Ryne Sandberg resigned from his position as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies before the midpoint of 2015. Pete Mackanin was named interim manager and has almost as many wins in 53 games than Sandberg did in 74. Could he remain the team's manager for the 2016 MLB season?
The latest rumors surrounding the issue suggest Mackanin could be back. Most of the fuss concerns Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly, Mets' manager Terry Collins, Nationals' manager Matt Williams, Reds' manager Bryan Price, Rockies' manager Walt Weiss and Mariners' manager Lloyd McClendon. The same goes for various interim managers: Pat Murphy of the Padres, Dan Jennings of the Marlins, Craig Counsell of the Brewers and potentially Torey Lovullo of the Red Sox (depending on John Farrell's health).
"Among all the many current interim managers, the Phillies' Pete Mackanin may be building the best case to stay," Jon Heyman of CBS Sports wrote last week.
Mackanin is 24-29 since taking over for Sandberg and has gotten good reviews from the Phillies' players, but Andy MacPhail will take over as team president after the season and it's largely unknown what his plans are. For all anyone knows, Mackanin and general manager Ruben Amaro could be gone after the team's final game on Oct. 4.
"Everything is up in the air," Mackanin told ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. "We don't know what Andy is going to decide to do. I'm sure he's watching the games and trying to evaluate everybody -- players, coaches, me. I don't want to even think about it, because I'm just going to manage a baseball game the way I always have and let the cards fall where they may. I would like to have the job, but I'm not consumed with hoping or worrying about it."
The Phillies experienced an unprecedented turnover this season after the front office sent Jimmy Rollins, Marlon Byrd, Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, Ben Revere, Chase Utley and others packing. That's not easy for a team to watch, especially one comprised of young players the organization hopes will be the core of the foreseeable future, but Mackanin has been an integral aspect of that transition.
"I think it's played a huge role," closer Ken Giles told Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News. "To me, he's the rock of the team. If something goes bad, he's there to help pick us up. If we're playing too tight, he figures out a way to loosen us up. He's the main reason we're on a great streak right now. He knows how to keep us loose and he's just letting us enjoy ourselves. Basically, he just wants us to go out there and succeed. He's letting us do what we want to do and he's helping us on the way. It's huge."
Even veterans Jeff Francoeur and Ryan Howard think Mackanin deserves a shot to manage the team in 2016. After all, he has considerable experience having managed 1,766 games in the minors and 159 games in the MLB (three stints as interim manager with Pirates, Reds and now Phillies).
"The one thing Pete has done here, which I give him a lot of credit for, is he stabilized things," Francoeur told Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News. "Which is tough to do in this city. Especially with everything that went on with Ryno . . . We went out west [before] the All-Star break and just got our [butts] handed to us. And to come back and play the way we've played?
"Even the games we've lost, besides one or two, we have been in every game and been competitive in them. And that's something that's important and is a credit to Pete."
But it all depends on how MacPhail wants to stabilize the Phillies. It's unclear what direction he'll be steering the club in, but one has to wonder if he's keeping tabs on former managers Ron Gardenhire, Bud Black, Dusty Baker and others.
Mackanin has done a great job in one of the most unfavorable situations and that will at least make it hard on MacPhail when the time to make a decision comes.
