Alex Cora is expected to become the Philadelphia Phillies’ next manager after the 2026 season, unless Don Mattingly leads the club to the World Series or wins a championship, according to a report Sunday. The arrangement points to a future dugout change that could hinge on how far the Phillies go over the next two seasons.
The report lands now because Philadelphia has already moved through one in-season change and is still sorting out its direction. Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson in April and helped push the Phillies back into the National League wild-card race, but the new report suggests that progress may not be enough to keep him in place unless it ends with the biggest prize.
Cora is not a stranger to the Phillies’ orbit. Philadelphia reportedly offered him the manager’s job shortly after the Red Sox fired him in April, but he turned it down because he wanted more time with his family. Dave Dombrowski also has a direct link to Cora from Boston, where he hired him after the 2017 season.
That Boston run is the reason his name carries so much weight. Cora spent parts of four seasons with Boston as a utility infielder and was on the 2007 World Series championship team, then went on to manage the Red Sox to 108 wins and the 2018 World Series in his first season in charge. His second stint was more complicated: he and the Red Sox split before the 2020 season over his role in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal, MLB suspended him for the season, and Boston brought him back after the suspension ended. He later reached the 2021 American League Championship Series and added another postseason appearance in 2025.
Boston signed Cora to a three-year extension in July 2024, then fired him in April after a 10-17 start and replaced him with Chad Tracy. Even with that abrupt ending, his record across two Boston stints still finished at 620-541, with three playoff appearances. That history is part of why the Phillies are being linked to him again: the path from Boston to Philadelphia has already been built once, and the only thing standing between Mattingly and a longer stay is whether the postseason reaches the World Series or turns into a championship run.
For now, the reported plan leaves Philadelphia in a familiar place — waiting on results before the future is settled. If Mattingly does not finish with a World Series appearance or a title, Cora looms as the next name to watch.
