Why an Alex Cora-Dave Dombrowski reunion with the Phillies seems so inevitable

When the Red Sox fired Dave Dombrowski as their president of baseball operations in August 2019, then-manager Alex Cora was in just his second year as a manager, still trying to find his footing despite winning the World Series a year prior.

"This is the guy that gave me a shot to become a big-league manager," Cora said of Dombrowski at the time. "For four or five years, you go through this process and nobody gave you a shot. All of a sudden, Dave Dombrowski, 40 years in the big leagues, decides to give me a chance to run this organization as a manager."

Cora, who is under contract through next season, made it clear he had no interest in taking another job this year after being fired as Red Sox manager last week. He told CBS Sports that he plans to return home to Puerto Rico and be with his family for the remainder of the season. He also made that clear to Dombrowski, who admitted that he offered Cora the Phillies job even before firing manager Rob Thomson.

But the former colleagues finding their way back to each other still seems inevitable.

A long history

Both privately and publicly, Cora has long backed Dombrowski, consistently praising the work done during the latter's tenure running baseball operations. Dombrowski's more traditional approach, which leans heavily on coaching staff and scouting evaluations, makes people inside the building feel empowered. Even at the front office level, he would bring lower-level executives into trade discussions, giving them a voice in rooms they typically wouldn't be in.

Under chief executives Chaim Bloom, who succeeded Dombrowski, and Craig Breslow, who took over for Bloom in 2023, "collaboration" became the buzzword in the Red Sox organization. But that hasn't necessarily been the reality under Breslow, according to people familiar with the dynamic who describe a much tighter, more closed-circle brain trust.

"We had one meeting with him and he was so weird," said one former Red Sox front-office employee of the current chief baseball officer.

Collaboration was viewed as Bloom's strength, oftentimes to a fault. But the moves and overall vision under the now-Cardinals executive never quite sat right with Cora, who felt the organization didn't do enough to acquire the kind of talent needed to make a real postseason push. The Red Sox went 267–262 with Bloom in charge, a tenure that included a run to the ALCS in 2021 but also the departures of Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.

Dombrowski, on the other hand, went out and got help. Take 2018 as an example. The team needed to bolster its rotation, searching for a high-powered right-handed arm who could also be a weapon out of the bullpen if needed. They landed Nathan Eovaldi. They needed a bat against left-handed pitching. They went and got Steve Pearce. Ian Kinsler put a bow on the trade deadline, giving them much-needed veteran depth at second base with Dustin Pedroia unavailable. Pearce was named World Series MVP. Eovaldi became a postseason staple, gutting out 6 ⅓ innings in relief in Boston's 18-inning Game 3 against the Dodgers. They lost that game, but Cora has often pointed to that outing as the reason they wrapped the series in five.

Cora thrives with a strong voice above him. Dombrowski is a straight shooter. You know where you stand. He'll give Cora room to do his job, but he's not afraid to step in when it calls for it.

Accountability is at the center of Dombrowski's pedigree. He'll own his misses, even when it's uncomfortable.

Take the Andrew Cashner deal: the Red Sox acquired Cashner from the Orioles at the 2019 trade deadline, hoping he could stabilize a rotation hit by injuries. It didn't happen. Cashner posted a 6.54 ERA in 53 ⅔ innings in Boston.

Later that summer in Cleveland, Dombrowski was asked how he viewed the trade. Cashner was standing just a few feet away. It didn't matter.

"The trade didn't work out," Dombrowski said.

What's next

There are real questions about the Phillies, even with owner John Middleton's open checkbook. The roster is aging. Bryce Harper hasn't consistently shown he can return to that elite level. Trea Turner, now 33, has a lot of tread on his tires at shortstop. The rotation still has holes. Will Middleton fund this level of payroll forever, especially if they keep falling short? Headed into Friday's slate, the Phillies have the same record as the Red Sox and are only two games up on the cellar-dwelling Mets.

Dombrowski is the first head of baseball operations to lead four different franchises to a World Series. Cora has two World Series rings on his nightstand as a manager and a third as a player. For a Phillies team that keeps getting close, those credentials are a heady promise.

Cora doesn't view managing as a forever role. Over the years, he's pointed explicitly to Brad Stevens' path from the bench to the front office with the Celtics as one he could see for himself.

But if Cora's time in the dugout isn't over yet? Imagine a manager and a head of baseball operations winning two World Series together for two separate marquee franchises?

The Mets' job would draw interest from Cora if it opens. Steve Cohen's willingness to spend, along with Cora's relationship with Francisco Lindor, would be a plus. But the intrigue will probably stop there. David Stearns, the president of baseball operations, comes from a similar school of thought as Bloom and Breslow. And, like what played out in Boston, the Mets under Stearns have let homegrown talent walk out the door, most recently Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz.

For now, Cora will use this time to zoom out. He wants to go home and be a dad to his twin boys, who turn nine in July.

Don Mattingly will manage the Phillies for the rest of the season, but it feels temporary, especially with Dombrowski's comments about how highly he thinks of Cora. Maybe it was a public pitch to the former Red Sox skipper.

"I think Alex is one of the finest managers in the game of baseball," Dombrowski told reporters earlier this week. "I've been fortunate enough to work with Hall of Fame managers like Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland and have been very fortunate in my career. I think if Alex Cora decides to keep managing again, he has a chance to be in that same category."

Upon seeing that quote, Cora responded via text, "He always tells me that. He believes in me."