Indians Pick Up Manny Acta’s 2013 Option

One day after the 2011 season concluded, the Indians started looking forward by playing the option game–albeit, probably not the first option that comes to mind these days.  But Chris Antonetti announced today that the Indians have exercised Manny Acta’s 2013 club option. Love him or hate him (but seriously, how could you hate the man in this picture?), he’ll be paid at least until the end of the 2013 season, which is more than we can say for Travis Hafner. Why exercise the option now?  It would seem that there are two reasons.  First, it’s a public endorsement of the job Acta did with the team this season.  His ability to keep a young team focused and playing hard was admirable, as was his steady hand through the ups and downs of a pretty roller-coastery season. Second, there’s the notion that managers (or head football coaches, for that matter) are often at risk for mutinous uprisings by their players if they aren’t under contract for more than...