Alex Cora won’t be taking the Phillies job after all.
For a team that was widely expected to make him its next manager, Philadelphia got a different answer from the former Red Sox skipper. According to Bob Nigthengale of USA Today, Cora told Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that he plans to sit out the 2027 season instead of joining the club.
“The Philadelphia Phillies have been spurned again by Alex Cora.
"Dave Dombrowski, Phillies president of baseball operations, spoke with Cora about becoming their manager in 2027, but Cora informed Dombrowski he’s taking the season off, a high-ranking Phillies executive with direct knowledge of their talks told USA TODAY Sports," he wrote.
The news lands after Boston moved on from Cora on April 25, a decision that initially made him look like one of the biggest names available this winter. Instead, the Red Sox wound up becoming one of the better teams in Major League Baseball under Chad Tracy.
Cora is still owed $7.25 million from the Red Sox in 2027, the third and final year of his three-year contract.
That leaves Philadelphia in a different spot than it likely expected. Don Mattingly remains under contract as a bench coach and could return, though there may be frustration on his side if the club doesn’t give him the chance to shed the interim label after helping turn the Phillies’ season around.
When Cora does decide to come back, the market figures to be there waiting for him.
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Chase Meidroth, Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery have all been part of that surge, a reminder of how quickly prospect packages can become postseason storylines elsewhere. It is the kind of development that leaves Boston with mixed emotions at a time when every October game feels magnified, especially when the players involved once looked like part of the Red Soxs own future. [Read more 🡒]