Why Alex Cora spurned Phillies - again - for open manager role
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Why Alex Cora spurned Phillies - again - for open manager role originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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When the Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson in April, the belief by many fans was that the team would land former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora at some point to replace him.
Instead, Cora has now turned down the Phillies twice, once in April after Thomson's firing and again after the Phillies were eliminated from the 2026 playoffs last week. A 2018 World Series champion as a manager for Boston, Cora is considered the best manager available on the market, but Philadelphia will now have to look elsewhere.
The Phillies are facing a crossroads, as the team continues to get older after going all-in on trying to win World Series in the past few seasons. Cora would've made a lot of sense for the veteran-heavy team looking to maximize this roster, especially with Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber still among the biggest stars in the game.
Here's why the Phillies couldn't land Cora as their manager.
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Why Alex Cora turned down the Phillies
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Alex Cora told the Phillies front office that he was no interested in taking the team's managerial job. Per Nightengale, Cora prefers to take the 2027 season off instead of pursuing managerial roles, leaving the Phillies to look elsewhere for their next manager.
Cora's line of thinking could be similar to why he didn't take the Phillies job in April as well. Philadelphia fired manager Rob Thomson just days after the Red Sox fired Cora in April, and the Phillies immediately offered the job to Cora. However, Cora wanted to spend the Summer with his family after years of managing the Red Sox in those months.
Cora and Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski worked together with the Red Sox, culminating in the 2018 World Series championship, so it was fair to assume that Dombrowski would explore working with him again. This time around, though, Cora probably wanted to prioritize other aspects of his life.
Cora has three kids, a daughter who graduated college in 2025 and two twin sons who will turn 10 years-old next July. As Cora has been a coach or manager pretty much through the entirety of his sons' lives, he seemingly wants to spend more time with them before returning to managing in the future.
Along with the fact that Cora already has a World Series title as a manager, at 50 years-old, there is still time for him to return to managing in the future once his sons have grown up. For now, Cora seems to see this as an opportunity to step away from the game and spend more time with his family.