Washington Nationals Editorial: Where Does Dusty Baker Rank Among Managers In The NL East?

Pete Mackanin – Philadelphia Phillies

Mackanin heads into his first full season as the manager of the Phillies. Last season, Philadelphia went 37-51 over the final 88 games of the season. While that appears to be a bad record, keep in mind that in the second half of the year, the Phillies were 34-33 (29-62 in the first half of the year).

However, Mackanin has never managed a full 162 game season in his career. In fact, the 88 games he managed in 2015 were the most he has done in any single year. He managed 26 games with the 2005 Pirates (12-14) and 80 games with the 2007 Reds (41-39).

That being said, the 64-year-old has been a part of the game as a player or a coach since 1973 , he won two minor league championships as a manager (1995 and 2002), and he was a bench coach to Charlie Manuel on the 2009 NL pennant winning Phillies.

When you look at Mackanin’s managerial style, he is a manager who relates to his player. Check out this quote from one of Mackanin’s coaches and former Phillies’ manager, Larry Bowa:

"“He had a great rapport with everybody, That was true with guys who played and even the ones who didn’t play. He talked to them all. It does help that he speaks Spanish. He let guys know that he played and he understands how hard the game can be.” (h/t Bob Brookover, Philadelphia Inquirer)."

With a new president of baseball operations (Andy MacPhail) and general manager (Matt Klentak) running the show in Philadelphia, Mackanin will look to get the most out of a team that is in rebuilding mode. It will be interesting to see how he does now that he will likely get to manage for a full season.

Next: Number Four