Browns’ Biggest Problem Is Their Structure.

In the great debate regarding the Cleveland Browns, front office vs. coaching staff, we have been firmly committed as a member of Team Sashi.

That being said, if owner Jimmy Haslam felt adding GM John Dorsey meant adding a better talent evaluator to the front office to go along with Andrew Berry, we can’t argue too much.

However, it really doesn’t address the greatest issue with this football team, the coaching of Hue Jackson.

Jackson’s record of 1-28 as everyone knows, but our feeling is although the Browns need to add more very good players, especially at quarterback, to be a playoff contender, they have as much, if not more talent than other NFL teams who have managed to mix a win or two into their schedule.

The biggest problem is the ridiculous hierarchy Haslam has in place, with Dorsey, Paul DePodesta, and Jackson all reporting directly to the owner. Name another NFL team with that set up.

We get that since Sashi Brown did not have a lot of NFL personnel experience, it might not be a good idea to have the coach report to him.

But, why not let Dorsey bring in a coach he can work with and let him be the coach’s boss? That would seem put the coach and GM on the same page, a singular direction for the franchise that would be refreshing.

Besides, it would be a perfect time to do it too. Most likely, the Browns will use the first overall pick in next spring’s draft to get a quarterback, making it a perfect time to move forward with a GM, coach, and QB.

The problem is Haslam likes to have everyone report to him so he can be everyone’s friend. He owns the team, he can talk to anyone he wants, but the decision making capabilities should center around one person.

This also makes it easy to figure out who should take the blame.

If Jackson is brought back, the team runs the risk of having its new quarterback having to go through a coaching change during or after his rookie season. That would seem to be counter to the development of the player.

As we now know, Jackson’s reputation as a molder of young signal caller is vastly overrated, in fact, we really don’t want the coach around Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield, or whoever Dorsey takes at the top of the draft.

Also, you have to believe, in his heart of hearts, Dorsey would love to have his own guy in place as head coach, someone who shares his vision, and wants to carry out his plan.

It’s not like Jackson has shown much as the head coach either. His main attribute is the team is still playing hard, which is something that 28 other NFL teams can claim.

He’s a self promoter who threw his front office under the bus on a weekly basis, has huge issues with clock management, eschews the running game even though he has a rookie quarterback, and his team lacks discipline.

Why would Dorsey want him to lead this team for another season?

The Browns should not be this bad. Jackson’s team has lost when the QB played well, when the running game has been good, when the defense has been good.

However, there are two common themes: Losing and Hue Jackson.

Who Takes Blame For Browns’ Latest Loss?

It was a tumultuous week for the Cleveland Browns, especially on Thursday when Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown was fired by owner Jimmy Haslam, and replaced later that day by General Manager John Dorsey.

Amazingly, Hue Jackson was given a vote of confidence by the owner and it was announced he would be back for the 2018 season, despite a 1-27 record during his tenure.

With Dorsey in attendance at First Energy Stadium, the Browns blew a two touchdown lead they gained late in the third quarter, and lost to the Green Bay Packers in overtime, 27-21, dropping them to 0-13 on the season, and 1-28 since Jackson took over last year.

We have maintained most of the year that the Browns were not as bad as their record indicated, and today was another example, as Cleveland dominated much of the first three quarters, but couldn’t come up with the victory.

Jackson’s team outgained Green Bay, and held the Packers to under 100 yards rushing for the game, but lost because they played not to lose after scoring to make it a 21-7 game, and because of another horrible turnover by DeShone Kizer.

After that last score, with 2:49 left in the third quarter, it seemed Gregg Williams’ defense went into prevent mode, allowing Brett Hundley to complete short pass after short pass, leading to a 13 play, 75 yard drive to close the gap to 21-14.

After the first drive of the contest, the Browns’ defense hadn’t allowed the Packers much, so we don’t understand the change in philosophy. With three minutes to go in the game, we could understand it, but there were 18 minutes left.

It is worth noting that Jackson challenged a juggling catch, that clearly (on live look) appeared to be a catch, costing the Browns a timeout.

The score that tied the game was set up by a special teams’ gaffe, allowing Travis Davis to return a punt 65 yards to the Browns’ 25 with a little over two minutes to go.

Instead of pinning Green Bay deep in their own territory, they had a short field for the game tying score.

When was the last time the Cleveland special teams had a game without a glaring mistake?

Offensively, Jackson has talked all year about the lack of talent.

Granted, Josh Gordon just returned last week, but Isaiah Crowell, who had 121 yards on 19 carries, has been here all year.

Corey Coleman, criticized recently for being just an average player, caught five passes for 62 yards, and seems to be a good compliment for Gordon.

Unfortunately, TE David Njoku didn’t seem to be part of the game plan, catching just one pass for three yards.

Still, we saw some nice play calling. The game opened on a play action pass on first down, with Kizer hitting Gordon for 38 yards.

We also saw a number of screen passes, and even a shuffle pass in the red zone, which Duke Johnson turned into a touchdown.

We wonder where that has been all season.

However, with a chance to win, Kizer tried to make a big play when he should have eaten the ball, and threw an interception, his second of the day, when Clay Matthews Jr. hit his arm, forcing the ball to go straight up in the air, where it was picked off by Josh Jones.

That led to the game winning TD in overtime, and the Browns’ 14th straight loss.

File this one into the list of games the team could have won this season. It’s far too many for a team without a win.

There is talent on this football team, and thanks for that should go to the deposed Brown. Unfortunately, the problem is poor coaching, and at least for the time being, that problem still exists.

Wade’s Presence On Cavs Can’t Be Emphasized Enough

There is no question that Dwyane Wade is one of the all time greats of the NBA, and will be inducted in Springfield soon after he retires.

He’s a 12 time All Star, a three time champion, and you can make the argument he is the third best shooting guard in history behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Right now, he is showing he still can be an important player for a title contender as one of the best sixth men in the NBA with the Cavaliers.

Wade has embraced the role, which is something legends sometimes can’t accept. For example, can anyone imagine Bryant doing for any team what Wade is doing for the Cavs?

His minutes have dropped to about 24 per game, and his scoring average is now a little better (11.9) than half of his career mark of 23.0

Right now, his shooting percentage is his highest since 2014-15, and his three point shot is better than its ever been, at 35.7% to date, compared to 28.8% for his career.

His assists are right on par with last season in Chicago, even though he’s playing six minutes less per game, and the defensive metrics show him as one of the three best defenders for the wine and gold.

While the numbers are solid, the best way to appreciate what Wade is doing for Tyronn Lue’s team is using your eyes.

Wade consistently makes the right pass, the right defensive rotation, gets key block shots, etc. As we write this, it would seem to make total sense, because as we said earlier, he’s an all time great, but remember, fans in northeast Ohio are watching him on a night in, night out basis for the first time.

We first saw Wade in person when he led Marquette to the Final Four in New Orleans, and our first impression was he had an old school game, with a tremendous ability to hit the mid range jumper, a skill that was diminishing in the game.

Remember, through the first 12 games of this season, the Cavaliers looked like an old basketball team. Younger teams ran up and down the floor, getting easy transition baskets.

Since then, the Cavs have reeled off 13 straight victories, and the second unit, led by Wade and Kyle Korver, both 36 years old, have been a huge key.

Cleveland’s two leading scorers are LeBron James (28.0) and Kevin Love (19.2). Among players who have played in more than half the Cavs’ games, the next three leaders in scoring are Wade (11.9), Korver (10.3) and Jeff Green (10.2).

When James is sitting out, many times the bench has extended the lead, which is a huge difference from past years.

Heck, in last year’s NBA Finals, the Cavaliers were pretty much even with Golden State when James was on the floor, but when James was out, the Warriors owned a huge advantage.

Because of the production from the bench, the starting lineup could use Isaiah Thomas’ scoring when he returns in the next week or so. Cleveland has struggled in games early because JR Smith and Jae Crowder have been inconsistent with their shots.

Our hope with Wade is that Lue doesn’t react to his play and start increasing his minutes. Keep the long range goal in mind. Leave Wade at around 24 minutes per night, and if you need to increase that slightly in the playoffs, then fine.

He can be quite a weapon if healthy when the playoffs come around.

Tribe Can’t Platoon In Too Many Spots

Cleveland Indians’ manager Terry Francona is one of the best in the league at using the platoon advantage.

It helps that his team has a number of switch-hitters who are regulars: SS Francisco Lindor, 2B Jose Ramirez, and 1B Carlos Santana were everyday players in 2017.

It enables Francona to platoon in right field where he used Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer until both were injured and the front office acquired Jay Bruce.

He also did the same in center, using rookie Bradley Zimmer and veteran Austin Jackson out there.

In 2016, he did the same, using Tyler Naquin and Rajai Davis in center for the American League champs.

The players have to have decided platoon advantages for the strategy to work. Guyer is lethal vs. southpaws, and Jackson hit .352 against lefties last season.

We mention this because with Santana and Bruce now free agents, many people look at available free agents and wonder about fits for the Tribe.

One name that came up was 1B Matt Adams, recently non-tendered by Atlanta.

Adams, who swings from the left side, has an 828 career OPS vs. right handed pitching with a .286 batting average. We like Adams, who has been production even though he’s been an everyday player just one season.

However, there is one problem with the platooning. Francona also likes to carry 13 pitchers, including eight relievers. That means there are only 12 position players, which limits how many spots the manager can use a platoon system.

Plus, two of those dozen position players are catchers, so if you aren’t platooning with that position, it means there are only two spots that the manager can use different players against left-handers and right-handers.

And don’t forget the need for a utility infielder, preferably someone who can play shortstop defensively so you aren’t playing a statue when Lindor gets his infrequent days off.

So, if the Indians don’t re-sign Santana, they will either need a full time option there or decide that Zimmer has to play everyday in centerfield. Either that or have one less pitcher in the bullpen for Francona.

As things are right now, you have to think the current platoons will be Chisenhall and Guyer in right (again) and Zimmer and a right-handed bat to be named later in centerfield.

That’s why we still believe if Santana goes elsewhere, Michael Brantley will move to first base with Jason Kipnis playing left field. If Santana returns, we could see a deal involving Kipnis.

If you want to look at a player from another team that was non-tendered, how about reliever Hector Rondon.

The right-hander was in the Tribe organization until 2012, and had seasons of 29 and 30 saves for the Cubs in 2014 and 2015.

Last season, he was 4-1 with a 4.24 ERA for Chicago, with 69 strikeouts in 57-1/3 innings, so he still has swing and miss stuff.

We know the Indians like to reunite with former players, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the reliever came back to Cleveland, especially since the front office has to be looking for arms to replace Bryan Shaw, who is a free agent.

With the Winter Meetings starting on Sunday, the Indians’ roster changes should start to take place. Just remember the number of platoon options are limited unless full time players are acquired as well.

Today’s Browns’ Loss? All The Elements Which Caused 0-12.

Another Sunday, another day of insanity from the Cleveland Browns.

First, we had the national media (another leak from the coaching staff) saying coach Hue Jackson devised all kinds of plays to get the ball to recently reinstated WR Josh Gordon today.

Too bad, Jackson couldn’t do the same thing all season for guys like Duke Johnson, David Njoku and Seth DeValve.

Second, you had the local media reporting that Jackson wanted Carson Wentz all along in last year’s draft. This despite several reports saying the Browns’ head coach didn’t think Wentz was worthy of the second overall pick.

And then we got to the game, which the Browns dropped 19-10 to the Los Angeles Chargers to drop to 0-12 this season. With the 49ers win today, the Browns are the last team in the NFL without a win.

Cleveland’s first offensive play was a 9 yard completion to Gordon, and seemingly DeShone Kizer spent the rest of the day trying to force the ball to the wide out.

The Chargers were last in the NFL in rushing defense, so of course, Jackson had his offense throwing the ball all over place, with 35 passing plays (including three sacks) compared to just 22 runs.

Jackson continuously says he wants to run the ball, but we now have virtually two years of evidence that does not support it. The man simply would rather to throw the football.

Unfortunately, he has a 21-year-old second round rookie QB, who is not terribly accurate and has little pocket awareness. So, why wouldn’t you want to put the onus on him?

Kizer was below 50% today (15 of 32) and is has completed just 53% of his throws on the season, woefully low in today’s NFL.

This was on total display today, as Kizer missed Gordon twice on deep throws which should have resulted in touchdowns, and threw several other passes low and therefore uncatchable for his receivers.

He did make some great throws, two to Njoku come to mind, including one resulting in the Browns’ only touchdown.

However, the good quarterbacks make these kind of throws way more often. And that’s why the Browns need to address the position in the off-season.

As for Kizer’s pocket presence, let’s just say it’s not showing signs of improvement.

He was sacked and fumbled with a chance to make the score 19-17 in the fourth quarter, because he held the ball after escaping the pocket.

Then, on the next possession, he took a sack in the field of play with no timeouts left and Gordon all the way downfield running a route.

What exactly is Jackson whispering to Kizer?

To us, it seems the Browns don’t seem to know what each part of the team is doing.

Jackson’s reliance on the pass leads to the defense being on the field way too much. The Chargers had the ball for 35 minutes, and although we don’t agree with everything Gregg Williams does, his unit did allow just one touchdown despite allowing 429 yards, including 335 yards in the air to Philip Rivers.

Gordon did wind up with four catches for 85 yards during the game, but he could have had more with a more accurate passer.

Njoku continues to be underused, scoring his 4th touchdown of the year among his four receptions for 74 yards, but he doesn’t seem on the field as much as he should be.

Throw in two penalties for illegal formation (coaching) and a long kickoff return after the field goal which made the score 19-10, and you have a complete list of what seems to go on each and every week.

To complete things, we are sure Jackson once again said after the game that he doesn’t have the talent to win, and it would be “Groundhog Day” once again.

The only thing more disturbing would be the owner allowing this excuse maker around the Browns again next season.

Sign Lindor This Winter? Don’t Hold Your Breath

We said this many times throughout this past baseball season, perhaps the best thing about the Cleveland Indians is that their two best players are 25 and under in Jose Ramirez (25) and Francisco Lindor, who just turned 24 a couple of weeks ago.

Lindor, who has two straight top ten finishes in the American League MVP voting at his young age, is under the Tribe’s control through the 2021 season, giving him four more full seasons with the Indians.

The Cleveland front office would undoubtedly like to sign their shortstop to a long term deal to keep him with his home ballpark being Progressive Field for the foreseeable future, but Lindor seems to understand his value gets higher every season, particularly if he keeps performing like he has.

At his age, he is getting nothing but better, and even with a slump last year in May and June, the switch-hitting Lindor still had a career high 842 OPS, mostly due to a career high .505 slugging percentage.

He had 81 extra base hits, made his second All Star team, and won his first Silver Slugger Award, in addition to being a finalist for the Gold Glove at short.

We are sure Lindor won’t sign this off-season either as he will likely wait until Bryce Harper’s free agency is resolved next off-season.

It has been said Harper could become the sports’ first $400 million player. If he gets that amount, you’d have to think Lindor will get close to that amount, if not exceed it.

Granted when Harper finished his third big league season, he was just 21 years old, two years younger than Lindor was when last season ended.

In those first three seasons, the highest finish in the MVP voting for Harper was 30th in his rookie season. He won the award the following season, his fourth year, but hasn’t been in the top ten since.

Harper and Mike Trout might be the faces of baseball, but Lindor’s definitely on a level right below those two. His personality and the obvious joy he plays with are things MLB should market, and will as he continues to get better as a player.

We made the point last off-season that if Lindor plays 10 years in an Indians’ uniform, he will be the greatest position player in franchise history. So, the stakes to keep him with the Tribe long term are very high.

In our lifetime, we haven’t had that player like George Brett, Derek Jeter, Tony Gwynn for this franchise. A truly great player who plays their entire career in Cleveland.

Remember that when Jim Thome goes into the Hall of Fame, perhaps next summer, he will be the first player to spend the majority of his career with the Indians to go into the Hall since Lou Boudreau. He was inducted in 1971!

Despite all the great players who were here in the 90’s: Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Thome, none of them can claim to have never worn another uniform.

We understand that’s not the way the sport is now, but wouldn’t it be nice if Frankie Lindor was that guy for our team.

We are sure the Dolan family, Chris Antonetti, and GM Mike Chernoff would like it to happen too. Lindor is that kind of player.

Wily Vets Off Bench Contributing Big Time For Cavs

Remember when you were just out of high school and you and your friends went up to the local YMCA or playground to play some basketball?

And your team could run, jump, and make behind the back passes beating other teams in your age group, right?

Then you met up with some guys in their 30’s, and they did all the right things, like making the extra pass, getting the ball to the hot hand, being in the right spot defensively, and getting position under the boards. They kicked your butt.

That team has morphed into the Cleveland Cavaliers, who quietly have won eight straight games, their record now 13-7, one of the league’s best.

They are 7-3 on the road, a win total away from home that is only behind Houston and Boston in the NBA.

It has been the bench that has keyed this stretch of good basketball. We understand that +/- isn’t the be all statistic in professional basketball, but on a nightly basis, the wine and gold’s leader in this category are frequently Kyle Korver (36 years old), Dwyane Wade (who will turn 36 in January), or Channing Frye (34).

The other key member of the bench is a young pup by these standards, but Jeff Green (31) was perhaps the most overlooked player Cleveland had coming into training camp, but he has been a major contributor.

The most interesting player is Wade, a superstar in the league for most of his career, a three time champion with Miami.

A lot of players in his place among NBA history have a hard time taking a lesser role as they get older, but perhaps because of his friendship with LeBron James, he has been a tremendous force since the Cavs turned their season around.

He has been malleable, contributing something different each night, depending on who is matched with. If a smaller guard is defending him, he posts him up. If it’s a bigger player, he takes him to the hoop.

All the while he is getting the rest of the players involved. He’s averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game in 23 minutes per night.

Korver has shot the Cavaliers to two wins this season with epic fourth quarter performances, scoring 19 points in the last stanza. He’s shooting 43.6% from three point range, and he always gives an effort on the defensive end.

Frye wasn’t supposed to get a lot of playing time, but when Tristan Thompson went down, he got an opportunity, and made the most of it, scoring a little over seven points per contest in the last seven games, and has had a positive +/- in six of those contests.

Green was coming off a season with a bad Orlando team, in which he scored 9.2 points per game and shot 39.4% from the floor.

This season, he is scoring 10.0 points a night, shooting 49%.

He’s also been effective guarding smaller players on the perimeter, most notably doing a good job against Houston’s James Harden and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.

When Isaiah Thomas returns, this veteran group could include Jose Calderon (36) to the mix.

Wade plays the most minutes out of the quartet at 23, with Korver and Green getting around 20, which should keep them fresh throughout the long season.

These four are a big reason the Cavs can play even with opponents while James is on the bench. And because they can do that, it should lead to James getting more rest during games as the season goes on.

The “old guys” are getting the job done.

Browns Don’t Need Help Losing, But Officials Lent A Hand Anyway.

With their record dropping to 0-11 after a 30-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals today, it is pretty clear the Cleveland Browns do not need any help losing football games.

But they received it today from a group of people we have been saying for years does their jobs horribly: The NFL officials.

Whether the Browns would have tied the game at 23 had they got the ball back after Jabrill Peppers was called for a personal foul in the fourth quarter, we will never know, but we do know they were deprived of the chance.

Cleveland had just crept to within a touchdown at 23-16 when Peppers hit Bengals’ WR Josh Malone as he attempted to catch a pass. It was certainly a vicious hit, but it appeared Peppers led with his shoulder and the hit lowered the receiver’s facemask into the safety’s helmet.

Cincinnati went on to put the game away with a touchdown that provided the final margin of victory.

Couple that with a very questionable pass interference penalty against Jason McCourty earlier in the game, and the zebras handed Cincy 11 points.

And to be fair, the same crew called Bengals’ LB Vontez Burfict for an unnecessary roughness penalty in the first quarter, which we rolled our eyes at.

Let the players play.

It is interesting that the box score on the NFL’s website, doesn’t mention the officiating crew. The referee today was John Hussey, which we found on a site, http://www.footballzebras.com.

Our opinion, as it always has been, is that these are the type of plays that should be reviewable, and not by the crew at the game. It should be a system similar to the NBA set up, where someone in the league headquarters reviews it.

The Browns outgained the Bengals, 405 yards to 361, the time of possession was pretty much even, neither team turned the ball over, but still Hue Jackson’s crew came up short.

They ran the ball well, with Isaiah Crowell getting 95 yards in 16 carries, but they seemed tentative in the red zone, understandably so, since DeShone Kizer has had turnover issues there all season long.

Jackson says his team has to play perfect to win, and although we disagree with him, you can’t have a wide receiver drop a pass in the end zone (Corey Coleman), a kicker miss a field goal (Zane Gonzalez’ fifth miss of the year), and you can’t take a sack on 3rd down and 1 in a game decided in the fourth quarter.

Add to that a 16 yard punt by Gonzalez when Britton Colquitt was being checked for a concussion.

Kizer’s pocket awareness continues to be an issue (sacked four times today), but he did make two wonderful touch throws, a 44 yarder to Coleman off his back foot, and a 24 yard toss to TE Seth DeValve late in the first half.

However, there were still issues that linger. Kizer connected on less than 60% of his throws (58%), Duke Johnson had just 10 touches (for 67 yards), and the defense couldn’t force a turnover, with Briean Boddy-Calhoun dropping two possible picks, and Joe Schobert not coming up with a throw that hit him in the stomach in the end zone.

That made the turnover battle even again, with the Browns being 0-8-3 in terms of that this season.

Perhaps winning that category would help the team come up with that elusive first win.

So, it’s on to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers and Kizer will add another weapon with the return of Josh Gordon.

As for the officiating, it’s becoming another reason why the league is losing popularity. Too many needless flags interrupting the flow of play.

Front Office Or Coach, Who’s More To Blame For Browns.

The football fans of Northeast Ohio are at odds with each other.

Should the Browns keep the front office intact two years after Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry were put in charge of procuring players, and keep coach Hue Jackson, or should they keep Jackson and find a new director of football operations.

A third option would be to keep everyone in place for a third season.

Our opinion is that the front office stripped the team down to the bare bones following the 2015 season, and has started to put together a talented group of young players to grow and develop.

They haven’t addressed the quarterback position, but they will probably take care of that in this upcoming draft where they could have two top ten picks.

However, the offensive and defensive lines are strong, the linebackers are solid, and they seem to have a good group of tight ends.

This put them light years away from a couple of years ago when they simply weren’t good enough up front.

We have confidence that Brown and his cohorts in the front office will address the positions of weakness prior to next regular season.

Six players picked last season (2016) are currently starting: WR Corey Coleman, WR Ricardo Louis, T Shon Coleman, DE Emmanuel Ogbah, LB Joe Schobert, and S Derrick Kindred.

Only Louis can be considered questionable of that group.

Four rookies are starting: QB DeShone Kizer, DT Trevon Coley, DE Myles Garrett, and S Jabrill Peppers.

Garrett looks like he is as advertised, a very good pass rusher and a guy who can make All Pro teams.

And don’t forget CB/S Briean Boddy-Calhoun, TE Randall Telfair, TE Seth DeValve, and DE Carl Nassib who have shown flashes.

Have all the front office’s personnel moves worked? No, but name a team that is right 100% of the time in this area.

Our belief is that coach Hue Jackson is the bigger issue.

He started Kizer, a rookie and a second round pick from the opening game, but didn’t put in an offense that would’ve taken pressure off the kid, having him throwing downfield instead of running the ball and using a short passing game to help him out.

He also doesn’t seem to run the ball, Cleveland ranks 23rd in the NFL in rushing attempts, but is 12th in the league in yards per attempt. Something just doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s squad is next to last in yards per pass attempt but they throw the ball the 4th most times in the league.

These statistics seem to indicate a coach who is either trying to lose football games or simply doesn’t have a clue as to how to use his personnel correctly.

Football people say tight ends are a quarterback’s best friends, but Kizer doesn’t seem to have been taught to use them. Rookie TE David Njoku has scored three touchdowns this year, but has caught just 20 passes, and plays less than 50% of the snaps.

Duke Johnson, another threat on offense, has caught 46 passes, the same number of rushing attempts he has on the season. This means he doesn’t even get 10 touches from scrimmage per game.

Add that to clock management mistakes, accepting penalties when he shouldn’t, and a general lack of discipline, and the fingers should point to Jackson, first and foremost.

Can Jackson change? He could, but we are skeptical because of the past.

The question we like to ask is this: Would another coach have one, two, or even three wins at this point in the schedule.

If you answer truthfully, then you know where the issue is.

Tribe Readies Roster For Winter

The Cleveland Indians put the final touches on their 40 man roster today by making a series of roster moves, mostly made to protect prospects for the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings.

In order to make room for four minor leaguers, the Tribe designated righthanded pitcher Dylan Baker and southpaw Kyle Crockett for assignment.

Crockett will catch on someplace else we believe, because he will be useful as a situational lefty out of the bullpen. He was called up less than a year after he was drafted and had a 1.80 ERA in 43 games as a rookie.

But he never really had Terry Francona’s confidence going forward and this past season, made just four appearances with the big club.

We understand many people think the Tribe made a mistake here, but if the pitcher doesn’t have the confidence of the manager and pitching coach, it’s best that he moves on.

Baker has battled arm problems for years and has pitched just 74 innings since the end of the 2013 season. Our guess is the Indians will sign him to a minor league contract this winter.

The Indians added right handed starter Julian Merryweather (7-9, 5.32 ERA at Akron and Columbus in ’17) and a trio of shortstop prospects: Eric Stamets, Yu-Cheng Chang, and Willi Castro.

Stamets came over from the Angels in 2015 for David Murphy as a good glove, no hit middle infielder, but he has developed power in recent years, hitting 16 homers in the minors last season, after not hitting over seven in any season prior to 2017.

Chang, just 22, hit 24 home runs last season with a .220 batting average (774 OPS). He struck out 134 times a year ago, so he needs to make more contact and get on base more going forward.

Castro will turn 21 next season and played at Class A Lynchburg in ’17, hitting .290 with a 761 OPS and a career high 11 dingers. He has been one of the younger players in the league in which he has played throughout his career.

Cleveland also claimed infielder Rob Refsnyder on waivers from Toronto. Refsnyder was highly regarded by the Yankees as he advanced through the system, and actually started the Wild Card game for the Yanks in 2015.

However, he has never gotten more than 152 at bats in a season at the big league level, hitting .250 with a 637 OPS.

His AAA numbers are pretty good though, with a .294 batting average and a 799 OPS. He’s a patient hitter, a second baseman by trade with experience in LF and RF. We all know how Francona values versatility and he now has another player he can use in a variety of ways.

He also attended the University of Arizona like Tito.

It’s an under the radar move that could pay big dividends in the 2018 season.

Now, with three weeks until the Winter Meetings, the focus for the organization will shift to signing one of their key free agents, either Carlos Santana or Jay Bruce, and making some trades to get the roster ready for ’18.

With a core of the talented Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez and one of the best pitching staffs in the game, the Tribe is certainly the favorite to win the AL Central next season.

But keep an eye on guys like Merryweather, Castro, and Refsnyder.