Not Many Solutions for Tribe Problems

The Cleveland Indians are struggling.

Optimistic people will tell you they are only 3-1/2 games out of a wild card spot, thanks to the bunched up American League standings, but watching them play tells you it doesn’t look like they can put together any kind of winning streak soon.

The defense is atrocious, the hitting is mostly weak, and right now, three of their starting pitchers have an ERA of over 5.00.

That isn’t exactly a recipe for success.

The past weekend series against Oakland can be set aside in this discussion because it could just be a matter of playing a team when they are red-hot, which the A’s are. Still, the Indians’ difficulties have been going on all season long.

Are their any solutions for GM Chris Antonetti and manager Terry Francona?

The simple answer is not really. The Tribe needs the veteran players with track records to start playing to those career numbers. Because there is no immediate help in the farm system and Antonetti isn’t the type of GM to make rash deals.

This lineup isn’t scoring runs and it probably isn’t going to as long as Carlos Santana bats .150 and Nick Swisher bats .200. Those two players have to get it going.

As for the people who want the latter out of here, Swisher has no trade value right now with the way he is hitting and playing defense, and his expensive contract.

One move Francona can make is to start moving Swisher off of first base where his defense has been terrible to be nice. Put Santana back at first, a position he is more familiar with, because perhaps learning a new position has affected the switch-hitter’s batting.

Getting Jason Kipnis back from the disabled list will no doubt help the hitting, although Mike Aviles has done a fine job at 2B in his absence. With Kipnis back, Aviles can go back to the part-time role he excels at.

After a hot start, he has slumped a bit, which is the norm for the veteran. He hits best in a limited role.

The Indians consider Jesus Aguilar a marginal prospect, but his right-handed bat is needed by the big club, which is overloaded in terms of guys who swing from the left side.

As for the pitching staff, Trevor Bauer is getting the start tonight, replacing Danny Salazar. However, Zack McAllister and Justin Masterson need to start pitching better as well.

The struggles of the starting rotation are definitely affecting the bullpen, which is starting to show signs of wear and tear.

If something happens to one of the starters, and Masterson is looking like a guy with a sore arm (loss of velocity and command), right now, Salazar is the only option, and he did not pitch well in his first AAA start.

Losing Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez without replacing either one in the off-season has robbed the organization of its depth at starting pitcher.

So, there aren’t many alternatives except to play better. No one wants to hear that among the fans, but we can’t see any blockbuster deals on the horizon, mostly because the Tribe doesn’t have anyone with huge market value.

Asdrubal Cabrera is an above average major league shortstop and Francisco Lindor is Cleveland’s best prospect, but the former is a free agent at the end of this season, so you won’t get much in return.

If you deal anyone else, there isn’t a player to replace him.

That’s what happens when you don’t draft well for a decade.

So, Tribe fans have to hope the veterans get back to their usual levels or it will be a long summer.

Either way, it’s not the best scenario if you are a baseball fan in Cleveland.

Browns Handling Johnny Just Fine

After the Cleveland Browns decided to draft Johnny Manziel in the first round (22nd overall) of the NFL Draft, to be sure, they knew things would be different in Berea.

Suddenly, the national media would pay attention to the Browns and the former Heisman Trophy winner’s media persona, “Johnny Football”.

However, we think the brown and orange are handling things just fine so far, although ESPN and other national football writers would probably disagree.

First was owner Jimmy Haslam’s public statement that Manziel should come to the mini camp and training camp “acting like a back-up quarterback”. This statement is fine on so many levels.

It tells the rookie and everyone else that no one, including Manziel, will be handed a starting job. If the 22nd overall pick comes in and plays better than incumbent Brian Hoyer in training camp, he will be the starter against the Steelers in the season opener.

If Hoyer plays better, then he will take the first snap.

The other good reason for the comment is the organization’s read on Manziel, that he is ultra competitive. Telling a player with the competition gene that he isn’t the number one guy is the same as waving a red cape in front of a charging bull.

You know that now Manziel is going to work his tail off to prove the owner, the head coach, and his teammates wrong, and show he is capable of taking the ball at Heinz Field in the opener.

How can blame the Browns for playing that card?

The Browns are also taking heat for limiting the national media during the rookie mini-camp this weekend. Most of the players at the camp are fighting for their NFL lives, and having a tremendous focus on the rookie QB from Texas A & M isn’t fair to those players.

Plus, ESPN is their own classic way, blasted the Jets for the media circus their training camp became after they signed Tim Tebow. Talking out of both sides of their mouth, the hammer the Browns for limiting the media distractions.

Could it be that it’s because Manziel happened to turn up in Cleveland, the poster city for losing according to the four letter network?

As for Manziel, you have to be impressed at how he says the right things. He portrays himself as needing to earn his playing time, he understands he needs to work hard to get the starting job.

He has also said he understands that Hoyer isn’t going to hand him the starting gig.

It is also refreshing to hear how Manziel talks about wanting to be here, to be part of the solution, to be part of a turnaround for the franchise.

We understand that there is a certain part of the fan base that wants Manziel in there no matter what.

But the time to win for the Cleveland Browns is right now. They can’t afford to have another 10 loss season, and most fans don’t want to hear how a rookie quarterback is going to make mistakes that rookies do, and have those error contribute to another 5-11 season.

That would just be more of the “wait ’til next year” theme the franchise has had over the past several years.

If Manziel is the best QB coming out of camp, then start him. We have no problem with that. However, if Hoyer is better right now, than let the rook sit and watch for a while.

He’s the future signal caller for the Browns, but the future doesn’t have to start this September.

Tribe Still Surviving at the Quarter Pole

Tonight, the Cleveland Indians will play their 40th game of the season, which obviously means the campaign is one-quarter over.

Suddenly, it’s not early anymore, but there is still plenty of season remaining.

The Tribe sits at 18-21 on the season, and with the jumbled American League, they are still in the thick of it for a post-season spot, although the Tigers seem to be running away (again!) with the Central Division.

Eleven of the 15 teams in the AL sit within three games of the .500 mark, an incredible number considering the number of games played so far. Only Oakland and Detroit are more than three games over the break-even mark.

Cleveland’s pitching is holding its own, ranking in the top half of the league (7th) in ERA, despite the struggles of their #1 starter, Justin Masterson, and having to sit down the closer that started the season, John Axford.

Masterson hasn’t pitched poorly (2-2, 4.31 ERA), but he certainly hasn’t pitched as well as he did last season. He’s had several outings thus far where he has been dominating early, only to lose it completely.

Yesterday was one of those games, with the big right-hander retiring the first nine Blue Jays, but then giving up five runs in the next 2-1/3 innings.

Axford has struck out 16 hitters in 15-2/3 innings, but he’s walked 13 and allowed three home runs. Putting hitters on via walk and giving up bombs isn’t a way for a closer to stay a closer for long.

The bigger issue for Terry Francona’s club is the offense, which sits at 12th in the league in runs scored, 13th in batting average, and 12th in OPS. All of those ranks are in the bottom third of the AL.

While no one outside of Michael Brantley has been consistently good so far, the biggest culprits for the offensive ineptitude would be Carlos Santana, Nick Swisher, and Ryan Raburn.

Thank goodness, Santana has continued to draw walks (he’s second in the AL with 32), because otherwise he would be a total disaster. He’s hitting just .152 for the season with 4 HR and 11 RBI. His OPS is under 600 (597) for the season.

Francona is a very patient manager, but it will be tough to keep the switch-hitter in the clean up spot much longer.

As bad as Santana’s OPS is with his batting average at .152, Swisher’s isn’t much better at 618.

The Tribe’s big free agent acquisition a year ago, the first baseman is languishing at .204, 2 HR, and 15 RBI. That’s a pace to hit less than 10 dingers and knock in about 60 runs for the season.

The weird stat though, is that those RBIs ranked third on the team, behind Brantley and David Murphy. That’s how much everyone else as struggled as well.

Swisher has been terrible vs. lefties, hitting just .156 against southpaws. The Tribe has struggled against left-handed starters all season, and this is just one reason.

Another reason is the production of Raburn, hitting just .176 with a 433 OPS. He did a great job of hitting southpaws last season, one of the reasons for the team’s success vs. lefties. He batted .308 and slugged over .600 in 2013.
This year, Raburn’s just 7 for 40 against those pitchers and has just two extra base hits on the season. It’s reminiscent of his horrible 2012 season, which led to his release by the Tigers.

He’s pretty much only been used against left-handers this season, whereas last year, he got more at-bats against righties. Maybe he just needs some more playing time to get going.

Despite all that has gone wrong with the offense, including the injury to all-star Jason Kipnis, it really is remarkable the Indians aren’t buried in terms of contention.

Still, the bats have to pick up over the long haul or the burden on the starting pitching and bullpen will be too much for the staff to handle over the last 75% of the season.

Griffin’s First Move is the Right Move

You can’t accuse Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert of acting rashly this time.

The season has been over for about a month, and today the wine and gold announced that interim GM David Griffin now has the job permanently, and his first act in that position was to fire Mike Brown as head coach.

If you’ve read this blog over the past few months, you know that we are celebrating that move because Brown was the wrong fit for the job here.

When we heard the Cavs were considering giving Griffin the job full-time, we thought a first and only question he should be asked would be should Brown continue to be the head coach. If he answered no, he would be hired.

Here’s hoping that Gilbert talked to several basketball people since the regular season ended and came to the conclusion that Griffin was the most capable person to run this franchise.

We still would love Gilbert to hire another experienced basketball person (we would still favor George Karl) as a consultant for the new GM to bounce ideas off of.

If former GM Chris Grant was the guy who wanted Brown back and sold Dan Gilbert on the idea, how can anyone blame Griffin for bringing in his own man?

The once and again former Cavs’ coach didn’t pick up any new ideas on offense since he left the first time and has never had a history of developing young players, of which there are plenty on the Cleveland roster.

Just because Brown signed a five-year deal last summer was no reason to keep him. Keeping him would have been a hindrance to what Griffin’s vision of what this basketball team will be. To be succinct, Griffin was just correcting Grant’s mistake.

However, let’s hope Griffin does his due diligence in regards to hiring the next head coach of the Cavaliers.

There are plenty of people making the connection that since Griffin used to work in the Phoenix Suns’ organization, he may look at bringing in recently fired Laker head coach Mike D’Antoni to replace Brown.

That would be a mistake in our opinion.

Just as Brown and his defensive philosophy proved to be a one trick pony, so would D’Antoni’s total offensive approach.

The Cavaliers owe it to themselves and to the fans of this basketball team to find a coach who understands and can teach the entire game, not just one side of the floor. There are coaches who can do just that.

Griffin also needs to find someone who the players will listen to and respect. That appeared to be a problem with Brown. It didn’t appear the players respected him and they didn’t play hard for him.

The new boss needs to find someone who the young Cavalier players can relate to and they will listen to.

The former Golden State coach, Mark Jackson, would seem to be appealing in that regard. He turned around the Warriors, who had won less than 30 games two years ago into a playoff squad.

Plus, he’s a former color analyst for ABC/ESPN, which like it or not, gives him credibility with a young roster like the Cavaliers have.

Forget what happened over the last year with the Cavs. It was the wrong move to bring Brown back and they simply corrected it.

Now, it’s time to move forward for the Cavaliers’ organization. Today’s hiring of Griffin and dismissal of Brown is the first step towards getting back to the playoffs.

Browns Tried to Fill Needs This Weekend.

As usual in Cleveland, with every ray of sunshine, there must be a little rain.

That’s what it felt like this weekend, when the optimism regarding the Browns’ draft was quickly doused by the news of All Pro WR Josh Gordon’s suspension for the 2014 season.

However, as GM Ray Farmer pointed out yesterday, the organization has to treat the news the same as if Gordon suffered an injury to keep him out for the year. The season is still going to be played and the Browns still need to win football games.

Cleveland came into the draft with several areas to upgrade, not just quarterback. They needed an inside linebacker, help in the secondary, offensive line help, another running back, and another wide receiver.

Outside of the last spot, Farmer attempted to fill every one of them. After the first day of the draft, the Browns selected offensive lineman Joel Bitonio, who they will likely play at guard, LB Christian Kirksey, who will compete for a job on the inside, RB Terrance West, and another CB in Pierre Desir.

You have to give the front office credit for recognizing the holes and attempting to fill them.

We aren’t going to be like some people though, and declare the Browns a completed project, because if we know anything about the NFL draft, it’s that it is not an exact process, and some of these players will not work out.

However, there wasn’t a head scratcher pick either. All of the Browns’ choices were thought of as good, solid picks.

And don’t forget, Farmer also added a first round choice in 2015 as well, and from Buffalo, a team no one is projecting as a playoff team at this point in the off-season. If they don’t reach the post-season, that choice will be in the top 20.

We love coach Mike Pettine saying players “play like a Brown”. We understand that it is cliche, but it does show the organization is trying to form an identity, and that is getting tough minded players, who hit hard, and are aggressive. After many years of drifting in the desert, it is a welcome approach.

And even though, Cleveland acquired a second first round choice in 2015, there doesn’t seem to be any look toward the future in Pettine and Farmer either. The time of looking toward next year looks like is over.

That’s why we believe the coach about competition at every position including quarterback. If Brian Hoyer has the best training camp this summer, he should be under center against the Steelers in the season opener. If Johnny Manziel outperforms him, then he should get the nod.

Either passer will not be the featured player in terms of the Browns winning. Pettine and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will make sure the Browns will be effective running the football, and it appears Cleveland is building a very good defense.

There won’t be very many games in which the Browns’ QB is out there throwing 40-50 times per contest. The pressure will be off of Hoyer and Manziel, at least in the 2014 season.

We didn’t want Manziel taken with the 4th overall pick because it is time for this football team to take a large step forward. They need to win between 7-9 games this season, at least.

No excuses about growing pains for a rookie QB and how this is part of the grand plan for the future. They need to take a giant step forward in 2014, and we believe the coach and GM understand just that.

The Browns came into the off-season with several holes and they have tried to fill them. They now after another pot hole at WR with Gordon’s possible suspension, and based on what they’ve done so far, it isn’t realistic to think they won’t try to find someone to play that spot before training camp.

There needs to be progress in ’14. The ten loss seasons need to be history.

Farmer’s Trade With Bills Eases Risk on Manziel Pick

For weeks, fans of the Cleveland Browns were wondering about what kind of offensive weapons they could get to instill life into this losing franchise.

They had to wait awhile, but Ray Farmer moved up from the 26th pick to #22 by trading with Philadelphia to get Johnny Manziel, the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Texas A & M.

With the fourth pick, Manziel would have been an incredible risk, and #22, he still is risky, but not as much.

And Farmer minimized the chance even more by trading for another first round in next year’s draft by trading down from the fourth overall pick to ninth, and getting the Bills first rounder next year.

Now, the pressure is squarely on Mike Pettine and Kyle Shanahan to decide who is the best player to take the snap in the opener at Pittsburgh, veteran Brian Hoyer or the much hyped rookie, Johnny Football.

Because we will not back down on our expectation for the Browns this season. It is time to stop looking toward the future, it is time to win and win now.

With Cleveland’s first selection of the night, GM Ray Farmer dug into the team’s history to find out the strengths of the team the last time they were a perennial playoff squad.

Those were the Browns of the late 1980’s. Yes, they had a good quarterback in Bernie Kosar, and a strong running game led by Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack, but the cornerstones of those teams were a pair of excellent cornerbacks in Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield.

Perhaps that’s why Farmer’s first pick as GM was Oklahoma State CB Justin Gilbert.

Gilbert was considered by many to be the top player at his position in this year’s draft and together with Pro Bowler Joe Haden, could form this generations pair of excellent corners to compare with Dixon and Mighty Minnie.

Having a pair of excellent cover corners allows the defense to be very creative in putting pressure on the quarterback because you don’t have to double cover any wide receivers. It allows Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil to come up with a variety of blitz packages knowing the wide outs will be taken care of.

Of course, picking Gilbert was Farmer’s third move of the night. He traded down from the 4th pick to the 9th pick getting Buffalo’s first round choice next year.

Normally, we criticize the Browns for always playing for next year, but the opportunity to get a first round pick in ’15 from a team not figured to be a playoff contender this season was too much to pass up. Plus, Gilbert appears to be the guy Cleveland wanted all along, so you have to like that move.

So, on the first night of the draft, Farmer improved his defense and took a gamble on a franchise quarterback. Only time will tell if the Browns have solved their woes at quarterback, or Manziel will be latest in a group of failures at the position.

Once again, we repeat, getting another first round pick next year does reduce the risk factor on Manziel.

So Browns’ fans, your football team will be noticed in 2014, whether or not it will be for winning or for a circus, only time will tell.

Tribe Off-Season “Plan” A Dud So Far

As spring training approached, we discussed how apparently the Cleveland Indians’ plan to improve the team that won 92 games a year ago, was to hope for a return to form by several veteran players.

The Tribe finished fourth in the American League in runs scored in 2013, but you had to figure on regressions by players like Ryan Raburn, Mike Aviles, and even Jason Giambi.

To account for that, the front office needed bounce back seasons by Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, and Asdrubal Cabrera.

So far, that formula is a big, fat dud.

Bourn has missed more than half of the Tribe’s games this season, but he has actually been the best of the three, hitting .266. However, he has a poor .299 on base percentage for a leadoff hitter, continuing a downward trend from his .348 mark in ’12. It was just .312 last season.

Swisher has hit just two home runs thus far, and his batting average is also below the Mendoza line at .197 and his OPS has dipped to a terrible 597. A figure like that for a full season would get a player released.

Cabrera has his batting average at .211, but he has just eight extra base hits on the season and his OPS is also ridiculously low at 604. It is getting to the point where you have to think Francisco Lindor could hit just as well (at least) and provide better defense to boot.

Add in the horrific start to Carlos Santana’s season and you have one of the worst batting teams in the American League this season.

The Indians have scored three runs or less in 19 of the 32 games played thus far, a whopping 59% of the contests.

You aren’t going to win many games with that kind of attack.

Is there a solution for manager Terry Francona?

Tito exhibits a great deal of patience to be sure, as does the entire organization, but with so many players not hitting what can be done.

At this point, the Indians only have a handful of players with an OPS of 700, which is slightly below average. They are Lonnie Chisenhall (911), Michael Brantley (776), David Murphy (744) and Yan Gomes (724). In addition, Nyjer Morgan is at 791, but has played only 11 games.

Outside of Gomes, all are left-handed hitters, which makes it difficult to balance the lineup on a nightly basis.

One solution would be to group all of these guys together, particularly when a right-hander starts for the opposition and hope you can generate some offense that way.

However, that makes you susceptible to a lefty coming out of the bullpen late in games to match up with all of these guys.

The other problem that Francona has is that the only bench guy hitting is Mike Aviles, currently at .271, but with just two extra base hits. So, if he replaces one of the regulars, he doesn’t exactly have a better alternative.

Right now, it appears the Indians’ plan has backfired, and once again, they failed to seize an opportunity to build on a playoff team by doing relatively nothing in the off-season.
Perhaps tonight, the Tribe bats will turn it around. If they don’t do it soon, then it is just one more reason for fans to feel disenchantment with the management group.

Tribe Play, Moves Puzzling

There is no question the six game losing streak on the west coast trek for the Cleveland Indians turned a so-so month of April into a disappointing one. The Tribe left Cleveland at 11-11, a .500 record, and they returned home 11-17, and in last place.

More concerning to the media and the fans is the sloppy play of Terry Francona’s bunch. Using two of the major defensive statistics available, the Indians rank last in the American League in defense. They’ve made the most errors and they have the worst defensive efficiency.

Thank goodness Cleveland pitchers rank third in the league in strikeouts. The less balls put into play, the better.

Sometimes, the errors don’t allow runs to score, but they make pitchers have to throw more pitches. This was never more evident than Friday night, when Elliott Johnson’s error in the fourth inning made Danny Salazar throw at least 15 more tosses to home plate. Otherwise, Francona could’ve squeezed another inning out of the starter.

Along with the poor play, the front office has made some curious moves thus far, and we aren’t talking about having Carlos Carrasco start the season in the rotation, we could understand the reasoning for that.

Two of these strange moves were made yesterday. The Indians announced Josh Tomlin would start on Tuesday against Minnesota. While Tomlin deserves to be back with the big club (2-1, 2.06 ERA), he’s not the Columbus starter with the best statistics.

That would be Trevor Bauer, who owns a 3-0 record with a 1.10 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 32-2/3 innings.

Why not reward Bauer for his outstanding pitching, plus his presence in the rotation would send some excitement to both a fan base and perhaps a clubhouse that appears to need a jolt.

Look, this is not to say make the move for the fans. Bauer’s performance merits a promotion. He’s pitching well, his confidence should be at an all time high, and he’s got the look of a potential ace.

With all due respect to Tomlin, we know what he is. He’s no better than a third starter, a guy who won’t be spectacular, but will keep you in games. And we’ve advocated bringing up the right-hander when he was the only starter having success in AAA when he came up in 2010.

The other puzzling move was bringing up reliever Nick Hagadone to provide an extra arm in the bullpen until Tomlin gets the call on Tuesday. (Hagadone was sent back today to make room for Nyjer Morgan, needed because of Michael Bourn’s hamstring problems).

Really, there wasn’t anyone on the 40-man roster they could’ve brought up other than a hard throwing lefty, who can’t find home plate?

Wouldn’t you rather give a guy like Austin Adams a shot? Or bring Vinnie Pestano up for a few days?

Hagadone has an electric arm, but he’s never demonstrated an ability to throw strikes consistently. Why does the front office continually reward him with major league time? That said, it’s a moot point now, and again, he would’ve been sent out on Tuesday anyway.

With Bourn day-to-day, the Indians have another problem. With Francona’s preference for carrying 13 pitchers, the Tribe can’t have a roster spot for a player who may be out several days. They almost have to put that player on the disabled list. That’s why it wouldn’t be a surprise if Bourn has to go back on the DL when Tomlin comes up in a few days.

For now, what the Indians need most is to tighten up their defense and win some ball games. The season is more than 1/6th through. You can’t use the “it’s early” excuse much longer.

Fans Split on Manziel, Shouldn’t That Say Something?

A week from today, the first round of the NFL Draft will be history. What will we debate about then?

In Cleveland, it seems about half of Browns’ fans will be ga-ga if GM Ray Farmer selects Texas A & M quarterback Johnny Manziel with the fourth overall pick next Thursday, while the other half will be relieved. Doesn’t that say everything about picking the former Heisman Trophy winner?

If this were two years ago, and Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III were possibilities for the Browns, don’t you think a majority of the team’s supporters would be on board with the choice? Of course.

The NFL talent gurus are also split on taking Manziel. He’s a huge risk, at least that’s the opinion of many of the folks who judge college players coming into the National Football League.

The main questions about the former Texas A & M quarterback are his size and his style of play, which some people consider reckless, too reckless for the NFL. Certainly, Brett Favre was considered a passer who played fast and loose with the football, and carved out a pretty successful career in professional football.

He will be enshrined in Canton some day soon.

As for the size, most of the QB’s supporters talk about New Orleans’ Drew Brees and Seattle’s Russell Wilson, who have both piloted teams to Super Bowl victories as proof shorter quarterbacks can succeed in the league.

However, neither player was selected in the first round, let alone in the top five choices. And although Wilson is a good player, and a great leader, putting him in the discussion of great quarterbacks seems to be a bit of a stretch.

When was the last time a quarterback who measured in at around six feet tall was picked in the top ten selections of the draft?

The answer: It has been 13 years since Michael Vick was selected first overall by Atlanta in 2001.

What has been the wrap on Vick throughout his career? He can’t stay on the field.

This isn’t to say that Manziel will have a similar career path as Vick, but it does explain why many pro scouts are reluctant to say he should be picked in the first five selections next Thursday.

Other bigger quarterbacks get hurt too, and Brees and Wilson have both been durable throughout their NFL careers. But the thing is, neither was a premium selection. If you are picking in the top five, you have to feel you are getting a great player who is going to start in his rookie season and be a mainstay for your team for many, many years.

As for the Browns, even though they finished 4-12 last season, they did have six players who received Pro Bowl recognition, and added two more, S Donte Whitner and LB Karlos Dansby who merited All Pro status last season.

They have to believe they are ready to win in 2014, and are they better off filling the holes they have on the offensive line, wide receiver, inside linebacker, and in the secondary with their first few picks next week than drafting a passer who seems to be risky?

Farmer and new coach Mike Pettine can look in their own division and see Andy Dalton, who has led the Bengals to three straight playoff apperances, despite not being one of the league’s best QBs. They also see the current Super Bowl champion Seahawks, who were led by a strong defense and running game in route to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

We still maintain that the Browns certainly need a quarterback, but in this year’s draft, there isn’t one worth picking in the top five. Add more talent, and see who is available in the second and third rounds.

You may just find another Brees or Wilson.

If Karl Is Interested, Get Him

Over the weekend, there were reports that the Cavaliers are looking at George Karl for a newly created position of President of Basketball Operations, and even an interview in the morning newspaper in which Karl said he would be interested.

Immediately, there was reaction, and some of it was negative, comparing it to the Knicks move hiring Phil Jackson to the same position, a move for which they received some criticism.

Columnist Terry Pluto said if the Cavs were to hire Karl, it should be to coach the team, that’s his area of expertise.

The problem is the former Cavs coach has had some health issues over the past decade and may not want to deal with the travel and time commitment a coach has to do.

So, should owner Dan Gilbert hire Karl?

The answer here is a resounding yes!

The reason is we feel Karl, along with Larry Brown, has one of the best basketball minds in the country. He and Brown learned the game at North Carolina from Frank McGuire and Dean Smith, and in his last six seasons at Denver, the Nuggets had winning percentages of over .550 each season.

The other thing with Karl that is appealing is he is flexible. He’s won with different types of teams, from his Western Conference champion Seattle teams that featured Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton to his team oriented Nuggets squad that won 57 games last season.

We can understand folks being critical of the Jackson hire in New York because he’s only had success with one type of team, that being dominated by the best player in the sport, whether it be Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, or Kobe Bryant.

Perhaps his philosophy will work with the Knicks, because they have a premier talent in Carmelo Anthony, but Jackson has never worked with a different type of team in all his years in the NBA.

Karl came into his first job, coincidentally with the Cavaliers, with certain concepts on how the game should be played. They started out 2-19, before the coach adapted, letting World B. Free play like the scorer he was in exchange for effort on the defensive end.

Those Cavaliers rebounded to make the playoffs.

Today’s Cavs need help and why not pursue someone who has a ton of experience and success around the NBA game. He would be an asset to the organization.

Let Karl write his own ticket, if he wants to coach, fine. If he wants to work with acting GM David Griffin, that works as well. If he can shed some light on the psyche of today’s NBA players, then utilize that ability. After all, he’s been around the league for 40 years.

He may not be a traditional executive, but based on the Cavs’ success over the history of the franchise, why go the tried and true route. There is no harm in being a little innovative.

And bringing in a basketball mind like the one George Karl has is something this organization should hardly refuse. It shouldn’t be about egos, it should be about results, and if Karl can help the Cavaliers win games as early as next year, then why not hire him?

He would provide an alternative to the corporate speak we heard in last week’s press conference with Griffin.