Morning Rundown: Change To Embrace With Perez's Comments?

I know every day we lose a few people and with every loss people dropped like flies, but we probably lost as many people as we will all year this morning. Or maybe not.

September 9th, 2012

Cleveland Indians - 7

Minnesota Twins - 8

W: Brian Duensing (4-10) L: Vinnie Pestano (3-2)

[BOXSCORE]

Considering the NFL started yesterday in full, most people have probably diverted their attention elsewhere. And in Cleveland that's a pretty standard thing that is expected. Then again after yesterday's loss, the Browns fans might be already looking forward to 2013, but considering it was a close game (not that the Eagles played all that well themselves), there may not be as many abandoning ship as you might think.

But if you're still here, great, thanks for joining me. The game-portion of this will be quite quick, because we have other business to attend to. And of course, this is likely the case from here on out.

This was an interesting game though. It boiled down to one pitch, but how it got that point was a see-saw battle of, well, I really don't know what to call it. So I'll just be snarky about it. Corey Kluber though, was the man who was probably the biggest culprit considering the offense came to play.

"The guys did a great job early of giving me a lead," Kluber said. "I didn't do a good job of making it stand up."

Kluber couldn't get out of the fourth, which has been something Acta's not been understanding with the past few games when he yanked Jeanmar Gomez in favor of David Huff just a night ago. Kluber got a quick hook and even though he didn't walk anyone, he gave up eight hits and a hurtful 2-run shot to Justin Morneau which came off a pitch in a 0-2 count.

That was something Acta harped on and said there were several instances of those, all which attributed to the loss.

The bullpen was see-saw from there, with Esmil Rogers coming in and giving up a pair of runs after Seddon pitched a solid inning and a third. But really as mentioned, it came down to one pitch.

Into the psychology of the game, Vinnie Pestano had Morneau the other night with a pitch in that jammed him. So Pestano naturally went back to that. Pestano knows that the left-handers want to jump on him as early as possible, so he's trying to induce the out.

And he threw his pitch, an inside fastball on the first pitch of the at-bat in the ninth to Morneau. Which is exactly what Morneau was looking for.

"I was looking for the pitch that I got -- just something to drive, something to pull," Morneau said. "I faced him a couple nights ago, he jammed me, so I had a feeling he might try to come in there again, and he did and left it over the plate just a little bit, and I just kept it fair enough and we get to jump up and down and have fun."

That was the problem of course, the fact that Pestano's pitch was just not inside enough. And that's your game. 

Random Details...

Ben Revere made an excellent catch in the top of the ninth inning with a runner on third and two outs. Zeke Carrera did a great job in the at-bat just to fight something off that was looking like it was going to bloop into center, until Revere came riding in on his horse (you got that!) to take it away.

Want a lesson in run-production? The Twins 2-3-4 hitters all scored four runs and their 3-4-and-6 hitters knocked in six runs. So that's how you draw it up.

The Indians were a little more spread out. Carlos Santana obviously had the big shot with the home run and going 3-for-5. But it was just a mess up hits that found them with some runs. Choo walked twice but didn't score a run, however he did not get a hit and seemingly knocked in a run. Go figure.

[CHANGE YOU CAN GET BEHIND?]

You want a revolution? You want some change? You want someone to buck the system and make this team take note?

Then you should embrace what Chris Perez is doing. Is it reckless? Is he right? Is it going to get him a one-way ticket out of Cleveland?

Yeah probably, to all three of those questions. Will things change? Is it the right move? How much more is to come?

I don't know the answer to those. But here we are again with Chris Perez speaking his mind. Some would wonder if he's looking to get traded, looking to help the team, looking to gain attention, or just simply spouting off because that's who he is.

I've reached the point where I don't really know what his motive is, nor do I really care. I love Chris Perez. I love his attitude, I love the way he approaches the game and I love the results. I'm not so much in love with him doing things the way he's done them this season as far as talking to the media goes. Whether these things, these comments, these side-bars to what happens on the field are a product of his attitude and the way he goes about things, it has reached the point where it no longer matters though. At least in mind when it comes to what the Indians are going to do with their closer.

I think the Indians were going to trade Chris Perez regardless of his words. If he is 'trying' to get traded, all he is doing is decreasing his trade value. But I don't think, in my heart of hearts, that he is 'trying' to get traded. That is not the type of person that he is. That isn't the same guy that criticized the fans for not coming to games in Cleveland. If anything, he's a team player and not about to cry in order to get moved. That doesn't mean he isn't going to 'cry' though. And boy he's really cried this year.

Again, I love Chris Perez, but I think he's long gone given the situation the Indians are in with a closer in waiting in Vinnie Pestano, depth in the bullpen department, and other needs that Perez can help address. He's talked a little too much in addition to the situation he was in, so if it isn't all but at given the Indians will move him, then well, I'm not sure what more can be done.

However, we should probably be embracing the gift that Perez is giving us on his way out. I think it's funny that he gets flack. He's basically getting flack for talking (and in some people's minds, he shouldn't talk, which I respect that opinion because more times than not, athletes should stay quiet). If he didn't talk, he wouldn't catch any heat. But regardless of what he says, he's going to get it. He's ultimately offending someone. Whether he criticizes the fans, the owners, the front office, the other team, someone is going to scold him.

And some are sick of him. Which is fine.

But he's really doing what most fans, who have a problem with him by the way, have been doing and have wanted someone to do for some time now. He's speaking out. He's challenging the system. Again, I said it earlier. You want a revolution? You got one.

You want someone to call the Dolan's out? You got it. It may not be the one you wanted, but you got it, so you might as well embrace it. I'm not sure who's "job" it would be to call out the management and ownership. Perhaps in the ideal world, they'd take stock of their own situation and admit they need to hold themselves responsible. It shouldn't be a player, a coach, a manager, a fan. But in this instance, no one with a voice loud enough has ever done this. The only thing louder is the silence of fans and that hasn't really effected the Indians in a significant way.

Now there's this guy, who happens to play for the team, willing to go to bat for. Well again, we don't know why he's doing what he's doing, but the fact of the matter is he's going to bat for what is good and what the Indians want. In case you missed the comments that originated in a Jon-Paul Morosi article, that was ironically, about little-market guys that have built their teams the right way challenging down the stretch this year.

“Different owners,” Perez said frankly, in reference to Detroit’s Mike Ilitch and Cleveland’s Lawrence J. Dolan. “It comes down to that. They (the Tigers) are spending money. He (Ilitch) wants to win. Even when the economy was down (in Detroit), he spent money. He’s got a team to show for it. You get what you pay for in baseball. Sometimes you don’t. But most of the time you do.”

Of course there is a difference in the owners, not just the fact that they are different. One is on his death bed and is incredible rich and willing to use that wealth because he is not long for this world. He wants to win a title, badly, and is willing to lose money to do so. Perez in a nut shell though, is right, you do get what you pay for, unless you are smart about it, which the Indians, well, they have not. But that's a different issue for a different day (perhaps tomorrow).

“You can’t miss,” Perez said. “You have to be right. That’s why I say it’s not just ownership. They don’t make the trades. It’s the GMs. It goes hand in hand. The GMs can only spend the money the owners give them, but they pick who they spend it on or who they don’t. They pick. The owners don’t pick.