Indians Hire Manny Acta as Manager

The Cleveland Indians announced Sunday afternoon that they've hired Manny Acta as their manager. They also interviewed Bobby Valentine, Torey Lovullo, and Ron Roenicke, while Acta also interviewed for and reportedly rejected the Houston Astros managerial position.

Acta was fired by the Washington Nationals just before this year's All-Star Game after a 26-61 start and a 158-252 record over 2 1/2 seasons in D.C. The interest shown by both the Astros and Indians seems to indicate pretty clearly that teams aren't holding his ugly record over that span against him, though, and he's quickly going to have a chance to rehabilitate his reputation now that he's got another job.

Acta has long been a favorite of the sabermetric crowd (dig out your copy of Baseball Prospectus 2008 or see here for a brief explanation of how his use of defensive shifts and matchups helped cover for his terrible pitching staff in his first season in Washington), and so it makes sense that he'd be a favorite of Mark Shapiro, who certainly has a reputation as a statistically-oriented GM.

It's hard to believe the choice will be popular in Cleveland, though, given Acta's recent history in Washington. Shapiro's public approval is pretty low after the Indians' failure to follow up on their ALCS appearance in 2007 and if Acta can't turn the ship around quickly, this hiring is probably going to be viewed in a negative light.

No pressure, Manny Acta. Just turn a 97-loss team into a contender or face the wrath of Cleveland.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-25-2009 @ 5:00PM

loftonflyz said...

Just another typical blunder by the people who own or run Cleveland sports teams. Hire a manager that was dismal in Washington to manage the crap that this owner will give him because they have no money to put into the team. Same mistake keeps happening over and over. Same thing with the Browns....keep hiring coaches that have no clue what they are doing...hire Rob Ryan to coach defense, when his defense was DEAD LAST for the Raiders, but oh, he should be ok here because he's the spawn of Buddy Ryan. At this point, if the Browns and Indians left town, I wouldn't shed a tear.

10-25-2009 @ 9:56PM

Beiderbecke78 said...

Acta won't help the team. Heck, if he stinks with the Indians he might as well after next season give it a shot with the crappy Browns -- HA !!.... there's another laugh !! I never though Cleveland sports teams all at once would go into total cardiac arrest ALL at the same time !! Goes to show how greedy the sports team owners are in Cleveland -- pay too darn much for a team, and then fall flat on their butts.....OH WELL !!

10-26-2009 @ 8:44PM

paulsmic5 said...

Let's see. Take the worst record in baseball and hire him! Bet they got him cheap! What is it with Cleveland sports? As bad as the Indians are, the Browns are probably worse. Watch- now that the Cavs have expectations on them, I garauntee they'll fall flat. Probably a major injury. Color Lebron gone. Josh Cribbs? Gone. Grady? As soon as he can, gone. Cleveland....The Black hole of the sports world.

10-27-2009 @ 1:02PM

burptwerp said...

Hopefully the Cleveland Indians will consider hiring Michael Sarbaugh as a coach. His records since becoming a coach has been terrific. He is certainly worthy.

Thank you

I look forward to seeing Mike in a Cleveland Indian uniform. He brings winning with him.

11-03-2009 @ 3:29PM

bentleyrugby15 said...

Surely you guys aren't blaming Manny Acta for the problems of the Nationals? Before Nyjer Morgan arrived, their defense was an embarassment, their pitching is about the same level of crap. All they had was hitting.

According to fangraphs, they had the 29th ranked pitching staff in MLB, and were dead last by a mile in the pen (and Jordan Zimmerman, in just 91 1/3 innings, was the most valuable pitcher to the Nats in 2009). Their only decent reliever was Hanrahan. Morgan and Zimmerman are great defenders, but after that it ranges from average to horrifying. No talent in the world was going to win with that team.

That being said, I still don't like the hire, mainly due to the Indians looking like a team stuck in neutral, too. It's no surprise Shapiro would like him, though. Hope Acta can succeed.