No Manny's Land.

(Photo by Getty Images. The good news for Manny Acta is that Jerry Manuel won't be around for long in NY. Things are falling into place just like Manny hoped they would for the Nationals and Mets.)

Manny Acta: Fired. Almost.

According to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Manny Acta Era is nearly over, and the Jim Riggleman Era is about to begin.

Well, sort of. Any day now. Almost. Just as soon as Stan Kasten gets around to making it official. Why else would Silent Stan be in in St. Pete this weekend? Then again, Silent Stan gives a typically Kasten-ian answer to the question everyone knows the answer to:

"Do you have sources that say that? So you're asking me to respond to another media report? That's kind of a silly thing to ask. I would never talk about personnel. ... I've been asked that question by some media outlet almost every day since the first week of the season -- radio, TV, print."
(Stan Kasten, via Nationals dot com, 6/13/2009)

Yet, SI's Jon Heyman says on Twitter that "NL Sources" confirm Rosenthal's report. Maybe Stan is waiting until Monday:

manny acta likely to be fired soon, perhaps even monday, NL sources confirm. no surprise, ken rosenthal is correct.

Over at Chatter, Washington Times' Ben Goessling reported that Manny seemed to be having a blast with his bosses prior to tonight's trainwreck:

Acta was laughing and talking with team president Stan Kasten and acting general manager Mike Rizzo before the game...

You'd be laughing, too, if you were about to be handed a get out of jail free card and could spend the rest of the summer watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air reruns while waiting for your dream job to open up with the Mets.

Meanwhile, more bobbing and weaving from Kasten, courtesy of Chico Harlan/Nationals Journal:

"I can't tell you how perplexed I am by this season and this team and the things that are going on. And our record is, you know, very troubling for me every single day ..... So yeah, I'm troubled by everything. We continue to look for solutions. Have I thought about every possible recourse? I have. As has [acting general manager] Mike [Rizzo], as have our owners. We're certainly not satisfied with our record; far from it. We're distraught over it and we're going to consider everything we need to do to make it better."

Enough, already! Just get it over with Stan! And while you're handing out pink slips, be sure to fire the team employee who leaked the story to Rosenthal. Here at the Nationals Enquirer, we highly doubt that Manny's firing will make much of a difference, but we agree that it's the right move to make; it's a move that had to happen. But once again, this organization seems incapable of doing anything right - even when they're making the right move.

Love him or hate him, Manny Acta deserved better; his firing shouldn't have gone down like this.

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Comments

[Natsfan]

You're right. He should have been canned on an off day a few weeks ago, if not months ago. And straight to his face. This leak is a load of crap.

What is bad, is he'll go off to the Mets and be great. His style of managing just doesn't work when you don't have Delgado and Beltran to bail you out. Small ball has to be played in this city to be successful.

[The Nationals Enquirer]

Agree. We have no argument with the move, just the execution of the move; and that speaks volumes about the organization.

We wish Manny no ill will, wish him the best of luck in NY - except, of course, when he's facing the Nats.

[Arlington]

Stop with the Manny Acta Mets jokes. The man is about to lose his job and you treat it like a punchline.

[The Nationals Enquirer]

Arlington,

Okay, we'll stop with the Manny Acta/Mets jabs soon; most likely end of day Monday.

[Nattitude]

"And while you're handing out pink slips, be sure to fire the team employee who leaked the story to Rosenthal"

Does that mean Stan Kasten must fire himself?