And who hired Manny Acta?

He seems like a likeable guy, but his track record was known when Shapiro went out and got him.

Acta never made MLB, and he cut his coaching teeth in the Houston and Montreal organizations when neither were stellar examples of grooming winning seasons.

Mark Shapiro hired Manny Acta knowing he had a MLB managerial record of .299 ball in the 2009 season when he was fired.


Acta had a three year managerial winning percentage of .385 in Washington.

For some reason Mark Shapiro.....who never played ball beyond high school.....thought Manny was "the guy" to manage The Cleveland Indians for him.

Now with three years with Shapiro and Antonetti's players, Acta has winning percentages of .426, .494 and a current .418.

And tonight after six full seasons as a MLB manager, Manny Acta has a career managerial record of:


Drum roll........

.418 for his career.


Ironically exactly the winning percentage of the September 12, 2012 Cleveland Indians.

Tough to place sole blame for our current and immediate future on Manny Acta when the guy who hired him....and got his players......was Mark Shapiro.

rusty2 wrote: Indians officials are “livid” with Perez for his comments about the team’s ownership and top baseball executives, Rosenthal writes. Perez questioned the Indians’ decision making and spending last week in an interview with Jon Paul Morosi.

Of course Shapiro and Antonetti are livid. He called them out, as many if not most of Cleveland Indians fans had already done and currently are doing in comments around the internet.

Only the Northeastern Ohio journalists controlled with fear of shutout retribution by Shapiroworld are being soft on The Indians "brain trust."

How come I read your posts with a Foster Brooks voice. Always expect to hear "Occifer" somewhere in there. But no just your constant Shapiro BS.

rusty2 wrote:How come I read your posts with a Foster Brooks voice. Always expect to hear "Occifer" somewhere in there. But no just your constant Shapiro BS.

Blah, blah, blah. Weak.

Not once have you shared your personal view of how The Cleveland Indians will be better next year or at any time in the future with a continuance of the reign of Mark Shapiro with his not very good track record of winning seasons.

And even if just thinking Shapiro and Antonetti are "good guys," why should Dolan just not roll the dice and see if any other two warm bodies would produce better results than these two guys with over 35 years in The Cleveland Indians organization between them?

Weak ! Your posts are like a child. Shapiro, Ivy League, father, wah, wah, wah,

Yep, that is really strong posting. But even worse, you continue every day.

GM Chris Antonetti talks Manny Acta, Chris Perez: Cleveland Indians Insider

Published: Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 9:51 PM Updated: Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 7:42 AM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer 



ARLINGTON, Texas -- A big-league scout who has seen the Indians recently called them the "deadest team I've seen in a long time. I think they've quit."
GM Chris Antonetti, who joined the team in Texas on Tuesday, has been watching the same team for a lot longer. He disagrees.
"It's natural, especially when you struggle to score runs, to say the team is flat," said Antonetti. "It's hard to have a lot of enthusiasm when there's nobody on base.
"I don't get any sense that the guys are just finishing out the string. The balance of the year is still important to everybody. We still have mostly a very young team that is looking to establish themselves as major-league players. Everybody still has something to play for."
The Indians are averaging 3.2 runs and hitting .203 with runners in scoring position in the second half. But when a team goes 15-41 since the All-Star break, more than one scout is going to come to the above conclusion.
Such talk puts the focus on manager Manny Acta and his job security. Acta is signed through 2013, but has seen the Indians tumble from first place in the AL Central on June 23 to a last-place tie with the Twins.
Antonetti said he's still comfortable with Acta as manager.
"I don't feel any differently that when we talked earlier," he said. "I think I'll save any sort of assessments until the end of the season. I think that's probably the best thing to do. Obviously, we're all evaluated at the end of the year, myself included."
Regarding All-Star closer Chris Perez's criticism last week of team ownership and the front office, Antonetti did not feel Perez was trying to force a trade, as many believe.
"No, I don't," he said. "If that's how people are perceiving it, or if that's how others are interpreting it, I really can't control that," said Antonetti. "Ultimately, I have to rely upon the conversations that Chris and I have had since that time. That's what I'll go on.
"I'm not going to get into the details of that. Chris would probably tell you that he could've chosen his words differently -- the specifics of his words. But, again, I think it's coming from a bit of frustration that the team hasn't been as successful as we all had hoped, Chris included."
Antonetti said no player on the roster is "untouchable" as far as a trade is concerned.
"We're not in a position to say any particular player is off limits," he said. "Now, with that being said, all of those guys who have been rumored about at various points in time this season, they're all still Cleveland Indians, right?
"So just because teams call and ask and express interest doesn't necessarily mean we're going to trade someone."
Cabrera update: It sounds as if shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera will miss the three-game series against the Rangers. He was out of the lineup for the second straight night with a sore right wrist.
Acta said there was a chance he could be available as a defensive replacement.
Swing and a drive: Tom Hamilton, voice of the Indians, is one of 41 broadcasters to advance to the final round of online fan voting to make the ballot for the Ford Frick Award.
Three announcers will make the final cut and be added to the 10-man ballot. Fans can vote at facebook.com/baseballhall through 5 p.m. Oct. 5. The final ballot will be announced Oct. 9.
The winner will be decided by a vote of past winners and five historians/veteran media members appointed by the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The announcement is made at the winter meetings in December.
The Frick award is awarded annually to a baseball announcer who has shown excellence in his craft.
Finally: Roberto Hernandez (right ankle) is out of his walking boot, but it's not known if he'll pitch again this year. ... Former Tribe prospect Adam Miller, whose career was derailed by a rare finger injury, was in the press box Tuesday. After being released by the Yankees, he finished the year pitching independent ball. Miller wants to keep pitching.
On Twitter: @hoynsie

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A big-league scout who has seen the Indians recently called them the "deadest team I've seen in a long time. I think they've quit."


Can not wait for Ken M to tell us that this scout is a Dolanite.

So the record says they quit. Scouts say they quit.

But Joe Z, TFISC, and Ken M still think Acta is a good manager.

Can't wait for the Tribe to win their next game so Joe can rush in here and ask, "Does that look like a team that has quit ? "

Yes Joe this team and their manager have quit. Goodbye Manny. Back to the beer leagues.

GM Chris Antonetti, who joined the team in Texas on Tuesday, has been watching the same team for a lot longer. He disagrees.

Antonetti said he's still comfortable with Acta as manager.


Antonetti makes the decision on Acta, not some unnamed scout.

Rusty I dont know whether during your frequent episodes of loss of reality testing you block me and then periodically unblock me but you must have missed my post where I said that Acta is now radioactive and must go. However, he only got that way because of the miserly way this owner runs this team and the way that the few sheckels available to the brain trust have been mismanaged. I believe and the timeline belies this assumption that the team quit when the front office did nothing at the deadline and everyone from manager on down realized that the organization was not serious about competing because it was obvious to everyone that the team as constructed in July was not good enough. I buried this team on opening day not only because of the horrible loss but because you can not possibly win a pennant or even get a second wild card with no right handed pop. Moreover the starting pitching as constituted both at the start of the season and now was and is crap. Dont know why I am even trying to knock some sense into you given your hate filled post in the other forum.

J.R. wrote:GM Chris Antonetti, who joined the team in Texas on Tuesday, has been watching the same team for a lot longer. He disagrees.

Antonetti said he's still comfortable with Acta as manager.


Antonetti makes the decision on Acta, not some unnamed scout.

JR I must say that I hope we dont have to rely on Antonetti to make a decsion.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last”
By Anthony Castrovince/MLB.com
On Twitter: @Castrovince

Last place, unappealing as it is, at least comes with a certain amount of clarity. Because at least we can say that what’s happened to the Indians these last couple months is not just jaw-dropping or bewildering or perplexing. It’s borderline historic.

Perhaps you’ve seen the note that only three teams in baseball history have been in first place after 70 games and gone on to finish last — the 1991 Angels, the 2005 Nationals and the 2006 Rockies.

Now, granted, the season is not over, and the Indians might not finish last in the AL Central. They might not even be in last by the time you read this.

But even those Angels and those Nats wound up with 81 wins, while the Rox finished with 76. These Indians, whether they finish last or not, clearly aren’t going to wind up with 76 wins or anything close to it. They are on pace to lose 95 games.

As I write this, the Indians are in last… with a caveat. The Twins are in last, too. But the Indians are 5-10 against those Twins, so consider that a tiebreaker.

This is an abomination, and it doesn’t even matter what the “right” moves are. The Indians have to consider the drastic ones.

Some will say that should start with a purge of Manny Acta and the coaching staff at season’s end, if not sooner (though many of those same people will want bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. installed as the skipper). As rational as I try to be in this space, as much as I know a managerial change won’t change much, who am I to disagree? Heck, at this point, a dismissal might be merciful.

(This Jon Heyman report has Acta on the hot seat. As you know, Paul Dolan said a few weeks back that everybody, Acta included, was safe. But obviously those votes of confidence can go south. Besides, Dolan said that at Acta’s charity bowling function. That wouldn’t exactly seem a reasonable time to talk publicly about his performance being under scrutiny… unless, of course, you wanted to invite speculation that Acta’s on the outs if he rolls anything less than a 200.)

Nobody has been a bigger supporter of the energy level and insight Acta has brought to this club than me. Frankly, on a personal level, as a media member, I love dealing with the guy. And I can’t fault him for falling short with a flawed roster. (In fact, Baseball Reference’s Pythagorean W-L calculation estimates that these Indians should actually be five games worse than they are right now. So if you think this is bad, well….)

But who could possibly muster an artful defense of Acta and his coaches now that the Indians have won just nine of their last 43?

Wait… does that sound dramatic enough? Let’s try this again: The Indians have lost 34 of 43.

No, no, that still doesn’t quite capture it. Let’s try this: The Indians have been losing roughly eight out of every 10 games… for seven weeks.

There, I think that did it.

And while this is an issue that goes beyond coaching and beyond preparation and ultimately comes down to talent level (or lack thereof), maybe at some point you do have to send a message to your players and, yes, to your fan base that, hey, we’re going to try doing something differently, even if it can be construed as change for the sake of change.

Has Acta lost the clubhouse? Have the players stopped caring or trying? Or are they really just this bad a baseball team?

This is how Chris Antonetti answered questions of that nature Tuesday, courtesy of Paul Hoynes:

“I don’t get any sense that the guys are just finishing out the string. The balance of the year is still important to everybody. We still have mostly a very young team that is looking to establish themselves as Major League players. Everybody still has something to play for.”

So… are you picking up on that supposed sense of urgency when you watch this team play?

Look at these quick and dirty numbers since July 27:

Justin Masterson: 7.14 ERA, .295 average against, .507 slugging percentage against (including nine home runs).
Ubaldo Jimenez: 6.79 ERA, .295 average against, .498 slugging percentage against (including eight home runs).
Asdrubal Cabrera: .236/.303/.343.
Shin-Soo Choo: .237/.346/.329.
Jason Kipnis: .206/.281/.287.
Michael Brantley: .262/.323/.362.
Carlos Santana: .260/.339/.447.

Those are not some young guys in an audition or guys getting innings and at-bats out of desperation. Those are your purported anchors, your purported building blocks in the rotation and in the lineup. And aside from Santana (whose numbers are not great but are at least an improvement on his season tally), they have all regressed — in some cases, quite significantly — down the stretch (and in the cases of Masterson and Jimenez, this is regression on top of regression).

Whether that’s an issue between the lines or between the ears is probably case-specific, but one has to wonder about the overall focus level in that clubhouse right now.

But if the Indians are, indeed, going to focus on change, it has to extend beyond the coaching staff and beyond the trade department, where the markets, however limited, for Choo, Chris Perez, Cabrera, Masterson and Jimenez must, at the least, be explored this winter.

On the heels of the 11 straight losses in early August, Antonetti said it was “possible” that the Indians’ evaluators had overrated their pitching. I think we can go ahead and update that to “probable,” and the overrating quite obviously extends to some amateur and trade acquisitions on both the pitching and position player front over the years.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say Antonetti has had a brutal 14 months, dating back to the Ubaldo trade. The budget is not all that’s held the Indians back in 2012, and neither is a lack of luck.

Antonetti’s job is still expected to be safe at season’s end, and indeed he’s built up a good deal of collateral in his 13 years in this organization. But it might do the Indians well to get some new blood in the evaluative and developmental mix to pair with Antonetti and Co. Fresh ideas, new ways of scouting talent or analyzing data. Because while many of the criticisms thrust at this front office the past decade have been unfair, the criticisms start to carry more weight when a rebuild goes wrong. And aside from a 30-15 spurt of unexpected brilliance at the beginning of 2011 and contention-by-default in a bad division at the outset of 2012, very little has gone right here since the 2009 purge.

The current standings allow us to sum it all up in clear and certain terms: In 2012, the Indians expected to contend for first. For a while, they did. But now they are in last. And their place in the standings probably won’t be the last area of drastic change.

~AC

In other words Acta is headed to the beer leagues soon.

With Indians owner said to be 'unhappy,' Acta's job is likely in jeopardy

By Jon Heyman | Baseball Insider

September 11, 2012 1:42 pm ET

16 | Comments
Indians manager Manny Acta received a vote of confidence from Indians ECO Paul Dolan, the son of owner Larry Dolan, a couple weeks ago. Votes of confidence are never ironclad, but the one for Acta feels especially flimsy.

Even a couple weeks ago, just after that vote of confidence, which also covered GM Chris Antonetti and club president Mark Shapiro, a source said Indians ownership was "unhappy" with the Indians' second-half slide. Now, with the team 4-12 since the younger Dolan's vote of confidence, Acta's job security seems even less certain.

Antonetti has been very supportive of Acta, saying at the time of the vote of confidence from ownership that his previous positive comments stood. "I don't feel any differently," Antonetti said. However, he didn't disagree that all things are reassessed at the end of the year.

Today he texted back, saying "nothing is new" on Acta's managerial status.

However, with the Indians having lost 12 of 16 since the late-August vote of confidence to fall to 15-41 in the second half and sliding into a last-place tie with the Twins at 59-82, it stands to reason that the end-of-year reassessment may still include Acta's status.

Hard to believe now, but the Indians actually were over .500 at the All-Star break, causing them to hang between buyer and seller, basically preventing any major moves (turns out they certainly were right not to buy). The Indians have a built-in excuse: The team's payroll under the stewardship of club owner Larry Dolan has stayed among the bottom few in baseball. But that still doesn't explain how they team fell apart in the second half.

Antonetti is making no excuses, saying late last month, "Collectively, we haven't played to our expectations in almost all facets of the game." Antonetti, being brutally honest, went on to say that the starting pitching had gone from inconsistent to "not very good," the pen had gone from very good to not "as good" and that the lineup had been "inconsistent all year."

Antonetti, responding late last month to the source's suggestion that ownership was unhappy, even back then, said, "I don't think anyone's happy with where we are or how we've played."

Can not wait for Ken M to tell us that this scout is a Dolanite.

So the record says they quit. Scouts say they quit.

But Joe Z, TFISC, and Ken M still think Acta is a good manager.

Can't wait for the Tribe to win their next game so Joe can rush in here and ask, "Does that look like a team that has quit ? "

Yes Joe this team and their manager have quit. Goodbye Manny. Back to the beer leagues.

Well! If this is indeed the case, I don't want baseball in Cleveland. I don't appreciate nor do I tolerate quitters. Run all their asses out of town if this is the case. This includes the players, the manager, the general manager, and all the way up to the top, the owner himself.

Rusty!!! If you asked me, I'd say that Chris Perez is the only person in this entire organization that really cares.

The Cleveland Indians have only a few players on the 40 man roster capable of handling major league baseball. Don't blame the performance of the team on the players or the manager. Put the blame where it really belongs!

I don't see a team that's quitting, I see a team that is not capable of competing at the major league level.

With Indians owner said to be 'unhappy,' Acta's job is likely in jeopardy

What a croque of crap!

The Indian's owner should look at himself in the mirror and must asked himself what he's done to make this team a competitive one in the last ten years.

I'll remain a fan of Acta and Perez as long as they keep rebelling against this so-called baseball operation.

I really don't know how these people can live with themselves knowing they are cheating their paying public.

But this team HAS been competitive in the last decade. In 2004 they were within a game of the division lead in the second half of August. In 2005 and 2007 the team certainly was competitive. It's been kind of dry lately (I guess being competitive for 2/3 of the season but finishing around .500 has to count as not being competitive, even in a weak division). Perhaps there was some leftover strength that served for a while but it's now all been dissipated.

It sure seems as if the organization, from top to bottom, has too few bright points to bother mentioning.

Is Acta a good manager? As far as on-the-field generalship goes, to me it seems he is at best only slightly better than Wedge, if that, and maybe it's actually the other way around. What is probably a more important point is: Is he the right guy to get the best out of a team of limited talent? (That is the kind of team we have now, and will have for the foreseeable future.) The best might be "results right now" or it might be a "developmental" sort of thing.

Frankly (and I say this with all the luxury of not knowing anything about it; that's the fun part of being a "fan") I see no evidence that he is. This is a .250 or so winning-percentage team. Sounds like a Detroit team of not that long ago. Ugh. That's 1962 Mets territory. Is our talent really THAT bad?