Manny being Manny

No, not THAT Manny (who at last check remains unemployed). Let's hear some thoughts from Manny Acta, who enters his third season as Nationals manager perhaps under some added pressure. Remember, the club still hasn't picked up his option for 2010. Acta held court earlier this afternoon with the six of us media members who are in town. He addressed, among other things: A new emphasis on defense and baserunning, the health of Nick Johnson, Shawn Hill and Wily Mo Pena, his concerns about putting together a bullpen, his new coaching staff and his unwavering optimism as a big-league manager. Enjoy... What does this team need to be better other than health? "The injuries is together with the poor defense that we played. It was very tough to ask our team to play the defense they played the year before when you put in six different guys at each position in the infield. But we do need to get better defensively. We all know that. And that's something that we're really going to hammer in spring training. And hopefully by having more stability, it'll help." How important is better team chemistry? "We haven't had any chemstry problem here. We were in the bottom in hitting, and the bottom in fielding, and that's how you lose ballgames. It's not about chemistry. I haven't had to run into the clubhouse and break up any fights or anything in two years that I've been here. It's always great to have a great clubhouse and everybody getting along. But I'm one of the guys that believes you don't win games in the clubhouse." Want better baserunning? "I want improvement. I'm never satisfied. I'm not saying we did bad last year. But we have a young club and so these guys have a lot of room for improvement. And you know Marquis here is really going to help us out. I'm trying to get these guys to do a lot of the little stuff that some clubs that are loaded with talent might not do. Marquis I'm going to talk to him and just really get back to guys advancing on balls in the dirt. ... We have to compensate with those type of things with the lack of, I guess amount of, superstars or talent here." What's the one thing you're least worried about entering camp and the one thing you're most concerned about? "Right now, our position players, because of all of the options I have. Our lineup right now is not my biggest concern. We still were in the bottom hitting last year and I'm not saying that I'm not worried because were going to be on top. But we have options now. We have enough guys for me not to have to worry about that kind of stuff. And then the biggest [concern] is our bullpen. We're rebuilding our bullpen. It was a luxury for this ballclub the last few years, coming into camp having Cordero, Rauch and Ayala. And the discovery of Saul a couple of years ago, too. Despite our shortcomings, very few teams had a bullpen like we had in the National League. And now three of those guys in the back end are gone. And a few kids that pitched well last year, it was their first time around. So you still don't know. And that's going to be the toughest challenge here in spring training, is to put together a quality bullpen." Is Hanrahan ready to be the regular closer? "Ready or not, he's getting it. We like what we saw last year. We like Joel and Joel made big strides going back to two years ago when he was starting here. We like him. He's got the stuff, and he's going to get that opportunity here. He's our closer right now." Does Joel need to work more on getting ahead in the count? "He knows it, too. He just needs to be more consistent with strike one. Just cut down the walks because when you come in to close games, obviously you're only up by three or less runs. And you don't want to be putting people on base. And he's a guy that when he gets ahead he can put guys away because he's got overpowering stuff." If Hanrahan fails, who's your backup closer? "We're going to have to mix and match. But you know what? Right now, it's too premature to answser that question because we have 45 days to see guys and to find maybe an eighth inning guy or a backup guy. We said it when we came to spring training last year, we could say it's Cordero. If he fails, it's going to be Rauch. If Rauch fails, it's going to be Ayala, up until Hanrahan took over. So that's a big challenge for us this year." Is this the best team you've had entering spring training since you've been manager? "(laughs) Yeah. Yeah. This is the first time we have a legit cleanup hitter, power guy, in our lineup. And man, if all these guys are healthy, without a doubt -- position player wise -- I would say that. The bullpen, obviously, it's a challenge. But this is, i would say, the best team we've had the three years I've been here." You knew when you took the job there would be some bumps in the road. But do you feel now if things go right, you can reach the next level? "Wins and losses don't exactly tell you how much progress you're making when you are developing or rebuilding, however you want to call it. Obviously, in the eyes of people, wins and losses, that's what it does. But I think little would have mattered to us last year if instead of losing 102 games we would have lost only 90 or 92 but would have done it with a bunch of players that weren't going to be a part of the future here. Wouldn't have had a chance to develop the Flores, the Lannans, the Hanrahans. When I first took over here, they told us the situation and that we were probably looking to contend a few years down the road -- I'm talking about two years ago -- so I think if everything works out, the plan is right on target to be able to have higher expectations in 2010. That's according to people outside. My expectations are always trying to win with what I have." What about 2009? "Hey, let's win. That's what I'm saying. From people outside and from the plan that has been put together ... I try to win with what I have and I'm not going in here thinking about 2010. This is a good bunch of guys and baseball has shown you the last few years that just do things right and you never know." On rotation: "I have a better starting five than I had here in the last two years. This is going to be probably the best starting rotation we had the last three years." How big would a healthy Shawn Hill be? "Oh, boy, is that going to be a big bonus or what for us? And you know he's feeling good. Spoke to him today. And he's optimistic and he's hoping that he continues to feel that way. And I mean go back to last year when he was our No. 1 guy and he was coming back from injuries, and now we're going into this year and we're hoping that he's healthy and he's hoping to be healthy just to make the rotation out of being the fourth or fifth guy. That tells you right there the quality of our rotation is better than the last two years." On Odalis Perez: "It's huge because he pitched well for us last year. He's an experienced guy who takes the ball every five days, and also the fact that it's going to allow us that if some of these youngsters are not ready to step up and take one of these guys, they're still very young, they can go back to Triple-A and develop." Would you prefer to see one of the young guys in the rotation over a veteran like Perez? "Well, that being said, we still want to win here. If a veteran can pitch well and can make our rotation and help us win, at the end of the day, I have no preference. I'm not talking about a 42-year-old guy, either. We're talking about a guy who's only 31, 32 years old. It's up to them. Those young guys are going to have show in spring training that they're ready to take the challenge and help us win up here." Can Jordan Zimmermann realistically make this rotation out of spring training? "Oh, it's up to him and the other guys. He's going to get the opportunity. If he comes out here and shows he's ready to do it and he beats out everybody, we're not going to hold him back." How long does it take for a new coaching staff to come together? "I can't answer ... because this is the first time I've put together a coaching staff where I'm not very familiar with every one of those guys. But we're going to start today. We're just going to have a meeting and go over how we want things done in spring training and over our players and get to know each other better. We don't have time to be getting to know each other here. We have to get players going and spend more time on the field getting these guys better. But I can't give you a time. When I was on a coaching staff before, I was a coach. I wasn't the head guy finding out how people were jelling." Who do you know best on your new staff, aside from Randy St. Claire? "Well, Eckstein. Rick was here. I've known Randy Knorr for a while too. Randy was with the Houston Astros, too, as a player when I was coaching there. And I would say out of the other guys, Riggleman, because I have always talked to Jim a lot during baseball season when we see each other. But I'm relatively new to Marquis and Pat." How would you describe Eckstein's approach? "He studies the game. He's got a lot of passion for what he does. And he's into it. He really takes it personal. He pays attention to every one of those guys. He's a student of the game. That's why he's been such a big part of USA Baseball for the last few years." Points you're trying to get across when meeting with staff? "Enthusiasm. What we're trying to around here. Being positive when we're around these guys. I'm not going to be able to make everybody around here Mr. Perky, but just to keep the enthusiasm and be teachers 24-7 here and get to know these guys. And be patient. Because again, we're dealing with a lot of young guys. And go from there. They have six weeks to get to know these guys." Is there a part of you that's sick of being patient? "No, no, no. I'm ready to win every day, every year. But not until the day that we show up to spring training and every one of you guys has us as the favorite to win the National League and we start losing, then that's when my patience is going to start being tested." Are you inclined to be any more realistic rather than optimistic? "No, that's by choice. No. What am I going to do, sit here and concede already that we're going to finish last and a certain team is going to finish first, second and third? No, that's not how you approach life. If I wanted to be realistic, then I would still be back home in the Dominican Republic doing something else. You've got to push and push and push and push. I'll let the rest of the world, if they want to be realistic, to be. I'm realistic when I have to be. But not when it comes to baseball." Division has gotten a lot tougher? "Yeah but we can't worry about them. We have to get better ourselves. We have enough on our plate right here to be worried about the other clubs. We've just got to concentrate on what we have here and just put last year behind us and move on." How much do you have to pray to avoid injuries again? "I don't know if I have to pray more than I usually do. It was very unfortunate, and I don't know if you'll ever see something like that again on a baseball team. But hey, every team had injuries. We flat-out had a bad season. I'm glad that we have the depth that we have now, that if a couple of guys go down, I think we have enough resources now to stay at a more competitive level than we were at last year. Last year we were praying for Maxwell to be healthy out of Double-A to take a look at him. This year, look at the amount of outfielders we have here, and the competition we have here. We feel good about the options we have." Do you worry that the organization might not be as patient as you? "No, because not too many people are blessed as I am. I'll have a job. All I can control is to manage this team to the best of my ability. And then if whoever's patience runs out, that I can't control. I really don't worry about that. I don't know if you guys want to put it to rest right now, but I'm going to tell you: The economy is not good. Where I live down here, the unemployment rate is at its highest. And I have a job for 2009. I think it would be bad if I started whining and complaining about not having a job for next year. So I can't control somebody else's patience. My patience will be there." Is this a better test of you as a manager to get to have better players? "I'm very confident in my abilities. I don't do things that are completely out of this world. I don't try to reinvent the wheel or anything. I think there's very few geniuses in this game anyways. The biggest part of this job is handling the everyday 25-30 guys that you have working under you. It's not so much the winning and losing thing. Plus, I have won at every level I've worked at before here. So it's going to be a matter of time. I've won at rookie ball. I've won at A-ball. I won in Triple-A the year I worked there. So I don't have to change my approach. Just be patient, keep on working and it will come." Have you learned anything in last two years as manager you didn't know before? "No, because I didn't come all the way from the minor leagues to be a [big-league] manager. I think being a third-base coach for five years before becoming a manager exposed me to a lot of the things that a manager goes through. Especially the first three years when I worked for Frank. That was a blessing for me. So other than handling you guys twice a day, I think I kind of knew what to expect. You're always going to have positive reviews and negative reviews. You can't help that. I think the fact I coached for five years up here before helped me tremendously." Update on Wily Mo Pena? "He's ready to go. He's 100 percent. I just spoke to his agent last week in New York, and Wily's already hitting. He's coming to camp brand new." What have you thought watching Nick Johnson hit? "He looked very good in batting practice. Is he 100 percent yet? We'll have to see, because batting practice is not the surest test. Once he starts hitting off pitchers and playing in some games, we'll see. But it's very encouraging, just to see him on the field swinging the bat the way he has. It will be a plus for us. But it's too early for me to assess where he's at right now." What would a Dunn-Johnson combo mean to this lineup? "That's an attractive ... I know it makes a lot of guys salivate, including myself, to have two guys like that in the lineup. It means a lot. One guy is a bonafide 20-plus home run guy, and the other guy is a 40-home run guy. And they both get on base 38 percent of the time. So it would mean a lot. I hate to keep hammering the same thing over and over and over, but you need to be on base to score runs. And these two guys, they're on base 38 percent of the time." What does that do for Ryan Zimmerman? "It makes everybody better. Dunn, everybody knows how much good he's going to do for Zimmerman. And then the guys that come in front and behind of Nick and Dunn, they both get some benefit out of it. You're either going to be protected, or there's going to be a ton of times when you're going to hit with somebody on base." Still look at Anderson Hernandez as a No. 8 hitter, not leadoff? "Right now, it still stands like that. I don't want to put that much pressure on him right away. ... But I have a right to change my mind. I can change my mind by the end of spring training, right? But right now, we just want to give this kid an opportunity to see if he's going to be the long-term opportunity here. I don't want to put too much on his plate right away."