Cleveland Indians hire Manny Acta as Manager

Three months after being fired as manager of the Washington Nationals, Manny Acta is back. The Cleveland Indians announced today that Acta will become their manager starting in 2010. While financial terms of the deal were not announced the deal is for three years. The Indians front office chose to ignore Acta’s terrible record as manager of the Washington Nationals, believing that bad record was due to a poor roster. One then has to wonder just how much better the Indians roster will be?

Acta, as manger of the Nationals, was 26-61 when that team fired him. He was a little more than half way through his third year with that team. His overall record with the Nationals was 158-252, and his team never finished higher than fourth in the final division standings. Sure the Nationals are a poorly run team, and have virtually no talent on the roster, but can we not say the same thing about the Indians?

More than that though, why do professional sports team constantly retread coaches? Why are these organizations afraid to go outside the 30 or so men who have already run teams? Is it the Indians argument that there is no Bench Coach, Hitting Coach, or minor league manager worthy of the job of running the Indians? There are 30 MLB teams, hundreds of Minor League teams, and after interviewing a handful of people we are to believe the Indians have made the right choice?

Sure the Indians may have traded away all their stars for a bunch of prospects, and sure their minor league system may be stocked with legitimate big league prospects, but this is a tem that is in the middle of rebuilding. How can Acta, who failed so badly in Washington, be the difference maker in Cleveland?