By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has spoken this week both on his desire for the team to add veteran hitting this off-season and to attempt to retain Jeremy Hellickson. Thursday, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak spoke on a variety of topics, including his thoughts on the job that Mackanin and his staff have done in 2016.
Klentak, who is finishing his first season as the team's general manager, seemed to have a positive outlook on the job of the coaching staff when he spoke to the collective media, including Ryan Lawrence of Philly Voice:
“I think our group as a whole has done a really nice job this year. We talked a lot in spring training about the energy level, staying positive, particularly with a young group. And we’ve had one of the youngest rosters all year long. The effort level of this team and this staff has been very good. I won’t say we’re going to commit to anything at this stage for next year, but at the end of the year Pete and I will sit down and talk about it. Generally speaking, I’m pleased.”
While there has been some speculation that the Phillies could make a change at hitting coach, this quote seems to suggest that the Phillies believe that the on-field lineup may be more indicative of the Phillies offensive struggles than Steve Henderson. A report from Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball recently suggested the team may look to add veteran offensive talent this off-season.
More importantly, Klentak seems to be happy with manager Pete Mackanin — and bench coach Larry Bowa and pitch coach Bob McClure, to a lesser extent — which makes you wonder how contractually the team will handle the coaching staff this off-season. Bowa and McClure seem very likely to return, while Pete Mackanin has an option for 2018 that perhaps the team would consider exercising prior to the 2017 season to avoid having Mackanin come into 2017 as a lame duck.
