Mackanin out as Phillies manager

The Philadelphia Phillies will have a new manager in 2018, as the club announced Friday that Pete Mackanin - their skipper since July 2015 - will not reprise his role next year, instead transitioning to a front-office position.

"Can't say I'm not disappointed," Mackanin said, according to Marshall Harris of CSNPhilly. "This rebuild is starting to get legs."

He continued: "I'm just happy (general manager) Matt (Klentak) offered this opportunity to stay."

The unexpected personnel move comes less than five months after the Phillies finalized a one-year extension with Mackanin, who will now take over as a special assistant to Klentak after the 2017 campaign.

When the extension was announced, Klentak suggested Mackanin would be around for the long haul, telling reporters in May - with the Phillies off to a 13-19 start - "this is not a temporary thing."

"Pete is the manager. There's no time frame on that," Klentak said at the time. "This is not a temporary thing. Pete is the manager. And I have every hope and every confidence that as we turn this around and the wins start coming, he's going to be right here."

Clearly, the club's position changed as the season progressed, even as the Phillies began to show improvement in the second half.

"We've reached a turning point in this rebuild," Klentak said Friday. "We want to identify a leader that can take us into the future."

Since taking over for Ryne Sandberg as manager shortly before the 2015 All-Star break, Mackanin has guided the Phillies to a 172-237 (.421) record, leading the rebuilding club to one fourth-place finish and a pair of fifth-place finishes in the National League East. This year, the Phillies (64-95) own the third-worst winning percentage in the majors (.403), but head into Friday's series opener against the New York Mets with a 35-37 second-half record.