Alex Cora reportedly has made his managerial decision for 2027

As the Philadelphia Phillies mull their managerial decision, it appears one of the top speculative targets is off the board. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Alex Cora informed Philadelphia president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that he plans to take the 2027 season off.

Cora doesn’t have any immediate financial incentive to return to the dugout. He’d been under contract with the Boston Red Sox at a reported $7.25M salary through the 2027 season. Boston fired him in April but remains on the hook for that money. If Cora were to take a managerial position with another team next year, his salary with the new club would be subtracted from what the Red Sox owe.

Dombrowski, who worked with Cora in Boston, acknowledged in April that he was willing to immediately offer him the Phillies job once the Red Sox moved on. Cora declined, citing a desire to spend more time with family in his native Puerto Rico. Philadelphia still decided to fire Rob Thomson and tab Don Mattingly on an interim basis for the rest of 2026.

Mattingly had signed a two-year deal with Philadelphia as the bench coach and is under contract through next year, but the Phillies haven’t committed to their managerial decision. Mattingly, whose son Preston is Philadelphia’s GM, oversaw a significant regular-season turnaround that snagged the franchise’s fifth straight playoff berth. They again bowed out early, however, dropping a three-game wild-card Series to Atlanta. It’s the third year in a row in which they lost their opening series. The previous two were in the NLDS after they’d secured first-round byes.

Boston also orchestrated a huge turnaround after their managerial change to secure a wild-card berth. Unlike the Phillies, they removed the interim tag from their skipper (Chad Tracy) on a three-year extension in September. The Red Sox also lost in the wild-card series.