Phillies Mailbag: End of the Rob Thomson Era

We are back with the 97.3 ESPN Phillies Mailbag.  The Phillies have dismissed their manager, Rob Thomson.  What's in store for the Phillies?  We talk about this and your Phillies Mailbag questions on 97.3 ESPN on Tuesday afternoons.

How can the Phillies explain keeping Kevin Long? There is a reason he's been the hitting coach for 4 MLB teams.
~Chris

After losing nine games in a row, the Phillies had to do something.  The Phillies needed the players to rebound.   Losing their respected manager in Rob Thomson is something that will shake up the players in the clubhouse.  They will look at each other, "Man, we did this to Rob".

I understand that the Phillies are largely underperforming at the plate.  Much of that has to do with the right-handed hitters unable to hit left-handed pitching.

Some of that may be Kevin Long.  Some of that is the roster construction.

Kevin Long was not a hitting coach for four teams because he was not good at it.  The Phillies gave Long a premium contract to lure him away from the Washington Nationals.

Long was dismissed from the Yankees after eight long seasons.  That's quite the run on a major league team.

The New York Mets quickly hired him on a three-year deal.  After 2017, Long interviewed for the manager job.  Long left the Mets not because he was fired, but because his contract was up and after failing to advance to the manager seat, he decided to move on and took a deal with the Washington Nationals.

Long won a World Series with the Nationals.

After the conclusion of that deal, the Phillies lured him away from Washington.  The Nationals were rebuilding and he had the opportunity to join Joe Girardi and Rob Thomson on the Phillies staff.

This past offseason, Long reportedly had interest from the New York Mets (yes, his former team) before the Phillies signed Long to a new three-year deal.

If the Phillies fired Long, he would have a new job instantly.

Long is credited for reviving the career of Kyle Schwarber, among others.  He worked with Phillies stars Trea Turner and Bryce Harper as well.

Long has a very strong resume.  Perhaps the Phillies were not yet willing to let him go to a competitor just yet.

I think, however, that Long just does not have the right pieces to work with per se.  A lot of that is on the president of baseball operations.

Why is Dave Dombrowski still here?
~Tony

My answer to why Dave Dombrowski is still employed as Phillies president of baseball operations is very similar to that of Kevin Long.   Dombrowski has a long resume, which includes World Series titles.   I think that gives him a bit of a leash here.

I'll say this: the Phillies roster is flawed.

Some of it are the many long-term, high-dollar contracts.  That perhaps let the Phillies keep the likes of Alec Bohm around too long.  Left the Phillies shopping in the Adolis Garcia aisle instead of taking on another outfield bat that was pricier.

It allowed the Phillies to say, "Otto Kemp is our platoon left fielder."

Dombrowski has work to do.

In my opinion, he is going to have the chance to salvage 2026.  There will be other moves.  There is a trade deadline in which he will have to either find the right pieces or perhaps start to trade some.

At the end of this 2026? I am not sure what would happen should the Phillies fail to rebound and make the playoffs.

I think that all bets will be off. If this proves not to be the manager's fault, all eyes are on the president of baseball operations.

Why not Alex Cora as the new manager?
~Ed

Well this one we have some insight into.  Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Phillies offered the manager job to former Red Sox manager Alex Cora.  Cora was recently dismissed by the Red Sox, but famously won a World Series alongside Dave Dombrowski.

Cora is owed $13 million by the Red Sox between now and the end of next season.  Cora is in the group of managers that include Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts who earn in the $8 million range.

Cora is going to keep that money through next year no matter what.   Anything the Phillies pay him would cancel out Red Sox dollars.

And for Cora, what would be the incentive to jump back to work unless the Phillies pay him much more?

Cora just got fired.  He might want some time to relax.

I think that for Cora, it makes sense to sit out the season.  He could earn additional money doing work in the media, if he wishes.  And then he could wait until the offseason where he could get a new multi-year contract with whatever team on the open market that is available.

The underperforming Houston Astros could have interest after the season, for example.  Cora was a bench coach for the (infamous) World Series champion in 2017.

I certainly would not rule out Cora in the future.  Don Mattingly is interim and the Phillies said it will be through season's end.

But Cora might just not be ready to jump that quickly.