Why Ex-Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Quickly Turned Down Phillies Job

Alex Cora, former Boston Red Sox manager

(Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

Major League Baseball moves fast, and Alex Cora knows it.

After he was fired by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, Cora took to social media to thank the fan base for his eight seasons at the helm. Mere moments later, he was no longer the most recent MLB manager to be given the sack.

The Philadelphia Phillies announced Tuesday that they had fired manager Rob Thomson and made bench coach Don Mattingly their interim manager. But Mattingly seemingly wasn't the Phils' first choice.

According to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Cora was offered the Phillies job before Mattingly took it. Obviously, Cora turned it down, and Nightengale's report asserted that the 50-year-old had elected to spend time with his family, rather than immediately taking a lateral move to a new city.

Boston gave Cora a three-year, $21.75 million extension that runs through the end of next season. Until a time when Cora hypothetically accepts another job in MLB, the Red Sox are on the hook for the remaining $12 million or so on that deal.

The 9-19 Phillies are somehow an even bigger disappointment to this point in the season than the 12-17 Red Sox. Philadelphia entered play on Tuesday with 11 losses in its past 12 games, and was tied with the division-rival New York Mets for the worst record in the sport.

Cora, who ranks third in Red Sox history with 620 managerial wins, could certainly get another top job quickly if he wanted one. That he chose not to quickly jump to Philadelphia, where he could have reunited with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, indicates that he's happy to collect Boston's checks until he finds his perfect next move.