Phillies Fire Rob Thomson: 5 Replacements if Don Mattingly Can’t Save Season, Including Albert Pujols
Brett Davis-Imagn Images On Tuesday morning, the hammer finally fell on Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson. After an awful 9-19 start and losing 11 of their last 12, the club fired the manager a month into his fifth season. Bench coach — and former Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins skipper — Don Mattingly has been given the keys to the team as interim manager and will be asked to guide them back to playoff contention over the remainder of the season.
Thomson’s firing ends a four-plus-year run where the Phillies were a consistent playoff team that got to the World Series in his first season (2022), but never reached the potential of an often expensive roster. While Mattingly is a rock-solid replacement that could end up turning this campaign around, things could continue to head in a bad direction over the coming months. If Mattingly can’t save this Phillies season, let’s look at five potential options to take over as the full-time manager next season.
Albert Pujols, Angels special assistant & Team DR manager Sam Navarro-Imagn Images St. Louis Cardinals icon Albert Pujols has quietly emerged as an intriguing manager candidate in baseball circles. Since retiring four years ago, he has served as a special assistant for the Los Angeles Angels and was a candidate for their manager job in the fall.
In March, he offered a proof-of-concept for his skipper skills when he guided a star-studded Dominican Republic squad to the World Baseball Classic semifinals. Showing he can deal with a room full of big personalities and egos. That, along with his impressive resume as a player, would make him an intriguing option for the Phillies’ job.
David Ross, Former Cubs manager Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Another intriguing veteran skipper that could be in play if the Phillies are looking for a manager again this fall is former Chicago Cubs manager David Ross. While he wasn’t amazing in Chi-Town, he was still rock solid, and the team posted an 83-79 record before he was replaced by Craig Counsell. Ross deserves another shot as a manager and is well-prepared for the pressures of this market after years as a player and manager in Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago.