The Phillies descend on Clearwater this week with a new front office, a whole slew of new players, and somewhat surprisingly, with a new manager. Of course, he is the same manager that finished out the string at the end of 2015, interim tag now removed and in charge for the first time, officially, as a Major League manager.
The surprise of Pete Mackanin becoming the Phillies' manager after being on Charlie Manuel's staff, leaving for a scouting job, then coming back to be on Ryne Sandberg's staff, along with the fact that Sandberg just simply didn't work out (those pro-Sandberg pieces from Lehigh Valley seem like a distant memory now) is one of the more interesting headlines you'll see for the Phillies heading into the season.