Phillies Considered Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez Before Hiring Don Mattingly

The Phillies explored a reunion with two familiar faces before settling on Don Mattingly as their full-time manager. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski requested permission to speak with Dodgers employees Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez, but both declined, Jayson Stark of The Athletic reports. Philadelphia named Mattingly to the job Wednesday after also showing interest in former Red Sox manager Alex Cora. The search touched several different profiles: a current interim manager, a former manager from outside the organization, and two figures whose playing careers made them closely identified with Philadelphia. That mix suggests Dombrowski was considering both immediate experience and the appeal of bringing a familiar name back into the club’s orbit.

The outcome is more straightforward than the search. Utley and Ibanez chose to stay with the Dodgers, Cora plans to step away for a year, and Mattingly will remain in charge after replacing Rob Thomson during the season. Familiarity can help a manager connect with a fan base, but it doesn’t settle the harder questions about fit, workload, or results. Here’s the thing: Philadelphia’s decision now turns less on who was considered than on whether Mattingly can build on the team’s regular-season performance and address its early playoff exit.

Utley weighs family commitment

Utley is in his first year as a special assistant to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. The former second baseman spent 2003-15 with Philadelphia, earning six All-Star selections and compiling 62.0 bWAR, second among Phillies hitters only to Mike Schmidt. He helped the club win two National League pennants and the 2008 World Series, then finished his playing career with the Dodgers. Philadelphia added him to its Wall of Fame in August.

Those credentials explain why the Phillies would want to explore a return. Utley’s long playing career in Philadelphia gives him a direct connection to a successful period in the club’s history, while his current role with the Dodgers places him inside a major league front office. But a manager’s job is a substantial change from an advisory position, and a strong association with a team’s past doesn’t automatically make the timing right for its present.

At 47, Utley said the timing didn’t fit his family life. “Regardless if that (Phillies report) is true or not … considering where I’m currently at with my family, that commitment (to a job like managing) is not really realistic at the moment,” he told Stark.

That answer is plain, and it carries more weight than speculation about what his return might have meant. Managing requires a sustained commitment that can reshape a person’s schedule and family routines. Utley didn’t rule out every future opportunity; he described the current moment as a poor fit. For Philadelphia, that distinction matters: the club reached out, but the decision was Utley’s to make.

Ibanez considered the offer

Ibanez took a few days before telling Dombrowski he would remain in Los Angeles, Stark reports. He played for Philadelphia from 2009-11 and retired after the 2014 season. That fall, he became a finalist for the Rays’ managerial opening, which went to Kevin Cash.

The pause before his answer indicates that Ibanez considered the opportunity, though the available details don’t establish what factors shaped his decision. His earlier emergence as a finalist for another managerial job shows that he has been considered for a position of this kind before. It doesn’t tell us whether the Phillies role appealed to him more or less than that opportunity, or whether he intends to pursue a managerial job later.

The 54-year-old has since worked for the Dodgers, ESPN and Major League Baseball. He joined the Dodgers’ front office in 2024 as vice president of baseball development and special projects.

That range of work gives Ibanez experience across several parts of the sport, but his current front-office post is the one he chose to keep. The Phillies’ interest makes sense given his history with the club and his baseball background. Still, a candidate’s résumé can only establish why a conversation might happen; it can’t reveal whether the demands of a particular managerial job suit the person being asked to take it. And this is the part most people overlook: declining an opportunity is itself a meaningful outcome of a search, even when the reasons aren’t public.

Mattingly returns after playoff exit

With Cora planning to take a year off and Utley and Ibanez staying with the Dodgers, Philadelphia will continue with Mattingly. He took over for Rob Thomson on April 28 and led the club to a 79-55 record under his watch. The Phillies finished 88-74 and reached the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, but Atlanta eliminated them in a three-game Wild Card series that went the distance. Mattingly’s appointment gives Philadelphia continuity after a search that included both established candidates and franchise figures.

The two records describe different slices of the season: 79-55 under Mattingly, and 88-74 for the team overall. They show that Philadelphia finished with a winning record and secured another playoff appearance, while also leaving the club with an abrupt postseason exit. Neither fact answers by itself how much credit or responsibility belongs to the manager, especially when he took over after the season was already underway.

Continuity has a practical appeal. Mattingly already knows the team from his time as interim manager, and keeping him avoids another transition in the dugout. But it also makes his work easier to judge against the results that follow: the Phillies have chosen to give him the full-time role after seeing him lead the club for part of a season. That’s a decision with a clear rationale, though not a guarantee of a different playoff outcome.

What the search says about Philadelphia’s next step

The Phillies’ search brought their own history into focus. Utley and Ibanez each played for the club, while their current work with the Dodgers made them candidates with experience beyond their playing days. Cora represented another established managerial option, but he isn’t planning to manage in 2027. Mattingly, meanwhile, was already on the job after taking over in April.

This is more significant than it looks. A manager search is often presented as a contest among names, but the candidates’ availability and willingness can narrow the choice as much as their records do. Philadelphia contacted people with different backgrounds, then selected the person who had already led the club through most of the season’s final stretch. The process says something about the options the organization pursued; it doesn’t prove that Mattingly was its first choice or that the alternatives would have produced a better result.

If you’re working in this space, the useful question is what the Phillies expect Mattingly to change, if anything, after a season that ended with another playoff appearance and a quick elimination. The reported facts don’t answer that. They do show that the club opted for continuity after exploring a reunion with two former players and considering an outside manager. A familiar face can make a hire easier to explain. The test comes on the field.

For now, the appointment closes the search without resolving the larger debate about the club’s postseason performance. Mattingly has a full season in the role ahead of him, and Philadelphia has made its choice. No more auditions.