Why Don’t Fans Respect Santana?

Last night, Twitter was filled with rumors of a deal involving the Indians and Los Angeles Angels with the Tribe sending Corey Kluber to the west coast in exchange for slugger Mark Trumbo.

While both teams have denied the rumor and quite frankly, it doesn’t make much sense for the Indians from this point of view: It is very likely Cleveland will be losing two starting pitchers (Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir) to free agency, so it doesn’t make sense to trade another.

However, the debate then turned to a discussion of the merits of Trumbo, comparing him to current Indian C/1B/DH Carlos Santana.

It was surprising to find how little regard Tribe fans have for Santana, who is arguably (and statistically) the team’s second best offensive player behind Jason Kipnis.

The Angel’s slugger certainly has the traditional numbers, hitting 34 home runs and knocking in 100 runs last season with a .234 batting average.

However, if you look deeper into the numbers, it is very clear that Santana is a better offensive player.

Why? For one, he makes less outs with an on base percentage of .377 compared to Trumbo’s .294 figure. While some people pooh-pooh walks, they aren’t outs, so the offense moves on to the next player.

And while Trumbo belted 34 dingers compared to Santana’s 20 circuit clouts, the Tribe’s switch hitter had virtually the same slugging percentage (.455 vs. Trumbo’s .453).

However, Santana had nine more doubles in less official at bats because of the walks he takes.

So, in the two major categories that measure hitting effectiveness, the ability to get on base and the ability to move runners (slugging), Santana is superior.

And these aren’t subjective statistics either. They are measurable.

Both players are the same age (both will turn 28 in the first half of 2014), so there isn’t an advantage on the upside of either player.

You could assume that Santana may be more productive since he will likely be catching less next season as Terry Francona has publicly stated that Yan Gomes will be the starting catcher heading into training camp.

There aren’t many people who disagree that squatting behind the dish and taking foul tips off your body don’t help your offensive numbers.

Another statistic against Trumbo is his strikeout rate, which continues to go up. In his rookie year of 2011, the right-handed hitter fanned 120 times.

That number increased to 153 times in ’12 and last year, he whiffed 184 times. That’s Mark Reynolds territory.Still, what is surprising to us is how little Tribe fans regard Santana.

Is he a gold glove catcher? No, but he’s not the worst defensive backstop in the American League either.

He’s not a guy who belts 30 homers, nor does he knock in a boatload of runs.

And he’s not the pure hitter that his idol, former Indians Victor Martinez is either.

However, he is a very good offensive player. The average American League player has an OPS of 725. Santana’s is 832.

We have always said a player who has an on-base percentage of .350 and a slugging percentage of .450 is a very good offensive player. Santana gets a check in both of those areas.

Carlos Santana will probably never win a league MVP, and he may never make an All-Star team. However, he is a very valuable commodity.

It’s a shame some baseball fans in Cleveland don’t realize it.

Cavs Victim of Unrealistic Expectations?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a victim of excessive expectations.

They won 24 games last season, and yet, some people were projecting them to win between 45-50 games this season, an incredible leap considering the wine and gold didn’t add a “franchise” type player over the summer.

They did add Mike Brown as coach, a man with a winning legacy in his time in the NBA, but a guy who has had one of the game’s best players on his roster every single year he has been a head coach in the NBA.

Sort of a Phil Jackson-lite, so to speak.

We always wondered how Jackson would do if he didn’t have Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant on his team. Now, Brown may show us what would happen in his place.

Brown has a sterling reputation as a defensive coach, and one look at last season’s Cavaliers would show you the wine and gold needed to change their mindset about playing on that end of the floor.

Offensively, Brown needs help. His best offensive team in his previous stint in Cleveland was when John Kuester was on the staff handling it.

This year’s team looks like Brown’s early teams with LeBron James when the attack was little more than give the ball to James and hope something good happens. Except that Kyrie Irving isn’t the player that James is.

This isn’t to dismiss the play of the team thus far, nor do we insinuate that the Cavs will be a failure this season.

It’s only nine games in, and actually the Cavaliers are on a 41 win pace because they’ve lost all their games at home and lost all the road contests.

Brown’s team is also one with several new players (Andrew Bynum and Jarrett Jack) getting key minutes, another (Anderson Varejao) returning from injury, and still others (Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller) in just their second year in the league.

They are still getting to know each other and also getting better as players.

However, that doesn’t mean that the offensive scheme doesn’t mean to be changed.

When the Cavs have the ball, the offense is mostly run and pick-and-roll, and if that doesn’t work, then they look for someone to take the opponent off the dribble and go to the basket where he can score or pass to a wide open teammate.

That’s as simplistic of a scheme as you can get.

There is little motion away from the ball, nor are any screens set away from the ball to free someone up for an open look.

That may not seem like a big deal, but in close games against good defensive teams, you have to be able to execute offensively. There has to be a plan, and right now we don’t see one.

And we also don’t agree or believe the coach’s statement that they worked only on defense in training camp. High school and college coaches put in offenses and defenses in a four-week time period.

We don’t believe there was no opportunity to at least put in a workable motion offense to this point in the season.

It’s much too early to get discouraged about this basketball team; they’ve played only nine games. But people need to realize they may have been overly optimistic about this year’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

This isn’t a top tier playoff team in the Eastern Conference, and getting to that point was an unrealistic goal.

Tribe Needs to Spend, but Spend Wisely

Baseball’s General Managers’ Meetings take place this week, and thus the first trade rumors and maybe the first trade of the season will take place.

The first free agent signing may also happen.

Already, outrageous contracts are being talked about and the sabermetric people are justifying large contract demands for guys like Ricky Nolasco and Ervin Santana, based on what other players comparable to them received in the past.

The Cleveland Indians will stay away for these long-term, big money deals for pitchers who are a little above average. Not because they the ownership doesn’t want to spend the cash, but because they don’t make economic sense.

Yes, baseball is flush with cash because of the new television contract, and even the Tribe should be able to spend more than they normally would because of it. However, it won’t mean going crazy with deals that will hamstring the franchise’s ability to improve in the future.

We have written before the reason to make the qualifying offer to Ubaldo Jimenez is because it is a one year deal, and even if the right-hander goes back to 2012 form, the Indians can walk away after the season.

For proof, look at the contracts signed by Mark Reynolds and Brett Myers last season. Yes, it didn’t work out, but no harm, no foul. They were one year deals and they are over with. No problem going forward for GM Chris Antonetti.

It doesn’t make financial sense to give a five-year deal to a pitcher with a lifetime record of 89-75 and an ERA of 4.37 (Nolasco) or one who has a career mark of 105-90 with an ERA of 4.19 (Santana).

Instead, the Tribe may look toward older pitchers for a one or two-year deal to compliment Justin Masterson, Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, and Zack McAllister in the rotation. That’s why you’ve heard them connected on some sites to Tim Hudson (38 years old), Bronson Arroyo (37), and Bartolo Colon (41).

They may also take a shot on Josh Johnson, who has had some injury problems in the past, but will be just 30 years old next season.

Of course, they are still involved with trying to re-sign Scott Kazmir, who would like a three-year deal, and currently Antonetti is offering one. Looks like there is room for a compromise at two years (which we would do) with a club option for a third season.

The same goes for the bullpen, which could be losing Joe Smith, Matt Albers, and Rich Hill, and have already cut loose Chris Perez. The one area were the Tribe has organization depth is in the bullpen with C.C. Lee, Preston Guilmet, and Blake Wood, who appeared with the Indians last season, and relievers like Tyler Sturdivant, Austin Adams, Shawn Armstrong, and lefty Kyle Crockett, who was drafted last year, on the horizon.

And don’t forget Vinnie Pestano, who could make a comeback after his lost 2013 season. He wouldn’t be the first relief pitcher to have several good years, a horrible one, and then regain his effectiveness.

That’s why we would be shocked if the Indians contacted free agent reliever Joe Nathan, who will be 39 next year. This is not to say Nathan won’t be effective next season, but Antonetti can afford to spend the money in other places than at closer, where they have in-house alternatives like Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw.

The Indians will be active again this off-season, because that’s the new way of the organization since Terry Francona has come aboard. They will try to make the playoffs every year.

But the basic ideas of the organization will remain the same, and that is maintaining payroll flexibility. That means no huge deals to players who are a bit better than average.

Do Browns Need to Run the Ball?

The running game has certainly been de-emphasized in today’s NFL.

It used to be a tenet about good teams that they had to be able to run the ball and also be able to stop the run.

Earlier this week, Browns’ All Pro OT Joe Thomas scoffed about his team’s lack of a running game, saying something to the effect that it really isn’t important anymore.

Is he correct?

We looked at the top 10 rushing teams in the league this year and found more teams that are winning than losing.

The top two rushing teams to this point are Washington, who led the league last season and are currently sitting at 3-6 on the season after last night’s loss to Minnesota, and Philadelphia who are 4-5 on the 2013 campaign.

That certainly supports Thomas’ opinion that the ground game isn’t a prerequisite for winning.

However, looking at the rest of the top ten shows the following teams: Seattle (8-1), San Francisco (6-2), Green Bay (5-3), New England (7-2), New York Jets (5-4), and Kansas City (9-0).

Notice that several of those squads also have Pro Bowl caliber quarterbacks in Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, a possible future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers, and a definite enshrinee in Canton in Tom Brady.

The other two teams among the leaders are Buffalo (3-6) and Oakland (3-5). Thus, six of the ten having winning records.

Conversely, the worst running teams in the NFL shows only two teams with a winning record: New Orleans (6-2) and Dallas (5-4).

Atlanta (2-6) is the worst team in the NFL on the ground, followed by the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars at 0-8.

The Giants (2-6), the Ravens (3-5) and Pittsburgh (2-6) round out the top five.

So, what we can conclude is that you have a better chance of being successful if you can run the ball, which when you think about it, isn’t really a change in conventional wisdom.

That brings us to Thomas’ team, the Cleveland Browns, who rank 25^th in the NFL in rushing.

A closer look shows that coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator have had to be very creative in getting some of the yards on the ground the Browns have accumulated.

The trick/gadget plays used by Turner have accounted for 15% of Cleveland’s running game. That would include reverses by WRs Josh Gordon and Travis Benjamin, plays out of the wildcat formation by MarQueis Gray, and the fake punt by Josh Aubrey that went for 34 yards.

Taking away those eight plays would lower the Browns’ average yards per carry by a half yard (3.7 to 3.2), and the latter figure would rank third worst in the National Football League.

The flaw in Thomas’ logic is that if you are a good team, a winning team, you have to be able to run the football to protect leads. In reality, the Browns were lucky to be able to burn over six minutes off the clock last Sunday in the victory over Baltimore.

As the weather conditions at home get more severe, the ability to run the football will become more and more important.

That’s why the front office needs to do something during the bye week to improve this aspect of the game.

If the Browns want to be a winning team, perhaps one that can make the playoffs, they have to be able to run the ball, particularly late in games.

A majority of the good teams in the NFL can do just that.

On the Cavs Offense Troubles

The NBA season is a week old and after the Cleveland Cavaliers won their opener, apparently there were a few fans that felt the days of 60 win seasons returned with Mike Brown.

That is based on the reaction of some people after the wine and gold lost consecutive road games to Charlotte and Indiana.

The truth is this team has to get used to playing together. There are several new, key pieces getting a lot of playing time.

Think about it. In Brown’s top nine players are only five players (Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Alonzo Gee, C. J. Miles, and Dion Waiters), who were with the Cavs last season.

And since those five aren’t usually on the court at the same time, there is an adjustment period needed.

The holdovers have to get used to playing with Earl Clark, Andrew Bynum, and Jarret Jack and have to be re-acquainted with Anderson Varejao.

They have to learn where these players want the ball to be effective, and in Bynum’s case working off a legitimate low post threat.

That could explain the offensive struggles that hurt the Cavs during the two road losses. Of course, it also could be the schemes that Brown has put together which at times seems like an early pick and roll, and if that doesn’t work, it’s up to Irving to come up with something.

That’s how Brown’s offense worked when LeBron James was here. Last night, Austin Carr mentioned the Cavaliers struggled late in the game because there were too many 1-4 sets with Irving trying to break down the defense.

Brown has stated he has stressed defense in training camp and has done very little with the offense, and we will give him the benefit of the doubt on this right now. Still, his history has shown his offense has struggled especially against good defenses and in crunch time.

The other problem for the Cavaliers right now is they aren’t shooting the basketball very well. Whether that is part of the offensive design or not remains to be seen, but several Cleveland players are having problems in this area.

Both starting guards are really having problems.

Irving is the league’s defending three point shooting champion and right now, he is shooting just 37% from the floor, compared to 46% in his first two years in the league. He has also hit just 2 or 11 attempts from behind the arc.

You have to expect that this is just temporary based on his track record.

His backcourt mate, Dion Waiters had some issues with shot selection as a rookie, but he still made 41% of his shots. Through four games this season, he is making just one out of every three shots.

Newcomer Earl Clark is another player way off his career norm. Clark hit 44% of his field goal attempts a year ago, and is making only 32% from the floor after four games.

Thank goodness for C. J. Miles, who is off to a sizzling start, hitting 52% of his shots and making 8 of 21 from three-point range.

Irving, Waiters, and Clark will start to make more shots, but Brown’s history shows people have reason for concern about the ability to score points late in games.

There has to be a better plan than get the ball to Kyrie and hope for the best.

Don’t Look Now, Browns Are In Playoff Picture

After losing 11 straight games to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns talked all week about how this team didn’t lose all those games. That it would be different this time.

They backed up the talk with a 24-18 win over the defending Super Bowl champions, raising their record to 4-5 on the season.

The Browns, who people figured had given up on the 2013 season, are now in a playoff race heading into the bye week. just a game behind the Jets for the sixth and final spot in the post-season.

Same day, the Browns lack of a running game is going to hurt them, but that day wasn’t today, as Cleveland gained just 73 yards on the ground with an average of 2.6 yards per carry.

Willis McGahee carried 21 times for an unbelievably low total of 31 yards, and the Browns inability to punch a touchdown in the closing minutes allowed one more chance for Baltimore.

Of course, the Ravens, who actually rank lower in the league’s statistics in running, managed just 55 yards on the ground, also averaging 2.6 yards per attempt.

The offensive stars for Cleveland were QB Jason Campbell, who provided his second straight effective start, hitting on 23 of 35 passes for 262 yards and three touchdown passes, two to Davone Bess, who rebounded after last week’s horrendous performance.

Campbell made some huge plays to keep possession on the Browns’ last drive, in which they took over the ball with a three-point lead and 6:44 remaining.

First, he scrambled for 12 yards on a 3rd and 3. Then, he converted a 4th and 1 with a cross the body toss to Bess, who made a diving catch, after being chased out of the pocket.

He even showed his backup, Brandon Weeden, how to correctly execute the flip pass, hitting Chris Ogbonnaya for 14 yards after being flushed out of the pocket.

He was efficient and trusted his receivers on a few plays, throwing into tight coverage and expecting his wide outs to make the play.

The first scoring drive featured a throw to Greg Little, who turned it into a 46 yard pick up after the catch. Also, the first TD throw to Bess was made with a Raven defender right on him.

Little had perhaps his best day as a pro, hauling in seven passes for 122 yards. He did leave the game with a shoulder injury.

Campbell also received good protection from the offensive line, who allowed just two sacks on the day after giving up five the first time the two teams met in Baltimore.

This time, it was the Browns who sacked Joe Flacco five times, and once again five different players did the honors (Chris Owens, T.J. Ward, Jabaal Sheard, Armonty Bryant, and Quentin Groves).

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton said the Browns needed to improve on third down situations and they did just that, holding Baltimore to just 7 of 16 conversions. And Joe Haden picked up his first interception of the year.

A fumbled punt set up Cleveland’s third and final touchdown.

With the bye week here, let’s hope the front office can address the team’s inability to do anything on the ground. McGahee is a pro, but outside of the Buffalo game (and he averaged only three yards a carry in that game), he has not been effective.

Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner made it work without a ground game today, but if more meaningful games are played later in the season, it will be necessary to run the ball to protect leads.

Right now, they simply can’t run the ball, which of course makes Campbell’s day even more impressive.

We will say it again, it is amazing what a professional quarterback can do with this offense.

After the week off, the Browns visit Cincinnati, who no doubt will have revenge on their minds after a beating they took in Cleveland in week four.

That game will be bigger than anyone would have thought after the Browns were 0-2 and traded their starting running back.

Tribe Starts Hot Stove Season Positively

The Cleveland Indians made their first moves of baseball’s off-season and they should have surprised absolutely no one.

First, the Tribe inked DH Jason Giambi to a minor league contract and there is no doubt that if he is healthy next spring, he will be on the Opening Day roster on March 31^st in his old stomping ground in Oakland.

The grizzled veteran hit just .183, but did hit 9 HR and knocked in 31 runs, many of them key.

He had perhaps the biggest hit down the stretch with his dramatic pinch hit two run homer off of Chicago’s Addison Reed to turn a 4-3 potential loss into a 5-4 victory.

Anyone who has read the book that Terry Francona did with Dan Shaughnessy about his years in Boston understands how much the skipper values veterans who provide leadership like Giambi.

The guess here is that as long as “Big G” can get around on a fastball, he will have a spot on a Francona led team.

GM Chris Antonetti also announced the Indians were cutting ties with closer Chris Perez. While the speculation will be it is because of his poor finish to the season and his off field problems, it really comes down to just dollars and cents.

If the Tribe was to keep Perez for 2014, they likely would have had to pay him in excess of $8 million, an amount way too exorbitant based on his productivity.

The shame of it is the Indians should have dealt Perez each of the last two seasons, because the signs he was losing effectiveness were there.

His strikeout to innings pitched ratio had declined, and at that time, Cleveland had a viable alternative in Vinnie Pestano, who was making a lot less than Perez, thus freeing up cash for other needs.

As it is, Antonetti and Francona have several in-house options to close out games, including Pestano if his arm bounces back, along with Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw.

Former Indians’ GM John Hart used to say that closers fall out of trees, and when you think about it, there aren’t a lot of teams who pay closers huge sums of money. This is mostly because they aren’t effective for long periods with Mariano Rivera being the exception.

The Indians completed the trio of moves by getting LHP Colt Hynes from San Diego. Hynes spent the second half of last year with the Padres, compiling a 9.00 ERA, which hardly sounds impressive.

However, he did hold left-handed hitters to 5 for 32 with six walks, making him a classic LOOGY (left-handed one out guy). He may be designated for assignment as the Indians make room on the 40 man roster before the winter meetings, but if he goes to spring training he has a chance to supplant Rich Hill in the bullpen.

The news today that Ubaldo Jimenez turned out his option for next year is no surprise either, and Cleveland will make him a qualifying offer by Monday to ensure draft pick compensation.

Jimenez will likely get a four or five-year contract offer from somewhere, and the Tribe is right in staying away from that length of deal based on the pitcher’s volatile career while here.

The hot stove season started as soon as the World Series ended for the Cleveland Indians. After a couple of days, things are going according to plan.

Browns Version of “What If?”

Monday, September 9th–

After years of losing the season opener, the Cleveland Browns finally got it right, defeating the Miami Dolphins in the opener 24-17.

Since the other three teams in the AFC North all lost, new coach Rob Chudzinski’s team has an early advantage in the division and have an opportunity to put a severe dent in the Ravens hopes with a win next week against Baltimore.

Hometown starter Brian Hoyer led an efficient attack, hitting on 26 of 42 passes for 289 yards and two touchdown throws, one each to Jordan Cameron and the other to Trent RIchardson.

Monday, September 16th–

The Browns’ new regime is off to a flying start and the members of the Dawg Pound have to have thoughts of playoffs dancing in their heads as Cleveland won its second straight game, ruining the Ravens’ opener with a 16-14 win to raise their record to 2-0.

Brian Hoyer had another strong outing, throwing for 286 yards on 24 completions in 33 attempts, including a strike to TE Jordan Cameron for a touchdown. Cameron caught 8 passes for 131 yards as Hoyer repeatedly found him to keep the chains moving.

The Cleveland offensive line provided good protection for the second straight week as Hoyer was sacked just twice by the Baltimore defense.

Of course, this is fiction, but you have to wonder what the Browns record would be if the coaching staff had opted for either of the other quarterbacks on the roster instead of starting the season with Brandon Weeden.

Through the performances of both Hoyer and Jason Campbell in their appearances this year, it is obvious that Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner gave four starts to the team’s third best signal caller.

Let’s face it, the offensive looks much better with either Hoyer or Campbell at the controls, and it is in all phases of the game.

Last Sunday, the fear was the Cleveland passer being sacked repeatedly by a Chiefs’ rush that led the NFL in sacks, averaging five per contest.

Campbell went down for a loss just once.

Why? Because he reads the defense quickly and gets rid of the football. Hoyer’s style was similar when he started against the Vikings and Bengals. The offensive line looked much better than when Weeden was in the game, mostly because of the latter’s habit of waiting and waiting before throwing the football.

All of the quarterbacks have played under the handicap of virtually no running game, as only in the Buffalo game has a Cleveland running back gained over 75 yards.

Browns’ passers have thrown nine interceptions for the season, with Weeden throwing six of those. To be fair, Hoyer threw three in his first start, which he won, and Weeden has played the majority of the games, starting four and playing most of the Thursday night win against Buffalo.

Hoyer and Campbell have more accurate too, hitting for a combined 58.8% of their passes, compared to Weeden’s 52.8%.

Not to degrade the new coach, but you have to wonder why they started the season with Weeden? Is it because he was a first round draft pick? Was it his big arm?

You would have to think the offense runs much smoother with Hoyer or Campbell in practice as well.

Maybe it was the desire to see what Weeden could do under a new coaching staff, just as Chudzinski alluded to earlier this season. If that’s the case, how many wins did the staff cost this team.

What if the Browns had started Hoyer or Campbell right from the start? Would they be 5-3? Or 6-2?

The difference is so dramatic, it makes you pause and wonder.

Browns Overcame Horrid First Half to Come Close

It is too bad the Cleveland Browns thought today’s game with Kansas City started at 1 PM Central Time.

We mean, that had to be the reason for the horrific performance until halfway through the second quarter at Arrowhead Stadium in a game the Browns ultimately lost 23-17 to fall to 3-5 on the season.

That first quarter and a half was perhaps the worst football a Cleveland team has played since they returned to the NFL in 1999.

They couldn’t stop Kansas City on the ground and through the air. The offense couldn’t even get a first down, let alone a touchdown.

And then it all changed.

Jason Campbell hit a pass to TE Jordan Cameron for a first down, and then hit WR Josh Gordon on a flea flicker for a TD. And just like that, the Browns were back in the game.

The Chiefs answered with a scoring pass to Dexter McCluster, but that was about it for the Kansas City offense for the day, as they managed just three points for the balance of the game, and that was because the Browns turned the ball over on downs with a little over two minutes left.

We have written about halftime adjustments before, but today coordinator Ray Horton put pressure on Alex Smith and played man-to-man on the outside with his cornerbacks and shutdown the KC attack.

Smith was sacked five times in the second half, all by different players as Horton brought pressure from different spots. The Chiefs, who converted eight of their first 10 third down opportunities, converted just two of their last nine in that situation.

Campbell was very good in his first start, hitting 22 of 36 throws for 293 yards and two touchdown passes, and overcame four dropped balls by WR Davone Bess, including one on a fourth down that would have given Cleveland a chance to tie or perhaps win the game.

The veteran reminded fans once again of Brandon Weeden’s weakness of holding on to the football way to long. Campbell was decisive with his throws, and because of that, he was sacked just once by the team that leads the AFC in that category.

As for Bess, not only did he dropped four passes, he also fumbled a punt which would have given the offense the ball at around midfield after the defense backed up Kansas City.

That was a momentum changing play to say the least.

We will have to again ask why the front office cannot go out and get another running back to help out, as it was evident once again that the Browns can’t run the ball.

Willis McGahee had nine carries for 28 yards, but had half those yards on one carry. Chris Ogbonnaya had 12 yards on three carries, all of them on one run.

The Browns simply have too many running plays which result in no yards or in negative yards. There has to be someone available who can do better than that.

If this was Gordon’s last game as a Brown, he went out with a bang, grabbing five passes for 132 yards. In the three games he played with someone other than Weeden at the helm, he has caught 19 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns. He caught 13 passes in games Weeden played.

Cameron also played another strong game with four receptions for 81 yards.

There should be no question that Campbell is the starter going forward, and you have to think it may be time to cut ties with Weeden, as it is pretty obvious at this point that the offense problems begin and end with him.

WIth a home game against the Ravens next week, the Browns have reason to hope they can go into the bye week at 4-5 and a chance.

They just need to start playing when the opening kickoff occurs.

Lincecum’s Deal Means Bye Bye to Ubaldo

It was reported that the Indians are pondering whether or not to make a qualifying offer of approximately $14.1 million to potential free agent right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez.

Here’s hoping that GM Chris Antonetti decides to make the offer.

We don’t have any illusions of keeping Jimenez for the 2014 season. The Giants monstrous deal for Tim Lincecum made it likely that some team will give the American League’s pitcher of the month for September a very rich man.

Still, the Tribe should make the qualifying offer because if Jimenez refuses, which is a most likely scenario, then Cleveland will get an additional first round pick in next year’s amateur draft.

And even if Ubaldo accepts, it’s a one-year contract and there is no such thing as a bad one-year deal. Why? Because the franchise isn’t hamstrung by an agreement that keeps going on and on (see Hafner, Travis).

The Indians and Jimenez have a mutual option for 2014, which the Tribe will most definitely pick up and Jimenez most certainly will turn down seeing the cash that Lincecum received considering he hasn’t been a dominant hurler since 2011.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner went 10-14 with a 4.37 ERA with San Francisco in 2013, and that was the better of last two years. He had an ERA over 5.00 in 2012 (5.18).

Yet he received $35 million for the next two years.

You have to believe that Jimenez’ agent will use that contract as a starting point in any negotiation, and the Indians won’t pay that, nor should they give that much cash to a pitcher who pitched well a half season for a team he played two and a half years for.

Still, it’s a win-win situation to offer the righty the qualifying offer. If he accepts, the Tribe gets a guy who looks like he may have figured out his problems in the last two months of ’13.

And if he reverts back to the guy who pitched for Cleveland in 2012, the Indians can let him walk away afterwards.

If he declines the offer, then Antonetti gets another first round pick in the draft to help stock up the farm system.

The worse that may happen is you either blow the pick or Jimenez stays in a Tribe uniform for 2014 and pitches like he has most of his time here.

And really, with Lincecum’s outrageous deal, why would Ubaldo’s agent take the qualifying offer?

In the Indians’ shoes, they can’t sign players over 30 years old or pitchers to long-term pricey contracts. While Lincecum’s deal is only for two years, the guess here is Jimenez will be seeking and will probably get a four or five year agreement.

What this means is Antonetti will have to get creative to find the starting pitcher he would like to get to complete the rotation.

They will make a legitimate offer to Scott Kazmir, but we wouldn’t go over two years because of the southpaw’s history.

So, it may lead to a trade for an established pitcher already under contract. There have been rumors the Tribe is interested in Tampa’s David Price, which would be an ideal pick up.

Remember, Justin Masterson is a free agent after the 2014 season, while Price cannot be one until after the following season.

Could Antonetti be thinking of a one season pairing of Masterson and Price with Danny Salazar as the ace in waiting?

That’s how mid market teams have to operate, but they need a strong farm system to do it.

Getting a draft pick out of the Ubaldo Jimenez situation helps in that regard too.