With Indians owner said to be 'unhappy,' Acta's job is likely in jeopardy

Manager Manny Acta received a vote of confidence from Indians CEO Paul Dolan a little more than two weeks ago. But the team is 4-12 since then, and 15-41 overall in the second half.

Indians manager Manny Acta received a vote of confidence from Indians ECO Paul Dolan, the son of owner Larry Dolan, a couple weeks ago. Votes of confidence are never ironclad, but the one for Acta feels especially flimsy.

Even a couple weeks ago, just after that vote of confidence, which also covered GM Chris Antonetti and club president Mark Shapiro, a source said Indians ownership was "unhappy" with the Indians' second-half slide. Now, with the team 4-12 since the younger Dolan's vote of confidence, Acta's job security seems even less certain.

Antonetti has been very supportive of Acta, saying at the time of the vote of confidence from ownership that his previous positive comments stood. "I don't feel any differently," Antonetti said. However, he didn't disagree that all things are reassessed at the end of the year.

Today he texted back, saying "nothing is new" on Acta's managerial status.

However, with the Indians having lost 12 of 16 since the late-August vote of confidence to fall to 15-41 in the second half and sliding into a last-place tie with the Twins at 59-82, it stands to reason that the end-of-year reassessment may still include Acta's status.

Hard to believe now, but the Indians actually were over .500 at the All-Star break, causing them to hang between buyer and seller, basically preventing any major moves (turns out they certainly were right not to buy). The Indians have a built-in excuse: The team's payroll under the stewardship of club owner Larry Dolan has stayed among the bottom few in baseball. But that still doesn't explain how they team fell apart in the second half.

Antonetti is making no excuses, saying late last month, "Collectively, we haven't played to our expectations in almost all facets of the game." Antonetti, being brutally honest, went on to say that the starting pitching had gone from inconsistent to "not very good," the pen had gone from very good to not "as good" and that the lineup had been "inconsistent all year."

Antonetti, responding late last month to the source's suggestion that ownership was unhappy, even  back then, said, "I don't think anyone's happy with where we are or how we’ve played."