The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reports that the Phillies “reached out to Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez...to gauge their interest in the [manager] job.”
Both players “politely declined,” and the Phillies went on to hire Don Mattingly to a two-year deal. According to Stark’s sources, “the Phillies’ interest was serious enough that the team’s president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, formally requested permission from the Los Angeles Dodgers to contact Utley and Ibanez, both of whom work for the team.” That makes three known candidates, along with Alex Cora, who turned down the opportunity before the team went back to Mattingly.