Things didn’t work out for Manny Acta in Cleveland. The saber-savvy skipper was fired after the Indians finished the 2012 season 26 games under .500. In his three years at the helm, the Tribe went 214-266.

I caught up with Acta at this week’s SABR Analytics Conference, in Phoenix. My first question was straight and to the point: How good of a job did you do in Cleveland?

“I feel like I served the purpose,” opined Acta. “I went into a rebuilding job. Basically, we had our core players who were going to be successful for the franchise, and we did our thing to keep them in line and develop them.”

I asked Acta about the team chemistry.

“It was terrific,” said Acta. “A lot of the credit for that goes to the scouting and player development over there. It’s a character-oriented front office, which made my job easy. All I had to do was concentrate on managing the ballgame. I didn’t have many issues in the clubhouse. The Indians get high-character guys and do a pretty good job of weeding out the bad guys as they come up through the system.”

His response demanded a follow-up. In the opinion of some — both inside and outside the organization — Acta’s relationship with certain players was less than ideal. I asked him about that.

“When you don’t win, there is always going to be criticism,” answered Acta. “My second year, when we had that run, instead of criticism I had a lot of people talking me up. You have to take the good with the bad. When you leave a place, there are always going to be people saying things. You have to accept that and move on. I refuse to believe I was the cause of us not winning the division while I was there.”

Another follow-up: Were there issues with some players?

“You can never have 25 Boy Scouts,” said Acta.” But we didn’t have anybody where we couldn’t live through it. Much has been said about Chris Perez, but he made two All-Star teams while I was there. He was manageable.”

Acta is currently serving as an analyst for ESPN. He’d rather be managing in the big leagues. If he gets another opportunity, what will he do differently?

“I’ll probably loosen up a little bit,” said Acta. “I’m a guy who likes to do things right and players sometimes see that as… I just like to respect the game. Respect the way you wear your uniform and how you go about your business. But maybe that’s not a priority for guys anymore. Maybe I’d need to loosen up some of those rules and just let them concentrate on the ballgame.

“I’d possibly stop working so much as a coach,” continued Acta. “I used to spend a lot of time during batting practice hitting ground balls. When I get my next opportunity, I think I’ll let a coach do that. I’ll use that time to go into the outfield to talk to some of my relievers. During the game, you don’t get a chance to talk to them because they’re isolated out in the bullpen. There are little things like that I’d tinker with.”

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Things didn’t work out for Chris Perez in Cleveland, either. They did to a certain degree — he logged a lot of saves — but there were implosions along the way. To say Perez was a lightning rod would be an understatement.

The Indians released Perez on Halloween. His outspokenness was likely a contributing factor. Ditto the drugs-and-dog controversy and Jekyll-and-Hyde pitching performances. On Christmas Eve, the Los Angeles Dodgers inked him to a free agent contract.

I asked Perez why he signed with the Dodgers.

“This is a good opportunity for me to re-establish myself,” said Perez. “It also gets me away from some of the negative perception I had in Cleveland. Last year, stuff happened and the reporters kind of piled on. Here, I can just fit in on a good team and do my thing.”

Perez wasn’t surprised to be let go by the Indians. He was somewhat surprised to land where he did.

“The Dodgers were nibbling right from the beginning, but when they signed [Brian] Wilson, I thought that was it,” said Perez. “But they called my agency and said they still wanted me. I was excited about that. There were a couple of teams I could have signed with. When I was in L.A. getting my physical, another National League team actually made an offer. A few American League teams had showed interest as well, one in the East and one in the West.

“Free agency is so fluid,” continued Perez. “One deal goes down and the dynamic changes. You kind of have to wait out the market. There were a ton of guys out there. Six or seven guys who had 20 saves last year were free agents. I was the youngest one, but I also had the most baggage.“

It’s not surprising that Perez owns up to the baggage. The straight-shooting reliever is likewise honest about his up-and-down 2013 season.

“The team was good last year, but I wasn’t good,” admitted Perez. “It sucked that I wasn’t my normal self. I was fighting little injuries the whole year. I got healthy toward the second half — July and August I felt really good — but that was arm-wise. My mechanics had changed to compensate for my injuries. When you’re the closer on a team trying to win for the first time in awhile, you need to take the ball and do your job. I didn’t always do my job.”

The beleaguered closer’s most notable blown save came against the White Sox in late September. He surrendered back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning, only to be bailed out by a Jason Giambi walk-off in the bottom half.
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“Oh man, he picked me up big on that one,” said Perez. “It was probably the best atmosphere I’ve been involved in, in the big leagues. Even so, it was lonely. I sat in the dugout, just hoping. I was excited when he went deep, but part of me still felt like crap. It was a huge win, yet I was the a—hole who gave up the home runs that made him have to hit a home run.”

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Seattle Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik was a panelist at this week’s SABR Analytics Conference. Before he took the stage I asked him if he could share a story from his days as a scout. Here is what Zduriencik had to say:

“Back when I was a young scout with the Mets, I scouted the College World Series. Joe Magrane had been pitching and I was very impressed. This was right before the draft. I was in a bar after the game with Mike Roberts, a scout with the Cardinals. Hub Kittle walked in. Everyone knew Hub, with his big, raspy voice. I asked him, ‘Hub, what did you think of that big lefthander? He was pretty good, wasn’t he?’ Hub growled, ‘That big old donkey? Bah. You can have him.’ A day later, the St. Louis Cardinals took Joe Magrane in the first round. Hub was a big deal with the Cardinals, had been with them for years, and wasn’t giving away any scouting tips. I learned a lesson right there.”

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The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers will play in Sydney, Australia later this week. They’ll traverse numerous time zones and the international date line to do so. Needless to say, traveling halfway across the world will present a jet-lag challenge for both teams.

According to Dodgers catcher Tim Federowicz, the acclimation process is already under way.

“We had a meeting the other day about getting on Australia time as quickly as possible,” Federowicz told me on Thursday. “Starting today, we’re supposed to go to bed 30 minutes later. Tomorrow, 30 minutes later than that. Next day, another 30 minutes. When we get on the plane at midnight it will be 6 p.m. Australia time. We’re going to work out right after we land, so we don’t just go to sleep.”

Major League Baseball players are used to travel, but this is a whole new animal. Flying to Sydney isn’t like hopping on a plane in Los Angeles and waking up in New York.

“The farthest I’ve flown is to Hawaii,” said Federowicz. “That was from North Carolina and I think it was about nine hours. I had a middle seat, in a middle row, so it felt like a long flight.”

What is he expecting once the team reaches Australia?

“We’re playing at the cricket grounds, so I’m sure all the cricket fans will come watch us,” said Federowicz. “We’re playing Team Australia one game and then the Diamondbacks, so I’m assuming it will be sold out. It will be quite the experience.”

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Kevin Kiermaier’s big league debut was unique among first games. The Tampa Bay Rays outfielder entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of last year’s wild card tiebreaker, in Texas.

Forty-eight hours before taking the field, the 23-year-old had no idea it could happen. And he wasn’t a happy camper.

“It was crazy,” said Kiermaier. “I was down in Port Charlotte at a hitting camp. I’d had a good offensive year, so I was like ‘Why are they sending me to this hitting camp?’ I was pretty bitter about it, to be honest. Little did I know they had a plan the whole time. They wanted to keep me baseball ready, just in case.

“I got a call on Sunday night, around 11:30,” continued Kiermaier. “They put me on a plane to Texas the next morning. Once I got to the clubhouse, I talked to Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman. They said, ‘Hey, we don’t know if we’re going to activate you or not, but give us about 30 minutes and we’ll call you back in. Sure enough, they called me back in and said I was going to be activated that night. They said whenever we get a lead, be ready.”

Game 163, ninth inning, the season on the line. The youngster was unfazed.

“We were up by three runs, so all the pressure was on them,” Kiermaier told me earlier this month. “I thought I was going to be nervous, but I honestly wasn’t. I’m confident in my abilities and felt like I belonged out there. [David] Price got them 1-2-3. I was hoping something would be hit my way, but the way he’d been throwing all night, it didn’t surprise me that nothing was.”

Given his defensive excellence and solid hitting skills, Kiermaier should have plenty of opportunities to make plays in the future. How many come as a defensive replacement remains to see seen. As for the games themselves, the stakes won’t be any higher.

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You won’t find many pitchers with a higher leg kick than Bronson Arroyo. The Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander told me the story behind it yesterday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

“The leg kick came when I was about nine years old,” explained Arroyo. “It came out of trying to emulate Dwight Gooden. He was an absolute stud at the time, and my brain processed his big leg kick. He had a stiff leg that he kind of wrapped around, and this came out of that.”

After demonstrating Gooden’s delivery, Arroyo compared himself to A.J. Pierzynski.

“I was pretty much the same then as I am now,” said Arroyo. “I had a good feel for the game and would drop my arm angle. I would throw curveballs and do things with my delivery. It’s funny, I played against A.J. Pierzynski when I was 10, 11 and 12, and with him when I was 13. He was exactly the same way he is now. He was competitive as hell and wasn’t fun to play against. He talked a lot of s___. We‘re both pretty much the same as we were in Little League.”

Justin Nicolino has been called “an intelligent student of the game.” It’s an accurate description and a big reason the 22-year-old southpaw is one of the top prospects in the Miami Marlins organization. He thrives on more than guile. Nicolino has better stuff than most crafty lefties.

A second-round pick by the Blue Jays, in 2010, Nicolino was acquired by the Marlins in the November 2012 trade that sent over $150 million in salaries to Toronto in exchange for a plethora of young talent. The lefthander was outstanding last year in High-A Jupiter, logging a 2.23 ERA in 18 starts. In nine starts for Double-A Jacksonville his ERA was a learning-curve-influenced 4.96. In 327 professional innings, Nicolino is 24-10, 2.53 with a 7.9 K/9. Read the rest of this entry »

Anthony Seratelli graduated from Seton Hall in May 2005 and didn’t play baseball again until May 2006. The year off wasn’t by choice. The New Jersey native was bypassed in the amateur draft. He went to numerous open tryouts looking for an opportunity. He drove to Philadelphia, he flew to Chicago and Minnesota. No teams were interested in his services.

Seratelli is now 31 years old and in camp with the New York Mets. He has a legitimate shot of making the team as a utility infielder.

His professional journey started with the Windy City Thunderbolts of the independent Frontier League. It wasn’t organized ball, but Seratelli was living his dream. Read the rest of this entry »

When I talked to Michael Roth, he said he wasn’t too familiar with Eric Stults. I suggested maybe he should be. Stults, a savvy southpaw for the San Diego Padres, mixed and matched his way to 11 wins and a 3.93 ERA last year. Roth has a similar skill set and could one day have the same kind of success.

Roth doesn’t overpower hitters. What he does is possess enough moxie to have reached the big leagues less than a year after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took him in the ninth round of the 2012 draft. A 24-year-old graduate of the University of South Carolina, Roth made 15 appearances out of the Angels bullpen. He went 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA in 20 innings.

There is no questioning Roth’s intelligence, on or off the field. Despite his lack of pure stuff, he helped pitch the Gamecocks to consecutive College World Series championships. In the classroom he earned a degree in international business. Read the rest of this entry »

Joc Pederson can flat out hit. The 21-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers outfield prospect put up a .278/.381/.497 slash line last year in Double-A Chattanooga. Swinging from the left side, he went deep 22 times. For good measure, he swiped 31 bases. There is no reason to believe the system’s top prospect won’t continue to get better as he matures as a hitter. Read the rest of this entry »

Corey Knebel throws 97-mph off a funky windup. It’s an effective combination. In 31 games for low-A West Michigan last year, the 22-year-old Detroit Tigers prospect logged a 0.87 ERA, 0.774 WHIP and 11.9 K/9. Working as a closer, he saved 15 games. The righthander was drafted 39th overall last summer out of the University of Texas. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2008, the Minnesota Twins drafted Aaron Hicks 14th overall. Four years later they took Byron Buxton second overall. The latter is 20 years old and the top prospect in the game. The former is 24 years old and… what exactly? A placeholder? A late-bloomer? An enigma?

The correct answer is probably “all of the above,” which leads to another question. Actually, it leads to a pair of related questions: Will Hicks play well enough to be the Twins everyday centerfielder in 2014? If he does — first he’ll have to win the job over Alex Presley — how much value will he provide with his glove?

Hicks’ offensive struggles last year are obvious to the stat sheet and naked eye alike. Assessing his defense is more complicated. With the Twins playing half their games at Target Field, it is also a concern. I asked Terry Ryan about outfield defense during the Winter Meetings

“It’s imperative,” said the Twins’ general manager. “Number one, we’re in a pitcher’s park. We want a lot of range in center field. One thing it might affect is how you go about your draft. We’re looking for people who can go get a ball in the outfield. I think [Hicks] did a pretty good job doing that when he was up last year.”

“Centerfield and right field [at Target Field] are big,” agreed Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire. “They’re huge. You need to have some athletic people out there to run the ball down, and Hicks was very good.”

Defensive metrics don’t agree that Hicks was good. I asked Scott Spratt of Baseball Info Solutions why that might be.

“One reason Aaron Hicks may appear to be a better defensive center fielder than his Defensive Runs Saved (plus-2, 20th-best at the position) total indicates is that his negative value is all range-related,” said Spratt. “We have him as costing the Twins five runs due to Plus/Minus. On the other hand, Hicks saved the Twins two runs with his arm and five runs with Good Fielding Plays/Defensive Misplays, mostly due to his 13 unexpected fly ball or line drive outs and his two home run robberies. In other words, Hicks rarely made poor decisions or poor plays on the balls he could reach, which is the easier part of defensive play to visually evaluate.”

Positioning was likely a factor. According to multiple sources, Twins outfielders played deep more often than not. Lack of range in the corner positions makes that understandable, but one is left to wonder if their pitching staff would have a lower BABiP if the outfielders — particularly the speedy Hicks — played shallower.

According to Baseball Info Solutions, that may or may not be a good idea.

“Outfielders are rewarded more in DRS for deep outs and penalized more for deep non-outs because the run value on those plays is greater,” explained Spratt. “Balls that drop in front of outfielders tend to end up singles while balls over their heads tend to become doubles and triples. Differences in park dimensions can have an effect on players, but our research hasn’t uncovered any clear patterns. In a bigger parks, outfielders will sometimes position themselves deeper, which makes them more likely to convert deep balls into outs. However, that then makes shallow balls more likely to fall in as hits, and that tradeoff can balance out or skew either way depending on the positioning and skill set of a particular outfielder.”

In the case of the Twins, that particular centerfielder will be Hicks or Presley in the short term. Hicks has the higher upside, but again, we’re likely looking at a placeholder situation. Buxton is on the horizon, and according to MiLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, he’ll arrive well-positioned to help save runs.

“While most people want to talk about what Buxton can do offensively, what with his bat, power and speed profile, it would be a mistake to forget about his defense,” said Mayo. “It makes him as complete a prospect as there is in the minors today. His plus speed allows him to cover a tremendous amount of ground in center and he has as strong an arm as any outfield prospect in baseball. The whole complete package thing refers to his defense just as much as his offense.”

I haven’t had a chance to ask Buxton how deep or shallow he likes to play. I did, however, have an opportunity to ask Hicks.

“I like to play in,” said Hicks. “I like to go back on balls. It depends on who is hitting — you’re usually a little deeper for the core guys than the 7-8-9 guys — but typically I like to play shallower than most [outfielders]. That allows you take away jam hits.”

I asked Hicks how much control he has over where he’s positioned, and the young outfielder adroitly sidestepped the question. A source was more forthcoming: “Gardy hates doubles. He‘d much rather have a lot of singles fall in front of his outfielders.”

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Mike Pelfrey knows who Xander Bogaerts is. That’s not surprising given the Red Sox shortstop is baseball’s top prospect not named Byron Buxton. The Twins righthander faced Bogaerts on Friday afternoon and induced a hard-hit 5-4-3 double play. Afterwards he was asked if he knew who was in the box.

“I did,“ said Pelfrey. “It was the first time I ever faced him, but I’ve heard very good things about him and obviously watched the World Series. I know he’s a good player. I threw a pitch inside that he turned on and was lucky Trevor Plouffe made a good play at third. I saw good hands on an inside pitch, which is something I’ll put in my head for the next time. He made a good adjustment in that at bat, which is impressive for a young player.

“With games like this, we don’t go over scouting reports, but we know the guys in our league, Even though you’re mostly working on things, you’re conscious of who is hitting. I knew who he was.”

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Chris Capuano’s approach will be a little different than usual when he makes his Grapefruit League debut. Recently signed by the Red Sox, the southpaw has never pitched for an American League team.

“Normally it changes in your last start or two of spring training,” said Capuano. “That’s when you actually start to break down the hitters. Before that, first and foremost you make sure you’re executing pitches. For the most part, you’re looking at the hitter and trying to read the hitter, and pitching to righties and lefties the way you pitch to righties and lefties.”

That doesn’t mean Capuano eschews knowledge. Relying more on guile than pure stuff, the Duke University-educated 35-year-old utilizes every edge he can.

“If I have information that might help me get the hitter out, I’m going to use it,” said Capuano. “Maybe what I should say is the pre-game hours that go into preparing aren’t quite as intense during spring training as they are in the regular season. At this point, it’s mostly about executing pitches. I still need to learn the hitters, though. I’ve been looking at video every day and will probably do more preparation for my spring training starts than usual.”

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No one does more preparation than scouting directors. The June amateur draft is crucial to a team’s success, which means nary a rock is left unturned before decisions are made. Mistakes still happen. If you need evidence that scouting is an inexact science, scan listings of recent first rounds. It’s safe to say two dozen teams would draft Mike Trout if they could have a do-over. Every scouting director has skeletons in his closet.

Prior to becoming Senior Vice President, Player Development and Amateur Scouting for the Chicago Cubs, Jason McLeod led the draft in Boston and San Diego. McLeod has more hits than misses — especially from his time with the Red Sox — but like his scouting brethren, he’s far from perfect. A player he never actually had a chance to take is ample proof.

“When I was in San Diego, Javier Baez went right in front of us,” McLeod told me recently. “He went ninth and we took Corey Spangenberg tenth. The Cubs beat a lot of teams on Javy. They certainly beat the Padres. I have to admit we weren’t set up to take him with our pick. Thankfully, the Cubs were smart and I don’t have to wear that one too bad.”

As Padres fans know all too well, Spangenberg has thus far fallen short of expectations. Count McLeod among the surprised.

“After we signed Corey he went up to Eugene and just went bananas,” said McLeod. “Pat Murphy was our manager there. He had been the head coach at Arizona State — he and Dustin Pedroia are like father and son — and Murph was like ‘This guy is Pedroia, just from the left side and with more speed.’ Looking at what Corey did in the Northwest League, we were friggin’ digging ourselves. Then he went to Fort Wayne and has kind of been grinding along the last few years.”

I asked McLeod what he missed in Baez.

“We had some questions on his aggressiveness,” said McLeod. “Everyone saw the bat speed and the power. He was a little flashy and had the big swing. What we probably underestimated a little bit was how much Javy loves to play the game, and how much he loves to compete. In the end, we simply missed on him. We wouldn’t have taken Javy had he fallen to our pick. Thankfully the Cubs did.”

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Tommy Layne has had a fairly nondescript career. The 29-year-old reliever is 2-2, 2.84 over 40 big league appearances. Primarily a lefty specialist, he has worked just 25-and-a-third innings.

Two of those innings are noteworthy. Both came in 2012 with the San Diego Padres. The first was Layne’s big league debut, the second his first win. The southpaw remembers them well.

“My first game was against Atlanta [on August 14] and my first batter was Brian McCann,” said Layne. “I froze him with a slider. Dan Uggla took a slider as well. Tyler Pastornicky swung through a slider. All three strikeouts were on sliders thrown from my lower arm slot.

Against the Dodgers [on September 4], the first guy I faced was Adrian Gonzalez. I threw an over-the-top slider in the dirt that he swung through. Matt Kemp swung through a fastball. Then I froze Hanley Ramirez on a slider.”

Two games, six batters, six strikeouts. The Atlanta performance came in mop-up duty. The outing against the Dodgers came in the 10th inning of a 3-3 game.

I asked Layne — currently in camp with the Red Sox — if the games define his career.

“They really don‘t,” answered Layne. “If you think about it, you’re really only as good as the last time you threw the ball. That doesn’t mean my debut wasn’t awesome. It’s something I’ll carry with me until the day I die. My first win was the same kind of thing. They were good innings, but in no way, shape or form do they define me as a pitcher.”

What does define Layne is deception. Add creative game calling, and — at least on two special occasions — you have a recipe for success..

“The strikeouts had a lot to do with my catchers calling pitches that were outside the box of how I usually think of getting guys out,” explained Layne. “I throw from two different arm slots. Some pitches I throw from a lower arm slot and usually just to lefties. They had me throwing them to righties.

“Over the top, my repertoire is fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup. I also throw a fastball and a slider from about a foot lower than my normal arm slot. It’s kind of sidearm and kind of herky jerky. I’ve heard from hitters that it sort of comes out of nowhere. What I’m basically doing is shaping a pitch a little differently and creating some extra deception.”

By now, the Stetson Allie story is well known. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of a Cleveland-area high school in 2010, the big right-hander had a 100-mph fastball and little idea where it was going. Less than 30 innings into his professional career, his pitching days were over. He became a corner infielder with plus raw power and a lot of swing-and-miss.

Allie’s story remains mostly unwritten. Still just 22 years old, he is coming off a Jekyll-and-Hyde first full season as a position player. In 66 games at low-A West Virginia, he hit a loud .324/.414/.607, with 17 home runs. In the same number of games at high-A Bradenton, he hit .229/.342/.356, with 4 home runs.

There is no doubting Allie’s potential as a hitter. There is even less doubt about his comfort zone. A fish-out-of-water on the mound, he feels right at home in the batter’s box. Allie revisited his work-in-progress transition, including why he struggled as a pitcher, earlier this week. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Gunkel is probably the top under-the-radar prospect in the Red Sox system. Baseball America indirectly said as much when they including him in the bonus supplement of this year’s Prospect Handbook. Their write-up of the 22-year-old right-hander suggested he “may be the first player to the majors from Boston’s 2013 draft.”

Gunkel didn’t come out of nowhere. The Red Sox took him in the 18th round out of West Chester University, in Pennsylvania. A standout starter for the Division-II Golden Rams, Gunkel began his professional career in short-season Lowell. Working out of the bullpen he allowed 11 base runners and punched out 32 batters in 20 innings.

Gunkel talked about his game this past weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

The South Korean media should love Luke Scott. The outspoken outfielder will be playing for SK Wyverns this season and there’s a good chance not all of his bombs will come via his bat. Controversy and Scott have gone together like hand in glove.

That is not an indictment of his character. In a politically-correct climate where many athletes coat their opinions with vanilla, Scott’s candidness is refreshing. You may not agree with his views, but they’re dead honest. The erstwhile Astro, Oriole and Ray doesn’t shoot from the hip so much as he shoots from the heart.

Talking with Scott last summer, I learned that a pair of events helped shape not only his career, but also how he approaches life. Read the rest of this entry »