Normally we might chalk up a quote like this to the fact that it’s October on a Cleveland Indians team not going to the playoffs (unless we repeat ourselves there). But then, when it’s All-Star reliever Chris Perez saying something like, “most of the problems walked out the door last week,” as Nick Camino is reporting, then we can’t assume the calendar is enabling this very, very thinly veiled jab at freshly fired manager Manny Acta.

After all, Perez is the same gentle soul who this season has slagged Indians fans as bandwaggoning buffoons, engaged in a bit of fellatio-themed banter with a rowdy A’s fan, and emerged from a media boycott only to ask reporters, “Have you watched us this year? We haven’t been in seven or eight games in a row.”

Perez is a man for all seasons, and there’s no reason to assume he’s just turning it on late in the year. The Indians sure didn’t. They’re 20 games out of first in the weak-sister AL Central … but have won two of four since Acta was ousted last week. That may not sound like progress until you remember that the Indians won all of five games in August. Perez sounds cranky when he asks whether reporters watched the team this year. Maybe he’s just upset that he had to while Acta was running the show.