Before he was handed a white No. 11 jersey and
smiling Chief Wahoo cap, Manny Acta was asked one final question by
Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro.
"Ready?" Shapiro asked his new manager.
"Born ready," Acta said.
Ready to win.
Acta, who was unable to turn the talent-thin Washington National
into winners, was introduced Monday as Cleveland's 40th manager
after he picked the Indians over the Houston Astros, a team close
to his heart and the one that gave him his start as a big leaguer.
Offered jobs in Houston and Cleveland over the weekend, the
40-year-old Acta selected a city he had never visited until he came
for an interview last week. He also chose a team he thinks can
recover quickly from a disastrous season and move back into
contention.
The Indians signed him to a three-year contract through 2012
with a club option for 2013. Financial terms were not immediately
available.
"This is a perfect place for me," Acta said. "That's why I'm
here. I'm attracted to all these talented young players. I'm
looking forward to teaching and leading them and helping this team
win a championship."
Acta spent 2 1/2 years with the Nationals, who fired him after a
26-61 start last season. With Washington, he went 158-252, an ugly
mark that has stained his resume. Acta has a lot to prove and is
confident he one day will be looked upon differently.
"If you give people the opportunity to choose between Joe Torre
after his first three years with the Mets or Joe Torre now, I
believe everyone would pick Joe Torre now. Not everybody who is a
big shot now was a big shot when they started. Big shots are little
shots who keep shooting.
"I'm willing to keep shooting until I become a big shot."
Shapiro said Acta's win-loss record became less of a factor as
they learned more about the native of San Pedro de Macoris,
Dominican Republic, a hotbed for baseball talent.
"We went through a thorough process, talked to people who had
managed against him and played for him at every level and the same
kind of comments about Manny kept coming through - his character,
his resourcefulness, his desire to continue to improve, his ability
to teach and bring the best out of players.
"When you look at the resume and the characteristics of the
person, you combine those and put them into our situation, he's the
right man for this organization. He's the right man for this city
and he's the right man for our team."
Cleveland, which fired Eric Wedge in the final days of a 65-97
season, began its managerial search with an initial list of 35
candidates. The club whittled to about 10 before inviting Acta,
former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine and Torey Lovullo, the
Indians' Triple-A manager, to Cleveland for second interviews. The
team had also planned to interview Los Angeles Dodgers hitting
coach Don Mattingly a second time.
But when the Astros made an offer to Acta on Saturday, the
Indians jumped in and negotiated with his agent before agreeing to
a contract that night.
"I knew we might lose him because he got offered a job,"
Shapiro said. "They offered him a job first while we were still
working through our process. We just sped up our timeframe, since
we were headed in that direction."
With two offers on the table, Acta said he spent an emotional
night at home with his family in St. Cloud, Fla., weighing his
options.
"What were the odds I would have two choices?" he said,
smiling. "I never imagined I would have been in that situation."
Saying no to the Astros was difficult for him. Acta was drafted
by Houston as a 17-year-old and spent 16 years in the club's minor
league system, including six seasons as a player and eight as a
manager. But he turned down the Astros, who reportedly only offered
Acta a two-year package compared to Cleveland's three-year deal.
Acta said he didn't sense the Indians' strong interest in him
until they offered the job.
"These people are very good poker players," he said.
During his interviews, Acta impressed the Indians with his
detailed knowledge of their team. After he was let go by
Washington, Acta immersed himself in learning about other teams so
he would be prepared in case there were some openings in the
offseason.
His hard work paid off and Acta is already thinking about how he
can get the Indians, who just two years ago were one win away from
the World Series, back on top in the AL Central. He has begun
working with Shapiro and assistant GM Chris Antonetti on assembling
a coaching staff and would like to have one completed in a few
weeks.
Acta also plans to contact many of Cleveland's players and see
some play in the Arizona Fall League, Venezuela and the Dominican
this winter.
"When I'm in, I'm all the way in," he said. "The only hobby I
have is playing golf, and I'm not even good at it. So why would I
be out there?"
One of Acta's main goals during the offseason is to help rebuild
the confidence of starter Fausto Carmona, a 19-game winner in 2007
who was sent to the club's training complex this season in Arizona
to work on his mechanics. Acta has other plans. Winning is at the
top of his list.
"Nobody likes to lose and I am a sore loser," he said. "I
won't even let my wife and daughter beat me at tic-tac-toe. I'm
about winning, just like everybody else. We understand that we have
to pay our dues in our playing and coaching careers. I'm ready to
win."
