Phillies Announce Interesting Addition to Don Mattingly's 2027 Staff

The Philadelphia Phillies fell short in their quest to win the World Series this season, losing in the wild-card series to the Atlanta Braves.

After a rough September slump, Philadelphia stumbled into the playoffs as the final wild-card team in the National League. The Phillies fought against the Braves well, but in the end, they just couldn't overcome their own problems.

Philadelphia now enters into a crucial offseason, but the team has already addressed one key part of the winter. The Phillies have brought back veteran manager Don Mattingly for next season, making him the permanent leader of the team.

There was a ton of speculation that Mattingly wouldn't be back for 2027, and that he was only going to be the interim manager for 2026. But after a few candidates declined to take the job, Philadelphia elected to bring back the continuity it has with Mattingly.

Many players wanted Mattingly back after the run that the team went on during the regular season to get into the playoffs after a slow start. Now, the team will hope that Mattingly can be the leader that this group needs to get them over the hump of winning a World Series title.

And the veteran manager has already gotten to work building out his staff for next season. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has announced that Mattingly has brought on former New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza in as the new infield/third base coach.

Mendoza was fired by the Mets during the season, but he did help the club out during his tenure. The veteran coach went 206-199 with the Mets as the manager, leading the team to the NLCS in 2024.

Having an experienced manager like this next to Mattingly should help, and he knows the Mets very well. Mendoza is also familiar with the entire NL East, helping the Phillies look to overtake the division next season.

With Philadelphia needing to retool this winter, Mendoza could help Mattingly build out the roster. While things didn't work out with the Mets, Mendoza brings excellent baseball knowledge to town, and he should give the Phillies something of value.

But the offseason will be decided by how the roster looks next year, with the front office having to make some major decisions this winter. Philadelphia has all sorts of questions around the team to answer, and how the organization decides to proceed could determine the outcome in 2027.