In 2016, Pete Mackanin will essentially get a one-year trial to be the next manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. Mackanin aced his first tryout last season, when the Phillies went 37-51 after he replaced Ryne Sandberg, who resigned with a 26-48 record.
Mackanin got a one-year extension from president Andy MacPhail, but the extension was done before new general manager Matt Klentak, who seems to have a good deal of power, was hired. So 2016 will serve as another audition for Mackanin, this time probably with more influence from Klentak in terms of using advanced stats in the team's favor.
But today, Mackanin took a moment out of his time focusing on the Phillies' 2016 season to welcome new Philadelphia Eagles' head-coach Doug Pederson.
I don't know Mackanin personally, but I've always pictured him as someone who only cares so much about baseball that he doesn't have time to focus on anything else, which probably includes other sports. This video would seem to support my line of thinking, because it came off as though Mackanin was reading either off of a giant note-card or a teleprompter (both of which are much harder than they look).
Either way, this was a nice gesture by the Phillies. In a perfect world, Mackanin and and Pederson will mirror the stability that Andy Reid and Charlie Manuel gave the city of Philadelphia during the 2000's, while also improving on some of their faults.
For more coverage on Pederson's hiring and introductory press conference, check out our Eagles' site, Eagledelphia.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
