"Manny's not the only one to blame..."

I’ve been sitting here staring at a blank laptop screen for the better part of two hours, taking in the news that the Cleveland Indians have fired Manny Acta. Truth be told, it was Chris Antonetti, the Cleveland Indians current general manager, that made the decision to fire Manny Acta.

Oh, Chris Antonetti said all the right things, and took share of the blame.

"Manny's not the only one to blame," Antonetti said. "We need to really look hard organizationally at how we can get better, especially at the major league level because our performance was not what we expected and not what we hoped. We have higher expectations and we need to do a better job of identifying some of those solutions."

Boy is that the understatement of the century.

The Indians front office has become a joke of massive proportions. Think about it. It wasn't long ago that John Hart had produced a front office that was literally the cream of the crop in major league baseball. Over the years, the Indians FO has been gutted by several organizations looking to upgrade their own front offices. While that has taken its toll, what's been left in it's place is Mark Shapiro and Antonetti, and while the Dolans appear perfectly content with that status quo, nobody else is.

Now that it’s circulating that Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti are going to be retained for more Cleveland Indians fun, I couldn't be more disgusted.

That status quo just not good enough anymore.

What’s the definition of insanity? Ah yes, it’s doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results

Well, here we go again.

Manny Acta has become the patsy for a Cleveland Indians team that was in first place in the A.L. Central in late June, and finds itself in a battle for the worst record in the American League at the end of September.

Don’t get me wrong. When your team takes a nose-dive as the Indians did in 2012, the manager should be squarely in the crosshairs. The problem in this scenario is that the fundamental flaws with this team go far beyond anything that Manny Acta did or didn’t do. It’s hard to win baseball games when your lineup doesn’t have any right-handed hitters, or many good left-handed hitters for that matter. It’s hard to win baseball games when the starting rotation, and pitching in general, has an ERA pushing 6.00 over the past couple of months.

I’ve never really been a Manny Acta fan, but in the same respect, I’ve never really been a detractor either. Perhaps that was his biggest issue, as it often seemed like he was a rather non-committal manager. He was definitely affable, and he was always a good interview, but at the same time, you were often left scratching your head at what type of manager he really was. He never seemed to get very up, or very down, and his stoic demeanor since the end of July was hard to take.

But who was Manny Acta anyways? Was he a good manager? Was he a bad manager?

Who knows? At this point, who cares?

I sure don’t buy the opinion that the guy is a flat-out loser. Sure, in six seasons with the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Nationals, his record is a less than stellar 372-518, for a .418 winning percentage.

Does that make him a loser?

In Joe Torre’s first five seasons as a manager with the New York Mets, his record was 286-420, for a .405 winning percentage. In 11 of his first 14 managerial seasons, Torre went 637-774, which is only a .450 winning percentage. In other words, he lost a lot before becoming one of baseball’s all-time great managers with the Yankees.

A guy that’s rumored to be in the running to become the next manager of the Cleveland Indians is the former Boston Red Sox skipper, Terry Francona. In his first four seasons as manager with the Philadelphia Phillies, he went 285-363, for a .440 winning percentage. Like Torre, during that initial stretch, he didn’t have a winning season.

No, I’m not saying Acta is Torre or Francona, but what I am saying is that there is likely more than meets the eye with regards to Acta.

Unfortunately, with the Indians, he never had a lineup worthy of showcasing his ability as a manager.

A case could be made that his ability to get this lineup into first place is literally manager of the year stuff. Think about how long the Tribe was in first place in 2011 and 2012. Looking back now, you have to be somewhat amazed. I know the schedule was easy and that the division is weak overall, but regardless, that's still impressive.

With that said, Manny Acta needed to be fired, because this team needs to go in a different direction.

But if the Indians aren’t firing the general manager and president that constructed both the personnel and the philosophy of this team since 2001, what are they really doing?

Is Chris Antonetti suddenly going to figure things out?

Is Mark Shapiro going to force Antonetti to do something that doesn’t fit into the context of their “stable environment?”

Are the Indians going to start taking the risks that are needed to take the next steps into contention?

No freakin' way.

The Dolans are still going to be the frugal, mind-numbing owners that have the PR sense of BP after their gulf oil disaster a couple years back.

Mark Shapiro is still going to talk about having the money to make moves, then follow with a cautionary tale about something with regards to making those moves...then never make them.

Chris Antonetti is going to continue to sign hundreds of former major leaguers that are about 31, who have about 40 games of major league experience, used to be #4 prospects for their teams about seven years ago, and can't hit major league pitching.

Ask yourself this question: if you were a name manager looking for a job in 2013, would you sign a deal with the Indians knowing that there may be some big-time jobs opening up with teams with much more capital than the Tigers. Would you sign a deal with Chris Antonetti, knowing that he won’t be signing any free agent players of significance? Would you sign a deal with the Indians knowing that there just aren’t any significant pieces in both Columbus and Akron that will be helpful to the big league Tribe in 2013?

The answer is an easy no.

I honestly wonder if Alomar Jr. would even WANT this job, if it were officially offered to him.

He might say no.

Then what?

There is absolutely no trust in this front office.

None.

There isn’t any trust from a fan base that is legitimately ready to call it a day on the Tribe. There isn’t any trust from the current roster, who got absolutely no help at any point from the time they traded for Ubaldo Jimenez, until now…unless you figure Lars Anderson is the answer. There isn’t any trust from the free agent pool, who now know the Indians won’t offer up either an extra year or an extra million or two, if push comes to shove.

A relationship without trust is like a car without gas, you can sit in it all day long, but you sure as hell aren’t going to get anywhere.

That’s where this Cleveland Indians team is right now.

This team is on the road to nowhere, and quickly.

They need to make a change in philosophy, and the only way to do it is to absolutely gut the front office. Manny Acta getting the axe with six games left was inevitable, but it should have been the first move, not the only move. Chris Antonetti should be fired, and so should Mark Shapiro. Make no bones about it, while Antonetti has been making the baseball decisions for the Tribe for the better part of three seasons, the philosophy that he abides by is one created by his mentor and friend, Mark Shapiro. I don’t really care if he isn’t making on-the-field decisions anymore, it’s his regime that is failing, and it’s time for a new one.

Unfortunately, the Dolans just won’t make that move.

It’s utter insanity.

So here comes another manager.

So what.

Sandy Alomar Jr. could bring some of that 90’s excitement to the ballclub if he’s the next hire, but what is he going to do differently than Acta. Even if he does, will he have any tools to do it with?

Terry Francona could bring some of that “end the World Series draught” excitement if he’s the next hire, but does he have the skills to bring out a miracle with essentially the same team and philosophy of this current 2012 Tribe?

A new manager can’t go out and sign a right fielder or a first baseman. A new manager can’t trade Shin-Soo Choo or Chris Perez. A new manager can’t create something out of nothing. Who wants that job?

The fact of the matter is that stupid is, as stupid does…and as long as the Dolans keep their “stability” at the top with Shapiro and Antonetti…well, that’s just pure stupidity…

…and downright insane.

Jim is currently the co-site editor, the ATF/Carolina Mudcats/Indians/General Site Columnist, and the co-host of IPI's weekly online radio show, Smoke Signals. You can follow Jim on Twitter @Jim_IPI, or contact him via e-mail at jpete@indiansprospectinsider.com.