▲ Philadelphia Phillies Manager Don Mattingly
Major League Baseball (MLB) Philadelphia Phillies acting manager Don Mattingly has officially dropped the "acting" tag from his title.
The Phillies announced on October 15 that they have signed Manager Mattingly to a two-year contract.
After winning the National League East division title last season, the Phillies struggled with a slump that included a 10-game losing streak in April, dropping them into a tie for last place in the division. This prompted the club to dismiss manager Rob Thomson and hand the reins to Mattingly, who was then the bench coach.
Following a successful turnaround under Mattingly's interim leadership, the Phillies finished the regular season with an 88-74 record, placing second in the division and advancing to the postseason.
Although the Phillies were eliminated from reaching the National League Division Series after losing the Wild Card Series to the Atlanta Braves, the club highly evaluated Mattingly's crisis-management skills and decided to offer him a permanent contract.
In April, the Phillies offered the managerial position to former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, but he declined.
The team made another attempt to recruit Cora after the season ended, but when those efforts fell through, they chose to promote Mattingly from within.
An eye-catching detail is that Mattingly's son, Preston Mattingly, serves as the general manager of the Phillies.
General Manager Preston Mattingly played baseball in the minor leagues before beginning his front office career as a scout for the San Diego Padres. He experienced rapid promotions, becoming the Phillies' assistant general manager in 2023 and general manager in 2024.
When taking over as acting manager in April, Mattingly addressed his relationship with his son by saying, "I like the kid," and adding, "It is not an awkward situation. Both of us just want to win games, and this will actually have a positive impact."
Mattingly served as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011 to 2015 and the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022. He then worked as the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2023 to 2025 before joining the Phillies as bench coach this year.
During his managerial tenure with the Dodgers, he also helped Ryu Hyun-jin (currently with the Hanwha Eagles) successfully settle into MLB.
On the same day, the Houston Astros announced that they have decided not to renew the contract of manager Joe Espada.
The Astros finished the regular season with an 81-81 record, capturing the American League (AL) West division title to reach the fall classic, but were eliminated after suffering two consecutive losses to the Chicago White Sox in the American League Wild Card Series.
Espada, who took the helm in 2024 on a three-year contract, led the team to the division title twice but failed to secure a single postseason win.
It was recently revealed that Espada had applied and interviewed for the newly opened managerial position with the Seattle Mariners, a rival team in the same division.
Espada served as the Houston bench coach from 2018 to 2023 before being promoted from within ahead of the 2024 season.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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