And why should we, as Cubs fans, care about what the Tigers manager has to say?
Because of this article in today's Detroit Free Press, in which Leyland speaks of a certain 2006 Tiger acquisition:
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said the team might have "made a mistake" when it acquired infielder Neifi Perez from the Chicago Cubs in August, telling WDFN-AM (1130) on Thursday that Perez "played terrible" in Detroit.
Thanks to BCB reader Jettero2112 for pointing me to this article (through this SI.com page).
Reached later Thursday by the Free Press, Leyland said, "We're not ripping Neifi. He was a hell of a player, and we thought we were getting a similar player to that, but Neifi simply did not perform well. 'Terrible' is an exaggeration.
"We're going to look at this in spring training. If he's capable of performing, he'll be on the team. If not, obviously we made a mistake. The fact of the matter is that he did not play well in Detroit. I stand behind that. That's just a fact."