By Walter Villa, The Sports Xchange
MIAMI — Pete Mackanin wasted no time at all when asked by Philadelphia Phillies president Andy MacPhail if he wanted to have the interim tag removed from his title so that he could become the team’s manager through the 2016 season.
“I said let me think about it — yes! It’s an honor,” Mackanin said. “I’m happy. There are only 30 of these jobs in baseball, and I’ve got one of them.”
Mackanin is obviously thrilled — but will Phillies fans be happy once they see their team for 2016?
That’s extremely doubtful.
The Phillies simply have too little talent, and the makeover they need will to become a playoff team will likely take at least a few years.
Still, this is great for Mackanin, who has been an interim manager three times — with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005, with the Cincinnati Reds in 2007 and again this year.
Spring training 2016 will be Mackanin’s first chance of being the manager from the start of the season.
“I’m looking forward to the future,” Mackanin said. “I’ve never had the opportunity to start from scratch in spring training. I can put my stamp on what I think is most important — whether it’s base-running, defense, offense, pitching, all of them combined.”
In all likelihood, Mackanin earned his shot for 2016 when he led this year’s broken Phillies team to a 21-12 stretch from July 12 to Aug. 23.
“I think they responded very well,” Mackanin said of his players, “and I think that’s the biggest reason I got the job.
“Our record (overall) isn’t the best, obviously. We’ve been scuffling to score runs, and the pitching — they haven’t done as well as we’d like.
“(But) the team takes on the personality of the manager, and hopefully that’s my biggest asset. If we can keep the players pointed in the right direction and playing with enthusiasm — with additional players to supplement what we already have — I think we will be very successful.”