TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 23: Bench Coach Don Mattingly of the Toronto Blue Jays speaks to the media during World Series Workout Day at Rogers Centre on October 23, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
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The New York Yankees battled the Toronto Blue Jays for American League East supremacy throughout this past regular season and then the two squared off in the American League Division Series of the playoffs.
As the Yankees fell to their division rival in that series, a familiar face was helping to orchestrate their demise from the opposing dugout: Don Mattingly.
The former Yankees captain served as a bench coach for the Blue Jays during their Cinderella run all the way to the World Series. But shortly after the season concluded, he announced his exit from the team and it caught many off guard.
“Mattingly’s decision to leave after three years as manager John Schneider’s bench coach (plus duties as offensive coordinator in 2024) came as a surprise, but he feels as though his job was complete,” Mike Wilner wrote for the Toronto Star.
In his first comments explaining why he left his post, Mattingly revealed that he had taken the role with the Blue Jays to help manager John Schneider in his first years as the skipper. But with Schneider leading the team to the World Series, that mission has been accomplished.
“I came to Toronto … to be along John’s side as he was getting started,” Mattingly said, per Wilner. “Just be a voice — an older voice, a more experienced voice — and just allow him to do his thing but kind of be an earpiece for him, another set of eyes.”
Schneider was a finalist for the American League Manager of the Year Award this week, and it seems Mattingly feels he can lend his experience elsewhere. The former Yankees star has been linked to the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that is in search of a new bench coach, where his son works in the front office.
“The Phillies have reached out and expressed interest in hiring Don Mattingly, who just left his job as Blue Jays bench coach,” Jon Heyman reported for the New York Post. “Phillies president Dave Dombrowski is a big admirer of Mattingly’s. And Mattingly’s son Preston is the Phillies GM, and he’s in favor, as well.”
Mattingly and Phillies manager Rob Thomson also worked together in the Yankees’ dugout before their respective coaching careers took them elsewhere. So a fit with the Phillies seems to be on the table if Mattingly would like to pursue it.
But after a high-stakes season that included some memorable battles with his former team, perhaps the legendary infielder would like to take a year off while he considers his options.