Pete Mackanin will remain Phillies' manager for rest of season

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies say Pete Mackanin will stay as their manager for the rest of the season.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. made the announcement Tuesday.

Mackanin took over on an interim basis last Friday after manager Ryne Sandberg resigned.

"It's a good feeling," Mackanin said. "I'm happy that I know what my fate is until the end of the season."

At 27-51, the Phillies had the worst record in the majors going into Tuesday night's home game against Milwaukee. His goal is to try to develop Philadelphia's young players.

"I'm just going to continue to try to develop them as much as possible and try to get them to where we think they can be and move on to the future," he said.

This is Mackanin's third stint as an interim manager after working in a similar role previously with the Reds and Pirates.

The Phillies also added Jorge Velandia to their coaching staff.

Sandberg left three days before the Phillies introduced Andy MacPhail as the team's president in waiting.

MacPhail will spend the next three months evaluating the organization before replacing Pat Gillick, who helped pick him.

The status of Amaro, who's in the last year of his contract, remains uncertain. Same for Mackanin.

"I think it's pretty clear this does not necessarily mean that he's a candidate to take the job beyond the year by any stretch of the imagination," Amaro said. "I think we're going to have basically a clean slate to make that decision. Pete may or may not be part of that decision making process and Pete understands that."