By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin noted nearly a month ago that he believes that playing .500 baseball is something that the 2017 team is capable of. On the day that pitchers and catchers reported to Clearwater for Spring Training, one of his superiors said that he will measure the team's success in a different way in 2017.
Club president Andy MacPhail spoke to the collective media Monday, which included Ryan Lawrence of Philly Voice, and said that he wasn't targeting a specific number of wins for 2017, but rather looking for progress in other ways:
“I leave that … I've been around too long to get involved with that. That's more the manager and general manager's –– I'm focused not so much on a number for next year. I'd like to see improvement. That can demonstrate itself in a lot of ways. So I'm looking for improvement, measurable, meaningful improvement. That could just be in the number of players that look like they can be pieces for the future. I think that's my goal for 2017. … I actually was pretty happy with Pete and the things I was trying to get across from my level to both Pete and Matt. If you show energy, effort and enthusiasm, if you do those things and some them to our fans, they're going to be a great deal more forgiving of what happens on the field. I think we got that by and large last year. I'm hoping we can maintain it and get it again this year.”
It's entirely possible that the Phillies showing improvement, both record wise and in a way that gives hope for the long-term future, can go hand-in-hand.
With the team retaining Jeremy Hellickson and adding veterans such as Joaquin Benoit, Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders, among others, the Phillies both have better players and are able to take pressure off of younger pieces such as Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera. Perhaps the increased talent on the team will allow the Phillies to creep closer to .500 after winning 71 games a year ago.
But in a year or two, most of the aforementioned veterans won't be on the Phillies. Franco will. Herrera will. Aaron Nola will. In a perfect world, Vince Velasquez will be the team's ace. So while it would be nice for the team to push .500 just two seasons after having the worst record in the sport, MacPhail's idea of more of the younger talents on both the major league club and the upper levels of the minor leagues showing progress is probably more important.
Of course, if Franco and Nola are better than they were in 2016, that both will encourage the front office that they will be part of the next great Phillies team and push the team closer to .500. That would probably be an end result to the 2017 season that would please all parties involved.
