It's not Acta's fault

Posted by Ian Koski on Jun. 13, 2009 at 10:58 PM
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A few weeks ago, while discussing with Hendo his latest column where he did an exceptional job making a case for the conclusion of Manny Acta's tenure as manager of the Nationals, he asked me where I stood on the question.

In our podcast the day before, I had said I believed it was too soon to talk seriously about firing him. What I didn't say -- but what I told Hendo later -- was that though I did believe Acta's ultra-calm demeanor was counter-productive, it was too soon to pass final judgment.

I still believe that to be the case.

Here's what I told Hendo in my reply that evening:

My feeling is that it needs to wait until the off-season. There ought to be three complete miserable seasons where the team has actually gotten consistently worse before a decision is made. Unfortunately, I'm not sure anything about the Washington Nationals' major-league club has gotten reliably better that can be credited to how Acta has managed. The hitting has gotten better this year because of a trade -- not because of coaching.

This year, we've identified the two major problems -- pitching from the bullpen and defense. I don't hold Acta responsible for the bullpen pitching (though I have questioned some of the substitution strategies, you can't make them throw strikes). But the defense is something that can be improved through coaching and practice. We're a third of the way through the season. If by the two-thirds mark the Nats haven't reduced the frequency of their errors, then we'll know the staff isn't coaching correctly and they ought to go on notice. And if by the end of the season they're still not better, then clearly they're ineffective and need to be replaced.

So yes, I say wait until the end of the season to start thinking about it. Three full seasons is enough time to expect some kind of progress.

So here we are, potentially on the brink of Acta's termination, just 60 games into the 162-game season and the Nationals well on their way to their worst season yet.

I still believe it's premature to fire Acta, thus I hope Ken Rosenthal's report is inaccurate. Regardless, someone inside the Nationals front office or the MLB brass needs to learn to keep their mouth shut.

This kind of leak is busch league -- the kind of stuff that was supposed to ended when Jim Bowden left town. If it was meant to be a shot across the bow, so be it. There's no way Acta and his players couldn't have received the message loud and clear (though obviously it made no impact on today's game play).

I often don't like the way Acta runs this club, but the current state of the franchise is not his fault. He deserves to be measured while managing a real team with real players -- or at least given the opportunity to make demonstrable progress in areas within the reach of managerial influence.