July 13, 200916 yr Updated: July 13, 2009, 1:28 AM ET Acta says he's been fired ESPN.com news services Manny Acta has been fired as manager of the Washington Nationals, he told ESPNdeportes.com's Enrique Rojas on Sunday. The Nationals were blanked by the Houston Astros on Sunday 5-0 to go into the All-Star break with the worst record in the league at 26-61. "I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I'm sorry that things didn't work out as expected. It's normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well," Acta said. Although not confirmed, Jim Riggleman is the leading candidate to take over as manager for the remainder of the season. In three seasons at the Washington helm, Acta posted a 158-252 record. His best season came in his first when the Nats finished 73-89, but they slid to 59-102 last year. Washington was on pace to win only 48 games this season. Before getting the Nationals job, Acta was the third base coach for the New York Mets.
July 13, 200916 yr The Nats need to fire a whole lot more people, including players. I kinda like Acta and he got a raw deal in Washington. He was surrounded with a bunch of crappy ball players. I have no idea why Ryan Zimmerman signed an extention with them when he did.
July 13, 200916 yr The need to fire the new owners. They should not kept the former GM that did not do Jack for us. I forgot his damm name.
July 13, 200916 yr I dont know what they expected Acta to do with that roster and that bullpen. Mike MacDougal is their freaking closer for gods sake. I dont think any manager could have done that much better with that team.
July 13, 200916 yr This is one of those strange scenarios. I like Acta and don't necessarily think he's a bad manager, but those numbers are just atrocious and the manager has to be fired when a team is that bad. It obviously isn't his fault that the team put up such terrible numbers (not entirely, at least), and it was basically a no-win job for him in the first place. All in all, that franchise is f***ed.
July 13, 200916 yr They are not even close to a contract with Strasburgh either. Wouldn't surprise me to see Strasburgh not be playing professional until 2010.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.