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Nationals looking for stability after Acta
So much for the plan to have Manny Acta's patient optimism lead the Washington Nationals out of the doldrums. The abysmal won-loss record became too much to stomach, costing him his job at the All-Star break and adding another layer of instability to the worst team in baseball.
Acta was fired after the team reached the unofficial halfway mark of the season with a 26-61 record, on pace to clear the 100-loss mark for the second consecutive year. Acting general manager Mike Rizzo - himself an interim placeholder - announced Acta's dismissal yesterday morning.
"We feel that the team has underachieved," Rizzo said. "We feel we have a better ballclub than we've shown on the field . . . We feel with a different voice and possibly a different feel in the clubhouse that we can have a more successful second half of the season."
Bench coach Jim Riggleman, who has a 522-652 record over nine seasons managing the Padres, Cubs and Mariners, was named the interim replacement - which means the Nationals now have both a GM and a manager with a temporary label next to their names.
"I'm very uncomfortable with that," team president Stan Kasten said. "I've strived my whole career valuing stability and consistency, and I want to get to that here. We're not there yet. I think we're working toward that. Sometimes you encounter these unfortunate, unforeseen bumps in the road."
Acta joins Colorado's Clint Hurdle and Arizona's Bob Melvin as major league managers who have been fired this season.
"It was a great learning experience, I have no regrets," Acta said in a statement released by the team. "As I move forward, I wish the Nationals all the best. I was very fortunate to work with and meet a lot of wonderful people while here."
Rizzo also called Riggleman "a tough disciplinarian" who is "going to show the young players that this is a difficult game to play." Rizzo said Riggleman, who will not hold his first news conference until tomorrow, "will be a candidate to be the long-term answer" as manager.
In other news:
* The corporate owner of the Chicago Cubs is considering having the baseball team file for bankruptcy protection as a legal step to hasten its long-awaited sale, according to two people with knowledge of the process.
Tribune Co., which itself filed for bankruptcy protection in December, intends for the Cubs' own stay in Chapter 11 to be as short as a day or 2. If pursued, the filing would be done to give the team's next owners as "clean" a title to the Cubs as possible - to protect them from possible future claims by Tribune creditors.
The family of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts remains the front-runner to buy the team for about $900 million, but there is no final agreement.
* A Florida judge ruled that former major leaguer Jim Leyritz, jailed earlier this month on a charge of domestic battery against his ex-wife, will be allowed to await his upcoming DUI manslaughter trial on bond. Jail records indicated that Leyritz was released last night after posting $1,000 bond for the domestic battery charge. Leyritz was arrested July 2 in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Davie and charged with domestic battery against his ex-wife, Karrie. That was considered a violation of Leyritz' release conditions. Leyritz' DUI manslaughter trial is scheduled for Sept. 14.
* The Cincinnati Reds say outfielder Jay Bruce's broken right wrist shows no damage to tendons or ligaments, but he is expected to be out for 6 to 8 weeks. Bruce was hurt Saturday night while trying to make a sliding catch in a game against the Mets. *
