Baseball fans around in the mid- to late 1980s certainly know the name Don Mattingly.  Known as “Donnie Baseball” to fans, Mattingly was an American League Most Valuable Player, six-time All-Star, and nine-time Gold Glove winner playing first base for the New York Yankees.  After injuries cut his career short, he became a highly-respected coach and manager.  And Mattingly just might join the Phillies.

In a rather rare moment, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke rather openly at the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida, that the Phillies were interested in bringing aboard Mattingly for their bench coach vacancy.  In fact, could it be down to the final details?

Dombrowski told reporters present, including Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, that there is real interest in bringing Mattingly aboard:

“We still have some final details we’re working through, so it’s not official. But we are really focused on speaking with Don and trying to make that happen, and we’re hopeful that it will.”

Former Philadelphia sports radio host Howard Eskin reported in November that Mattingly could be in play for the Phillies.

Mattingly is the father of current Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly.  Don Mattingly announced after the Toronto Blue Jays were defeated in the World Series that he would be moving on from his bench coach position in Toronto.  His three-year deal expired at the conclusion of the season.

The Phillies had an opening after they announced that Mike Calitri would move to the position of Field Coordinator.  Calitri assumed the bench coach role during the 2022 season after manager Joe Girardi was fired and Rob Thomson took the manager role.

The Phillies never replaced Calitri’s former role, which was called the “quality assurance coach”.  A Major League Field Coordinator’s role varies from organization to organization, but the versatile Calitri has worn many hats in baseball and will likely pick up duties that suit his talent.

Don Mattingly would give the Phillies a former major league manager, a stated objective of the club when shuffling the coaching staff.

It’s not typical for an executive such as Dombrowski to speak this openly about a hire, so the hire could be close.  Turning 65 in April, the move would give Don Mattingly an opportunity to work with his son, Preston.   And beyond that: an opportunity to compete for the World Series that he has missed out upon in his nearly 45 years in major league baseball.