Rolling Stone Pegs Mangini as Augustus Gloop
October 21, 2009Preseason Predictions
October 21, 2009Two weeks ago I gave you who I thought were the top five managerial candidates for the Tribe opening. By the looks of what Mark Shapiro has set his sights on, he and I have differing opinions. Various reports have the Tribe GM down to four candidates who will/have been brought in for formal, face to face interviews: Former Washington Manager Manny Acta; Former Mets, Rangers, and Japanese League Manager Bobby Valentine; Tribe AAA Manager Torey Lovullo; and Current Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly.
Acta, the 40 year old Dominican, was the first to get an extensive look by the Tribe brass. After a reported seven hour session, he met with the media and came off extremely well. He was poised and comfortable, exactly what you have heard about the man who is a legend in the Dominican Baseball scene.
“This is a job where handling people is a key,” said Acta. “Especially because this is a job where the employees make 50,000 times more than the boss.”
Two things seem to be working in Acta’s favor: First and foremost, he has managerial experience. Granted, it was during miserable two and a half year run in Washington, which was like being the captain of the Titanic. But it is managerial experience nonetheless. Most importantly, he is a highly respected Latino voice in the game, something this organization has lacked for far too long, especially when consider the high percentage of Latin players that dominate the game. At first glance, eight of the Indians potential opening day 25 are Latino.
“Now that I’ve made it as a manager, my goal is to become a mainstay manager in the big leagues,” Acta said. “I’d like to manage 20 to 25 years like some of those top five or six guys in the game that you guys know about.”
Acta may not be the most exciting candidate, but he may be the most realistic. He has interviewed in Houston for there opening as well. Valentine is the biggest name on the list, but I still think he is using the Indians to leverage a different, better job somewhere else. While he loves a good rebuilding project and specializes in working with an inexperienced group, I think his salary demands will also be too rich for the Dolan blood.
Lovullo, the current field boss for the Columbus Clippers, seems to be a distant fourth on this list. I see him being a possible member of the next coaching staff. Hiring Lovullo is the equivalent of bringing in Eric Wedge part deux. They know what they have in him, he is a valued member of the organization, but it really won’t be a much of a change.
This brings us to Mattingly. The former Yankee legend has made no secrets of his desire to lead his own club, sooner rather than later.”I’ve wanted to manage for a long time,” Mattingly said Wednesday. “When the opportunity knocks, you kick the door down. I’m flattered there are organizations that are interested. I’ve been through what it takes to get from one place to another.”
Yesterday on STO’s All Bets are Off with Bruce Drennan, ESPN’s John Kruk told Bruce that Peter Gammons insists Mattingly is actually the front runner for the Indians job and the organization is anxiously awaiting his season to end. In addition, Acta’s former team, the Nationals, have asked the Dodgers for permission to interview Mattingly as well. So the Tribe will have competition for his services.
Mattingly brings a lot to the table. He was one of the most highly respected and best players of the 1980’s. This type of success as a player commands respect of his peers who watched him growing up. Everyone knew who “Donny Baseball” was. He has served two apprenticeships on Joe Torre’s coaching staffs in both New York and Los Angeles and is eager to show that he is ready to go it alone. But this is a guy who has been with the Yankees and Dodgers – a far different ball game than the small market Tribe.
We shall see what happens over the next couple of weeks in Wahooland. I still don’t understand why Tony Pena doesn’t even get a sniff of an interview and my pipe dream of a candidate, Rick Manning, obviously wasn’t in the hopper. When it comes to Mike Hargrove, depending on who the next manager is, Grover could be the perfect bench coach here.
What do I think will happen? Not sure, but I can say that Gammons has long been a shill and mouthpiece for Shapiro. Sounds like he may know something. I’m gonna say its Mattingly’s job to lose, but Acta just made a very good impression on the front office and has inched closer to the top of the list.
26 Comments
I think Mattingly is a bad fit. When someone gets injured, he’ll expect the team to go out and trade for a $10 million a year player, not call up Chris Giminez.
Honestly, I don’t have a preference. Whoever the manager is doesn’t change the fact that the most of the roster is either very young or very terrible.
Acta might be the better candidates, but Mattingly or Valentine would sell more tickets between now and April. You gotta take that into consideration.
Boom makes a good point about how Mattingly doesn’t know how teams on the poor side of town operate.
I agree about Tony Pena – doesn’t make sense to me why he isn’t even getting a look. Also agree that Bobby V is an unlikely choice given his salary demands and his propensity for attention. Both Mattingly and Acta are tough to assess. Acta has managerial experience, but with the worst roster in MLB. Being here in DC, I wouldn’t say Acta is to blame for the Nationals’ struggles, but he sure wasn’t the guy to help them out. Mattingly is a total wild card – no managerial experience, and no experience (even as a player) in a “mid-market” type of organization. If Acta or Mattingly is the choice I think an experienced bench coach, a la Mike Hargrove is a necessity. If they went with an Acta-Hargrove combo I’d actually be pretty pleased I think.
good call on using the valentine-icognito picture. its already made my day.
TD-I sure hope you are correct in regards to Mattingly. Acta simply brings nothing in the way if an identifiable on field winning heritage, and that type of voice and credibility is much needed-as much as a new tone from the previous Wedge/Shapiro experience that I feel would be replicated with Acta.
Mattingly brings instant credibility, not so much as a player but having sat in the dugout under Joe Torre for two organizations with a winning heritage. Further, Mattingly was the other finalist for the Yankee’s job, which in and of itself is impressive. I say bring Donnie baseball to Cleveland if it’s possible, and I would bet he’d bring an EXPERIENCED known set of coaches, which really is the critical component for a new manager. (regardless of sport).
I fear, however, Acta will be the choice because of the lame acedence to Dolan/Shapiro’s program. And, Acta’s own comment about guys like him needing to take “bottom feeder” managerial jobs to work their way up is unsettling, in the least.
“ESPN’s John Kruk told Bruce that Peter Gammons insists…”
Holy multiple hearsay!
Thanks for the informative update.
I say the above knowing there is no way Bobby Valentine ro the likes would ever take this job, and very skeptical about whether Don Mattingly would choose to begin his managerial career (which will happen soon) in Cleveland. I’d love to see it happen…….surely Mattingly has inate leadership qualities over Manny Acta. And…….the “Latin” thing can be addressed by adding such on the coaching staff.
There’s no way Don Mattingly would “acede” to a dud hasbeen like Hargrove as his bench coach, which is one of the types of reasons that’s not likely to happen. He’d want his guys……..not Shapiro’s. Acta will do anything to get the gig. Truly hope I’m wrong.
“surely Mattingly has inate leadership qualities over Manny Acta”
???
/needs more unsubstantiated claims/
@ Jon – I was thinking along the same lines.
Seriously. HOW IN THE WORLD can you know that Mattingly has inate (sic) leadership qualities, beyond his ability to grow a mustache? Wouldn’t you think that a guy like Acta would, in fact, like to have a job? Of course he’s going to do what he can to get the gig.
How does Mattingly bring instant credibility? Because he’s sat on a bench with Joe Torre? Remember how everyone’s thought that the Belichik coaching tree would blossom into something great? It hasn’t. Why should we assume the Torre tree will as well? I don’t see how being on the bench under a winning manager is any more experience than actually managing a team that’s got little talent (much like the Tribe gig).
And Isis, thanks for throwing in a barb at Mangini and his assistants – because it was 1) warranted and 2) relevant. How do you know Acta wouldn’t bring an experienced staff with him? Every argument you’ve made can be made against Mattingly based on his lack of experience. Every argument you’ve made is all subjective. Just because somebody is on the sidelines with a winning team (or organization) doesn’t mean they’ll do well.
My preference in Mattingly over Acta. I didn’t see any development out of any Nationals player while Acta was their manager. I won’t be upset though if it is Acta. How can someone say Mattingly is going to be mad that the Indians won’t go out and trade for so and so? Mattingly knows that when he breaks in as a head coach it isn’t going to be for some glorious job. He’s got to pay his dues, just like everyone else.
Bobby Valentine is WAY over rated. He didn’t do much of anything while managing in the big leagues and had 1, ONE!, winning season over there in Japan. No thank you.
I could not be happier that the last two choices have come down
to Mattingly and Acta.
I like Mattingly because of his heritage. He is a winner. Hopefully that would translate. Great hitter, hopefully he could pass that on to the impatient Indian hitters. No Experience.
Manny Acta I like because of his experience. At least he won’t be learning his job while trying to teach the players their job. I believe he was the primo manager prospect back when he got the Nat’s job. Well-respected.
Having said that I want to know how these guys will play the game(not trying to get the job). Sizemore, Brantley, Choo, and Cabrera can run. I want to see pressure on the opponents defense. RUN BABY!!!
Regarding the notion that no “name” manager would come to Cleveland, c’mon with the self esteme. Leyland went to Detroit… Just sayin’
Did Bobby V use that pic for his headshot when auditioning to be a stunt…er, body double in “Weekend at Bernie’s”?
“Mattingly brings instant credibility, not so much as a player but having sat in the dugout under Joe Torre for two organizations with a winning heritage. Further, Mattingly was the other finalist for the Yankee’s job, which in and of itself is impressive.”
You do realize that the Yankees just buy their “winning heritage” and it has absolutely nothing to do with their coaches right?
By the by, did anyone else want to scream “where was that in 2007!” at the big guy last night?
TD – I’ve got to disagree about Acta’s press conference. He lost me when he insinuated that he was the perfect guy for this second rate job that no quality manager (he cited Torre and LaRussa, I think) would want. I’m paraphrazing, but he showed a total lack of confidence by basically saying he’s happy to be considered for a job that the best managers in the game would think is beneath them.
I want a manager who thinks he can do a great job and compete with the Torre’s and LaRussa’s of the MLB. How can players approach the season with confidence when the manager is on record saying he’s not as good as Joe Torre, etc?
And if his experience is managing one of the worst teams in the history of the game, I’ll pass. I don’t think there are many good candidates for this job. Though I agree Pena at least deserves a look.
Give me Bobby V. He’ll win, bottom line. Mattingly is a hitting specialist, and Torre has managed teams with 150 million payroles well? Who cares, I could probably manage this years Yankees to exactly where they are now. How would Manningly do when talent couldn’t just be bought? I’m skeptical. Acta… I don’t really care about. He couldn’t win with a crappy washington team, how does he win with a crappy tribe team? Bobby V will be larger than life itself in Cleveland, and thats exactly what the team needs after the ho hum appraoch of the Grind. They need someone to take all the spotlight, because as we’ve seen year after year these guys play well when no one’s paying attention to them.
Let me state one thing right off the bat about Tony Pena. He was a solid player in MLB for the Pirates, Tibe, etc but has no ability to manage. I live in KC and his ’07 campaign was a disaster. He completely lost the clubhouse, had multiple personal issues and basically QUIT mid-season. He is the last guy I would want!!!
Now… Mattingly would DEMAND results. He brings attitude. He has been mentored by Torre who is very solid (despite the high payrolls he’s been fortunate enough to have). Our situational hitting has been pathetic for years and our fundamentals are awful. Mattingly knows this side of baseball and would be instant credibility.
Acta is a hard worker with ZERO track record. I do NOT like him. It seems like a replication of Wedge. Go get Mattingly now.
BTW – what happened to Fryman? I like him as an option. What about Orel Hershiser?
We need someone who is going to change the attitude, build a positive culture and DEMAND results…. We need a change agent. This is all management 101.
Don’t let $$ get in the way of hiring the right leader.
Neal in KC
I’ve wanted Rick Manning since 2006. But for whatever reason, that won’t happen.
I want:
1. Valentine
2. Mattingly
(In that order.)
To bring in a guy who went 21-61 last year is just ANOTHER slap in the face to the Indians fan base (all 134 of us).
Shapiro WILL hire either Acta or Lovullo because Markie Shapiro ALWAYS has to show everyone else how smart HE is. Markie Shapiro could never play second fiddle, and that’s why we’ll always be a third fiddle club with his leadership. I use that term loosely.
I’m not as bothered by Acta essentially saying that Cleveland is a second-rate job. It is. I appreciate his candor. Anyone that says that Cleveland holds the same level of prestige as a Boston, NY, LA, or Chicago is lying or insane or both.
Omega King FTW.
Sorry for the late pile-on, but we can be assured of Mattingly’s “great player” status translating to effective managing about as much as we were assured that Eddie Murray would be a successful hitting guru. The very team for whom DM played and coached took a pass on him when their job opened. Someone take a deep breath and recite all the great players who succeeded as manager. Um …
This is not a job a proven winner would want. It’s for a promising young guy who wants to get his first managing chops, it’s for previous big-timer looking for redemption (think “Hoosiers”; that’s Valentine) or it’s for a has-been or never-was like Riggelman with nowhere else to go. No current accomplished manager wants a job with the Indians’ inherent financial limitations.
Well, this is all rather exciting!
For what it’s worth, I think that money wouldn’t be a factor from Dolan’s end. Sure, Shapiro has a budget, but I have to imagine that he has a little bit of cash to play with this off-season. Whether it is wise to invest four million a year in a manager is an entirely different discussion. But heck, we’ve spent that kind of cash on the Deluccis of the world.
Personally, I don’t get the appeal of Mattingly. I like the arguments I’ve heard tossed around that Manny Acta would help with the team’s strong Latin presense. And frankly, I don’t think he’d be a terrible fit. He didn’t succeed in DC, but he had basically NOTHING to work with. The Indians are in trouble, but they are nowhere near as terribly run as the Nationals. Acta had no chance to field a winner, or even much talent to develop. Additionally, I’ve read some of his interviews and he seems smart and very saber-friendly. As a saber guy myself, this sways me.
And YES, I think that it matters who the manager is. Look at the team’s yearly Pythagorean record under Wedge. The team isn’t awful from a talent perspective; it has just underperformed for almost the entirety of Wedge’s tenure. Now, I don’t know if we can actually blame Wedge for this, but it sure didn’t help his cause. If the team simply plays up to expectations based on runs scored and allowed, we probably make the postseason at least a couple extra times over the past few years. Maybe we don’t trade Sabathia, or Lee, or Martinez. Who knows where we would be now?
This is not to absolve Shapiro or Dolan, because the team has very serious issues regardless of their recent Pythagorean records. Still, I am optimistic that the right manager can utilize the bullpen better, play the right players, and make a serious difference in the final W-L. A new coaching staff should also only help matters. How much is it worth? Five wins maybe? Enough that money shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as long as Shapiro feels that it’s the right place to spend whatever he has to work with.
Back to the main point, I’d go with either Valentine or Acta. Valentine will be the popular pick, but I prefer the latter. And Mattingly? I don’t see why anyone thinks that either he or Travis Fryman are qualified (yet) to manage a big league team.
Very excited about Gammons touting Mattingly as the front-runner.
I’m a lifelong Mattingly fan. I enjoyed some of the above-points. But he’s still my choice.
[…] Astros were also reported to desire the services of the Dominican skipper. Acta impressed in his post-interview press conference earlier this […]