the first time since 2020, when he was suspended for a year for his role as a ringleader in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

Mattingly, who turned 65 earlier this month, said in January that his days as a manager were over. He hasn’t managed since 2022 with the Marlins and said he thought he lacked the energy to do the job.

After taking over for Thomson, Mattingly said he made those comments to be deferential to Thomson, a friend with whom he worked with the Yankees.

“I’ve always felt good, been pretty healthy,” Mattingly said. “I feel like I have energy. But I did want to say that from the standpoint of Thoms being here. I didn’t want anyone feeling like I was here to do something like this, so I really wanted to leave it like that.”