The “Not Baker” Option Isn’t A Legit Option

The craziness of this Browns’ off-season has now reached the college draft phase with the Senior Bowl being played yesterday.

So, the quarterback envy has extended to men who have yet to play a down in the NFL.

Let us be clear, so we will repeat our stance on Baker Mayfield. We are not a “Baker Bro”, but we do recognize that he was the quarterback when the Browns made their first playoff appearance since 2002 last season, and his play was one of the reasons why.

If you can find someone who is better than him, and by that we mean better by a consensus, go ahead and make a move and get that guy. The cost may be excessive, but if the Cleveland front office believe it is worth the payment, we trust them.

However, we take umbrage with argument that anyone not named Baker Mayfield is a better solution. And that’s an argument many people, both fans and media, try to make.

One example of this line of thinking is someone who advocates the team signing Mitch Trubisky as a free agent (the love of local guys returns) and then drafting a passer with the 13th overall pick in this spring’s draft.

Trubisky was the QB for a 12-4 Bears’ team in his second year in the league (2018), but the following two seasons, the Chicago offense was one of the worst in the league. He doesn’t throw as many interceptions as Mayfield, but his yards per attempt is also much less, an indication that he’s a dinker and dunker.

And we cannot say more emphatically the Browns have more pressing needs than quarterback to address with their first round pick.

We have pointed out since the latter parts of the season that Cleveland needs to do better at stopping the run, so we would feel better about getting an interior defensive lineman or perhaps another edge rusher, because Jadeveon Clowney could very well be playing for another team when free agency hits.

We also haven’t mentioned the wide receiver position, which we think everyone would agree is a glaring need.

It is doubtful the Browns would start a rookie QB next year, so drafting one would just be to develop him for the 2023 season, and for a team that just missed the playoffs this past season, how do you pass on adding a player who can help you immediately.

Besides, in reviewing several draft sites, ranking players by talent, not where they believe they will be drafted, only one signal caller appears in the top 15, if one appears at all. So, more than likely, the Browns wouldn’t be taking one of the 13 best players in the draft with their selection.

Yes, we know guys like Dan Marino and Aaron Rodgers dropped significantly the years they were selected, but we haven’t read anyone mentioning Matt Corral, Kenny Pickett, or Malik Willis in the same breath as those two all-time greats.

We will listen to alternatives to Baker Mayfield but find someone decidedly better than the current Browns’ QB. And we wouldn’t just look at numbers either. Use the eye test.

For example, Teddy Bridgewater had a better passer rating than Mayfield. Does anyone think he’s a better quarterback?

We doubt Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski will settle for the “not Baker” option. Their job is to improve the team, not just at QB, but every position.

By the time the draft rolls around, we will know where they stand on Mayfield.

Guardians Should Buck The Trend And Embrace The Stolen Base

In the past couple of years, Cleveland professional sports teams have gone against the grain in their respective sports.

Today’s NFL is largely a passing league, but the Browns’ offense is based around the running game, featuring one of the best running backs in the sport in Nick Chubb, and another former NFL rushing champion in Kareem Hunt.

The Cavaliers have gone away from the current trend of guard oriented attacks and three point shooting, and J.B. Bickerstaff starts three players 6’11” or more on a nightly basis.

For the most part, those teams have had success being different.

We would like to propose the third professional team in town, the Guardians do something other teams are not doing as well.

Bring back the stolen base.

Most of the teams around the major leagues are talking long ball. Scoring runs with a few base hits are rare now. The collective batting average in the American League last season was .245. When the Indians were the American League champions in 2016, the league average was .256.

The Guardians can hit home runs, they were 7th in the AL last season. But they were third worst in the circuit in on base percentage.

They did rank 2nd in the league in stolen bases though. Why not go against the grain and have an homage to the way the sport was played in the 70’s and 80’s?

Myles Straw stole 30 bases last season, but he gets on base at a .349 clip. Could Straw steal twice that many if encouraged to do so? We believe he could.

Jose Ramirez belted 36 dingers last season, but he is one of the best baserunners in the game. He stole 27 bases last year and surely could do the same this season.

Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, one of whom will likely be the Guards’ starting shortstop in ’22, combined to steal 24 bases without being caught. Both have excellent speed and whoever gets the bulk of the playing time should be able to swipe 30 bases.

The prevailing thought today is the fear of getting caught stealing, thus ending a rally or taking the bat out of a player like Ramirez’ hands.

So, to embrace the speed game, you must eliminate fear. If Straw gets on base and steals second leaving first base open with Ramirez coming up, let the opponents put him on. Then do a double steal, putting the runners on second and third.

We aren’t big fans of Bradley Zimmer and/or Oscar Mercado, but if they earn spots in the lineup, it just adds another speedster to the batting order. Zimmer in particular can fly.

Richie Palacios, who could make the Opening Day roster with a good spring, stole 20 bases between AAA and AA last season. If he’s on the roster, let him run.

Using the running game would also help with the excitement factor at the ballpark and give the newly named Guardians a new identity. And you would put pressure on the defense and the opposing pitcher knowing the team would be uber-aggressive on the basepaths.

We wouldn’t ask a slugger like Franmil Reyes to be running wild, but when you think about it, how many “sluggers” do the Guardians have? The team’s personnel kind of lends itself to a speed game.

The Guardians are aggressive already trying to take extra bases on hits, and we love that. But why not extend it to stolen bases?

Bring back the steal! The Guardians are the team to do it.

Browns’ Dysfunction? We Don’t See It.

A lot of things have been said about the Cleveland Browns after they missed the playoffs this season with an 8-9 record, but to us, the weirdest thing is saying the dysfunction that was a trademark of much of the last 20 years, has returned to Berea.

Quite frankly, we don’t see any evidence of it.

Most of the noise surrounding the Browns have come from the media, the front office has been largely silent.

It’s the media and fans who are saying the team is deficient at the quarterback position and coming up with crazy scenarios to get some of the best QBs in the game in a Cleveland uniform.

And apparently at least one media member believes Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski should have anticipated a wide receiver coming off a season ending knee injury would ask out of town and when he didn’t get his wish, would put less than a sterling effort on the field.

We are sure the organization thought the player would be excited to come back to a playoff team, and try to help it toward the next level or two of the post-season.

What the Browns should be doing right now is a self audit, looking at what went wrong AND also what went right in an effort to be better next season. And with Berry, Paul DePodesta, and Stefanski handling this, we are sure it is being done without emotion.

By the way, that’s the correct approach, despite what the fans and media want.

To us, the dysfunction would be if we heard rumors that ownership was unhappy with the hierarchy in the organization or Stefanski’s job was in jeopardy because he didn’t follow up a post-season appearance with another one.

Instead, things are relatively quiet.

In fact, the Minnesota Vikings hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the vice president for football operations with the Browns, as their new general manager. And Adofo-Mensah went out of his way at his introductory press conference to call Berry a “rock star” and thank him for what he learned in Cleveland.

Sounds like it’s a crazy atmosphere in Berea, no?

We have said this before, we are sure the front office is doing everything it can to improve this football team so the absence from the post-season ends at one season. And they are looking at every position for improvement, including quarterback.

The dysfunctional thing to do would be to act with emotion, make a knee-jerk reaction to a season that fell short of expectations, and start making wholesale changes as soon as the season ended.

We didn’t see any of that. The only move made was a special teams assistant coach was let go. Defensive line coach Chris Kiffin left to join his brother’s staff at Ole Miss, but we would believe that has more to do with working with his brother than a bad atmosphere in the organization.

As for Odell Beckham Jr., the organization did right by him. They could have told him to go home and stay there when his unhappiness reached a crescendo, but they worked out a settlement so he could play somewhere else.

So people are finding fault with that as well.

What we don’t see is conflicts between the head coach and the front office, or between the owner and the front office.

We guess after this season, dysfunction is defined as not going crazy and firing or cutting coaches and players.

The narrative for some keeps changing…

Comparing These Cavs To The “Miracle” Team

Since the calendar flipped to 2022, the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken it to another level, winning eight out of nine, and currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, just two games out of the top spot.

However, the East is so competitive this season that the Cavs are also just 2-1/2 games ahead of the current 7th seed and finishing seventh through tenth gets you a spot in the (ridiculous) play in tournament.

Although Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are getting all star buzz, J.B. Bickerstaff and GM Koby Altman have put together a “team”, and we have discussed before how important it is that any addition made to the roster has to be done with an eye on the incredible chemistry and togetherness this group has.

That togetherness reminds us of the first Cavalier team to make the post-season, the 1975-76 Miracle of Richfield group. That team had nine players who averaged 16 minutes per game.

Out of the 11 players who have played 30 games this season for Cleveland, 10 of them have averaged 15 minutes per game. Now a couple of those guys (Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens) have done that because they move into the starting lineup because Bickerstaff doesn’t want to mess with the bench minutes.

The ’76 team was led in minutes per game by Jim Brewer, who averaged 35.5, while this year’s group is paced by Garland’s 34.7 a contest. So, playing time is spaced out among nine or ten players.

Both groups have veterans who were stars in the NBA embracing a reserve role.

Nate Thurmond was a 7-time all-star and started for Chicago the year before coming to the Cavs early in the 75-76 season. Coach Bill Fitch asked Thurmond to come off the bench and be the anchor of the second unit defensively. Fitch felt the veteran would have a huge impact as a shot blocker and rebounder playing 15-20 minutes per night.

This year’s group has Kevin Love, a key part of the 2016 championship team here. Love spent the post-LeBron James’ years being an undersized center, and the pounding of playing against bigger bodies took its toll on him.

With Allen, rookie Evan Mobley, and even Lauri Markkanen, Love can do what he still does very well. Shoot the three ball, score, and rebound. And as with Fitch in ’76, Bickerstaff has limited Love to just 21.6 minutes a game.

Love is hitting 40% from three and is third on the wine and gold in rebounds at 7.2.

Both squads made their bones on the defensive end of the floor. Fitch’s team was 4th in defensive rating, Bickerstaff’s team is 3rd.

There are differences though. The ’75-’76 team missed the playoffs by one game the previous season, the current edition came out of nowhere. These Cavs have the probable rookie of the year in Evan Mobley, while those Cavaliers were largely a young veteran core, many players with two to four years experience.

One problem Altman and Bickerstaff won’t have to worry about is the dispersal draft, which really hurt the Cavs. The NBA and ABA merged following the ’76 season, and not only the college draft, but the players from ABA teams not absorbed into the NBA were drafted in reverse order of their records, meaning Cleveland could not improve its roster.

Players like Artis Gilmore (Chicago), Maurice Lucas (Portland) and Moses Malone (Portland, but traded to Buffalo and then to Houston) went in that selection process.

By the way, Portland won the title the following season.

What strikes us as the most similar thing about the two teams is the togetherness, the unselfishness of the two squads. They are about winning, and that’s refreshing. They want each other to succeed.

That ’76 team went to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took Boston to six games. They did it despite losing starting center Jim Chones to a broken foot, meaning Thurmond had to start and did a tremendous job in the series.

Hopefully, these Cavs can stay healthy so we can see how far they can go this spring.

Oh, and one other similarity. Both teams are incredibly fun to watch.

Our Two Cents On The Baseball Hall

Times have changed, that’s for sure. It used to be people could have a good debate about things, particularly sports and walk away friends.

It’s still possible, but in today’s times, usually the argument ends with one person calling the other stupid and criticizing them for having that opinion.

The voting for baseball’s Hall of Fame is one of those discussions. Some voters have their selections made public and then are ridiculed for not putting an “X” by a certain player.

Hey, the writer earned a right to vote by covering baseball for many years, and that’s who he thinks should get in. Most of the voters take the job very seriously.

We don’t have a vote (obviously), but if we did, here would be our criteria. And a few months ago, we posted on social media who we would vote for and several people took the time to tell us we were wrong.

Again, we aren’t saying we are right, it’s just who we think should get in.

First of all, we would not vote for anyone connected with PEDs. We understand there are players already in the Hall who used them, but we would not have voted for them, but if the electorate decided they were worthy, we aren’t going to go crazy.

And we understand Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the poster boys for illegal enhancers, were great players before it appears they started to use, but they knew it was wrong and did it anyway.

As someone once said, if those players thought it was no big deal, they would have used them out in the open, not someplace out of view.

The world is filled with people who did many good things, committed a crime, and still were punished.

And by the way, we would not have voted for David Ortiz.

We are also a “small hall” baseball fan. We see many of the ballots that are published with votes for 10 players. Sorry, there are very few times, if any, where there are 10 Hall of Fame players on a single ballot.

Nowhere does it say you have to vote for that many, and in our opinion, writers shouldn’t be voting for the Top Ten candidates.

For the most part, you know a Hall of Famer when you see them play, but that doesn’t mean time and studying doesn’t make a person change their mind. Look at Tim Raines, for instance. He’s definitely worthy of the honor, but it took a lot of people time to realize it.

As for a Cleveland connection, we hope the veterans group does the right thing and put both Kenny Lofton and yes, Albert Belle in Cooperstown soon.

Lofton was a tremendous player and did it for a very long time, accumulating 2428 hits, with a lifetime batting average of .299 and an on base percentage of .372. In terms of players similar to Lofton are three players already enshrined (Raines, Harry Hooper, and Fred Clarke) and a fourth, Ichiro Sukuki, who will be soon.

Belle was a dominant offensive player for a decade (1991-2000), averaging 40 HR and 130 RBI per 162 games. Had he not retired due to a hip injury at age 33, he likely would have hit 500 home runs (he had 381) and had nine straight 100 RBI seasons when he left the game.

Let’s say he would have knocked in 500 more had he been able to play until 40. That would put him in the top 25 all time.

He had three top 3 MVP finishes (he was robbed of it in 1995) and is still the only player to hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in the same season.

Instead of saying the Baseball Hall of Fame is irrelevant because of who is not in it, it should be and is a great source of discussion if you are a fan of the game. It’s also not the reason the sport has lost popularity. There are many more reasons for that.

As for the Bonds/Clemens debate? We’ll see how the former players who now hold their fate feel about putting them in. It might even be tougher for them to get in.

The Never Ending Story (Baker Mayfield Edition)

No one ever said football fans were rational, and supporters of the Cleveland Browns are no different.

The Browns’ season ended just two weeks ago and the amount of discussion on the quarterback position in both the media and on sports talk radio is to the point of saturation. We think in the next few weeks there will be condemnation of what Baker Mayfield eats for breakfast, what beer he drinks, and probably his brand of underwear.

We get it. Browns’ fans are disappointed by the 8-9 record after last year’s playoff appearance. We would bet the organization is also not happy by the finish, but they won’t go out and make crazy moves.

And we want to make it clear we don’t consider ourselves a “Baker Bro”. Our stance is simple. if you can find someone that plays the position better than Baker Mayfield, and the cost to get that guy is not prohibitive, then go get him.

If it makes the Cleveland Browns better, then so be it.

Keep in mind that we are currently in the playoffs, so these are the best teams in the league for this season, and it would figure the signal callers for those teams are among the better ones in the NFL.

This should be remembered if your QB preference for next season’s edition of the Browns is just someone not named Baker Mayfield. There are plenty of guys in the league who it can be debated would not be any different to Mayfield if they were under center next year in Cleveland.

Do you really want Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, Jared Goff, or Ryan Tannehill? If you do, fine. But we don’t see much of a difference or upgrade over Mayfield. You would just be making change for change sake, and you can’t ignore how #6 played in the second half of last season or the first few games of this season.

We have even seen talking heads saying the watching the games over the weekend shows how far away the Browns really are. Really? Remember the Bengals were 4-11-1 a year ago and Sunday they will play for a chance to go the Super Bowl.

And this happens in the NFL all the time. Teams improve, get a couple of breaks and they make the playoffs. Heck, you can make an argument (and a solid one) that Kevin Stefanski’s crew could have easily been 10-7 instead of how they finished.

We also wince when we hear “statistically” Mayfield was the worst quarterback in the NFL this season. First of all, it’s not true, Sam Darnold was worse among the non-rookies, but this determination is done by looking at the league’s passing efficiency statistic.

Just playing with these numbers, if Mayfield’s last pass of the season, which was picked off in Pittsburgh was simply incomplete, his rating goes up a full point.

We also know once the Browns get inside the red zone, they like to run the football. So, let’s say you add five touchdown throws. His rating goes up by five points.

By the way, the only team with more rushing touchdowns than Cleveland and that had over 30 touchdown passes was Buffalo, and although we didn’t endorse drafting Josh Allen the year he and Mayfield were in the draft, we would freely admit Allen is the better player.

Being dissatisfied with the play at quarterback is one thing, finding a better alternative is a different matter all together. Besides it’s not like Mayfield has never played well. It’s a matter of finding consistency.

Can that happen in 2022? The best option for the Browns’ front office might just be to find out.

Not Just Talent, Cavs Have To Be Concerned With Fit In Any Deal.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers currently sitting in the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference standings, much speculation has been made about possible moves to strengthen the roster for the stretch run before the February 10th trade deadline.

The Cavs need some scoring. They rank 20th in the NBA in points per game, and 11th in offensive efficiency. But although they are fifth in the league in field goal percentage from inside the three-point line, they are just 16th from beyond the arc.

Adding another perimeter threat would allow Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley more room to work inside, as we’ve seen teams start to dare the Cavs to shoot from outside, because Allen and Mobley are so lethal in the paint.

Darius Garland shoots the most threes, and he knocks them down at a 36.6% clip, and Kevin Love is next, making 40.3%. However, Cleveland is 20th in the NBA in shooting the long distance shot. They aren’t great at it, so they don’t do it a lot, and that friends makes sense.

The challenge for GM Koby Altman though, is not to just find someone who can make three pointers, but to find someone who fits into how Cleveland currently plays.

J.B. Bickerstaff has built this team on grittiness and a defensive presence, and the players have bought in. To bring in a player who will not buy in to how the Cavs are playing could ruin what this team has been built on.

In terms of what Altman has to offer, Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract would be first and foremost. The injured Rubio will not play the rest of this season, but he is a free agent at the end of this season, meaning his deal can help balance the cash on both sides.

The other major piece is Collin Sexton’s contract. Sexton will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and another team might want the right of refusal on the young guard.

Basketball is probably the leading sport where the parts (the talents of the players) must fit together. For instance, on defense, a team is only as good as its worst defender.

There is also a difference between playing winning basketball and losing basketball, so GM’s have to be careful bringing in players who don’t play “the right way”.

In our opinion, bringing in someone from a losing program would be a bigger risk than bringing in someone who has been on a winner.

When Altman needed to replace Rubio, we went for Rajon Rondo, who has played on winning teams virtually his entire career, including three teams who went to the NBA Finals. The GM knew Rondo would put winning first.

Caris LeVert is another name mentioned prominently, and although he doesn’t have the winning pedigree of Rondo, he is a proven scorer (over 18 points the last three seasons) and has a reputation of being a great teammate.

The downside? He’s only a career 33% shooter from distance.

On the other hand, another player who has been mentioned heading to Cleveland is Sacramento’s Buddy Hield, who is 40% shooter from beyond the arc since coming into the league but has been a part of a losing team for many years.

Could he fit into playing a role on a winning team? That’s what Altman needs to determine.

And really, it’s a question all winning teams have to ask. Not just about Hield, but any player who is used to losing.

Being on a winning team takes a lot of sacrifice for some players, having the willingness to forego some personal numbers so you can win is the type of players coaches and organizations love.

It’s not just about plugging in a players’ statistics to a certain team, including the Cavaliers. Being able to fit into the Bickerstaff’s plan for the team and being willing to fit in with the current group is very important.

If the Cavs want to enhance this team, those are all things that need to be considered.

Where Browns Need To Get Better (Non-QB Categories)

Believe it or not, and based on the conversation in northeast Ohio over the past couple of weeks, the latter seems to be what fans think, there is more wrong with the Cleveland Browns than Kevin Stefanski’s play calling or Baker Mayfield’s ability to play his position.

We know, hard to believe, right?

But here are other things GM Andrew Berry and Paul DePodesta need to address before training camp starts in late July.

We understand the offensive tackle spots were ravaged by injuries from the opening game of the season, when Jedrick Wills hurt his ankle, but Cleveland needs better play next season out of the position.

We are confident in Wills, who just finished his second season in the NFL. Losing some of his mobility because of the ankle hampered his performance to be sure. And as for RT Jack Conklin, you can make a strong case the Browns’ running game took a big hit when he was basically lost for the year in the Chargers’ game.

The Browns averaged 187.6 yards on the ground through their visit to Los Angeles, and that figure dropped to a still respectable 154.5 the remainder of the season. That includes six games they were held under 100.

Primary reserve Chris Hubbard was also hurt early in the season, so the brown and orange were down to the 4th tackle on the depth chart most of the time. If rookie James Hudson improves and can take Hubbard’s (he’s a free agent) role. That would be a big help.

The team also needs an improvement in the receiving corps.

Jarvis Landry’s 52 receptions led the team and no other wide receiver caught more than Donovan Peoples-Jones’ 34. And the latter led the squad in receiving yards with a paltry 597.

We understand the Browns use a tight end heavy offense, but they didn’t stand out either, with Austin Hooper catching 38 balls and David Njoku right behind him with 36 receptions.

Without question, the passing game missed Kareem Hunt, who led running backs with just 22 catches. We understand WR Anthony Schwartz should get better as well as his fellow rookie Demetric Felton, but it looks here like several players will need to be added to shore up this unit.

Although the defense got better as the year went along, in the last 11 contests, the Browns allowed more than 20 points just four times, there was an area the team could improve, and that is in stopping the run.

Over the last eight games, the defense allowed 137 yards per contest on the ground. If they could control the ground game better, imagine how good the defense would have been?

And maybe, with more long yardage situations, they would have more opportunities to really dial up some pressure on quarterbacks via the blitz.

Cleveland has very good cornerbacks and the safeties got better and better as the season went on. But if it easy to gain a good chunk of yards on first down, the offense has more options in terms of how they want to play.

That’s why Stefanski likes to throw on first down with short passes. There are more options to guard against when it is 2nd and 4, than when it is 2nd and 9.

It’s not all about the play calling and the QB, although that’s what the radio talk shows will hammer you over the head with.

We are sure the front office knows these things as well, and will work for improvement. That’s what you do every off-season.

When Sexton Returns, He Has to Fit In

One thing that strikes us as strange is the amount of discussion Collin Sexton still carries among Cavs’ fans, even though he is out for the season with a torn meniscus.

The Cavaliers are winning, currently sitting with the 6th best record in the Eastern Conference at 26-18, and they were 7-4 with Sexton on the floor, so they have been good with or without him.

We get that it is easy to project Sexton’s 24.3 scoring average onto this team and think of what Cleveland’s record would be then.

But that’s not how it works.

First of all, we know many people would have ranked the fourth-year pro out of Alabama as the team’s best player a year ago. We would not have been one of those people, as we would have had Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland ahead of him.

No matter how others would have ranked the players, Sexton would have been no worse than third at the end of the season.

Certainly, J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad could use another scorer, but there is a different style of play for the Cavs right now, and it’s a winning style. That’s not to say Sexton was a reason they were not winning, but simply saying the team is much better and they are playing a different style of basketball.

Bickerstaff always points to defense for the team’s success, and Cleveland does rank 2nd in points allowed in the NBA and 3rd in defensive efficiency.

Sexton hasn’t been known for his defense in his brief NBA career, so he will need to be much better on that end of the floor when he returns.

He also had the ball in his hands a lot. The offense ran through him when Garland was off the floor, and sometimes when Garland was on the floor. The problem with that is Sexton isn’t a willing passer and when he does look for teammates, he’s not particularly efficient.

His assist to turnover ratio for his career is 3.3:2.5. By contrast, Garland’s is 5.7:3.0, and a veteran playmaker like Ricky Rubio has a 7.6:2.6 rate. For a guard to have a close to even rate of assists to turnovers is not good.

However, it doesn’t mean Sexton can’t change. After all, he is just 23 years old. He just turned 23 actually. And he played on bad teams for the first three years of his career, and they were bad because the teams didn’t have good players.

And we want to emphasize the Cavaliers were 7-4 with Sexton before he hurt his knee.

This Cleveland team is growing though, seemingly getting better every game. The Cavaliers now center around Garland, Allen, and rookie sensation Evan Mobley. Kevin Love has been a huge factor off the bench.

So, when Sexton comes back to training camp next fall, he will need to find a new role. Not because of anything he did, it’s the evolution of this basketball team. He will need to see where he can make the most impact.

Many folks have suggested he should come off the bench and be a dynamic scorer with the second unit. It might be a matter of just picking spots on when and where to attack.

Perhaps Sexton is the guy who when the shot clock is running down, you get him the ball and the possession is salvaged.

The obsession with him is crazy though, because right now, he’s injured. He’s not playing. And there is plenty to focus on with the guys who are performing at a high-level night after night.

If you do want to ask something about him, make that thought about whether or not he can find a new role with the 2022-23 Cavaliers.

It’s Time To Start Thinking Baseball, But…

Baseball’s international signing period started this week and is getting all kinds of attention, more than normal.

The signings are very important, to be sure. It’s how the Guardians signed Jose Ramirez, and more recently several of their top prospects, OF George Valera, SS Brayan Rocchio, INF Jose Tena, and power hitter Jhonkensy Noel joined the organization in the same manner.

But it’s getting more publicity this year because it’s the only baseball we can talk about with the lockout imposed by the owners still in place. It doesn’t help that the two sides have met once since the calendar flipped to 2022 either.

Spring training should be starting in less than a month, with the sentence baseball fans love to hear, “Pitchers and catchers report on either February 12th or 13th”. It seems very unlikely that will happen as of today.

The first exhibition game for the Guardians is supposed to be February 26th, but unless negotiations speed up drastically, that’s unlikely as well.

This is the time of year Guards’ fans should be talking about the various position battles around the diamond and do any of the hard throwing young arms out of the bullpen have a shot at making the Opening Day roster.

Instead, the ray of hope that gets fans of the grand ol’ pastime through the winter isn’t there. The hot stove season has been turned off.

Fans should be discussing the make-up of the Guardians’ current 40-man roster, which includes 14 players who have never played even one inning of a major league game. Teams can keep 26 players, so does that mean all of the men who have big league experience are a lock to be at Progressive Field to open the season? We doubt that it does.

What does Terry Francona do about the middle infield? Amed Rosario did very well with the bat last season, but defensively, he’s not an everyday shortstop. So, what does the organization do?

They could move Andres Gimenez back there, and he should be better defensively, or do they give rookie Gabriel Arias, who spent all year at AAA a shot? And then what happens at second base?

Does Rosario go there? Or does the team look at Owen Miller, Yu Chang, or even Ernie Clement, who appears to be more of a utility man at this point.

Or does Rosario get traded to open up the spot for Gimenez or Arias. Or do two of this trio get moved to make room for Rocchio in 2023?

This is the speculation and discussion that aren’t at the forefront right now because there is nothing going on in the game.

We should be talking about the Cleveland outfield, and who will play in the corner spots surrounding Myles Straw? Will Tito lean on the retreads of Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado, or will he entrust the high on base percentages of rookies Steven Kwan and Richie Palacios. The latter had a strong Arizona Fall League season, and could figure in the mix at 2B too.

Will Josh Naylor be ready for Opening Day and will he return to the outfield, or will he move to first base and challenge Bobby Bradley and/or Chang?

Again, spring training is supposed to start very soon. Our guess is when (fingers crossed) an agreement is reached, a flurry of moves will be made by all teams. We don’t believe for a minute that discussions haven’t been going on.

Until then, all baseball fans can do is hope that some intelligence prevails, and baseball can start next month. For people who live in the northeast, it’s one way we use to get through the snow and cold of winter.