Phillies, Don Mattingly hoping to finally shake Alex Cora ghost after big decision

It's official. Don Mattingly will stay on board with the Philadelphia Phillies as the team's manager, with the team announcing a two-year deal for the skipper on Wednesday morning. It's a good move for a franchise that needs to decide how it can once again be a true National League contender.

Mattingly, who was the team's interim manager after Rob Thomson was fired on April 28, righted the ship after the Phillies started the season 9-19, earning a wild-card spot and a 79-55 mark under his leadership.

Phillies, Don Mattingly can now escape ghost of Alex Cora

While Mattingly can now fully embrace the manager's role with the interim tag removed, he can also continue to show the Phillies he is the right man for the job.

Mattingly has worked in the shadow of Alex Cora's ghost ever since he took over in April as the team's interim manager. It was reported then that Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski called Cora, the former manager of the Boston Red Sox, and offered him the manager's position. Cora, however, declined, setting up Mattingly, who was Philadelphia's bench coach, to take the reins.

After Philadelphia had been eliminated from the postseason, reports surfaced that Cora had again spurned the Phillies when they inquired about bringing him on board, telling them he planned to take the 2027 season off. 

While the Phillies have seemingly chased Cora for the job, they settled on Mattingly. Now the Phillies and Mattingly will attempt to prove that's the right call.

Mattingly has done everything needed to show he can run the Phillies. Sure, the early playoff loss was a disappointment as Red October never dawned in Philadelphia, but that can be pinned more on Dombrowski and a lack of critical moves at the trade deadline rather than Mattingly's decisions. 

While there is plenty that is up in the air about the 2027 campaign, most importantly when and if MLB play resumes after what is expected to be a nasty showdown between owners and players this offseason, the Phillies have work to do to shore up their roster as well as figure out what positions Bryce Harper and Trea Turner will man moving forward.

That's where the spotlight will once again fall on Dombrowski and just how aggressive he and the Phillies will be before the current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1. The potential is there for it to be a long and dark winter after that thanks to a lockout, so how much Philadelphia does in the days after the World Series ends will be fascinating to watch.

But whatever happens this offseason, the Phillies have their manager in Mattingly, a man who can finally stop looking over his shoulder to see if Cora is standing there.