Indians turn to Acta for reversal

April 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

When the Cleveland Indians last changed managers, they were coming off a 74-win season and third-place finish in the AL Central.

Eric Wedge was handed a mess in 2003.

Manny Acta’s inheritance isn’t much sweeter.

Fired in July after 21‚Ñ2 trying seasons with the talent-starved Washington Nationals, Acta is taking over a team that won 65 games last season — the Indians’ fewest since 1991 — tied Kansas City in the division’s basement, is in the midst of yet another rebuilding project and a front-office transition.

The mid-market Indians, three years after nearly making the World Series, are being given little chance of swinging with baseball’s big boys anytime soon.

Acta, though, is optimistic. He believes the Indians can — and will — contend.

Why?

“Because it’s baseball and because it’s sports and because Kansas got beat in the NCAA tournament,” the perpetually positive Acta said before a recent spring training game in Arizona. “It’s baseball and every day you have the opportunity to have somebody rise up and be a big-time performer, and big-time performers can have a bad day.”

The Indians had too many bad days in 2009.

Doomed by another slow start, their season disintegrated quickly and led to ownership’s hotly debated decision to trade both Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and All-Star catcher Victor Martinez in July despite Cleveland owning club options on both players for 2010.

It was a white flag of surrender Cleveland fans couldn’t stomach, and the season culminated with a 15-game road losing streak and Wedge’s dismissal.

Acta represents change, and, the Indians hope, a new beginning.

However, there are some short-term headaches the club must overcome to return to contender status.

The rotation is shaky, at best. Jake Westbrook hasn’t pitched in the majors in nearly two years after Tommy John elbow surgery, yet Acta is handing him the ball on opening day in Chicago next week.

The Indians are crossing their fingers that Fausto Carmona, a 19-game winner in 2007, can fix his mental and mechanical issues. The right-hander, whose move to the first-base side of the rubber this spring seems to have helped, could be the key to Cleveland’s return to prominence — if there’s to be one.

“The way I see our ballclub — and it’s not a secret — we have to get our starting rotation to do a better job,” Acta said. “That’s it.”

If it was only that simple.

The bullpen isn’t settled, either. Closer Kerry Wood is expected to miss the first few weeks with a strained back muscle, an injury that promotes Chris Perez into the team’s most important relief role and will force Acta to mix and match relievers after the fifth inning. With Wood due $11 million next season, the Indians could trade the 32-year-old by July if they’re out of playoff contention.

The cash-strapped club spent $2 million on first baseman Russell Branyan this winter, hoping to add pop to a lineup needing some middle-of-the-order punch. But like Wood, Branyan will start the season on the disabled list with a bad back.

Even without him, Cleveland’s offense is balanced and should score. Underrated right fielder Shin Soo-Choo, the only AL player to hit .300 with 20 homers and 20 steals last season, may finally get the attention he deserves and Grady Sizemore should bounce back after offseason surgeries.

There’s a bigger problem, one only winning will solve for the Indians: Their fans have fled.

Unhappy after the team’s payroll purge, Clevelanders seem unwillingly to fund a franchise and young team needing their support and ticket-buying power more than ever. The Indians, who once sold out 455 consecutive home games, have dropped below the Browns and Cavaliers on the city’s sports totem pole. While the Cavs and superstar LeBron James chase an NBA title, the Indians are trying to attract customers and finding scant interest.

As of this week, there were still tickets available for the April 12 home opener against Texas.

Acta believes Cleveland’s passionate fans will return — in time.