PHILADELPHIA -- Don Mattingly will be back next season as Phillies manager.
The club announced Wednesday morning that Mattingly, who became the team’s interim manager on April 28, signed a two-year contract that runs through the 2028 season.
Sources had pointed toward Mattingly’s return since early last week, when former Red Sox manager Alex Cora told the Phillies that he had no plans to manage in 2027. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski first offered the job to Cora on April 26, two days before he fired Rob Thomson and named Mattingly his replacement. Cora declined the offer then. When he removed himself from consideration again last week, it reopened the path for Mattingly.
The Phillies were 9-19 when Mattingly replaced Thomson. They had the fourth-best record in the Majors the rest of the way, despite having an offense that ranked 19th in runs, a bullpen that ranked 21st in ERA and a defense that ranked 21st in Outs Above Average, according to Statcast.
Mattingly’s performance with a talented, but flawed roster was enough to bring him back. One source pointed towards his familiarity with the players and the respect he has from them as reason why he’d return. Another important consideration, one source said, is that with the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, a new manager would be unable to speak with players during a potential work stoppage.
Dombrowski has not addressed reporters since the Phillies’ season ended on Oct. 1 with a loss to the Braves in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series. He is expected to take questions about the team’s disappointing finish and discuss his future plans on Thursday.