Cleveland Sports Forum

"My challenge going forward is not going to be to find another job," Acta said, "it's going to be where to find better people to work for and better people to work with.

That was putting it mildly. Too bad Manny wouldn't expand on those thoughts. That statement only reinforces my opinions about the leadership roles of some people in this organization.

I hope Chris Perez is preparing his "State of the Indians" address. This is going to be a looooong six days.

Multiple decisions by Antonetti backfired and numerous players fell far short of expectations this year. The result was a rapid descent in the American League Central standings that caught everyone involved off-guard.

And that was just for the 2012 season. What about 2010 and 2011??

God! I'm going to lose a lot of sleep tonight.

This is the only team I really like in this town and the only one that I follow religiously. I could care less about the Browns and the Cavs. I started being a fan of the Indians way back in 1950 when I was 6 years old. This ownership and management team has me hanging on by a thread. They are truly trying my patience!

joez wrote:

"My challenge going forward is not going to be to find another job," Acta said, "it's going to be where to find better people to work for and better people to work with.

That was putting it mildly. Too bad Manny wouldn't expand on those thoughts. That statement only reinforces my opinions about the leadership roles of some people in this organization.

What Manny meant. "it's going to be where (hard) to find better people to work for and better people to work with. It was a compliment Joe. Of course as usual you have no sense of actual comprehension.

They reached the decision last night when they asked each other "WTF is Travis Halfyear doing in the lineup."

Manny wants another job, so he is not about to publicly criticize those who just fired him. Privately, he may well have other thoughts.

J.R. wrote:"I try to make 3 trips a season with the team."
"Manny is not the only one to blame."

J.R., I just tuned in to The Browns game and have tried to skim all the posts here since the Acta dismissal.

Was that quote in one of the articles today? From Antonetti?

Yep. From his PC this afternoon. Maybe not in an article, I wrote it while watching live.

J.R. wrote:Yep. From his PC this afternoon.

Thanks, J.R..

I find it incredible that Antonetti only makes three road trips a year with the team. Honestly, I think if he loved the game of baseball he'd want to make all he could.

Seriously, in these days of connectivity and technology, why in the world there be value in Antonetti sitting in an office in Cleveland when he could be out at minimum personally watching the team and his manager in action.

My only answer is that Antonetti has a fear or boredom with mixing it up with MLB players.

Do you have data on how many road trips other GMs take with their teams?

Antonetti added, "We were contending with this roster for four months."


Ha ha, that could be taken two different ways!

[quote]What Manny meant. "it's going to be where (hard) to find better people to work for and better people to work with. It was a compliment Joe. Of course as usual you have no sense of actual comprehension. [/quote

Ahhhhh! With the firing of Manny Acta, the sleeping dragon rears its ugly head. I'm off the endangered species list

I'll have to admit that my intrepretation was an errant one but please do not accuse me of lacking in comprehension skills Rusty. You don't do so badly yourself.

Tribe's downfall wasn't Acta's fault, say players

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 09/27/12 7:36 PM ET

CLEVELAND -- Joe Smith headed to Progressive Field on Thursday to pick up a package. Once inside, a clubhouse employee told the Indians reliever to take a look inside the coaches' room.

Smith was stunned to see bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr.'s locker had been cleaned out.

"I couldn't believe he left for a managing job somewhere," Smith said, "but then I was told he just moved down the hall."

The news trickled down from the front office to the players in a variety of ways -- clubhouse conversations, phone calls, text messages, updates on Twitter -- and it was met with surprise only in the sense of timing. With six games left on the schedule, Manny Acta was removed as manager and Alomar moved into his office with an interim tag on his title.

During this type of situation, players feel responsible when someone loses their job over a club's poor performance. Cleveland's woes led to the dismissal of pitching coach Scott Radinsky in August, and the team's continued struggles paved the way for Thursday's decision to replace Acta with Alomar.

Such decisions can be tough for players to swallow.

"It's unfortunate that this had to happen," designated hitter Travis Hafner said. "It was just a bad second half. The players are the ones out there playing. They're ultimately responsible for how the team does. We're the ones who take the blame. It's unfortunate when coaches lose their job and things like that."

As is likely the case in every Major League clubhouse, Acta had his fans and he had his critics. There were complaints throughout the season that the manager did not argue enough calls on the field, showing support for his players, or that he did not call enough meetings to hold players accountable.

That was Acta's way of operating, though, and he was always up front about his style.

"He had his own way of doing things," pitcher Josh Tomlin said. "It wasn't necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It was just the way Manny managed, and that was what he told us in the clubhouse one time.

"He said that's how he managed, that's how he won in the Minor Leagues and that's how he was going to win in the big leagues -- by being himself. You have to respect a man for that, that he wasn't going to change who he was."

Acta -- always calm and collected in front of the cameras -- did erupt behind the scenes from time to time.

After one recent loss in Cleveland, Acta headed down the dugout steps into the clubhouse, grabbed a trash can and threw it with such force that it shattered a coffee maker that rested on a countertop. During the Tribe's nine-game losing streak in August, Acta called a team meeting in Seattle and showed a mix of passion and anger that surprised his players.

"That was nice to see," said one player, "but by that time, the damage had really been done."

Dating back to July 27, the Indians have gone a Major League-worst 15-42, falling from 3 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central to tied with the Twins for the worst record (65-91) in the league. As the team's slide grew more steep, some of the players were looking anywhere for guidance.

"Our team for whatever reason didn't seem motivated to play," Smith said. "It's sad when you say that about a bunch of guys that get paid to play a game. You shouldn't need somebody else to motivate you to play this game. At the end of the day, it's on us, but when it came that time to motivate us, there wasn't a whole lot of it there.

"He was always a good guy to us personally. You can't say anything bad about him in that way."

Third baseman Jack Hannahan agreed that it should not have been Acta's job alone to figure out a way to motivate the team during their August slump.

"I've respected the fact that Manny was a manager that let his veterans do the policing," Hannahan said. "That's something that I respected about him. This is the big leagues. You don't need a babysitter in the big leagues. You need veterans to lead the way."

Acta -- in a conference call with Cleveland's beat writers on Thursday -- said he did not believe he lost his clubhouse, and he never questioned the club's effort.

"Effort doesn't always translate into winning," Acta said. "At the end of the day, people are going to have their opinion and you're going to have to respect it, but I didn't have any issues with my kids, getting them to go out there and play."

Many of the Tribe's players were excited about playing under Alomar.

A six-time All-Star and veteran of 20 Major League seasons, Alomar comes from a well-known baseball family and has been a highly-sought managerial prospect over the past couple of years. As a bench coach this season, and a first-base coach on Acta's staff in the two previous years, Alomar formed a strong bond with players in the clubhouse.

Given the nature of career and accomplishments, Alomar also commands respect.

"You look on the back of his baseball card," Hannahan said. "It's instant respect for a guy who's been in your shoes and knows and understands that the game is not that easy. I think he'll be able to connect with the players and get the most out of players and really be successful."

Smith has known Alomar -- a catching instructor for the Mets before joining Acta's staff prior to the 2010 season -- since his days pitching in New York. Like Hannahan, the reliever feels Alomar has the potential to be a good fit for the Indians' managerial role.

"He's got experience. He's been there," Smith said. "He's been through the daily grind. He's been in the playoffs. He's been in those clutch situations. He performed and he knows what it takes. He's one of those guys where you've got a very good resource leading your team.

"He can have fun and joke around, but when it gets down to business and he says something, it should carry a lot of weight. For a guy that is that well liked in the clubhouse, he's got that much respect, too. I think it'll go a long way."

Indians have confidence in Antonetti

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 09/27/12 9:42 PM ET

CLEVELAND --


There is no denying that the Indians' performance on the field this season fell well short of expectations. As a result, manager Manny Acta was relieved of his duties on Thursday.

But Acta could only play the hand he was dealt, and it is clear that he was dealt a roster that was not capable of competing in the American League Central. Even so, the Indians plan on moving forward with Chris Antonetti as general manager.

Team president Mark Shapiro said on Thursday that the organization has confidence in Antonetti's strategy for the building of a contending team.

"We obviously look at a broad range of criteria when we're evaluating everybody," Shapiro said. "Chris is dealing with a set of challenges, which I understand, some of which are the creation of the organization that he and I ran together, and some of which are the result of other decisions.

"But I feel he's controlled the bulk of what he can control well. [Indians CEO Paul Dolan] and I still endorse strongly [Antonetti's] vision for how we can be competitive and, ultimately, a championship team.

"We feel that he's uniquely qualified and more capable than any other person in leading us to that outcome."

The Indians have named Sandy Alomar Jr., Acta's bench coach, as interim manager, though he will be strongly considered for the full-time job.

The Indians entered the season with high hopes for contending but entered Thursday at 65-91, including a Major League-worst 15-42 since July 26. The result has been a drastic slide from first place on June 23 to a tie with the Twins for last place in the division.

Antonetti can see why Acta might be viewed as a scapegoat.

"I understand that perspective," Antonetti said. "Manny is not the only one to blame. We really need to look hard organizationally to figure out how we can continue to get better, especially at the Major League level, because our performance was not what we had expected and not what we had hoped.

"We all have higher expectations, and we need to do a better job at identifying those solutions and how we move forward. We started that process and we'll take the next few weeks to make sure we execute them."

Antonetti, who is wrapping up his second season as Cleveland's GM, had a number of misfires.

In July 2011 he swung a blockbuster trade with the Rockies, sending a package of four prospects to Colorado in order to acquire star pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. This season, Jimenez turned in one of the worst performances in team history, going 9-17 with a 5.55 ERA.

Over the winter, Cleveland traded for Derek Lowe and Aaron Cunningham, and added Jose Lopez and Jeremy Accardo as Minor League free agents. All four underperformed and were designated for assignment, as were Shelley Duncan and Johnny Damon (signed as a free agent in April).

During the offseason, the Indians re-signed outfielder Grady Sizemore to a one-year contract worth $5 million, but he spent the entire season rehabbing from knee and back injuries and did not play in a single game. Free-agent signing Casey Kotchman (one year, $3 million) has hit just .234 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs as the everyday first baseman.

Cleveland, rumored to be in on free-agent left fielders Josh Willingham and Yoenis Cespedes over the winter, wound up cycling through 10 left fielders. Willingham and Cespedes have turned in solid showings for the Twins and A's, respectively.

Antonetti knows that many of the decisions gone wrong rest on his shoulders.

"I'm accountable for some of those things," he said. "Certainly, many of the decisions that we've made haven't worked out as we hoped. At the same time, I continue to believe in the talent that we have on this roster, and I'm hopeful moving forward that the group of guys we have here will perform better."

In the meantime, the Indians continue to believe in Antonetti's direction.

"His vision and his plan are still evolving," Shapiro said.

Antonetti believes that Cleveland has a solid young core to build around.

"We need to do a better job of complementing that group," he said. "That's what we'll spend time doing. I understand that frustration, certainly with the way we've played in the second half. I think that there's a lot more reason to be optimistic than what might just be there on the surface."