The end of a baseball season is a tough time for managers. This year, the Giants fired Bob Melvin, the Twins let Rocco Baldelli go, and the Rangers and Bruce Bochy parted ways. Now, while the Yankees’ Aaron Boone and the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza are feeling the heat, you never expect to hear the name of Rob Thomson in that group. Yet here we are…

After winning their second straight NL East title with 96 wins, the Phillies lost the first two games of the NLDS at home against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, if they fail to come clean in the next game, the team will enter the offseason with huge questions looming over its future. And speaking on Foul Territory, baseball insider Ken Rosenthal warned that if the Phillies crashed out of the playoffs, a big change could happen.

Rosenthal said, “If the series ends at some point and the Phillies end up losing, there are going to be a whole lot of questions about the future of this team. how they’re going to go forward.” Then, he added, “Rob Thomson as manager, I would say he has done a good job. He is not the problem… I would expect if the Phillies go out, there to be some kind of change.”

The biggest knock against Thomson is a painful pattern where he failed repeatedly in the postseason. As Rosenthal pointed out, the Phillies have taken a step back every single year.

“They go to the World Series in ’22. They lose in seven games in the NLCS … in ’23, and then they lose in the division series to the Mets last year,” he detailed. “They’ve gone backwards each year.”

By the numbers, Rob Thomson is the best manager in the history of the Phillies with a winning percentage of .578, and he led the Phillies to the postseason every year in his four-year tenure. So, Rosenthal added, “I don’t know that it[Postseason knockout] will lead to change. In my view, Rob Thomson is the perfect manager for that team, but Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations, could decide — I’m just speaking hypothetically — ‘You know what? We haven’t gotten there with this manager, let’s try another one.'”

And though the Phillies do not have a history of firing successful managers because of playoff losses, as the changes in the past (Joe Girardi in 2022) happened only because of poor regular-season play, another early playoff exit can change the narrative.

But this managerial question is just the tip of the iceberg for the Phillies.

Rob Thomson’s team is now facing an offseason of crucial choices

Their first major task is dealing with key free agents like DH Kyle Schwarber, who just had an MVP-caliber season.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto’s situation is also complicated. Though his hitting has been on a slow decline for three straight seasons at the age of 35, he is still one of the best defensive catchers in the game. The front office must decide if his defense and leadership are worth the price, or if it’s time to find another catcher who can provide more offense.

Beyond those two, the Phillies have other holes to fill, as starting pitcher Ranger Suárez is also a free agent. And bullpen arms like Jordan Romano and David Robertson could be leaving, too. This means the team will need to rebuild its bullpen depth from scratch.

Plus, they may also look for an upgrade in the outfield and at third base.

There’s basically a very long to-do list for the Phillies, and there’s no room for error if they want to get back to the World Series.

But before that, firing Rob Thomson ignores all the good he did this season.

The Phillies faced serious challenges, especially when ace Zack Wheeler went down with a season-ending injury in August. The team didn’t collapse even after that and won the division, and Thomson’s steady leadership is one of the main reasons why! From Bryce Harper’s injury to Nick Castellanos’s playing time, Thomson managed this team really well.

But all that matters now is survival. The Phillies are down 2-0 in a best-of-five series and are on the brink of elimination. They will face the defending champs at Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday night in a must-win three-game series to save their season and, perhaps, their manager’s job.