Chris Perez eager to end period of silence as season concludes

Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez has had plenty of opinions this season as his team has remained near the bottom of the MLB standings, but the outspoken reliever has had to keep quiet as of late. The Indians' season is almost over, however, meaning his silence is likely to come to an end soon, as well.

Perez has kept his comments to himself ever since meeting with Cleveland general manager Chris Antonetti, but the reliever intimated on Tuesday night that the silence could soon be over.

Just a bit after getting his career-high 37th save on Tuesday night -- in his first save attempt since Sept. 13 -- Perez spoke to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Perez: "No comment. I have opinions, but I'm not going to say them right now."

As Perez walked away from reporters, he said, "It will be a fun last couple of days of the season when I'm allowed to talk again."

There's really not telling what Perez meant by that final comment, but one has to expect fireworks considering the amount of things Perez was willing to say mid-season.

Indians GM Chris Antonetti Talks With Chris Perez About Closer's Comments

Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez has never been afraid to speak his mind, and last week he turned his ire toward the team's ownership, which Perez believes hasn't spent adequately enough to build a winner. This, quite predictably, hasn't sat well with the team's front office, and Indians general manager Chris Antonetti spoke privately with Perez on Tuesday night.

After the discussion, Antonetti beat back the notion that Perez is trying to force his way out of Cleveland, intimating that Perez remains committed to the club, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian:

"If that's how people are perceiving it," Antonetti said, "or if that's how others are interpreting it, I really can't control that. Ultimately, I have to rely upon the conversations that Chris and I have had since that time. That's what I'll go on."

Antonetti declined to get specific about what exactly he and Perez discussed, though he did make it clear that Perez was remorseful:

"I'm not going to get into the details of that," Antonetti said of his conversation with Perez. "Chris would probably tell you that he could've chosen his words differently -- the specifics of his words. But, again, I think it's coming from a bit of frustration that the team hasn't been as successful as we all had hoped, Chris included."

Perez has 35 saves so far in 2012, while posting a 3.62 ERA and a WHIP of 1.07. He has struck out 57 batters in 49.2 innings.

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Chris Perez Takes Aim At Indians Owner Larry Dolan

Chris Perez Comments On Cleveland Fans Again, Questions Blind Loyalty Towards Browns

Indians Pitcher Chris Perez 'Humbled' By Fan Support On Tuesday

Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez has been outspoken in how he feels about the Cleveland fan base. With the Indians sitting in first place in the American League's Central Division, yet sitting in last place in league attendance, Perez stated that he was upset with the fans for not showing up and booing him in an outing against the Seattle Mariners last week.

On Tuesday night, the fans had their first chance to respond to Perez's comments as the closer was making his first appearance since his save in the Tribe's 2-0 win over the Miami Marlins on May 19 and they made sure they were heard loud and clear.

As Perez made his way to the mound from the bullpen, the Cleveland faithful showered the controversial closer with cheers as well as a standing ovation. The cheers only got louder as Perez put the finishing touches on the Tribe's 5-3 come-from-behind win against their Central Division rivals, the Detroit Tigers. Perez was moved by the gesture.

His comments via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"I'm truly humbled," said Perez of the fans' response. "It didn't go unnoticed. Trust me. I'm humbled. It was really nice."

When asked if he had any regret about his comments, the closer remained steadfast in his opinion, but acknowledged he wish it didn't become a distraction for the team.

"The only thing I would take back is try to keep it away from the team this much. The last thing you want to do is bring undo attention to the team. Especially in this kind of light.

"At the same time, I think it kind of picked us up. The guys kind of said, 'Yeah, we're feeling like that, too. I'm glad you said something. I'm glad you didn't back down.' "

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Indians Pitcher Chris Perez Unhappy In Cleveland, But Does Not Want Trade

Even after watching his own words get blown up by the media, outspoken Cleveland Indians reliever Chris Perez continues to speak his mind and dig himself into a nice, deep hole with local fans. MLB.com's Zach Meisell spoke with Perez on Tuesday, and though he clarified that he isn't specifically seeking a trade, the 26-year-old closer certainly didn't help his situation by speaking up yet again.

Perez also told Meisel that he has received a unanimously positive reaction from local fans after his original comments became public, which is extremely hard to believe. The fact that Perez continues to voice his opinion about everything from the attendance to the football team, and yet is still adamant about not wanting a trade out of the city, remains the oddest part about this entire situation.

Right now the first-place Indians need to focus on winning baseball games, and not about whether one of their many players is overwhelmingly-happy, merely content, or outwardly frustrated with his current situation. Perez remains free to speak his mind while reporters everywhere try to coerce him into saying something even worse than he already has, but the longer this goes on, the further Perez threatens to distance himself from the same organization that he supposedly does not want to leave.

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Kenny Lofton Responds To Chris Perez Comments

On Monday, former Cleveland Indians outfielder Kenny Lofton responded to the team's current closer Chris Perez's comments from this weekend about the lack of fan support from the city of Cleveland for the Indians. His comments came courtesy of an interview with Andy Baskin and Ken Carman on CBS' WKRK-FM The Fan.

"He doesn't get it," Lofton said of Perez. "He hasn't been in the league long enough to have an understanding of what you have to do as a player first."

Lofton went onto discuss how he had never been booed during his time in Cleveland because he felt as though the fans understood that he gave them his all and always worked his hardest. The former Indian expressed that the most inaccurate part of Lopez's statement was his opinion on free agents not coming to Cleveland due to the fans.

"If you pay a guy some money, he's going to come to Cleveland," Lofton said. "I don't care where you go. If you go to Chicago, New York, if you put some money in front of a free agent he will be in Cleveland."

Lofton went on to explain that just because the team is doing well now, doesn't mean the fans are immediately going to start coming out. He even shared a story from his time in Philadelphia in 2005 when the fans were engaging in an Eagles chant for the town's football team and weren't paying attention to the game.

"The grass is not going to be greener on the other side," Lofton said. "It's not. As much as you think it will be. Cleveland fans are loyal and other fans (in other cities) are not always loyal."

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Indians President Mark Shapiro Responds To Chris Perez's Comments Ripping Cleveland Fans, Attendance

Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez made a stir when he ripped the fans of the team for not caring and booing despite good performances from the squad this year. He mentioned free agents avoiding Cleveland because of lack of fan support, booing from the fans after bad performances and plenty of other vitriol, which ignited some heat from the fans directed at Perez.

The Indians are currently in first place in the AL Central and have had great performances to hold off the Detroit Tigers, yet are last place in the league in attendance with a paltry 15,872 per game; that's almost 4000 behind the second to last place Oakland A's.

Still, his comments came off as caustic to the fans of the team, especially the insinuation that other players weren't enjoying themselves as well. He wasn't punished by the team for the comments, but Indians president Mark Shapiro made some statements in response to Perez's comments:

Are you worried about the comments alienating the fans even more?
I don’t. I really feel like it’s a moment in time. It’s a story for right now. If you polled our players by and large, if you talked to our fans by and large, and if you talked to every single person in this organization, what you’d see is a largely universal respect for our fans.

What was your initial reaction to Perez’s comments?
I tend not to react too quickly until I have all the information. My initial reaction was just, ‘What happened? What was said?’

Could this ignite fans to come out?
Talking to [Perez], I think some of his hope is that’s what he’s saying. He’s saying, ‘Hey, pay attention. Good things are happening here. Look at this ballpark, look at what you’ve got here. Come on out.’ I don’t know whether that will happen, but I would conjecture that part of his desire is for that to happen.

Shapiro didn't say anything too bad about the incident, instead showing more sympathy than anything. Classy move by the president, though the problem of terrible attendance, Perez or not, is still ongoing in Cleveland.

At the very least, the comments got a lot of hype going about the Indians, and perhaps it could actually drive the fans to the ballpark since nothing else has been able to so far this season.

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Cleveland Indians Closer Chris Perez Expands On Comments About Fans

Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez put a damper on another nice win for the Tribe when he went off on the local support for the team in the locker room following Cleveland's win over Miami on Saturday.

Perez was impressive with three strikeouts to log his 13th save but he then threw some heat at the fans, saying the lack of support hurts the team and their chances to land free agents. According to Nick Camino's Twitter feed this morning, Perez is dealing with the aftermath of his comments, meeting with Mark Shapiro but not really backing down from his comments in a radio interview.

#Indians closer Chris Perez was called in to meet with Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti this morning. Said he was not forced to talk though.

— Nick Camino (@CaminoTribe) May 20, 2012

#Indians closer Chris Perez said he has talked with former players and other players with other teams who have spoken negative about CLE.

— Nick Camino (@CaminoTribe) May 20, 2012

Chris Perez: "I'm here to win. I want to win here. I care. ... We want to win. But right now, we're winning for ourselves, basically."

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) May 20, 2012

It should be interesting to see what kind of reaction Perez receives at Progressive Field the next time he takes the mound.

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Cleveland Indians Closer Chris Perez Rips Fans For Lack Of Support

Despite winning five of their last six games and sporting a record that currently places them in a rather comfortable first-place in the AL Central, Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez apparently felt the need to criticize his own fans after Saturday's win.

Perez, who struck out the side to record his 13th save of the season in the ninth, was not too pleased with hearing boos from his own fans over the last few days according to The Chronicle-Telegram's Chris Assenheimer. Perez let loose in the clubhouse after the game to air his grievances.

There might be a logical time to stir the pot as a professional athlete, but doing it because of a few isolated boos and predictably-low attendance, after 40 games no less, seems like a terrible decision. Everything is clicking right now for the Indians on the field, so there's no need for Perez to cause a distraction off it by throwing his fan base under the bus.

The timing of this outburst literally makes no sense, especially because Perez himself has been 13-for-13 on save chances since blowing his first attempt on opening day. That's not to say some of his concerns don't have at least the slight bit of merit, but there's no logical reason to spout off about this when your team is playing some of the best ball in the league. And yet, Perez did it anyway. Be sure to keep an eye on how Cleveland fans respond to Perez next time he takes the hill.

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