An obituary for the 2015 Philadelphia Phillies

With last night's 8-1 loss to the Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies dropped to 54-86 and were officially eliminated from postseason contention. Though the Phillies were out of thing theoretically a long time ago, after a 8-15 April and a 29-62 first half of the season, it took until now for the math to catch up to what has long been inevitable. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights, mostly lowlights, of the Phillies' 2015 season:

Manager Ryne Sandberg resigns

With the team sitting at 26-48, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg resigned prior to a game on June 26, saying the losses took a toll on him. Philadelphia promoted third base coach Pete Mackanin to the manager's role and has seen moderately more success, with a 28-38 record since taking over, including a 25-24 record so far in the second half after starting 3-14 in his first 17 games as manager.

Andy MacPhail hired as team president

Just three days after Sandberg resigned, the Phillies hired Andy MacPhail as team president. Though MacPhail's job does not officially begin until after the 2015 season, it is clear he is at very least being consulted on decisions the team has made since announcing his hiring.

Major moves at the trade deadline

With MacPhail at the helm, the Phillies made three significant moves at the trade deadline, starting with a trade of Jonathan Papelbon to Washington for pitching prospect Nick Pivetta on July 28. The big move came on deadline day, when Philadelphia shipped Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to Texas for Matt Harrison, Jerad Eickhoff, Alec Asher, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson and Nick Williams. They also sent Ben Revere to Toronto for a pair of prospects, adding more pieces for their rebuild.

Chase Utley traded

In addition to the moves in late July, the Phillies also sent Chase Utley to the Dodgers in a waiver-wire deal on August 19 after 13 years in Philadelphia. Having already moved Hamels and Papelbon, that left Ryan Howard as the lone key player from their last run of contention.

Ruben Amaro Jr. fired

Finally, today the Phillies decided not to renew the contract of general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. Paired with Sandberg's resignation, hiring MacPhail and moving on from Papelbon and Hamels, the team has finally turned its focus fully to the future and their next window rather than the previous one.