Don Mattingly is moving on from the Toronto Blue Jays and could now be headed to the other major league.
The Philadephia Phillies have interest in hiring Mattingly as a bench coach and have already reached out to him, Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman notes that Phillies manager Rob Thomson is close with Mattingly from their days as New York Yankees colleagues and that Mattingly’s son Preston is the current general manager of the Phillies as well.
Mattingly, 64, is a former NL Manager of the Year who had served as a bench coach for the Blue Jays since the 2023 season. He made it to this year’s World Series with Toronto but ultimately stepped down from his post a few days after the Blue Jays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Heyman also notes that Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is a “big admirer” as well. With a bench coach opening in Philadelphia to boot, it looks like Mattingly is a very strong candidate for that job.
The Phillies had the second-best record in Major League Baseball this season at 96-66 and won their second straight NL East division title as a result. But they flamed out during the postseason with a four-game loss to the Dodgers in the NLDS, turning up the heat on Thomson (who made several curious decisions down the stretch of the playoffs).
Philadelphia has already decided to keep Thomson around for one more year, which also happens to be his final year under contract. While there could be some big roster changes coming for the Phillies, it sounds like they are very interested in hiring in a familiar face in Mattingly.