Former Nats manager Acta gets another chance with the Indians

NEW YORK -- Three months after being fired as manager of the Washington Nationals, Manny Acta had no trouble lining up his next gig. The Cleveland Indians on Sunday named Acta their new manager, after Acta reportedly turned down the Houston Astros.

Acta, who turns 41 in January, so impressed the Indians the team sped up its hiring process, apparently handing the job to Acta before he could change his mind about Houston.

In a statement released through the team, Acta called the Indians "a talented group of young men who seem to possess a lot of energy and passion for their work."

His contract with the Indians reportedly is for three years, plus a team option for 2013.

"After speaking with an impressive array of candidates," Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro said in a statement, "we feel that Manny is a very strong and experienced leader who possesses great energy and enthusiasm, along with tremendous communication skills and a positive mind-set that will command a presence in the dugout, clubhouse and with our fans."

Acta compiled a 158-252 in two-plus seasons in Washington; the team dismissed him in July with the Nationals holding a 26-61 record.

The Indians also interviewed former Rangers and Mets manager Bobby Valentine, now an ESPN analyst, and Class AAA Columbus Manager Torey Lovullo, and conducted telephone interviews with several others, including Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly.

Valentine and Mattingly, among others, remain candidates for the Nationals' vacant managing job, which is currently held on an interim basis by Jim Riggleman.

Scioscia criticizes format

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, one of the most outspoken opponents of the expanded postseason schedule -- which, since 2007, has added extra off-days to the schedule in order to maximize television ratings -- said Sunday that the format damages the "integrity" of the postseason.

"You lose a lot of the integrity of what the season means when you have three days off at the end of the season to let other teams maybe reset their starting rotation -- which is an advantage of clinching early," Scioscia said. "That [advantage] is negated when any team can do it just by getting to the playoffs."

Including Sunday night's Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, the Angels will have played only nine games in a 21-day span since the end of the regular season.

"I think it's something that eventually is going to have to be addressed," Scioscia said. "We saw what happened last year in Philadelphia [when inclement weather forced the suspension of Game 5 of the World Series]. You can't control the weather to a certain extent, but the earlier you can schedule these to get them in, the better chance you have of finishing this in weather that is conducive to the outstanding level of play on any playoff baseball field."

Good advice

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi wholeheartedly endorsed closer Mariano Rivera's plan to have a one-on-one talk with struggling setup man Phil Hughes, which Rivera said on Saturday that he intended to do.

"To me, it's coming from the best -- a man that has been more successful this time of year than anyone, a man that has also had struggles, [who] has had to deal with a game that was a tough game to get over," Girardi said. "So I think that conversation that Mo has with any of our relievers this time of year will be extremely beneficial."

McGwire resurfaces

According to a Twitter post from former big leaguer Brian McRae, the St. Louis Cardinals fired his father, Hal McRae, as hitting coach and replaced him with former slugger Mark McGwire.

McGwire has worked for the Cardinals as an occasional instructor, but this would be his first full-time job in baseball since his infamous appearance before a congressional committee investigating steroids in baseball, when he repeatedly deflected questions by saying, "I'm not here to talk about the past."