Cavs Still A Little “Short” On Height

The Cleveland Cavaliers got off to a better start than most people expected, winning four of their first nine games, and then lost by one point on the road to the 76ers, one of the NBA’s better teams.

They’ve lost the last four games by 11, 19, 18, and 24 points, and the first of those losses, at home to Miami, wasn’t as close as the final margin indicates.

The Cavs don’t have a deep roster, and it is well known they have plenty of very young players, and injuries have started to creep up, and that hasn’t helped the situation.

Especially when the squad’s big men, of which there aren’t many, are the people who are missing games.

Larry Nance Jr. is out with a sore thumb, and Kevin Love missed a loss to the Knicks with a sore back, and Tristan Thompson missed last night’s contest in Miami.

Thompson is the tallest of the trio at 6’9″, with Love at 6’8″ and Nance a small forward like 6’7″

Remember that two other tall men, John Henson (6’9″) and Ante Zizic (6’10”) have been available for four games combined in the 2019-20 campaign.

This is a continuation of the past few years where the wine and gold simply don’t have enough size on the roster, whether it be due to injuries or just not having the players.

Cleveland has gone with a three man rotation at center/power forward most of the year with Love, Thompson, and Nance. Since Zizic has returned, either Nance, Love, or Thompson, or two of the three have been out.

Henson appeared in one game, giving Cleveland four big men, and the Cavaliers won that game.

And it’s not just up front that the Cavs are small. Cedi Osman is the small forward and he’s 6’7″, and is backed up principally by rookie Kevin Porter Jr., who is listed at 6’4″.

Cleveland is also starting a pair of 6’1″ guards in Collin Sexton and rookie Darius Garland. Jordan Clarkson (6’4″) and Matthew Dellavedova (6’3″) are the reserves.

So, the Cavs’ backcourt is very small, and their frontcourt isn’t exactly huge either.

Look at the defending champion Toronto Raptors. They start veteran Marc Gasol (6’11”) at center, Pascal Siakam (6’9″) at the 4, and OG Anunoby (6’7″) at small forward.

When Love and Nance were out against the Knicks, coach John Beilein started Osman at PF and Porter Jr. at SF.

New York, with three long players in the starting lineup, dominated the wine and gold in the paint.

Being short (no pun intended) of length, Beilein needs perfect execution offensively, which he isn’t getting, and defensively, he has a problem.

Thankfully, Love and Thompson were excellent rebounders, so Cleveland doesn’t get beat too badly on the boards when they are playing.

What can Beilein do?

He can change his combinations to have more size. He could start by bringing Garland off the bench, replacing him in the starting lineup with Porter. That would give the Cavs a more traditional lineup with a bigger guard.

He could also give Alfonso McKinnie (6’7″) more time, perhaps shrinking Dellavedova’s minutes. And when Henson can play again, you could play Nance some at small forward too.

And sending Garland to the bench doesn’t mean cutting his minutes either. It just means limiting the minutes where he and Sexton are on the floor together.

We believe Beilein will make the adjustments. After being very competitive in the first nine games, his team has been blown out four straight games.

Also, the Cavs rank 5th from the bottom in three point shooting percentage. Shorter teams that can’t shoot doesn’t seem to be a blueprint for success in today’s game.

How long is the coach’s patience? We may find out soon.

Thoughts On Browns’ Fate This Year And Myles Garrett

With all of the fallout from the brawl at the end of the Browns win over the Steelers last Thursday night, people have forgotten Cleveland has won two straight over teams with a winning record, and their playoff hopes are still alive.

We have maintained that 9-7 will likely get the final post-season spot in the AFC so after the loss to Denver, it meant Freddie Kitchens’ squad could only have one more hiccup to have any chance to play an extra contest this season.

The Browns passed the first two tests, although both games were at home, as is this weekend’s game vs. the 2-8 Miami Dolphins.

Cleveland will be shorthanded defensively without the indefinitely suspended Myles Garrett, and Larry Ogunjobi, who will miss one game as a result of the melee at the end of the Pittsburgh game.

The need to continue winning is the most upsetting thing to us, and probably Garrett’s teammates as well. Losing the team’s best defensive player isn’t conducive to reeling off a streak of victories, particularly when the Steelers and Ravens remain on the slate.

Let us state for the record that Garrett obviously deserves the suspension and we believe it will extend into next season, the first two games of 2020, a total of eight games.

One has to wonder, though, how Steelers’ QB Mason Rudolph avoided missing any games. He was no doubt an instigator, and should have had to sit down for one game, at the very least.

We do wonder about the national narrative that says Garrett hit Rudolph late on the Steelers’ penultimate offensive play and that the former first overall pick has a reputation for playing outside the rules of the game.

Pictures have clearly showed the Browns’ DE hitting Rudolph just after the ball was released, it is clearly not a late hit, and the tackle was more of a dragging the guy down, nothing violent about it.

As for being a “dirty” player, Garrett has been in the NFL for two and a half seasons, and has received four roughing the passer penalties and one unnecessary roughness calls according the The Pro Football Database.

The Browns will miss one of their best players, every team in the NFL would too, but they can’t let the suspension get in the way of the business at hand, which is to continue winning.

They can’t overlook Miami, a team that plays hard for Brian Flores despite their record and their obvious strategy of copying what Cleveland did several years ago.

Then comes the rematch with the Steelers, which will be a huge step because of what happened and that the game is in Pittsburgh.

And of course, the Ravens will arrive in Cleveland with revenge on their mind. Baltimore has the second best record in the AFC and hasn’t lost since the Browns laid a beatdown on them.

Kitchens and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks will need to generate a pass rush someway the rest of the season without Garrett, who has 1/3rd of the team’s sacks this season. A stat the Browns rank 6th in the league in.

Against Miami, Cleveland will have their top two pass rushers out. Will Wilks blitz more to get pressure and depend on corners Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams to defend.

Is it impossible? No. After the Dolphins’ game, Ogunjobi will be back and perhaps so too will Olivier Vernon.

As Kitchens said, everyone will just have to do their job better for the Browns to keep winning. That’s all anyone can do right now.

Lindor and Tribe In A Unique Situation

Now that the hot stove league has started, you can’t watch or listen to shows about baseball without people talking about the Cleveland Indians trading all star shortstop Francisco Lindor.

We, of course, have stated many times that we would not be in favor of dealing the Indians’ face of the franchise, preferring to sign one of the best players in the game to a long term contract.

We were wondering how many other star players were traded at age 25 while being one of the best players in the game?

We did come up with a few, although most aren’t as good as the Indians shortstop, and we wanted to see what kind of return the player brought back. Mostly because most fans think the Indians would get three future all-stars in return.

The first case is Christian Yelich, who was dealt by Miami in 2017 after his year 25 season. Yelich hit .282 with an 807 OPS, and was signed through 2021 by the Marlins, so he differs from Lindor in that he wasn’t coming up on free agency.

The top prospect Miami received was Lewis Brinson, who was Baseball America’s 16th ranked prospect at the time. To date, Brinson has been a massive dud, with a career 531 OPS in around 700 at bats.

The best player Miami received right now has been pitcher Jordan Yamamoto, who was never a top 100 prospect. He was 4-5 with a 4.45 ERA in 15 starts last year.

Not a big return for a player who was MVP in the National League in 2018 and finished second last season.

Manny Machado was traded at age 25, but he was moved at the trade deadline before his winter of free agency, so it’s not a good comparison. His value was lowered because the team dealing for him was getting him for a half season.

The only player moved from the Dodgers to Baltimore in the deal that has reached the major leagues yet is Breyic Valera (47 at bats with Toronto). Valera has gone from Baltimore to San Francisco to New York to Toronto.

Andrelton Simmons was traded following his age 25 season after hitting .265 (660 OPS). He isn’t anywhere near the offensive player Lindor is, but in the deal sending him from Atlanta to Los Angeles (AL), the best player the Braves received thus far has been Sean Newcomb (22-21, 3.87 ERA), who pitched out of the bullpen for the NL East champs this season.

The reason it is very difficult to find comps to this situation is most teams aren’t looking to trade 25 year old superstars with two years left on their contract, they are looking to sign them long term.

It is a different situation if Lindor and his agent have told the front office they won’t sign with the Indians under any circumstances, but we don’t believe that is the case.

We wanted to point out, however, in reality, no team is going to empty out their farm system for Lindor, and if they do, there’s no guarantee that the top prospects will turn out to be very good to great major league players.

Recently, you had the Bryce Harper (went to free agency) and Machado situations. Yes, Washington won the World Series this season, but it wasn’t due to what they received for Harper.

And the Orioles appear to have received 20 cents on the dollar for Machado.

The Red Sox are said to be considering a Mookie Betts deal, but part of that is the luxury tax threshold and the other big contracts Boston has. If J.D. Martinez had opted out of his deal for 2020, Boston may not be looking to move Betts.

Yes, Lindor will become one of the highest paid players in the game. So be it. He’s one of the best players in the game.

It may be a long time before another team is in this situation again.

What Browns Need To Do Tonight. Besides Win

Tonight is another big test for the Cleveland Browns, as they take on Pittsburgh in a nationally televised tilt.

When you start out 2-6, virtually every game is a big test, unless you want your flickering playoff hopes extinguished.

There is no question the Browns’ playoff hopes are slim, but in our opinion, the last team in the post-season in the AFC will likely have a 9-7 record, so if Freddie Kitchens’ squad can go 6-1 here on out, and the schedule is favorable, although it is minimal, Cleveland still has life.

How do they do it?

The simple answer is to continue to play turnover free football, and that depends a lot on Baker Mayfield, who over the past three games has hit on 73 of 111 passes (65.8%) with four TD throws and just one interception.

By the quarterback rating system, two of Mayfield’s three best games have come in the last two weeks. That’s why the growing criticism of the second year pro is puzzling to us.

The Steelers live on turnovers. They rank second in the NFL to New England is causing them, and if you remember when the Browns played the Patriots, the Cleveland turnovers early (three in the first quarter) dug a trench the brown and orange could not get out of.

Pittsburgh ranks 11th in total defense, 10th against the pass and 14th vs. the run. The Browns rank 15th in rushing offense, but second in average yards per attempt, so starting the game showing you can run the ball would be beneficial to Cleveland.

However, what that statistic means is Kitchens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken have been reticent to running the ball, which is another problem altogether, particularly now with both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt available.

Offensively, the Steelers are challenged without their two time Super Bowl winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They are 6th from the bottom of the NFL in passing yards and 14th in running the ball.

They rank right around the middle in the league in turning the ball over, but the Browns have been woeful in that category ranking fifth worst in the NFL with just nine in the first nine games.

They intercepted just four passes for the season.

Pittsburgh is an opportunistic football team, so not to be redundant, the Browns must limit their opportunities, and that means being careful with the football, which could be difficult on a frigid night.

Unfortunately, these Browns haven’t been the most patient of teams in terms of taking what defenses give them, although they have improved over the past two games.

Mayfield is aggressive by nature, and Kitchens seems to like using exotic motions and plays at seemingly the wrong time. Both tendencies need to be stifled this week, as the conservative approach is needed.

The Steelers are 3rd in the NFL in sacking the QB, and we know the Browns offensive line isn’t the most solid unit on the team. So, a good strategy might be the throw on early downs and set up shorter yardage situations on second and third down.

The good news for the Browns is although the Steelmen have a very good defense, Cleveland has already faced five defense statistically better in New England (1st in total yardage), San Francisco (2nd), Buffalo (3rd), Denver (4th), and the Rams (10th).

That’s right. The Browns have faced the top four defenses in the NFL through the first nine games.

There can be no patting themselves on the back after last Sunday’s win over the Bills. This will be another tough affair for Freddie Kitchens and his football team.

Holding onto the ball and not allowing big plays could be the determining factor tonight.

New-Old Coach, Veteran Players Guiding The Young Cavs

We have said many times over the past year or so that the one thing you have to give credit to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office is the character of the players they have on the roster.

In a sport filled with players with big egos, the Cavs have accumulated people who work hard at their craft, and in the case of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, guys who are willing to take the young players under their wings and teach them the ways of the NBA.

Those young players are willing to take the instruction, which again has been something many teams cannot claim.

To sum it up, the Cavaliers have a lot of unselfish players.

They have even embraced and taken to a college coach, John Beilein, an NBA outsider, who has come in at 66 years old, who has emphasized teaching and growing players’ games. At this point in the year, and granted it’s only nine games in, it appears there is a mutual respect between the new coach and the veteran players.

The front office helped Beilein by bringing in two longtime NBA assistant coaches, J.B. Bickerstaff (in the league since 2004-05) and Antonio Lang (coaching since 2014-15) to facilitate the process.

Praise should be given to both sides. We saw what happened a few years ago when David Blatt, by any measure an accomplished basketball mind, came in like he knew everything about the pro game, and didn’t establish a connection with his players, which included a superstar in LeBron James.

And, a lot of veteran players, particularly ones who have played on a championship team or made four straight trips to the NBA Finals, wouldn’t have an interest in mentoring a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds.

We believe the type of people that Beilein, Love, and Thompson are is a huge reason this is working so far.

Cleveland is the 10th youngest team in the league with an average age of 25.2, because they have that rank despite the presence of Love (31), Matthew Dellavedova (another teaching veteran at 29), John Henson (29), and Thompson (28).

There are 240 minutes of playing time in a non-overtime NBA game. Right now, the Cavs are giving 78 of those minutes (almost one-third) to Collin Sexton (31.0/game), Darius Garland (28.3) and Kevin Porter Jr. (19), two rookies and a second year player who is just 21 years old.

The only younger team than the Cavaliers that has a winning record is Minnesota at an average age of 25.1, and with a 5-4 record.

Yes, we know three of Cleveland’s four wins have come against the Bulls, Wizards, and Knicks, and it is unlikely any of those teams will be in the post-season.

But, under Beilein, Thompson has become more offense oriented, averaging over five points more per game than his career high of 11.7. Obviously, he’s taking more shots, but not really forcing them, just getting more in the flow of the offense.

As for Love, he’s shooting at the highest percentage of two point shots (48.1%) of his career. Remember, Love became more of a stretch four with James here, so getting more shots near the basket appears to agree with him.

So, not only is the new coach helping the young players develop, he’s also putting the veterans in good spots.

So far, it’s working. While we don’t think the playoffs are a possibility this season, it is refreshing to see a formula and a guiding hand for the young players.

Will it continue? Who knows for sure, but it won’t be due to a lack of character for this Cavalier team.

Browns Need To Eliminate Distractions

At 2-6, the Cleveland Browns need to pull in the reins a bit on the free speech that goes on in Berea.

Freddie Kitchens needs to send a message to his team. It doesn’t have to be given harshly and it doesn’t have to be given through the media, but he needs to make sure every single player on the roster has one thing in mind: Winning!

Let’s stop discussions about getting the ball to Odell Beckham Jr., and what shoes he is wearing and getting fined by the wardrobe police.

No more talk about Baker Mayfield’s facial hair and how many times per day he shaves.

Can the discussions about who is calling the plays and who will call the plays going forward.

Kitchens likes to say if you don’t wear orange and brown, you don’t matter. Well, you know what else doesn’t matter? Any of this crap.

Someone needs to step up and tell everyone not to feed into the media’s obsession with some of this stuff.

When Beckham speaks during the week and is asked about his targets? He should reply with touches don’t matter unless a victory comes with it. The same for Jarvis Landry.

Mayfield needs to have the same mantra. Tell the reporters that he doesn’t care if he throws five passes in the game as long as they win.

And any questions about anything else should be met with the response of “I’m here to talk about football”.

We have a new appreciation for Bill Belichick and his “we’re on the Cincinnati” speak. There is too much talking about the previous week and other topics that have nothing to do with winning.

Notice the media doesn’t talk to Nick Chubb a lot, and the running back is probably the best player on the offensive side of the ball.

Why don’t they talk to him? Because he doesn’t say anything.

We think about the movie Bull Durham when Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) talks to Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) about his fungused shower shoes. Davis tells him when you have shoes like that and win 20 games in the major leagues you are colorful. In the minors, it’s just gross.

If the Browns were 6-2 right now, Mayfield’s facial hair would be fun, Beckham’s uniform violations would be rebellious, and no one would be questioning who should be calling the plays.

But they are 2-6, so maybe, just maybe it’s time for everyone to just shut up, play football, and win some games.

When John Dorsey took over as GM, one thing he wanted to do was keep things in house, meaning no more leaks to the national media. Kitchens should do the same with the locker room.

With the record they have, the Browns need to get back to basics. Think about how many exotic fakes and motion packages they used last week in Denver.

Defensively, they seemed unwilling to blitz at QB playing in his first NFL game.

We have said in the past that sometimes the obvious thing to do is also the right thing to do.

For the Cleveland Browns, everybody should be on the same page and they clearly are not. Winning cures a lot of evils. That’s what every single person in the Browns’ organization should be focusing on from here on out.

Some Targets For Tribe To Aim At.

The World Series has ended and the Hot Stove season has begun for baseball fans. Hopefully, the Cleveland Indians will have a more (or less, depending on perspective) newsworthy off-season than a year ago.

MLB Trade Rumors ranked the top 50 free agents this winter with their projections on where the players would sign. They had the Indians signing no one from this list, which isn’t surprising given the front office’s payroll cuts last off-season.

In looking at the current list of free agents, there could be more coming when the deadline for offering arbitration gets nearer, here is a list of people we would be interested in and wouldn’t cost a great deal of money.

The first player is someone who wore a Cleveland uniform for part of 2019, Yasiel Puig. The right-handed hitter will be 29 years old next season, and still has a career 823 OPS. We would think he would hit for more power than he did after coming over from Cincinnati last season, and his on base percentage (.377) was very good.

We wouldn’t spend huge money here or go more than two years, so maybe this is one of those signings that happens right before spring training starts.

Didi Gregorius is another intriguing player to fill the Indians need at either 2B or 3B. Gregorius is the rare Yankee hitter whose numbers are not inflated by their hitter friendly ballpark (766 OPS on the road vs. 718 at home). And he has a 941 OPS in 80 career plate appearances at Progressive Field.

He had Tommy John surgery last off-season, so he should be stronger coming into the 2020 season.

Gregorius would be a little pricey, but should provide good bang for the buck.

Mike Moustakas would be someone who can play the hot corner, and he’s a player who played in a small park in Milwaukee, and was better on the road. Plus he has plenty of playoff experience (161 career at bats).

He won’t turn 32 until September and maybe a guy who you could get on a 2-3 year deal at modest money, since he’s played on one year deals each of the last two seasons.

And he’s belted at least 28 home runs in each of the last three seasons. He’s also a left handed hitter (so is Gregorius) which is something Cleveland badly needs.

Starlin Castro would be another candidate to play second base. He will be 30 years old next season, and is a career .280 hitter (736 OPS). Castro should prosper getting out of the big part in Miami, and hit .286 with a 768 OPS on the road last season.

His drawback is he’s a free swinger, rarely walking, but he doesn’t whiff excessively either.

Corey Dickerson is someone who could provide some pop in the outfield, particularly if the Indians want to continue to platoon there with Jordan Luplow.

Dickerson, another left handed bat, has a lifetime .866 OPS vs. right-handed pitching and he has belted 5 homers in 44 at bats in Cleveland during his career.

He doesn’t walk much, but doesn’t strikeout a ton either, and he won a Gold Glove in 2018 with the Pirates. His lifetime slugging percentage is .504.

Adding one of these players would help the Indians’ batting order a great deal, and it definitely needs to add some length.

We also think these players would be in the front office’s price range, meaning they will not likely command huge dollars to sign.

Getting back on top in the AL Central should be the goal entering this winter.

Assigning Blame? Don’t Forget Dorsey And Others.

We said Sunday’s game at Denver was a “must win” for the Cleveland Browns, and they lost.

Now, with the playoffs being a extremely vague possibility, we are sure that week by week, people will be picking over the coaching of Freddie Kitchens, and pointing out things that should get him fired.

However, no one focuses on two other people who should share the blame with the head coach, and they would be GM John Dorsey and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

When the Browns started winning last season, there were some who were quick to get close to Dorsey and be his friend. Perhaps that has clouded their view of the GM.

When Dorsey traded for Odell Beckham Jr. last spring, he signaled that the franchise was all in going for a playoff spot this season. However, he was doing so with a rookie head coach.

Unlike the situation in Los Angeles with Sean McVay, who has former head coach and long time NFL assistant Wade Phillips as a mentor, the only former head guy on Kitchens’ staff is Wilks, who guided Arizona last season.

There are coaches with a lot of experience on the staff in James Campen (15 seasons), Stump Mitchell (16), and Wilks (14), but wouldn’t it have been better for Kitchens if a guy who has had some multiple years as a head man in the NFL that he can talk to every day?

There is something to say about continuity too. The Browns finished last year winning five of their last seven, and part of that was the play of QB Baker Mayfield, who thrived under the offense called by Kitchens.

Yes, Kitchens still calls the plays, but bringing in an offensive coordinator in Todd Monken, who runs an entirely different scheme, seems to have halted the momentum built a year ago.

This is clearly not the same attack as last season, and we do wonder if there has been any considerations within the offense to play to the personnel’s strengths.

We seem to remember a lot of slants run for Beckham in New York, trying to use his ability to run after the catch to advantage. We’ve seen almost none of that with the Browns.

And by the way, the trade for Beckham seems to have the quarterback trying to keep him happy as well. Mayfield didn’t seem to force a lot of balls into coverage last year.

More than a few analysts have said perhaps the second year quarterback wasn’t ready to play with a big time wide out like Beckham.

Another question is the choice of Wilks as defensive coordinator. Wilks seems to want to play a lot of zone coverage, but Dorsey seemed to go out of his way to draft cover cornerbacks in Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, and then invested a lot in the defensive line to pressure opposing quarterbacks.

If that was the intent, then Wilks isn’t making the best use of the tools he has either.

Kitchens is getting a lot of blame for being in charge of the island of misfit toys that has been assembled by Dorsey. It seems like the GM just decided to bring in a bunch of talent and expected a rookie head coach to make them fit.

That might be okay in other sports, but in football, the players have to play as a cohesive unit, and if one person is in the wrong spot, or freelancing, it screws everything up.

Perhaps that’s the story of the 2019 Cleveland Browns.

More On The Lindor Scenario…

It has already started.

Soon after the New York Yankees lost the American League Championship Series, a column in the New York Post advocated the Yankees should try and get Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians.

A week later, it was reported the Los Angeles Dodgers have interest in the four time all star.

And all over northeast Ohio, it is becoming a weekly debate. Should the Tribe deal Lindor now, so his new team has him for two seasons, therefore giving up more for him, or should the Indians go into the season with their best player, and try to win the World Series in 2020?

The possibility of signing Lindor is not even considered, and we have debated that point enough over the past year. To summarize, that is ludicrous.

Most fans and media alike seem to think dealing Lindor for three or four “stud” minor league prospects would enable the Tribe to just keep on winning year in and year out.

Because, after all, no super prospect ever flames out once they reach the big league level, nor do they ever become just average major league players.

And the Washington Nationals just showed you can let your superstar player go and still win, right? That, of course, ignores the fact the Nats had Juan Soto up last year at 19 years old, and he is probably better than Bryce Harper, who signed with the Phillies.

We will let you in on another secret…Lindor is a better player than the much hyped and ballyhooed Harper. Although Harper won the NL MVP in 2015 at age 22, that’s his only top 10 finish.

Lindor has three top 10 finishes in the American League, and most rankings have Lindor in the top 10 of all major league players, while Harper falls in between 11 and 20.

It is difficult to believe that Frankie has only played four full seasons with the Indians, so if he is moved this winter, that’s all Cleveland fans get.

It makes you think about the odd decision to leave the shortstop in the minor leagues the first half of the ’15 season was a pretty terrible one, no?

Especially when you would deal him before his ages 27-29 seasons, the time when a player is truly in his prime. The Indians would not get the benefit of those years.

There is a reason that Sandy Alomar Jr., Jim Thome, and Omar Vizquel are still revered by Indians’ fans almost 20 years after they began the career here.

Alomar spent 11 seasons here (1990-2000), while Vizquel was here for the same amount of time (1994-2004), and although Thome had some cups of coffee here before the Indians became contenders, he was a regular from 1994 through 2002.

That’s why we always say (and feel) if Lindor can play here for 10 years, he will be considered the greatest everyday player in franchise history. And there should be value in that for the teams’ owners.

Now, if Lindor says he will not consider a long term deal here, then this is all moot. The Tribe should keep him this year and move him afterwards, unless they get players who can help this season.

They cannot take a step backwards and go into a rebuilding mode.

We do believe Lindor would like to stay, but he wants to be paid like one of the game’s best players. There shouldn’t be an issue with that, especially because a five year extension would keep him here through age 30, and he should still be putting up excellent numbers.

If the Indians can get three highly ranked prospects and they all reach their potential, that would be great, correct? However, what if the prospects turn out to be average or busts?

No one thinks about that possibility.

Browns Need To Return To ’18 Formula

Penalties and turnovers. That’s the mantra of Browns’ coach Freddie Kitchens in terms of what needs to improve if Cleveland wants to start winning football games again.

We certainly feel the number of pre-snap penalties has to be eliminated, you simply cannot have two players in motion, jumping offsides, and we will add the inordinate amount of illegal linemen downfield and expect to win in the NFL.

We spoke a couple of weeks ago about “zero defects”, and that’s what the Browns should be striving for.

The turnovers are quite a contrast to 2018, though. Last year, Cleveland won the turnover battle on the season at +7, causing 31 turnovers, almost two per game.

This year, it’s just the opposite, with the Browns being a minus nine. That’s a 16 turnover swing, and a good reason the team is struggling at 2-5.

Moreover, the offense just looks different, and we would have to question the hiring of Todd Monken as offensive coordinator because in our opinion, his “system” doesn’t fit the skill set of the personnel, particular Baker Mayfield.

When he was the OC at Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers had the most interceptions in the NFL a year ago, and ranked 20th and 27th in his other two seasons.

Perhaps his offense is high risk, high reward?

We found something else interesting about the passing game between 2018 and 2019, and that is the number of receivers being involved.

Last season, the Browns had five receivers that averaged 2.5 catches per game: Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, Rashard Higgins, Duke Johnson, and Antonio Callaway.

This season, that number has dropped to three: Odell Beckham Jr., Landry, and Nick Chubb. Part of what made Mayfield special in his rookie season was his ability to spread the ball around.

That doesn’t seem to be the case in 2019. Perhaps he feels obligated to get the ball to the All Pro Beckham as some have suggested. Or maybe the coaching staff is telling Mayfield to make a concerted effort to get the ball to the playmakers.

Either way, we would just like to see a return to a year ago.

The closest performance to the offense run last season with Kitchens as the coordinator was the Baltimore game, and surprise, surprise, the Browns put up 40 points, 30% of their season total.

That day, Mayfield hit seven different receivers, and completed 20 of 30 passes for 342 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Five different receivers caught two or more throws, led by Landry’s eight for 167 yards.

It is by far Mayfield’s best game of the year, finishing with a 102.4 passer rating (a stat we hate, by the way). His next best game was vs. the Jets (83.6 rating).

Another thing we have noticed in the former Heisman Trophy winner’s game this year is his reluctance to pull the ball down and run. While he’s never going to be Lamar Jackson, last year Mayfield had 39 carries in his 14 games.

This year? Just 9 runs in the 7 games. Sometimes, it’s better to step up in the pocket and gain 2-3 yards than to take a sack or throw the ball away.

Last season, Mayfield looked very decisive, this year, he looks confused. Perhaps it’s a new system, maybe not.

Whatever the reason, it’s time to get back to basics and it starts this Sunday in Denver.

The Browns should treat this as a new beginning.