PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 11: Manager Rob Thomson #49 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on from the dugout prior to the game between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, September 11, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Trevor Hayes/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Philadelphia Phillies came up short of expectations again this year, winning just a single playoff game despite a championship-caliber payroll and a bevy of All-Star talent.
That disappointment might have placed manager Rob Thomson in the hot seat, but the team has already expressed its confidence in the skipper for next year.
“He’s a good manager,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said of Thomson during his end-of-year press conference, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.
Dombrowski added that the team plans to give Thomson a contract extension this winter. But the Phillies will also be moving this past season’s bench coach into a new role and plan to replace him with someone from outside of the organization who could add some new perspective on Thomson’s decisions.
And when New York Yankees legend Don Mattingly decided to leave his coaching role with the Toronto Blue Jays shortly after they lost in the World Series, the Phillies might have found that new perspective.
“Don Mattingly has decided to step away from his Blue Jays bench coach job, but not with the intention of retiring from baseball,” Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman reported for the New York Post. “Mattingly’s contract was up, and he felt it was mission accomplished with the Blue Jays having won the AL East and reached World Series Game 7, a source said.”
Mattingly has been linked to the Phillies’ vacant bench coaching role by prominent members of the media in both Philadelphia and New York, who note that the former Yankees Most Valuable Player Award winner has a son in the Phillies’ front office.
“Mattingly’s son, Preston, is the Phillies’ general manager,” Yankees insider Bob Klapisch wrote for NJ.com. “That’s an obvious connection that seems even more inevitable now that Philadelphia is looking for a bench coach. Throw in the fact that Mattingly has a good relationship with manager Rob Thomson.”
The link between Mattingly and the Phillies has been highlighted from Philadelphia’s side as well.
“I’m sure Don Mattingly is in play,” long-time Philadelphia sports radio host Howard Eskin reported in reference to the Phillies’ open coaching role.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterchawaga/2025/11/07/phillies-linked-to-yankees-legend-after-exit-from-team/
