Manny Acta was a wanted man. With the Houston Astros offering him their manager job, he turned down Houston and instead decided to become the next manager of the Cleveland Indians. Last season, Acta was fired as manager of the Washington Nationals after two and a half years on the job.
Considering that Acta had a record of 158-252 with the Nationals, it is somewhat surprising that he was such a hot name. But sources indicate that he was great in his job interviews and illustrated good vision for how he’ll direct teams to the promised land.
“I look forward to working …read more

To add some depth to their infield positions, the Los Angeles Dodgers sent a minor league pitcher and a player to be named in the future to the Washington Nationals for Ronnie Belliard. Belliard has experience playing at second base, third base and first base.
On the season, the native of New York is hitting .246 with five homers, 22 RBIs and 26 runs. However, he’s been playing especially well since the All-Star break. In 83 at-bats, he’s hitting .325 with three homers, 14 RBIs and 16 runs.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre likes the flexibility Belliard will offer his club.
“It gives me …read more

Jonny Gomes did the same exact thing in his first three at-bats on Thursday — he hit home runs. Behind Gomes’ power and Bronson Arroyo’s pitching, the Cincinnati Reds were able to topple the Washington Nationals by a final count of 7-0.
Gomes, who began the year on a minor league contract after struggling mightily with the Tampa Bay Rays last season, finished the game 3-for-4 with three homers, three runs and five RBIs.
After the contest, Gomes said this was an emotional game for him.
Said Gomes: “I was in Triple-A to start this thing off and now, not too many at-bats …read more

Manny Acta has been fired as the manager for the Washington Nationals. Interestingly, the news became public first when Acta told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com.
Considering that the Nationals once again have the worst record in baseball, this news isn’t a huge surprise. Under Acta, the Nationals are 26-61 heading into the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
“I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I’m sorry that things didn’t work out as expected,” Acta told ESPNdeportes.com. “It’s normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well.”
The Nationals got progressively worse with Acta …read more

Nyjer Morgan was enjoying a breakout season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’ll have to now complete that season with the Washington Nationals. Morgan was traded along with Sean Burnett from the Pirates to the Nationals for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan.
On the season, Morgan is hitting .277 with two homers, 27 RBIs, 39 runs and 18 stolen bases. The 28-year-old is an everyday starter for the first time in his big league career.
Burnett is a 26-year-old relief pitcher. Prior to the trade, he had a 3.06 ERA in 38 appearances with the Pirates. He began his career as a starter …read more

Ryan Zimmerman, the emerging superstar third baseman for the Washington Nationals, had a 30-game hitting streak heading into Wednesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Although Zimmerman walked twice, he didn’t get a hit and saw his hitting streak end.
Despite the end of his hitting streak, Zimmerman is still having a very good season. He’s hitting .357 with eight homers, 26 RBI and 28 runs. The 24-year-old from North Carolina is the best thing going for the last place Nationals.
On this day, the Nationals didn’t need production from Zimmerman to take home a rare win. Scoring three runs in …read more

Although all fans around the baseball world are having World Series visions, the reality is that there are going to be a handful of horrible teams during the 2009 Major League Baseball season. Who are the top five worst teams in baseball?
5. Seattle Mariners
The Mariners will likely be improved from last season. They have a relatively high-priced roster so Seattle can expect less bad luck this year. That said, they will likely remain a top five worst team.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates simply don’t have enough talent. They’ve played hard the last few years but without the necessary talent, it’s difficult …read more

“There’s only one October.” This is a true statement and a tag line that Major League Baseball is sticking with for their postseason marketing campaign. I’m all for it, as long as they don’t have those awful Dane Cook commercials popping up to bug me while I watch reruns of The Office on TBS. MLB is looking to appeal to baseball fans this year, by relating to the explosion of blogging.
MLB has already started running their ad campaigns with various commercials, like the one below, that features someone sitting at a computer as you hear their thoughts …read more

Washington Nationals infielder Cristian Guzman looked really good Thursday night. In fact, he went 4-for-4 at the plate and recorded a cycle. It was the first cycle by a Nationals player since Brad Wilkerson accomplished the feat in 2005.
Just 26,338 fans saw Guzman hit for the second cycle in Nationals history. Guzman hit a home run in the first inning and picked up a single in the second, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Guzman’s double came in the fifth inning and finished off the feat with a triple in the …read more

I’m sure everyone noticed that C.C. Sabathia won his first game with the Milwaukee Brewers this week, yet his former team – the Cleveland Indians – have dropped 10 consecutive contests. General Manager Mark Shapiro better hope that Matt LaPorta is on track to make the majors this season, otherwise his team could be falling well past the Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals with the worst record in the entire league.
You already know my feelings on the Sabathia trade. The Indians didn’t get enough in return for the former Cy Young Award winner. Shapiro jumped the …read more