I haven't blogged in a little over three months. You know what exciting stuff has happened with Cleveland sports since then?
Nothing good.
Shocker, I know. Let's see...the Indians finished up their epically awful 2nd half of the season and finished under .500. The Browns are (once again) on pace for a 5-11 season at best. The Cavs will certainly still be one of the worst teams in the NBA once the season finally starts. So in other news, everything's normal in Cleveland.
The Browns have regressed like crazy since last season, which is pretty damn disappointing. Colt McCoy has looked MUCH worse than last year and doesn't look like a long-term answer at QB (another shocker, I know). Joe Haden has been getting burned by far too many WR's to be considered an 'elite' cornerback in the NFL. Pat Shurmur has done a horrible job in his first year as coach.
The Indians have made some minor transactions during the offseason, adding Derek Lowe (yay?), and picking up options on Fausto Carmona/Grady Sizemore. Other than that, they haven't done anything of note. Hopefully they go out and find a 1B and another OF, otherwise there's a few significant holes on this team.
The Cavs should be better than last year (once the season starts), but that's mainly by default considering they only won 19 games last year. I'm looking forward to seeing Kyrie Irving play in a Cavs uniform. Tristian Thompson doesn't excite me at all, so hopefully he proves me wrong.
Sadly, just nothing to really be excited about in Cleveland right now (you know what's coming--shocker, I know), outside of watching Irving play once the season starts at the end of this month. So at least we can look forward to that. And Spring Training is only like three months away.
After all, the Indians are the 'best' team running in Cleveland right now. (Sadly.)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Welcome home, Thome
See those posts down below? In case you forgot what it was like to be following a baseball team that wasn't absolutely terrible, there's some flashbacks for you.
Since the last time I posted, the Tribe have managed to fall back to Earth, going from what at one point was a 7-game lead in the AL Central to now being 6.5 GB, and virtually eliminated from playoff contention.
Now, under normal circumstances, I'd still feel pretty good about the season--giving us hope that we have young guys that could continue to get better and maybe even turn the Indians into contenders. However, our (idiot) general manager felt our best move at the trade deadline was to trade away our top-two pitching prospects (Alex White & Drew Pomeranz) for a pitcher with a season ERA close to 5. You all know who I'm talking about--Ubaldo Jimenez.
The ONLY good thing about this trade (and trust me, I dug for days trying to find a positive) is that he'll be under control through at least 2013 (2014 player option as well) with a team-friendly contract. So if we somehow can manage to make a playoff push in the near future, he should still be on the team. (As for how much he can help, who knows. He's been rocked in half of his starts, and he's pitched great in the other half.)
Now, onto the reason for this post. One of the greatest Indians of all-time made his return to Cleveland in an Indians uniform tonight. I'm talking about Jim Thome, the Indians all-time leader in HR's. With Travis Hafner out for the season, the Indians picked up Thome as a fill-in DH for the rest of the season. It's awesome to have him back, even though we most likely won't see any monster Thome playoff HR's from him.
Oh well. Childhood flashbacks are good enough for me.
On to the Browns!
Since the last time I posted, the Tribe have managed to fall back to Earth, going from what at one point was a 7-game lead in the AL Central to now being 6.5 GB, and virtually eliminated from playoff contention.
Now, under normal circumstances, I'd still feel pretty good about the season--giving us hope that we have young guys that could continue to get better and maybe even turn the Indians into contenders. However, our (idiot) general manager felt our best move at the trade deadline was to trade away our top-two pitching prospects (Alex White & Drew Pomeranz) for a pitcher with a season ERA close to 5. You all know who I'm talking about--Ubaldo Jimenez.
The ONLY good thing about this trade (and trust me, I dug for days trying to find a positive) is that he'll be under control through at least 2013 (2014 player option as well) with a team-friendly contract. So if we somehow can manage to make a playoff push in the near future, he should still be on the team. (As for how much he can help, who knows. He's been rocked in half of his starts, and he's pitched great in the other half.)
Now, onto the reason for this post. One of the greatest Indians of all-time made his return to Cleveland in an Indians uniform tonight. I'm talking about Jim Thome, the Indians all-time leader in HR's. With Travis Hafner out for the season, the Indians picked up Thome as a fill-in DH for the rest of the season. It's awesome to have him back, even though we most likely won't see any monster Thome playoff HR's from him.
Oh well. Childhood flashbacks are good enough for me.
On to the Browns!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Midseason Tribe Talk
Today the Indians played their 81st game of the season, which officially signifies the midway point of the 2011 season. Coming into the season most predicted the Tribe would finish with close to 100 losses, and finish at or near the bottom of the Central. Instead, they're currently 44-37, 1.5 games in front of Detroit for 1st in the Central.Not bad.
The craziest part is that Travis Hafner has missed roughly half of the season. Grady Sizemore has missed close to half of the season. Shin-Soo Choo is currently injured and out for the next two months. Three of your best players have had injury problems and the Tribe are still in first.
Not to mention...Choo and Carlos Santana have both had horrible years thus-far, both struggling to even hit .230 on the season.
If you would've told me three of the five best hitters on the team would have missed significant time by being on the DL, and the two bright young talents on the team would both struggle to hit .230, I would've told you the Indians would probably be 30-51 at best right now.
Instead, they're in first.
A very solid rotation (not great, but not terrible) and one of the best bullpens in all of baseball have carried the Tribe so far. If they can continue to get good starts from Masterson, Carrasco and Tomlin throughout the season, and figure out a way to get Fausto Carmona on track, there's no reason to think the Tribe can't tread water in the AL Central. If they can just hang around until September, anything can happen.
Choo should be back in September, and Alex White will also be healthy by then. Adding him to the rotation (over Fausto should he continue to struggle, or Talbot if he can't get it together) would certainly make the rotation even stronger.
Either way, it was a fun first half of the season. Hopefully it continues and we have some meaningful baseball in September/October in Cleveland.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Cavs hit the lottery
Random preface: Something that's always drove me nuts....why does my blog name appear as "Believeland." on any blog roll? There's no period after it in the heading. There's no period after it anywhere. I don't like being OVERLY grammatically correct.
Moving on....
The NBA Draft Lottery was held last night, and the Cleveland Cavaliers entered it having two lottery picks. If the draft fell based off of records, they would've had the 2nd and 8th picks. (That 8th pick came with Baron Davis from the Clippers for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. You might've read about it here.) Anyways, lady luck had other plans for the Cavs. Or maybe it was karma. Or maybe it was rigged. I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't care.
That Clippers pick didn't end up being 8th. It ended up winning the lottery and becoming the #1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Our original pick ended up 4th, so instead of the projected 2nd/8th picks, we ended up with 1st/4th. Tough to complain about that, even if it is a weak draft class.
Surely two top-5 picks will help move the rebuilding process along much faster than just one pick would have. On the other hand, the Clippers essentially traded Baron Davis and the #1 pick (Kyrie Irving?) for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
We'll see what the Cavs do with those two top-4 picks in next months draft.....assuming the world doesn't end this Saturday like the Mayans claim.
BUT, if it does, at least we'll all go out with the Indians still in first place!
Moving on....
The NBA Draft Lottery was held last night, and the Cleveland Cavaliers entered it having two lottery picks. If the draft fell based off of records, they would've had the 2nd and 8th picks. (That 8th pick came with Baron Davis from the Clippers for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. You might've read about it here.) Anyways, lady luck had other plans for the Cavs. Or maybe it was karma. Or maybe it was rigged. I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't care.That Clippers pick didn't end up being 8th. It ended up winning the lottery and becoming the #1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Our original pick ended up 4th, so instead of the projected 2nd/8th picks, we ended up with 1st/4th. Tough to complain about that, even if it is a weak draft class.
Surely two top-5 picks will help move the rebuilding process along much faster than just one pick would have. On the other hand, the Clippers essentially traded Baron Davis and the #1 pick (Kyrie Irving?) for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
We'll see what the Cavs do with those two top-4 picks in next months draft.....assuming the world doesn't end this Saturday like the Mayans claim.
BUT, if it does, at least we'll all go out with the Indians still in first place!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Random nonsense
Some (probably nonsensical) thoughts about Cleveland teams currently...
Cavaliers:
Well, the first season post-LeBron has come and gone, and honestly, I'd call it a success (in my eyes at least). I know a lot of Cavs fans wanted to see the Cavs do everything they could to make a run at the playoffs this year, and hope to build the team through deadline deals similar to the way they've worked over the past couple years, but I was 100% against that. At the beginning of the season, I said this season would be considered a 'success' (I use the term loosely) if the Cavs managed to do three things: 1.) Manage to trade away some of the older veterans for either draft picks or young players, 2.) Lose as many games as possible to get the most ping pong balls for when the Draft Lottery comes around in the summer, and 3.) Find a way to beat LeBron and the Heat just once.
All three things were accomplished for the most part. They got rid of Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for a top-10 pick from the Clippers and Baron Davis. Davis wasn't that big of a deal, but the top-10 pick is. I said on this blog when the season started that I was hoping for a 16-66 record. The Cavs finished at 19-63, good for 2nd worst in the league. That should land us a top-3 pick in the draft. And lastly, they not only found a way to beat the Heat, but they went wire to wire on them, leading for ALL 48 minutes of the game.
Going into the off-season they now have two top-10 picks in the draft, and have found some young players that could be contributors in the future for this team. Varejao and Hickson are both big time players in their own right, so that's a nice cornerstone to build off of. Add in two top-10 picks, and the continuing progress of guys like Ramon Sessions and Christian Eyenga, and you might just have a young nucleus that can contend in a few years.
Thankfully for all of us Dan Gilbert realized he needed to go all-in with the rebuilding process, and so far, it looks like this might take less time than everyone thought--and in Cleveland, there's nothing better than hearing that.
Browns:
Even though there's a chance the 2010 season doesn't happen (which would be awful), the draft is coming up in a little over a week. As usual, the Browns have a top-6 pick, and I'm kind of torn between what I want to see the Browns do. On one hand, the thought of adding Patrick Peterson into a secondary with Joe Haden, TJ Ward and Sheldon Brown sounds amazing. That would instantly become one of the toughest secondaries in the NFL to throw on. On another hand, we need a dominant pass rusher that can get to the QB on a consistent basis and cause havoc. On a nonexistent third hand, adding a playmaking WR would really help Colt McCoy, Peyton Hillis, and the rest of the offense.
Sadly, we don't have three top-6 picks, so we can't fill all of those holes, but on the bright side, we should be able to address one of those three, regardless of who gets drafted before we pick. I'm leaning towards wanting a nice WR the most, but as long as the Browns address one of the three mentioned above, I won't be able to complain. Also, if they do go defense in the 1st round, I'd love to see a nice WR like Jonathan Baldwin (from Pitt) fall to them in the 2nd round, and then hope that a guy like Casey Matthews (Oregon) is available in the 3rd. It would be awesome to see one of Clay's sons rocking the Brown & Orange just like daddy did.
Indians:
Somehow, this team has managed to start the season off 10-4, and currently sit tied for the lead in the AL Central. Now there's about a 99% chance that the Indians can't keep this up for the whole season, but that's fine. No one expected the Tribe to win more than 70 games anyways. What I do like, however, is the fact that this team is 10-4 without their top two hitters doing anything so far. Carlos Santana and Shin-Soo Choo have both been virtually nonexistent this entire season, and yet the team is still winning. Also, the lineup should only get better once we can add a (relatively) healthy Grady Sizemore to the lineup, as he's clearly a huge upgrade over the current platoon of Austin Kearns/Travis Buck.
But as I've mentioned before on this blog, once we get some of our top of the line prospects in Cleveland, there's no reason to think we can't make a run at a World Series. If Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis are as good as they've been in the minors, they make the offense 10x more powerful. If Alex White and Drew Pomeranz are those front-end-of-the-rotation guys everyone expects, the pitching staff looks 100x better. If these four guys all pan out the way they're expected, I'm 100% convinced that the projected 2012 (2013?) Indians team as a whole is much better than the 2007 Indians that were one win away from making the World Series.
There might not be much hope in Cleveland right now for any of the teams, but if we can get two good drafts this spring/summer out of the Browns & Cavs, all three teams will certainly be looking much better than they all did the year before. And you can't ask for much more out of Cleveland teams than forward progress, opposed to the backwards progress we've been so accustomed to over the past decade or so.
All three things were accomplished for the most part. They got rid of Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for a top-10 pick from the Clippers and Baron Davis. Davis wasn't that big of a deal, but the top-10 pick is. I said on this blog when the season started that I was hoping for a 16-66 record. The Cavs finished at 19-63, good for 2nd worst in the league. That should land us a top-3 pick in the draft. And lastly, they not only found a way to beat the Heat, but they went wire to wire on them, leading for ALL 48 minutes of the game.
Going into the off-season they now have two top-10 picks in the draft, and have found some young players that could be contributors in the future for this team. Varejao and Hickson are both big time players in their own right, so that's a nice cornerstone to build off of. Add in two top-10 picks, and the continuing progress of guys like Ramon Sessions and Christian Eyenga, and you might just have a young nucleus that can contend in a few years.
Thankfully for all of us Dan Gilbert realized he needed to go all-in with the rebuilding process, and so far, it looks like this might take less time than everyone thought--and in Cleveland, there's nothing better than hearing that.
Browns:
Even though there's a chance the 2010 season doesn't happen (which would be awful), the draft is coming up in a little over a week. As usual, the Browns have a top-6 pick, and I'm kind of torn between what I want to see the Browns do. On one hand, the thought of adding Patrick Peterson into a secondary with Joe Haden, TJ Ward and Sheldon Brown sounds amazing. That would instantly become one of the toughest secondaries in the NFL to throw on. On another hand, we need a dominant pass rusher that can get to the QB on a consistent basis and cause havoc. On a nonexistent third hand, adding a playmaking WR would really help Colt McCoy, Peyton Hillis, and the rest of the offense.
Sadly, we don't have three top-6 picks, so we can't fill all of those holes, but on the bright side, we should be able to address one of those three, regardless of who gets drafted before we pick. I'm leaning towards wanting a nice WR the most, but as long as the Browns address one of the three mentioned above, I won't be able to complain. Also, if they do go defense in the 1st round, I'd love to see a nice WR like Jonathan Baldwin (from Pitt) fall to them in the 2nd round, and then hope that a guy like Casey Matthews (Oregon) is available in the 3rd. It would be awesome to see one of Clay's sons rocking the Brown & Orange just like daddy did.
Indians:
Somehow, this team has managed to start the season off 10-4, and currently sit tied for the lead in the AL Central. Now there's about a 99% chance that the Indians can't keep this up for the whole season, but that's fine. No one expected the Tribe to win more than 70 games anyways. What I do like, however, is the fact that this team is 10-4 without their top two hitters doing anything so far. Carlos Santana and Shin-Soo Choo have both been virtually nonexistent this entire season, and yet the team is still winning. Also, the lineup should only get better once we can add a (relatively) healthy Grady Sizemore to the lineup, as he's clearly a huge upgrade over the current platoon of Austin Kearns/Travis Buck.
But as I've mentioned before on this blog, once we get some of our top of the line prospects in Cleveland, there's no reason to think we can't make a run at a World Series. If Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis are as good as they've been in the minors, they make the offense 10x more powerful. If Alex White and Drew Pomeranz are those front-end-of-the-rotation guys everyone expects, the pitching staff looks 100x better. If these four guys all pan out the way they're expected, I'm 100% convinced that the projected 2012 (2013?) Indians team as a whole is much better than the 2007 Indians that were one win away from making the World Series.
There might not be much hope in Cleveland right now for any of the teams, but if we can get two good drafts this spring/summer out of the Browns & Cavs, all three teams will certainly be looking much better than they all did the year before. And you can't ask for much more out of Cleveland teams than forward progress, opposed to the backwards progress we've been so accustomed to over the past decade or so.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
LeBron returns to Cleveland, leaves a loser!
Damn, does that feel good.LeBron returned to Cleveland for the 2nd time since stabbing the city in the back on national television, and he walked off the court with his head hanging. He ducked player intros like a complete coward, and was dealt a nice batch of karma by losing to the worst team in the NBA.
In a season that has been extremely frustrating and disappointing, the Cavaliers have at least given fans something to be excited about by beating the one team they wanted to beat more than any other team in the NBA.
Add in the opening night win against Boston (who had beaten Miami the night before), two victories in the span of a week over Amare and Melo's Knicks, and the mid-season victory over the defending champion Lakers, the Cavs have proven they CAN beat elite NBA teams, but they have to play near perfect basketball. The team isn't anywhere near playoff contenders, but winning the lottery in a few months would certainly help the cause.
Nonetheless, in an absolutely miserable season, the Cavs do have 5 marquee wins. And if I have to watch a team go 16-66 (or whatever they end up), at least we can say we beat LeBron's Heat, the Celtics, the Lakers, and the Knicks a few times.
It can't get any worse than this season, but beating LeBron at home, and (hopefully) winning the #1 pick in the draft in a few months would certainly be a decent consolation prize going into the future.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Let 'The Process' Begin!
The Cavs took a big step towards a complete rebuild tonight by trading away Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for Baron Davis and the Clippers 1st round pick in 2011.The Clippers pick should be a top-10 pick, and that's the key component of this deal. Mo Williams/Baron Davis is a wash. Both have around the same talent level, and neither are 'future' pieces for this team. The Cavs took on Davis' contract that expires at the end of the 2013 season and hopefully that's around when the Cavs are turning the corner, and we can move him and his (then) expiring contract for someone that can help the team at that time.
The bottom line is the Cavs will now have two top-10 picks in next years draft. That's how you rebuild, folks. Hopefully the Cavs aren't done and can find someone to take Jamison off our hands, and if so, we can jump all-in and get this rebuild rolling as fast as possible.
I love the move. Top-tier picks is the fastest way to rebuild a team, and adding two top-10 picks around JJ Hickson, Anderson Varejao, Ramon Sessions (maybe--not sold on him yet) and Christian Eyenga is a good nucleus of guys to start to build around.
It's gonna take a few years, but hell....we're Cleveland fans. We're used to waiting anyways. At least it looks like the Cavs are serious about blowing it up and completely rebuilding, which is what they need to do if they wanna be championship contenders ever again.
Step one of The Process is complete. Let's keep it rolling!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wait, what?
Remember this?
That was about a month ago. Virtually the exact same team took the floor tonight in the much anticipated (ha) rematch between the Lakers and Cavs, and the Cavs won by 9. The only real difference in the Cavs lineup between the two games was that Mo Williams was back in the rotation...yet he only played 3 minutes and scored 0 points.
Yea, I really don't know how the hell the Cavs won either.
Nonetheless, at least the Cavs have two jewels in their crown from this 'season from hell' in beating both the Celtics and Lakers so far. We'll just disregard the fact that they set an NBA record with 26 straight losses during one point between those two wins.
So the obvious question: Is there actually a tiny bit of hope for the Cavs? Who knows. Considering they're still from Cleveland, highly unlikely. But J.J. Hickson has played great, Ramon Sessions has played pretty solid, and Christian Eyenga has shown ridiculous athleticism and a good chunk of potential. Add a healthy Varejao next year along with (hopefully) a #1 draft pick, and maybe you do have a few pieces to build around.
It's gonna be a long time before the Cavs are contenders again, but a win over the Lakers proves that there are at least a few decent pieces already on the roster. Now it's up to the front office to do a good job and slowly start to build up a respectable roster.
That was about a month ago. Virtually the exact same team took the floor tonight in the much anticipated (ha) rematch between the Lakers and Cavs, and the Cavs won by 9. The only real difference in the Cavs lineup between the two games was that Mo Williams was back in the rotation...yet he only played 3 minutes and scored 0 points.
Yea, I really don't know how the hell the Cavs won either.
Nonetheless, at least the Cavs have two jewels in their crown from this 'season from hell' in beating both the Celtics and Lakers so far. We'll just disregard the fact that they set an NBA record with 26 straight losses during one point between those two wins.
So the obvious question: Is there actually a tiny bit of hope for the Cavs? Who knows. Considering they're still from Cleveland, highly unlikely. But J.J. Hickson has played great, Ramon Sessions has played pretty solid, and Christian Eyenga has shown ridiculous athleticism and a good chunk of potential. Add a healthy Varejao next year along with (hopefully) a #1 draft pick, and maybe you do have a few pieces to build around.
It's gonna be a long time before the Cavs are contenders again, but a win over the Lakers proves that there are at least a few decent pieces already on the roster. Now it's up to the front office to do a good job and slowly start to build up a respectable roster.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Cavs game, twitter style
Alright, here we go...tonight's Cavs game, recapped through twitter and twitter only.
And one final tweet to sum it all up....
You guessed it. Cavs lose yet again, now 1-26 in their last 27 games.
And one final tweet to sum it all up....
You guessed it. Cavs lose yet again, now 1-26 in their last 27 games.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Rock Bottom for the Rockers
(Get the reference? Cleveland Rockers...the old WNBA team. They clearly have the same talent level.)
55.
The Cleveland Cavaliers really lost by 55 tonight to the Lakers. On the bright side, at least they didn't lose by 55 to the Pistons, Timberwolves, Kings, or the Nets.
The Cavs are now 8-30 and currently hold the worst record in the NBA. Rock bottom? Yea, I think that's a safe assumption. It's not humanly possible to get much worse. I think the worst part is the fact that the only person that seemed to care tonight wearing Wine & Gold was Alonzo Gee.
No, I don't know who he is either.
The only thing left to do now is trade away Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams for any type of prospects or draft picks we can get, and start the rebuilding process with (hopefully) the #1 pick and a nice chunk of other picks. There's only one player on the team I'd actually want to see the Cavs keep, and that's Anderson Varejao. I honestly see no reason to keep anyone else. If there's a team out there that wants anyone not named Varejao, it makes no sense to not trade them away. There's not a single promising young guy on this team anymore. JJ Hickson doesn't care, Ramon Sessions is terrible, and the rest of the roster is either filled with veterans (Parker/Moon) or D-League talent (Gee/Samuels/Harris/Hollins).
And if Dan Gilbert doesn't think rebuilding is necessary and actually keeps Jamison or Mo going into next season, then it's pretty clear this team needs new ownership. Or contracted. Or moved.
There's really no hope left for this team. No one on the Cavs cares, so none of the fans really should either. It's basically impossible to watch the team even play anymore. The lottery can't come soon enough. Maybe if we can at least get the #1 pick, the hope will go from 0% to around 2%.
Never thought I'd say this, but Spring Training can't come soon enough. Hell, even the Indians are closer to a Championship caliber team than the Cavaliers are now.
55.
The Cleveland Cavaliers really lost by 55 tonight to the Lakers. On the bright side, at least they didn't lose by 55 to the Pistons, Timberwolves, Kings, or the Nets.
The Cavs are now 8-30 and currently hold the worst record in the NBA. Rock bottom? Yea, I think that's a safe assumption. It's not humanly possible to get much worse. I think the worst part is the fact that the only person that seemed to care tonight wearing Wine & Gold was Alonzo Gee.
No, I don't know who he is either.
The only thing left to do now is trade away Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams for any type of prospects or draft picks we can get, and start the rebuilding process with (hopefully) the #1 pick and a nice chunk of other picks. There's only one player on the team I'd actually want to see the Cavs keep, and that's Anderson Varejao. I honestly see no reason to keep anyone else. If there's a team out there that wants anyone not named Varejao, it makes no sense to not trade them away. There's not a single promising young guy on this team anymore. JJ Hickson doesn't care, Ramon Sessions is terrible, and the rest of the roster is either filled with veterans (Parker/Moon) or D-League talent (Gee/Samuels/Harris/Hollins).
And if Dan Gilbert doesn't think rebuilding is necessary and actually keeps Jamison or Mo going into next season, then it's pretty clear this team needs new ownership. Or contracted. Or moved.
There's really no hope left for this team. No one on the Cavs cares, so none of the fans really should either. It's basically impossible to watch the team even play anymore. The lottery can't come soon enough. Maybe if we can at least get the #1 pick, the hope will go from 0% to around 2%.
Never thought I'd say this, but Spring Training can't come soon enough. Hell, even the Indians are closer to a Championship caliber team than the Cavaliers are now.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Year, No Hope
What better way to start off a new year than by coming to the realization that all three of Cleveland's sports teams officially have no hope for the future? For the first time in a long time, I can't even really say 'there's always next year', because in all reality, there's absolutely nothing to look forward to in 2011 from Cleveland sports. The Indians are coming off yet another 90-loss season, with owners who aren't willing to spend any money to bring in OR keep talent around. The Cavaliers are the worst team in the NBA, as evidenced by them being 0-1 against the only team with a worse record than them (Sacramento). And then there's the Browns, who finished the season on a four game losing streak, and in the process managed to lose to two really bad teams (Bengals, Bills), and get throttled 41-9 in the season finale against the Steelers.
A few months back, at least the Browns were showing some signs of hope. They seemed to have pieced together a respectable defense. They seemed to have found a great running back for the future in Peyton Hillis, and Colt McCoy was playing well enough for many people to think he was the quarterback of the future for the Browns. Then, in the last 4 games of the season, the Browns defense couldn't stop anybody. Hillis managed to rush for a whopping 165 total yards over those 4 games, and Colt McCoy looked as lost as he did in the preseason, as he managed to toss 7 INT's in the final two games.
From the looks of it, the Browns are right back to square one all over again. A suspect defense, a shaky quarterback situation, and (hopefully) and entire new coaching staff.
Add all that up and what do we have? A terrible Indians team, an even worse Cavaliers team, and a typical Browns team that seems stuck in neutral for the 12th season in a row.
Hey, there's always next year.
See, I said it after all. Besides...the sad reality is this: the best thing Cleveland fans have going for them is 'next year'.
A few months back, at least the Browns were showing some signs of hope. They seemed to have pieced together a respectable defense. They seemed to have found a great running back for the future in Peyton Hillis, and Colt McCoy was playing well enough for many people to think he was the quarterback of the future for the Browns. Then, in the last 4 games of the season, the Browns defense couldn't stop anybody. Hillis managed to rush for a whopping 165 total yards over those 4 games, and Colt McCoy looked as lost as he did in the preseason, as he managed to toss 7 INT's in the final two games.
From the looks of it, the Browns are right back to square one all over again. A suspect defense, a shaky quarterback situation, and (hopefully) and entire new coaching staff.
Add all that up and what do we have? A terrible Indians team, an even worse Cavaliers team, and a typical Browns team that seems stuck in neutral for the 12th season in a row.
Hey, there's always next year.
See, I said it after all. Besides...the sad reality is this: the best thing Cleveland fans have going for them is 'next year'.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Now that that's over...MOVE ON
I'm sitting here reading all these articles, tweets, comments, whatever by media/owners/fans/players, and they make it seem like we lost the championship tonight in losing to the Heat. While I can understand why people would feel like this game was 'our championship', it wasn't THAT important. It was a meaningless regular season game.Am I not as big of a Cavs fan as everyone else or something? Am I missing something? Because I'm already over it. I've been over it. Yet I still see people talking/acting like it's the end of the world. I saw a man take the BROWNS away from me. This is nothing in comparison. It's just another superstar who's ego became too big for little old Cleveland. With tonight's game, we got a lot of pent up stuff off our chest tonight, and the outcome wasn't that important. Now let's MOVE ON.
The clingy-ex stuff needs to stop. Tonight needs to be that last hurdle in completely forgetting about this guy and moving on. Yes, the off-season sucked. Yes, the first game seeing him wearing the Heat uniform was really awkward and annoying. But watching them lose on opening night (as mentioned in a previous blog post) was a big step for the city of Cleveland. Watching us beat the same team that beat Miami the next night was another big step. And hopefully, after tonight's massacre handed to us (like I said, the outcome really shouldn't be that important), we can all finally get past it.
There won't be another game as hard as tonight's was to watch. For lack of better words, it was the first time we saw our ex with a new guy. Now that we've seen him play for Miami against our team, we can start to move on. We got all the pent up hatred off our chests during tonight's game. (By the way, I'm proud of how the fans handled it...nothing too out of line, nothing to make the city look bad, just good natured ribbing and mean chants. Nice work guys.) Now, there's no sense in talking about how bad he did our team/fans/city anymore. We've covered it to death. His comments about how much love he has for the fans, yadda yadda yadda, are the closest thing to an apology our city is gonna get with regards to HOW it was handled.
There's nothing left to talk about on the situation. Try to look on the bright side of things. No one took a team away from us this time. We still have the Cleveland Browns who actually are showing some signs of promise. We have an owner for the Cavaliers that is willing to do whatever it takes to win. He'll get this team turned around/rebuilt sooner rather than later. We have some young talent on the Indians. We're gonna be alright.
There might not be any championships for us in the near future, but on the flipside, LeBron James sure as hell didn't bring us one when he was a Cleveland Cavalier, either.
I've already moved on. I hope the rest of Cleveland can sooner rather than later. Let's forget about the player that left, and focus on the teams and city we all love.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Believeland
Since the name of this article carries the same name of my blog, it's only fitting that I link you guys to one of the best Cleveland-based articles I've ever read in my life.
On ESPN, no less.
Believeland
Wright Thompson did an absolutely phenominal job encompassing exactly what the city is all about, including all the ups and downs over the past 50+ years.
On ESPN, no less.
Believeland
Wright Thompson did an absolutely phenominal job encompassing exactly what the city is all about, including all the ups and downs over the past 50+ years.
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Drive, The Fumble....The Trade?
For two teams that only play each other once every three years in the regular season, the Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos sure have some history. Mention the word 'drive' or 'fumble', or the names 'Elway' or Byner' to any Clevelander, and they'll want to punch something. Most NFL rivals are your division opponents, but if you ask most Browns fans what team they hate more than anyone not from Pittsburgh, and they'll tell you Denver. Denver took out Cleveland in the AFC Championship game in three straight seasons in the late '80's, and the pain still lingers.Now, halfway through the season, the Denver Broncos are last in the league in rushing, while the Browns have a running back on pace for 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns that they were gifted from Denver. Finally, it appears that the Browns have stuck it to the Broncos for once.
One of Mike Holmgren's first duties when he took over the Browns in the spring was to overhaul the roster. His first move was trading Brady Quinn (currently 3rd on Denver's QB depth chart--yes, he's even behind 'Hair Gel Jesus' Tim Tebow) for two draft picks and Peyton Hillis.
At the time, most Browns fans didn't really care Quinn got traded, but most did care that 'all we got' for him was 'a couple draft picks and a white running back'. I guess we all needed to understand that Mike Holmgren is a lot smarter than all of us. This deal has easily been the most lopsided trade of the off-season for any team, and all Denver fans can do is watch in disbelief as Peyton Hillis keeps punishing opposing defenses while their team can't run the ball to save their lives.
For once...the Browns have stuck it to the Broncos. And damn does that feel good.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
As gratifying as they come
In an 82-game season, a game or two hardly ever mean much, especially when your team is a team that is expected to be a cellar dweller for the season. However, over a 24-hour span, I don't think two meaningless regular season games have ever meant more for a city than the Boston/Miami game last night, and the Boston/Cleveland game from tonight did for Cleveland, Ohio.Last night, the 'greatest team in NBA history' managed to play like trash and lose their season opener against Boston. Now, if you ask any Cleveland fan, they'll all tell you they enjoyed watching LeBron play like crap as his Heat managed to start off 0-1. That brings us to tonight, where Boston was facing our beloved Cleveland Cavaliers in the Cavs season opener. Now, coming into the game, we all knew our odds were very slim at even staying in the game, let alone winning. Midway through the 3rd quarter, the Cavs were down 11, and we all kind of expected the team to lay down and just take the loss. Then, something happened. All the players realized that that's what everyone expected. They wanted to prove everyone wrong. They wanted to show how much heart they have. They wanted to do the unthinkable and beat the Boston Celtics a night after Boston beat the crap out of LeBron's Heat.
And that's exactly what they did. They realized that without LeBron, they can actually PLAY in the 4th quarter of a big game. They don't have to just stand around and watch #23 jack up shots anymore. They went out there, hustled on every play, and ran an offense towards the end of a close game--something Clevelanders haven't seen in the past seven years. And look what happened. The Cavs went out and won the game by 8. The same exact differential that Boston beat LeBron's Heat by the night before.
Turns out there is life after LeBron. Turns out Cleveland Basketball isn't dead. Turns out pulling the knife out of our backs might not be as painful as we all thought. Turns out getting over LeBron might be easier than we all thought.
And that, my friends, is why two meaningless regular season games are as gratifying as they come.
Monday, October 25, 2010
It's been a minute...
Or two. Let's see...since the last time I blogged it up, LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, the Indians finished up a 90+ loss season, and the Browns have played like the Browns over the first two months of the season. In other words...Typical Cleveland sports shit.
Well, I refuse to blog about that bastard LeBron, and there's nothing left to talk about with regards to the Indians, so let's get on with the show. The Cleveland Football Browns.
2-5. Have played well enough to be 5-2. Just beat the living daylights out of the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints IN Nawlins. Colt McCoy has played well enough to have Browns fans actually feeling like we might have finally found a QB for the long haul. Peyton Hillis is the baddest white running back in the history of white running backs (sorry John Riggins). The defense has been playing decent (for the most part).
Dare I say things are looking.................up for the Cleveland Browns?
Last season, we were lucky to score a few points and not get blown out by halftime. This year, we've held a lead in all 7 games, and have had a 4th quarter lead in 5 of them. If that's not improvement, I don't know what is. The defense has been playing with a lot more swagger thanks to rookie DB's Joe Haden and TJ Ward. Add in how well Colt McCoy has played thus far (in minimal appearances, albeit), and once again it looks like The Sammich Man Mike Holmgren had a phenominal draft.
The schedule is brutal, so you can't expect much more than probably 5-6 wins this year (as usual), but the team is vastly improved over previous years. And even though the end record might not look much different, the team appears headed in the right direction. Add in another solid draft next year (and hopefully drafting a stud WR), and we could be contending in a few years. Yes, that seems far fetched, but the team is showing signs of life.
On a final note, the Cleveland Cavaliers open the season on Wednesday (or Thursday...don't really know/care) against the Boston Retirement Center. If we lose by less than 20 that would be a victory. Hopefully Dan Gilbert realizes we need to rebuild this team as quickly as possible, trades away any older talent we have (Antawn Jamison/Mo Williams/Anthony Parker/Jamario Moon/etc.) and really goes into rebuild mode. Playing for the 8th seed in the East and the 15th pick in the draft isn't gonna get this team where everyone wants it to be. As crazy as it might sound, the quicker we start to rebuild, the quicker we can all finally get over the dagger that punk LePrince inserted into our collective hearts.
Here's hoping for a 16-66 season.
Keep the faith, Cleveland.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Small market baseball = small windows
As bad as the Cleveland Indians are this season (and as bad as they'll probably be next season), they've set themselves up with a nice little window to make a run at a World Series. They'll have about a three year window--2012 through 2014--where they'll have a legit shot at winning a World Series. The reason the window is so small is because by the end of 2014, all of the young guys who develop into stars will be traded away due to cheap ownership. Nonetheless, this team is shaping up to be a potential contender by 2012 (although 2013 might be more realistic). You take a look at the probable starting lineup for next season, and it doesn't look bad.
1. Michael Brantley LF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera SS
3. Shin Soo-Choo RF
4. Carlos Santana C
5. Grady Sizemore CF
6. Travis Hafner DH
7. Jhonny Peralta 3B
8. Matt LaPorta 1B
9. Jason Donald 2B
Obviously you have to take into consideration that Hafner and Peralta could be gone by the time they're contending in 2012 or 2013. If they are, Lonnie Chisenhall is supposed to be a solid up and coming 3B.
Overall, that's a decent lineup. You already know your 2-5 hitters are very solid. If Brantley can keep developing along with LaPorta and Donald, we could have one of the better offenses in baseball.
The reason I don't say they'll be anywhere near contenders next year is because the above mentioned guys will still be developing. Another big reason is because pitching isn't anywhere close to where in needs to be. Skipping over the 2011 season and looking forward to 2012 or 2013, you could potentially see a starting rotation of:
1. Fausto Carmona
2. Alex White
3. Nick Pomeranz
4. Mitch Talbot
5. Justin Masterson
(or Carlos Carrasco/Aaron Laffey if both keep developing)
White and Pomeranz were high draft picks, and both have phenominal stuff. White is already tearing up AA ball with an ERA under 2.00 and Pomeranz was a top-5 pick for a reason. Fausto seems to have his control back (for the most part) and is showing signs than he can anchor a rotation like he did in '07. Talbot/Laffey/Carrasco/Masterson are all young arms that have good enough stuff to put together solid seasons. Whether they can or not remains to be seen, but the Indians certainly have set themselves up to have a little nice little rotation going in a few years.
Add that nice little (projected) rotation to what could be a very solid lineup, and you've got the recipe for success in a few years. Obviously with the Dolans as owners that window for success will be very small, but don't forget--they were in this same situation in 2005. A team that looked like it was going nowhere anytime soon, and by 2007 they were one win away from the World Series. There's no reason to think they can't do it again. Whether it be in 2012, 2013 or 2014, if the Indians are going to make a run at a World Series, that's when they need to do it. Because by 2015, we'll be right back in the same situation we are this year.
Such is life being a fan of a small market baseball team with cheap ass owners.
1. Michael Brantley LF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera SS
3. Shin Soo-Choo RF
4. Carlos Santana C
5. Grady Sizemore CF
6. Travis Hafner DH
7. Jhonny Peralta 3B
8. Matt LaPorta 1B
9. Jason Donald 2B
Obviously you have to take into consideration that Hafner and Peralta could be gone by the time they're contending in 2012 or 2013. If they are, Lonnie Chisenhall is supposed to be a solid up and coming 3B.
Overall, that's a decent lineup. You already know your 2-5 hitters are very solid. If Brantley can keep developing along with LaPorta and Donald, we could have one of the better offenses in baseball.
The reason I don't say they'll be anywhere near contenders next year is because the above mentioned guys will still be developing. Another big reason is because pitching isn't anywhere close to where in needs to be. Skipping over the 2011 season and looking forward to 2012 or 2013, you could potentially see a starting rotation of:
1. Fausto Carmona
2. Alex White
3. Nick Pomeranz
4. Mitch Talbot
5. Justin Masterson
(or Carlos Carrasco/Aaron Laffey if both keep developing)
White and Pomeranz were high draft picks, and both have phenominal stuff. White is already tearing up AA ball with an ERA under 2.00 and Pomeranz was a top-5 pick for a reason. Fausto seems to have his control back (for the most part) and is showing signs than he can anchor a rotation like he did in '07. Talbot/Laffey/Carrasco/Masterson are all young arms that have good enough stuff to put together solid seasons. Whether they can or not remains to be seen, but the Indians certainly have set themselves up to have a little nice little rotation going in a few years.
Add that nice little (projected) rotation to what could be a very solid lineup, and you've got the recipe for success in a few years. Obviously with the Dolans as owners that window for success will be very small, but don't forget--they were in this same situation in 2005. A team that looked like it was going nowhere anytime soon, and by 2007 they were one win away from the World Series. There's no reason to think they can't do it again. Whether it be in 2012, 2013 or 2014, if the Indians are going to make a run at a World Series, that's when they need to do it. Because by 2015, we'll be right back in the same situation we are this year.
Such is life being a fan of a small market baseball team with cheap ass owners.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
This isn't an actual MLB team, is it?
I had an hour to kill tonight before CBS' Monday night line-up of Season Finales started, so I figured I'd watch the Indians. And I couldn't help but think to myself, is this really a Major League Baseball team? I watched a 19-minute top of the 1st inning that saw starter Justin Masterson throw 44 pitches, give up four hits, walk two guys, throw a wild pitch, get a visit from the pitching coach, and give up four runs. This is the same Justin Masterson who is 0-11 in his last 11 decisions. The same Justin Masterson that was traded to Cleveland for All-Star catcher Victor Martinez. The same Justin Masterson who has compiled a career 1-11 record with the Tribe with an ERA above 5.00.
How does a guy with numbers like that continue to start? Then, as I watched the Indians take their hacks in the bottom halves of the first few innings, I thought to myself, how do these guys actually get playing time? So I figured I'd come on here and break it down. Let's take a look at a position by position breakdown of the Cleveland Baseball Indians, and comment on whether they're an MLB-caliber player.
Catchers:
Lou Marson is the starter most nights. Marson is a career .225 hitter with 7 RBI's in his career.
MLB worthy? No.
Mike Redmond, who is primarily Marson's backup, has been in the majors for 13 years. His best season was a 1 HR/38 RBI/.294 AVG year.
MLB-worthy? No.
First base:
Russell Branyan is the everyday first baseman. He's played nearly 1,000 games in his career with 168 Home Runs. He's also a career .233 hitter.
MLB worthy? Only as a power bat on your bench.
Second base:
Mark Grudzielanek is the starting second baseman on most nights. He's a career .290 hitter who has more than 2,000 hits in his career.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Luis Valbuena was the Opening Day starter but is now the primary backup due to not understanding what 'defense' is. He's a career .232 hitter with more strikeouts than hits in his career.
MLB worthy? No.
Shortstop:
Jason Donald is now the starting shortstop due to Asdrubal Cabrera breaking his forearm. This year marked his MLB debut, and is 3-for-22 on the season thus far.
MLB worthy? No.
Third base:
Jhonny Peralta is the everyday third baseman. Career .264 hitter with 100 Home Runs.
MLB worthy? Bad teams would start him, so yes, he qualifies.
Designated Hitter:
Travis Hafner can be described very easily. He was amazing when he first came up and was one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Then he got hurt three years ago and hasn't been the same. He's still a decent bat towards the bottom of your lineup, but nothing like the 40+ HR guy we saw initially.
MLB worthy? Yes
Shelley Duncan is the backup DH. Doesn't get hardly any playing time, and is a career minor leaguer.
MLB worthy? No.
Left field:
Austin Kearns is the starting left fielder. He's a guy who's been in the majors for a decade now, and has only started a full season once. Typically, he's been a platoon player his entire career.
MLB worthy? Debatable
Matt LaPorta is the backup left fielder. He's a career .240 hitter who was supposed to be the next big thing but has yet to pan out. Also was supposed to be a big power bat, but has 8 HR's in his career.
MLB worthy? No.
Center field:
Usually manned by All-Star Grady Sizemore, Trevor Crowe is now the current starting center fielder. Sizemore has been bothered by injuries for the better part of two years now, and Crowe has taken over the spot. Crowe's only ability is to steal bases. Other than that, he's got no power and can't hit for a solid average.
MLB worthy? No.
Right field:
Shin-Soo Choo is the starting right fielder and is a five tool talent. He hits for average, he has power, he can steal bases, he can play defense, and he has an amazing arm. There isn't a single team in the majors who wouldn't want Choo.
MLB worthy? Absolutely.
Starting Pitchers:
Jake Westbrook is the 'ace' of the staff. He had Tommy John surgery back in 2008 and missed the better part of two full seasons. He's an ace on this staff, but he'd be an end of the rotation guy on better teams. Career record of 65-66 with an ERA above 4.50.
MLB worthy? Yes
Fausto Carmona is the only other starter in the rotation who has proven he can win games on a consistent basis. Only problem is that he's only done it once out of four seasons. When he can command his pitches, he's tough to beat. Generally, he can't though.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Justin Masterson has one win in his career with the Indians. He is capable of throwing one pitch, and one pitch only--a sinker. His career ERA is almost as bad as his career record.
MLB worthy? No.
David Huff's career ERA is 5.51 over his 31 starts. Enough said.
MLB worthy? No.
Mitch Talbot is at the end of this Indians rotation pitching in the majors for the first time in his career. So far, he's 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA. He has very solid stuff, and could turn into a solid young pitcher over time.
MLB worthy? Too early to tell, but all signs point to yes.
The Bullpen:
Kerry Wood is the closer. When he's not hurt, he usually pitches well.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Chris Perez, the love child of Ricky Vaughn and Kenny Powers, appears to be the closer of the future. He has electric stuff, and gets the job done most of the time. He does have a wild side though.
MLB worthy? Yes.
The youngster Tony Sipp has become a solid 7th/8th inning guy for the Tribe. He's usually good for a walk an inning, but overall he does what he needs to do.
MLB worthy? All signs point to yes.
Aaron Laffey is a starter turned long innings bullpen guy. He still should be starting (see: Justin Masterson), but isn't. A solid bullpen guy and a solid fill-in starter.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Rafael Perez is one of the worst relievers I've ever seen. Shouldn't even be allowed in Single A ball, let alone the Majors.
MLB worthy? No.
Hector Ambriz, while young, is already proving to people that he doesn't have the capabilites to go an inning without giving up a run.
MLB worthy? No.
Jamey Wright has pitched 1,700 innings in his career, and has given up nearly 1,000 runs. You do the math. How in the hell has he been around long enough to pitch 1,700 innings?
MLB worthy? No.
Final Countdown:
MLB worthy players on the Indians: 9
Potentially MLB worthy players: 2
Debatable players: 2
Non-MLB worthy players: 12
So there you have it. Over half of the entire Indians roster is filled with guys who have no right being in the majors. Essentially, this is a glorified AAA team. The Dolans dragged the team into this hole, and until they sell the team to someone who is willing to spend money, they'll be at the bottom of the barrel for a while.
Hope for the Indians? Long gone, for the foreseeable future.
How does a guy with numbers like that continue to start? Then, as I watched the Indians take their hacks in the bottom halves of the first few innings, I thought to myself, how do these guys actually get playing time? So I figured I'd come on here and break it down. Let's take a look at a position by position breakdown of the Cleveland Baseball Indians, and comment on whether they're an MLB-caliber player.
Catchers:Lou Marson is the starter most nights. Marson is a career .225 hitter with 7 RBI's in his career.
MLB worthy? No.
Mike Redmond, who is primarily Marson's backup, has been in the majors for 13 years. His best season was a 1 HR/38 RBI/.294 AVG year.
MLB-worthy? No.
First base:
Russell Branyan is the everyday first baseman. He's played nearly 1,000 games in his career with 168 Home Runs. He's also a career .233 hitter.
MLB worthy? Only as a power bat on your bench.
Second base:
Mark Grudzielanek is the starting second baseman on most nights. He's a career .290 hitter who has more than 2,000 hits in his career.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Luis Valbuena was the Opening Day starter but is now the primary backup due to not understanding what 'defense' is. He's a career .232 hitter with more strikeouts than hits in his career.
MLB worthy? No.
Shortstop:
Jason Donald is now the starting shortstop due to Asdrubal Cabrera breaking his forearm. This year marked his MLB debut, and is 3-for-22 on the season thus far.
MLB worthy? No.
Third base:
Jhonny Peralta is the everyday third baseman. Career .264 hitter with 100 Home Runs.
MLB worthy? Bad teams would start him, so yes, he qualifies.
Designated Hitter:
Travis Hafner can be described very easily. He was amazing when he first came up and was one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Then he got hurt three years ago and hasn't been the same. He's still a decent bat towards the bottom of your lineup, but nothing like the 40+ HR guy we saw initially.
MLB worthy? Yes
Shelley Duncan is the backup DH. Doesn't get hardly any playing time, and is a career minor leaguer.
MLB worthy? No.
Left field:
Austin Kearns is the starting left fielder. He's a guy who's been in the majors for a decade now, and has only started a full season once. Typically, he's been a platoon player his entire career.
MLB worthy? Debatable
Matt LaPorta is the backup left fielder. He's a career .240 hitter who was supposed to be the next big thing but has yet to pan out. Also was supposed to be a big power bat, but has 8 HR's in his career.
MLB worthy? No.
Center field:
Usually manned by All-Star Grady Sizemore, Trevor Crowe is now the current starting center fielder. Sizemore has been bothered by injuries for the better part of two years now, and Crowe has taken over the spot. Crowe's only ability is to steal bases. Other than that, he's got no power and can't hit for a solid average.
MLB worthy? No.
Right field:
Shin-Soo Choo is the starting right fielder and is a five tool talent. He hits for average, he has power, he can steal bases, he can play defense, and he has an amazing arm. There isn't a single team in the majors who wouldn't want Choo.
MLB worthy? Absolutely.
Starting Pitchers:
Jake Westbrook is the 'ace' of the staff. He had Tommy John surgery back in 2008 and missed the better part of two full seasons. He's an ace on this staff, but he'd be an end of the rotation guy on better teams. Career record of 65-66 with an ERA above 4.50.
MLB worthy? Yes
Fausto Carmona is the only other starter in the rotation who has proven he can win games on a consistent basis. Only problem is that he's only done it once out of four seasons. When he can command his pitches, he's tough to beat. Generally, he can't though.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Justin Masterson has one win in his career with the Indians. He is capable of throwing one pitch, and one pitch only--a sinker. His career ERA is almost as bad as his career record.
MLB worthy? No.
David Huff's career ERA is 5.51 over his 31 starts. Enough said.
MLB worthy? No.
Mitch Talbot is at the end of this Indians rotation pitching in the majors for the first time in his career. So far, he's 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA. He has very solid stuff, and could turn into a solid young pitcher over time.
MLB worthy? Too early to tell, but all signs point to yes.
The Bullpen:
Kerry Wood is the closer. When he's not hurt, he usually pitches well.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Chris Perez, the love child of Ricky Vaughn and Kenny Powers, appears to be the closer of the future. He has electric stuff, and gets the job done most of the time. He does have a wild side though.
MLB worthy? Yes.
The youngster Tony Sipp has become a solid 7th/8th inning guy for the Tribe. He's usually good for a walk an inning, but overall he does what he needs to do.
MLB worthy? All signs point to yes.
Aaron Laffey is a starter turned long innings bullpen guy. He still should be starting (see: Justin Masterson), but isn't. A solid bullpen guy and a solid fill-in starter.
MLB worthy? Yes.
Rafael Perez is one of the worst relievers I've ever seen. Shouldn't even be allowed in Single A ball, let alone the Majors.
MLB worthy? No.
Hector Ambriz, while young, is already proving to people that he doesn't have the capabilites to go an inning without giving up a run.
MLB worthy? No.
Jamey Wright has pitched 1,700 innings in his career, and has given up nearly 1,000 runs. You do the math. How in the hell has he been around long enough to pitch 1,700 innings?
MLB worthy? No.
Final Countdown:
MLB worthy players on the Indians: 9
Potentially MLB worthy players: 2
Debatable players: 2
Non-MLB worthy players: 12
So there you have it. Over half of the entire Indians roster is filled with guys who have no right being in the majors. Essentially, this is a glorified AAA team. The Dolans dragged the team into this hole, and until they sell the team to someone who is willing to spend money, they'll be at the bottom of the barrel for a while.
Hope for the Indians? Long gone, for the foreseeable future.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Reign of Potato is over
Five years. Five great regular seasons. Five embarrassing playoff exits. If someone asked me to sum up Mike Brown's tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers in three sentences, those would be them. From day one Mike Brown always preached one thing--defense. I have no problem with that...but defense can only take you so far. You need to be able to execute offensive plays more than once out of every 20 possessions. You have to be able to make in game adjustments and play guys that match up well opposed to guys who need to play 'x' amount of minutes. Ultimately, Mike Brown's deficiencies in those areas is why he's no longer the coach. It's also the main reason why the Cleveland Cavaliers still don't have an NBA Championship to call their own.I've hated Mike Brown for the better part of four seasons now...his offense/in game adjustments has just been so horrible, it's been impossible to actually like the guy. But this firing was one that I hoped I'd never see. If the Cavs had won a title within the past 5 years, Mike Brown would be coaching this team until he was ready to quit. (Don't get it twisted though...I'm glad he's finally gone.)
For the first time in over 5 years, I actually get the feeling that LeBron might not come back. The firing of Mike Brown feels like it's the beginning of the end for the Cavaliers. I really hope I'm wrong, but there's this weird feeling all of a sudden surrounding the Cavs. After the whooping Boston handed us in the 2nd round this year, you got the sense that this Cavs team really was just a regular season team. Part of that falls on Mike Brown's shoulders because, as stated earlier, he has no clue how to adjust to teams. Maybe the team really is just a smart coach away from a title. Who knows. But going into this off-season, you get the feeling that this team is gonna look drastically different come November. There isn't an actual center on the roster now that Z and Shaq are free agents, there isn't a coach, and there isn't a superstar if LeBron leaves.
Don't forget, LeBron was the one who wanted Mike Brown. He also wanted Larry Hughes, Mo Williams, Ben Wallace and Shaq. Every person he's asked for, Cleveland has given him. And every person he's asked for hasn't been good for the Cavaliers as an organization. But it's LeBron--the front office will give him whatever he pleases to make sure he stays. Where else is he going to get as much pull in the front office than he would in Cleveland?
Oh, and Mike? Thank LeBron for not only the opportunity to coach an NBA team, but for you being fired.
The Potato Head has officially left the building.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Change of Heart....
During the Cavs game, I was all set to come on here later that day (right now) and rant until the sun came up about everything pertaining to Cleveland sports, my grandparents moving to Cleveland some 50-plus years ago, figuring out a way to chop the entire city of Boston off into the Atlantic and other things.But, I decided against it. As much as Cleveland sports drive all of us Clevelanders nuts, and as much as we all cursed LeBron to hell/New York/etc. during tonight's game, the fact still remains...not a single one of us has yet to utter the words "I'm done." Not yet, at least. My mom's lived through it her entire life. She was 7 when a Cleveland team last won a title, and I can guarantee you she remembers nothing about it, nor cared at 7. And after the Cavs got wally-wonked tonight by 54, or whatever the outcome was, you know what she said to me? "There's always next year. And if LeBron leaves, so be it. There's always a decade from now. We're past due. It's only a matter of time."
And that's when it hit me. There's no point in throwing tantrums about how much I hate being born to Cleveland-crazed fans. There's no point in cursing out LeBron (which I did more than a few times tonight). This is no different than a girlfriend breaking up with you. Sure, it hurts like hell at first, but you'll get over it. And all of us, as Cleveland fans, will get over another disappointing Cavaliers playoff run sooner or later. And what doesn't kill us will only make us stronger.
Hell, if LeBron leaves, he leaves. As fans, it's completely out of our control. And if he leaves, we'll all feel like we just lost a family member. But over time, it'll hurt less and less. No, the sting won't ever go completely away--just mention Craig Ehlo, John Elway, Earnest Byner, Jose Mesa or the Boston Red Sox--all of us cringe any time they are mentioned...but eventually we'll have something good happen with a Cleveland sports team. And even if it's just for a few brief seconds, we'll all think to ourselves "this is finally our year."
And when that time finally comes, and a Cleveland team finally breaks the Cleveland Curse and wins a professional championship, we're gonna party like hell. We're gonna set the world on fire. It's gonna be the biggest bash in the history of mankind. And we'll all remember it for the rest of our lives--even if it's the only one we ever see.
After all, we're past due. It's only a matter of time.
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