* With the Phillies 4-1 win last night, the team will not lose 100 games this season. Nice achievement, since the dubious distinction was almost certainly a given in June, when the team was losing like crazy. 100 losses was an afterthought; 110 defeats was even in mind.So, kudos to manager Pete Mackanin and the young players for doing better in the second half of the season.
Speaking of Mackanin, his fate will be determined soon. There is a meeting scheduled for Saturday to discuss Pete's future.
I'm thinking he will be back in 2018. He's under contract. The team did improve after the all-star break. Pete has made mistakes, and I didn't like the way he handled some of his underachieving, lazy players ( Herrera and Franco) But he is a good communicator, and with baseball's youngest team, it would be great to continue the transition.
In order for Pete to return he would need to fire most of his coaches. McClure, Stairs, Samuel and Morandini need to go. Bowa can stay as bench coach.
The front office needs to evaluate itself before Pete. They didn't give him much to work with early in the spring, with washed-up free agents such as Clay Bucholtz and Michael Saunders.
The Phils are still a bad team and need a lot of work in the off-season and beyond. Pete Mackanin should be the leas tof their concerns ofr at least another year.
* Guard Steve Wisnieski stepped in for the Eagles last Sunday against the Giants and solidified the offensive line. Chance Womack started and soon showed why he was a bus tin Tennessee. Wisnieski helped the running game and stopped the sacks on Carson Wentz. He is a solid vet who deserves to play.
The Birds brought back running back Kenyon Barner from the Chargers. He will be the punt returner for the rest of the season, since Darren Sproles is done. Barner showed promise the last few years. He didn't get much of a chance to play. Now he will have a chance to shine and force Howie Rossman to look at him on a long-term basis.
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