The Phillies have announced that manager Pete Mackanin has been signed to a new contract that will cover the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The deal also includes a club option for 2018.
This fresh contract overwrites the extension Mackanin received just last September when the Phils removed his interim tag and made him their official manager for the 2016 season. That older deal gave Mackanin a guarantee for 2016 and a club option for 2017, whereas this new contract adds an extra year of security for the 64-year-old.
Mackanin stepped in as the Phillies’ interim manager when Ryne Sandberg resigned in June, and the team went 37-51 under his leadership. More importantly than wins and losses for the rebuilding Phillies, Mackanin impressed upper management with his handling of the young talent. In a statement when Mackanin was originally extended in September, Phillies president Andy MacPhail said “Since assuming the interim manager position in June, Pete has developed an excellent rapport with our players and has also connected well with the media and our fans. Equally as important is his eagerness to take on the challenge of rebuilding the team and further developing our players.”
Prior to taking over managerial duties, Mackanin served as the Phillies’ third base coach and bench coach in two stints with the club since 2009. This is Mackanin’s first non-interim managerial job in the bigs after a long career of coaching and managing at both the Major League and minor league levels.
Mackanin has been a mixture of old school and new school, something the Phillies have never had. Sandberg was a disaster and Charlie refused to adapt to the times.
Not gonna say I love extending a guy who managed the team for like half a season, but the Phillies were considerably better post-Sandberg, and have played reasonably well in ST, so its a start.
A corpse at manager would have been better then Sandberg. Sandberg was brutal as manager because nowadays you have to be a babysitter, massage egos as well and he wasn’t able to be a babysitter along with manager.
Was Sandberg that bad? lol
Half the roster complained about him, he got into an altercation with Ken Giles in the dugout, constantly benched young kids like Odubel Herrera and Cody Asche, then abruptly quit because they lost too much.
His bullpen management was some of the worst I’ve seen.
WOW! Never knew it got that bad in Philly….
Sandberg was bad but he only benched Odubel Herrera because he didn’t run out a ball or two. (Jimmy Rollins’ disease). . He only benched him for a game or two. Odubel played in 147 games last season. He took Asche out of the lineup because he shouldn’t be an everyday player in the majors even for a rebuilding team. He’s at best a platoon player. Besides the two players who replaced Asche in the lineup – Blanco and Franco – had much seasons than Cody.. Sandberg was a below average manager but it nothing to do with benching Herrera or Asche.
Maybe they saw enough to see they were headed in right direction. Maybe he’s on the same page as management
Can ya at least see how the guy manages from day one of the season before extending him. Nothing against the guy but he managed last year on a sinking ship that could only go up.
how he manages is frankly irrelevant since the Phillies will be awful for at least the next 2 seasons. No sense in firing one lame-duck manager just to hire another one after him. Might as well let the guy have a real shot to manage a team without constantly looking over his shoulder
I liked Mackanin when he was interim in Cincinnati. Good to see he will receive a legitimate shot with the Phillies.