The Phillies ended their manager search when they promoted interim skipper Don Mattingly to the full-time position on Wednesday. They showed interest in former Red Sox manager Alex Cora during the process, but he wasn’t the only outside candidate on their radar. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has formally requested permission to contact Dodgers employees Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez about the job, Jayson Stark of The Athletic reports. The two former Phillies “politely declined,” according to Stark.
Utley, in his first year as special assistant to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, ranks among the greatest Phillies of all time. During a run that lasted from 2003 to 2015, the former second baseman accumulated 62.0 bWAR – second only to legendary third baseman Mike Schmidt among Phillies hitters – and earned six All-Star nominations. Utley also helped the Phillies win two National League pennants and a World Series title (2008). He spent more than three years of his career with the Dodgers, who acquired him in a trade in 2015, and became a member of the Phillies Wall of Fame in August.
Asked about the Phillies’ interest in having him back as manager, Utley, 47, told Stark: “Regardless of whether this (the Phillies report) is true or not…given the current situation with my family, this commitment (in a job like management) is not really realistic at this time.”
Ibanez seemed more willing to return to Philadelphia than Utley, as the longtime outfielder took a few days to think about it before calling Dombrowski to inform him he was staying in Los Angeles, according to Stark. A member of the Phillies from 2009 to 2011, Ibanez retired after the 2014 campaign and immediately began attracting interest from management. He was one of the finalists for the Rays job this fall, but they hired Kevin Cash instead. Cash remains in place at Tampa Bay, while Ibanez, 54, has held positions with the Dodgers, ESPN and Major League Baseball over the past decade. He has worked as the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball development and special projects since 2024.
With Cora planning a year off and Utley and Ibanez remaining with the Dodgers, the Phillies will continue to roll with Mattingly. After replacing the fired Rob Thomson on April 28, Mattingly guided the Phillies to a 79-55 mark. Philadelphia finished 88-74 and secured a fifth straight playoff berth, but the team could not get past NL East rival Atlanta in a three-game Wild Card series that went the distance.
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