Alex Cora turned down an offer to take over as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, a person briefed on the matter told The Athletic on Tuesday, when the club appointed Don Mattingly the interim manager following the dismissal of Rob Thomson.
After the Boston Red Sox fired Cora on Saturday night, the Phillies courted the manager in a swift and dramatic process that one person described as “intense.” Cora, 50, ultimately decided he wanted to spend the summer in his native Puerto Rico with his fiancée, Angelica, and twin sons, Xander and Isander, who turn 9 in July. His family also includes his daughter from his previous marriage, Camila, who is a graduate student at Boston College.
Cora managed the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series championship, a club built by current Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. But if he accepted the Phillies job less than a week after getting dismissed by the Red Sox, it would have been jarring for all involved. Cora feared the team would not get the best version of himself, according to a person briefed on his thinking.
The connection between Cora and Dombrowski, however, may come to the forefront again if the Phillies find themselves in the market for a manager at season’s end. The former Red Sox skipper figures to be a popular candidate among clubs looking for teams, and Mattingly is not expected to be a long-term choice.
Other teams, though, also will be in the market for a manager this offseason, and by then Cora figures to be recharged. Baseball people generally do not get summers at home. Now that he is unemployed, Cora can travel, help coach his boys, and prepare for his wedding in November.
To this point, his only public comments following his firing have been made on social media. On Tuesday, a few hours before the Phillies fired Thomson, Cora posted a goodbye note to Red Sox fans on X.
Boston, we will miss you.
Gracias for making us part of you. #RedSoxNation, you are the ❤️ of that team, keep believing, you really care and that’s what pushes everyone in the @RedSox to give it all day in and day out.
With respect and love
AC
— Alex (@ac13alex) April 28, 2026
