Chris Perez said he was going to talk toward the end of the season. I guess it is now close enough for the closer who hasn’t been short of things to say all year long. Today, via Chris Assenheimer’s twitter feed we find out that Perez wants to be back next year in Cleveland. We also find out that “most of the problems walked out the door last week i.e. Acta.”
I wasn’t totally expecting that, to be honest. Of all the people who would be expected to have issues with Manny Acta, I didn’t expect it to be many of his players for whatever reason. The last we heard after his firing, some players were seemingly feeling bad and taking some responsibility for getting the organization in such a position with their play that Acta got fired.
So, I guess we’ll see just how much of the downfall was Acta’s fault. Whether or not Chris’ wish to remain in Cleveland is granted remains to be seen. Despite a pretty epic season from the closer, expensive arbitration is forthcoming and he played so well that his trade value is probably highest of any player on the team.
[Related: Relief, Blame, and Where We Go From Here: On Manny Acta and the Next Tribe Manager]
