Indians name three of four finalists in managerial search

If nothing else, little-known Manny Acta, the first of four finalists for the Indians' managing job, has a strong grip on reality.

"Every team wants Tony La Russa or Joe Torre to walk through the door and manage their team," said Acta. "The reality is these jobs don't go to guys like that. They go to guys like me."

Thus, the job of managing the rebuilding Indians will go to Acta — or to one of three guys like him.

Two guys who won't be walking through the door — in addition to La Russa and Torre — are former Indians manager Mike Hargrove and former Tribe third baseman and current minor-league manager Travis Fryman.

General Manager Mark Shapiro said Tuesday that Hargrove and Fryman are not among the four finalists.

"I have talked to Grover a few times and still have a tremendous level of respect for him. But it's my decision that he's not the right fit for us, for a variety of reasons," said Shapiro.

The Indians general manager said Fryman probably needs more minor-league experience, although Shapiro was quick to add, "Travis is going to make a very good manager some day down the road."

In addition to Acta, Shapiro said the other three finalists for the Indians job are Columbus manager Torey Lovullo, ESPN analyst and former big-league manager Bobby Valentine and a candidate Shapiro wouldn't name, who is "working around some current obligations."

On Tuesday, Acta spent more than eight hours in the Indians' offices at Progressive Field, meeting with Shapiro, Assistant General Manager Chris Antonetti, and other selected Tribe officials, including club president Paul Dolan.

"It went well. I was very impressed by the whole process," said Acta. "These people are very thorough. They have a tough decision to make, and I'm sure they'll make the right one."

Acta, 40, is also a candidate for the managerial job with Houston, an organization he spent 16 years with as a minor-league player, coach and manager. More recently, he was the manager of the Washington Nationals, but was fired on July 13 of this year after 2 1/2 years on the job and a record of 158-252 (.385).

"My character was tested for 2 1/2 years there. I'm ready to move on," Acta said.

Interestingly enough, after he was fired, Acta said he spent most of the second half of the season watching baseball on TV, specifically the Indians.

"I watched the Indians' games," he said, "because I felt there might be some changes here."

Boy, were there. Manager Eric Wedge and his entire coaching staff were fired on Sept. 30.

Acta said the Indians team he hopes to manage is more talented than the one he left in Washington.

"This situation is more advanced," he said. "The Indians have a lot more pieces. They've got almost a whole lineup of young players. It's a good core of players. If Grady (Sizemore) and (Travis) Hafner get healthy, and with Jhonny (Peralta) playing the way he can, this is about as good as it gets in the American League Central."

As for the Indians' beleaguered bullpen, Acta said if he became manager he would concentrate on assembling a bullpen filled with hard-throwers.

"In the American League, you need power arms," he said. "And we (the Indians) are headed in the right direction, with some arms that miss bats and have a chance to be good. I think Chris Perez can be a huge piece of the puzzle. There's Kerry Wood. And Jensen Lewis has been a good pitcher in the past. The main thing is to have lots of power arms because this is a hitting league, not like the National League, where you can relax a little after the seventh hitter in the lineup."

Acta also said he is definitely intrigued about potentially competing in the AL Central.

"It's probably the most balanced division in baseball," he said. "Every year, every team in the division thinks it has a chance to win. It's not like the AL East or NL East, where you're competing against the teams with all the top payrolls."

The fact that the Indians have several Latin American players on the roster probably also helps the candidacy of Acta, a native of the Dominican Republic.

"I think it benefits me and the players in that I can communicate with them knowing nothing will get lost in the translation," he said. "But I would hope I wouldn't get this job just because I'm bilingual."

What, then, is the most important qualification to be a manager in the major leagues?

"Communication. Handling people is the key," said Acta. "Because this is a business where the employees make 50,000 times more money than the boss."

Oh, my. SOMEONE needs to post a FIXED version of this article.