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In a statement released on July 22, the Call of Duty League’s Los Angeles Guerrillas have announced that they are releasing two-time World Champion Patrick ‘ACHES’ Price.
Following struggles early on in the CDL debut season, ACHES was benched months ago alongside Andres ‘Lacefield’ Lacefield and Renato ‘Saints’ Forza. While Saints regained his starting position, ACHES and Lacefield never did — leading to the former’s release with just one Home Series event left in the regular season.
As a 26-year-old renown veteran in the league, the former Team Envy player was hoped to bring a level of leadership to a middling Guerrillas team. Sitting at last in the league, with just 50 CDL Points, the Guerrillas have now opted to part ways with the substitute player ahead of August’s playoff circuit.
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In the team’s announcement, they thanked the former CWL Pro League All-Star for his time with the team and wished him luck with future endeavors.
Thank you @ACHES pic.twitter.com/PqpXiwbIvg
— Los Angeles Guerrillas (@LAGuerrillas) July 22, 2020
“The Los Angeles Guerrillas have parted ways with Patrick ‘ACHES’ Price,” the team tweeted. “We thank him for his time with the team and wish him the best of luck in the future.”
As of yet, ACHES hasn’t detailed what those future plans may be, instead simply mentioning that he is “still going to move forward to what’s next” on Twitter. But fans will most certainly speculate as to whether he’ll opt to give it another shot with Treyarch’s upcoming Call of Duty title.
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Or, he could always join the 27-year-old Damon ‘Karma’ Barlow in retirement, possibly choosing to stream full-time and analyze more gameplay on the side, like his former teammate Tyler ‘TeeP’ Polchow.
Clearly disappointed with how this year worked out and have a lot of mixed feelings, but that's all I really need to say on the matter. Still going to move forward to what’s next with my head held high 👊🏻 I appreciate all the love & support.
— PATTYP (@ACHES) July 22, 2020
If he were to try and continue competing professionally, he would, of course, have to find a CDL franchise that’s willing to sign him. While that may seem like a long shot with how much he struggled at the start of this season, it’s hard to put the blame entirely on him.
The Guerrillas roster went 1-3 (25 percent winning rate) before he was benched and have finished their season with a 5-17 record (22.7 percent). This is line with comments from professional players and analysts alike, most recently with former pro and analyst, Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker, calling for ACHES to get back in the starting lineup.
Aches should be a starter for the LA Guerrillas. Just sayin
— Jonathan Tucker (@PacmanJT) July 18, 2020
In a Reddit thread discussing that Tweet, Dallas Empire veteran James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks echoed Pacman’s sentiments, stating that “if you think this LAG team is getting dead last with Pat, you’re sorely mistaken.”
While we will never know how this LAG team could perform with ACHES back in the lineup, he will certainly be one of the most intriguing free agents to watch between this season and the next — especially if the CDL brings on expansion teams that could be looking for a proven veteran to lead them.
