Breaking News: Indians Hire Acta as Next Manager

Not sure how I feel about this news, but the Indians have announced that Manny Acta has been hired as the 40th manager of the Cleveland Indians. It is easy to look at Acta's tenure with the Washington Nationals and come to a negative conclusion about his chances with Cleveland. However, there are several examples of managers failing at their first opportunity and succeeding later. Also, he did not have the best collection of talent in Washington. Then again, the squad he is inheriting just finished a 97 loss season so he isn't necessarily getting a much better bunch of players. I do think the Indians are better than the Nationals though as a wise man once said at the end of the day you are your record.

An ongoing problem for the Indians is a modified version of the question "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" That question is "Which comes first on field improvement or greater attendance?" The team seems to be misguidedly acting with a we'll spend money to improve the product when attendance improves mentality. It just doesn't work like that. Using Wall Street jargon, attendance is a lagging indicator. Fans follow excitement. Teams see spikes in attendance after good seasons or after off season moves that generate excitement. Manny Acta may be a knowledgeable baseball lifer, but his hiring is not going to get one more person to run down to the ticket office.