What’s next for baseball lifer Rob Thomson after being fired as Phillies manager?

PHILADELPHIA — Rob Thomson received a call at around 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning that he knew would change his plans. With the Phillies struggling and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski buzzing him to come into Citizens Bank Park, he figured the team might make a manager change.

His inclination was correct. Amid a 9-19 start, the Phillies fired Thomson during his fifth season at the helm. Don Mattingly will take over as bench coach, starting with the team’s opener of a three-game series against the Giants on Tuesday night.

“Well, I might watch some hockey playoffs tonight,” Thomson said. “But actually I’m going to watch our game. I really am.”

Thomson, 62, is a baseball lifer who suddenly has more time on his hands than ever. The steady coaching veteran that took over during 2022 and led the team to a World Series appearance was, in the eyes of Dombrowski, no longer the right voice. The Phillies did not perform up to expectations, and Thomson took the fall.

“We haven’t played well, for whatever reason,” Thomson said. “And when you’re not playing well and you’re the manager of a ballclub, you’re held accountable. And rightly so.”

After his college career at Kansas, Thomson played four seasons in the minor leagues. In 1988, he began coaching in the Tigers organization. Thomson then joined the Yankees in 1990, beginning a long-term tenure across multiple positions within the organization that lasted until 2017. He was hired as Phillies bench coach in 2018 and took over as manager during the 2022 season.

What’s he going to do now?

“I got no idea,” Thomson said, laughing. “I’ve never spent a summer in 42 years at home, so I really don’t know. Thank God my wife put a pool in a couple years ago, so maybe I’ll go for a swim or something.”

For now, Thomson has no interest in managing again. Maybe that could change, but he doesn’t envision it at this moment. And while it won’t happen immediately, Thomson said he’d have interest in rejoining the Phillies in an advisory role down the line.

“I love this organization,” Thomson said. “I’ve been treated with class and dignity the last eight years, ever since I came here. And not only the organization, but the city of Philadelphia as well.”

Thomson said that his relationships with Dombrowski and Phillies owner John Middleton remain “rock solid,” and that he understands that Dombrowski had to make the decision he thought would be best for the team.

Clearly disappointed with how it all turned out, Thomson, in typical fashion, still expressed confidence in the Phillies players to bounce back this season. It sounds like he might be tuning in once in a while to see if that ends up being the case.

“My message to the fans is this: I still think and I hope, because I love these guys, that this team’s going to turn this thing around,” Thomson said.