Early Spring Battles For Tribe

Baseball’s exhibition games have been played for just a little over a week, and the Cleveland Indians are right where they should be record wise.

We have long maintained a .500 record is what every team strives for, so as to not overly encourage or discourage a fan base.

Of course, after your team goes to the seventh game of the World Series the previous year, it should be difficult to temper expectations.

Because of the World Baseball Classic and the number of Indians playing in it, several young players will get a longer look than normal, not only because of the tournament, but also due to a longer spring training.

As we have said previously, there aren’t a lot of open spots on the 25 man roster, barring injuries. There is one spot open in the bullpen, and the utility man position is also up for grabs.

We also have serious doubts that Michael Brantley will open the season on the active roster, so there is an extra spot open for manager Terry Francona.

The frontrunner for the last spot in the bullpen would seem to be Shawn Armstrong, who has put together three straight scoreless outings to open exhibition play.

The real reason Armstrong should be the leader is his 1.84 ERA at Columbus last year and his 72 strikeouts in 49 innings.

The other contenders are Joe Colon (15.75 ERA in four innings), Perci Garner (3-2/3 innings, allowed 5 hits and 5 walks), Nick Goody ( 3 scoreless innings), and rule 5 draftee Hoby Milner (one horrific outing, but 7 strikeouts in four innings). Milner has to be offered back to Philadelphia if he doesn’t make the big league roster.

The utility man spot is complicated. Erik Gonzalez should be the front runner because he is out of options and the organization could lose him if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Gonzalez is primarily a shortstop and is very good defensively at that spot. Good enough that he could definitely help another team if they have a chance to get him.

The other primary contender is Michael Martinez, a Tito favorite, and also a guy respected by the clubhouse.

Martinez is solid defensively at several positions, but is also has been one of the worst hitters in the major leagues over his career.

He is also not currently on the 40 man roster, which means someone would have to be removed if he were to make the team.

Our guess is that Gonzalez gets the job with Martinez being the good soldier, starting the season in Columbus where he is just two hours away.

That is, unless both make the team as outfielders replacing Brantley on the roster to open the year.

With Brantley healthy, we would expect the outfielders to be him, Tyler Naquin, Abraham Almonte, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Brandon Guyer.

Assuming Austin Jackson is healthy, he would be the favorite to take Brantley’s spot to start the season. If he can’t go, you could see both Martinez and Gonzalez open the year on the big league roster, or perhaps Chris Colabello makes the team.

On the other hand, a lot could happen between now and April 3rd, when the Tribe opens up in Texas.

But keep on eye on these players to see how they handle being the frontrunners.

Can Cavs-Warriors Be Analyzed Accurately?

It seems like a constant debate in Cleveland, Ohio every spring. Can the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors?

Last year, there was a great deal of hand-wringing over this, but as we said then, in reality, the wine and gold doesn’t have to worry about Steve Kerr’s team until the Warriors win the Western Conference and the Cavs are the Eastern Conference champs.

Look, we understand Golden State is a great team. They won the title in 2014-15 in six games over Cleveland, and lost in seven games to the Cavs last year. You don’t get to the NBA Finals two years in a row unless you are an excellent squad.

And yes, the same can be said for Tyronn Lue’s club.

The question has gained traction again after the NBA trading deadline came and went, and Cleveland added Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut, who were waived and traded/bought out of their current situations and joined the Cavaliers.

When JR Smith and Kevin Love get healthy, Lue can legitimately go 12 deep with a solid core of talent.

Point guard? He can use Kyrie Irving and Williams.

#2 guard? He has Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Kyle Korver at his disposal.

Small forward? James is still the best player in the sport, and another recent acquisition, Derrick Williams provides incredible athleticism in reserve, and Richard Jefferson doesn’t seem like he is 36 years old.

The Cavs have Love and Channing Frye to play the four, and Tristan Thompson and Bogut who can handle the middle.

Does all the depth added by GM David Griffin translate into being better than a Golden State team that added one of the premier players in the sport in Kevin Durant.

To do that, the Warriors lost some of their famous depth, including Bogut, who is now wearing the wine and gold.

Can the Cavs repeat as champs if they play Golden State again?

First, the Warriors will probably have a tougher time getting through the West than Cleveland will, because of the presence of San Antonio, Houston, and the LA Clippers.

All three teams are better than the Cavs chief challengers, the Celtics, Wizards, and Raptors.

The other factor is it is difficult to evaluate the Warriors because of two things, one of which is the LeBron factor.

James is still the preeminent player in the game, and it is difficult to bet against him in a seven game series. When he is making a decent number of shots from outside, he is impossible to guard.

You also have to figure in the rest of the league’s fear of the Warriors.

We believe one of the reason’s the Warriors are 50-11 this season is most of the team’s in the NBA don’t play the style needed to beat them.

They try to play the Warriors’ style, which is not effective because they are better at it than everyone else, so you will probably lose.

You don’t see many opponents getting physical with Golden State, bumping them on picks, challenging Steph Curry defensively, etc.

Some of that is most team don’t have the personnel to do that like the Cavs do, but we feel some of that is the intimidation factor. Other teams are afraid of the Warriors embarrassing them.

The Cavaliers do not have that fear. They know they can beat Golden State. They lost in six games without Irving and Love two years ago, and overcame a 3-1 deficit to win last year.

We understand that on paper, the Warriors still look like the better team, but as we learned last June, the game is not played on paper.

That’s why it is tough to analyze a third title matchup.

Browns Media Continuing QB Envy

Yesterday, Cleveland Browns’ executive Sashi Brown returned to his lawyer roots and basically sidestepped any question thrown at him by the media.

As usual, what did they expect him to do? Did they really think Brown was going to tell them exactly what the Browns were going to do in free agency and in the draft?

Brown even said the team would be interested in listening to offers for the first overall pick, and of course, he should listen. What if Indianapolis offered QB Andrew Luck for the choice? You would have to take it.

Now, that’s not likely, so the probability is Cleveland will keep the first overall pick, and should take Texas A & M pass rusher Myles Garrett.

To be sure, this will offend the wacky members of the media here who are obsessed with the quarterback position. We have often said these people’s jobs don’t depend on making good choices in the draft, so they are always in favor of picking a QB.

In our opinion, one of the top three quarterbacks available this year (Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, or Deshone Kizer) will be there at #12, when the Browns have their second pick in the first round.

So, you can still get a first round passer and also get the guy most scouts/draft experts think is the best player in the draft.

Does anyone else think it’s funny that the people who believe you have to use a first round pick on a QB are also enamored with potential free agent Kirk Cousins? Cousins was a fourth round pick. How did he overcome that status to become a productive starting quarterback in the NFL?

We also don’t believe for a minute that Jimmy Garoppolo is off the market. Our guess is no one is offering the first round pick the Patriots thought they could get for Tom Brady’s back up, so they are trying to drive up the price.

Remember the Patriots traded Jamie Collins to the Browns because they didn’t want to pay him big money. If Brady wants to play three or four more years, they aren’t going to pay huge cash on his back up.

That means New England is motivated to move the former Eastern Illinois product, which puts another QB on the market.

Add to that mix, Tyrod Taylor and possibly Colin Kaepernick, although we don’t know how much interest there will be in him because of his recent performance, and now you have five quarterbacks who are out there for teams in need.

Most draft gurus say besides the Browns, the following teams drafting before Cleveland need QBs: San Francisco, Chicago, New York Jets, and Buffalo.

We don’t believe that all four will choose quarterbacks, because at least a couple of teams will feel the same as the Browns and determine none of the college guys are worth a top five or top ten pick, and will either trade down or wait until round two.

So, in our opinion, there is no need to trade up or take a QB with the first overall pick. Someone will be there at #12, hopefully Watson or Trubisky.

As for the Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta? They aren’t going to say anything worthwhile.

Griffin The Magician.

When JR Smith went down with his thumb injury around the beginning of the year, the depth of the Cleveland Cavaliers took a serious hit.

Coach Tyronn Lue was really only using three or four (depending on the day) players off his bench anyway, so he tried putting DeAndre Liggins into the starting lineup so he could still use Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, and Channing Frye off the bench.

Unfortunately, opposing teams discovered Liggins can’t make an outside shot and they quickly left him alone, which allows them to close the driving lanes for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

So, Lue adjusted and moved Shumpert into the starting lineup, but it left a gaping hole on the wine and gold’s bench.

And with the short bench, James and Irving were forced to play more minutes than we are sure both the players and the coach would have liked.

Then, GM David Griffin sprung into action as he has each of the last two years.

First, he trading struggling outside shooter Mike Dunleavy to Atlanta and brought in Kyle Korver to replace Smith’s outside marksmanship. And unbelievably, Griffin saved salary cap money in this move.

Korver’s shooting accuracy has declined since his all-star season in 2015, but Griffin correctly thought it was just a slump and Korver has hit 50% of his three point shots since arriving in Cleveland.

A few weeks ago, he signed Derrick Williams, the guy picked right after Irving in 2011, as a free agent after he was released by Miami.

Williams is a tweener, not big enough to play exclusively at power forward and not quick enough to play exclusively at small forward. However, in today’s NBA, Williams can be an effective bench player, which he has been here, averaging 10 points per game in the seven games with the Cavs.

Plus, Lue is also giving him tough defensive assignments too. He guarded Derrick Rose against the Knicks and Jimmy Butler vs. the Bulls. His length and quickness are perfect for Cleveland on the defensive end.

It’s still a small sample size, but the early returns look like Williams can be an asset for the Cavs.

Yesterday, Griffin added another piece to the bench by signing veteran Deron Williams after he was released by Dallas. Williams is a three time all star and played with James and Kevin Love on the 2012 US Olympic team.

Williams should ease the ball handling/play making role that seems to be solely on James and Irving. He played 40 games with the Mavericks this year, averaging 13 points and 7 assists in 29 minutes per night.

You have to think Williams can be very effective in less minutes and also surrounded by James, Irving and the rest of the Cavs. His presence should allow those two to play less minutes through the end of the season.

And it also seems likely that Griffin will add another big man, possibly Andrew Bogut, to the bench, perhaps as early as next week.

The price for all these additions? Dunleavy and a first round draft pick.

Griffin also kept Cedi Osman, a Turkish player whom Cleveland has the rights to, and supposedly can play.

Lue and James are the other keys to these moves. The organization has shown a tremendous ability to integrate new players quickly and seamlessly. That’s a tribute to how they run the locker room.

The Cavs may just have the deepest roster in the league right now, particularly when Love and Smith are healthy. That should be huge as the season goes down the stretch and heads into the playoffs.

Can Griffin pull another Larry O’Brien Trophy out of his hat for his next trick?

Baseball Is Back Today!

In many respects, it seems like Game 7 of the World Series was just yesterday, and in others, it feels like an eon ago.

But today is the first exhibition game in Goodyear, Arizona for the Cleveland Indians, as they take on the team they share their complex with, the Cincinnati Reds.

It is our first opportunity to see Edwin Encarnacion in a Tribe uniform, and we also get to see the heroes of a year ago: Jose Ramirez, Jason Kipnis, Andrew Miller, and the Tribe’s resident superstar, Francisco Lindor.

For the most part, the opening day is pretty much set, with Terry Francona looking for one more reliever to fill out the bullpen, and he’s also looking for who will be the utility man, and Tito has mentioned that spot is up for grabs between Michael Martinez, Erik Gonzales, and Ronnie Rodriguez.

We would also assume that Michael Brantley will not open the year on the active roster, so there is probably an extra outfield spot open too.

With the Indians being the defending American League champions, the main thing to focus on this spring is the organizational depth.

To win a division, you know you will need more than 25 men contributing to the cause, so the main players to keep an eye on are the guys who will open the season in Columbus, but will probably be called upon by Francona at some point to contribute during the regular season.

So, the players we want to watch are Yandy Diaz, the 25 year old who hit .318 with a 854 OPS between Akron and Columbus a year ago, and who can play 3B and the corner outfield spots.

Watch Gonzalez, also 25 and who has a sterling reputation as a defender, but who is blocked in Cleveland by the presence of Lindor. Gonzalez hit .296 with a 779 OPS at AAA last season, and could be the bait at the trading deadline to bring a piece that Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff need for the stretch run.

We are also interested in seeing the depth in the starting rotation this spring. You know the Indians will need more than five starters throughout the regular season, so we want to watch Mike Clevinger, Cody Anderson, Carlos Frias, and Tim Conroy perform throughout the spring.

Those guys will be counted on to make starts for the big club this summer, and they will be needed to win games.

Same with the pitchers making up the bullpen depth. Francona and Mickey Callaway will need Shawn Armstrong (if he doesn’t make the team), Perci Garner, Joe Colon, and Nick Goody during the long regular season.

Luckily, the Indians have this depth, another example of the great job done by Antonetti and Chernoff.

One player we haven’t mentioned is C Francisco Mejia, who is widely regarding as the organization’s best prospect, and whom Francona has already said can be an impact hitter.

We also will be watching two outfielders who could be in Cleveland before the end of the season in CF Greg Allen and Bradley Zimmer. Both of these guys could be playing big roles in Progressive Field if they have good starts in AAA.

Enjoy the fact that baseball is back, but look at the future for this organization. The present looks very solid already.

Browns Need To Address QB…Now!

If you have read this site in the past few months, you know that we are not in the group who believe the Cleveland Browns need to take a quarterback with the first overall pick in this spring’s NFL Draft.

We will stand by our opinion that Texas A & M pass rusher Myles Garrett should be the pick at #1.

However, that doesn’t mean the Browns should not address the quarterback position before the 2017 season starts, either.

We have had the opinion in the past that the Cleveland Browns are like the sign in a bar, “free drinks tomorrow”. The front office has told you in the past that they will be good next year.

However, he have heard some in the media saying the Browns should go defensive in this draft and put off looking for a passer in the 2018 draft.

No, no, no, no, no, NO!!!!

Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta will never, repeat never, have more draft capital than they have right now. They have five choices in the first 65 picks in April. One of them should be used to draft a QB, or at least used in a trade to get the signal caller this franchise can build around.

Perhaps it would be dealing the first pick in the second round to New England to get Jimmy Garoppolo. We realize some in the media would give up the first overall pick to get Tom Brady’s back up, but we believe #33 and perhaps a pick in the first three rounds of the ’18 draft would be enough to get the former second round pick.

Or, the Browns could use the #12 overall choice to draft Mitch Trubisky or Deshaun Watson from the college ranks, and start to develop the selection as the guy to build the franchise around.

In that case, you start the regular season with Cody Kessler as the starter and bring along the rookie to be able to hit the field in the second half of the regular season, or perhaps the beginning of the ’18 campaign.

Those would be our preferences.

Why not a guy like Tyrod Taylor or Jay Cutler? It’s simply a factor of the known vs. the unknown.

Garroppolo, Trubisky, or Watson may turn out to be busts, but they also could wind up being top ten QB’s in the NFL.

The reason people have made for Taylor and/or Cutler is that they are better than the current Browns’ quarterbacks. That’s not setting the bar very high, and if you have five picks in the top 65 selections in the draft, you have to have the mindset that you are going to find the right guy.

Taylor is 27 years old, and is a great athlete. But is he a difference maker at QB?

He’s started 28 NFL games and has had one 300 yard passing game.

His average yards per attempt ranked 22nd in the league in 2016, although he was 11th in 2015. His reputation is that he makes a lot of safe throws and doesn’t turn the ball over. Thus, the dreaded “game manager” label.

The point on Taylor and/or Cutler is if you ranked all of the NFL quarterbacks, they would probably both rank in the bottom ten in the league.

If you are going to take a shot on getting the QB, you have to aim higher than someone who will be in the bottom third of the NFL.

It may not work out, but you have to take the shot.

And you have to take the chance now. No more postponing the decision for another year. It’s time to get the guy who can lead the Cleveland Browns in the future. They have the picks to get it done now.

Will or Can The Cavs Make A Move?

The crazy season in the NBA is in full force this week as the All-Star Game is over and the trading deadline is the middle of this week.

It will be tough to top the bomb that went off within the Association after the game yesterday, when the Sacramento Kings dealt perhaps the most talented big man in the game in DeMarcus Cousins to the team who has the other player in that category, the New Orleans Pelicans to Tyreke Evans, rookie Buddy Hield and some draft picks.

The team in the Big Easy now has the two best big men in the sport in Anthony Davis and Cousins.

Of course, with the Cleveland Cavaliers trying to defend their NBA title, and one of their best players down with an injury in Kevin Love, the question that concerns local basketball fans is will the wine and gold make a move to bolster the roster prior to the deadline.

Recent history, of course, says yes.

In his first year as GM, David Griffin traded for JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mosgov, changing the roster dramatically, and putting the franchise into position to win the first championship in franchise history.

As we all know, injuries to Love and later, Kyrie Irving decimated the Cavs’ roster by the time they battled to reach The Finals, and Cleveland came up just short to the Golden State Warriors.

Last year, Griffin traded for another sharp shooter, Channing Frye, who contributed greatly in the playoffs after kind of being an afterthought in Orlando. Frye showed that sometimes players who aren’t great contributors on bad teams can be very useful on very good teams.

Already this season, Griffin has been very active.

After Smith went down with a thumb injury after the holidays, Griffin traded for another premier three point shooter in Kyle Korver. The veteran was showing signs of decline in Atlanta, dropping to 44% shooting, with 41% behind the arc, but in Cleveland, he has regained the touch.

In 19 games with the Cavaliers, Korver has hit 51% of his shots, both from behind the three point line as well as overall. He has picked up the outside shooting lost with Smith’s injury.

Then, Griffin signed veteran Derrick Williams for added depth, and see our comments about Frye in talking about Williams, who was the second pick in the NBA Draft behind Irving in 2011.

Still just 25 years old, Williams has averaged 9.8 points in his four games in Cleveland, and has been very active on both ends of the floor. He looks very much like he can be a contributor for the wine and gold going forward.

All of this history leads us to believe the Griffin will make some sort of move in the next week or so. It may not be a trade, he could wait for players who will be released after the deadline, who can help Tyronn Lue’s roster.

One player we would advocate looking at is a player we thought about in the late summer, because he didn’t sign until late in the process, and that is Terrence Jones, who is likely to be moved by New Orleans after last night’s deal.

Jones is young (just 25 years old), and Cleveland could use some youth on its roster, and he is also long, another need for the Cavs. Jones is listed at 6’9″ and his primary position is power forward, another need for the wine and gold with Love out.

He’s a career 50% shooter from the floor, but isn’t a three point threat. He’s averaging 11.5 points per night in just 25 minutes per game. He is also grabbing six caroms a game, and his reputation is that of a little better than average defender.

We are also sure that Griffin will come up with another back up point guard, because resting Irving and LeBron James will be very important in March, so Lue will need someone he can trust.

That may be a guy who comes to Cleveland in a buyout situation, perhaps someone like Dallas’ Deron Williams.

It will be an interesting week surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers for sure. We feel very positive that the wine and gold will bolster the roster for post-season push.

To this point, fans need to trust Griffin and his group because they have pushed the right buttons. It helps him when Lue and James are around to assimilate the new players into what the Cavaliers want to do.

Why Still No Love For Love?

Until the day that David Blatt was fired a little over a year ago, every time something went wrong with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the blame shifted to the now-deposed head coach, and Kevin Love.

Because Love didn’t put up the 26 points and 12.5 rebounds he put up during his last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. This totally forgets that in Minnesota he was the focal point of the offense, and in Cleveland, he was probably option #3.

So, his numbers dropped with the Cavs to around 16 points and 8 boards per night in his first two years here, although this year, he is up to 20 points and 11 rebounds per game.

When it was announced earlier this week that Love had a loose body removed from his knee and would miss about six weeks of action, the critics came out yet again.

Those people once again advocate dealing Love for a variety of different packages, because he’s not reliable, he’s injury prone, and he doesn’t fit in against Golden State, the only team Cavalier fans think about in terms of opponents.

This despite Love being a starter for a team that won the NBA Championship a year ago, and having a very good game seven in the NBA Finals, scoring 9 points and grabbing 14 boards.

He averaged almost 15 points and nine boards per game throughout the playoffs last season.

Really, what does this guy have to do to garner some respect from the basketball fans in northeast Ohio?

There has even been people revisiting the trade which brought Love to Cleveland, giving up former first overall pick Anthony Wiggins to Minnesota. Those criticisms came of course after Wiggins scored 41 points vs. the wine and gold on Tuesday night.

Not to get all analytical with you, but Love has a VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) of a little over 2.0 in both seasons he has played with the Cavs.

His win shares in both seasons with Cleveland are around 8.5.

As for Wiggins, his VORP has been negative in both of his first two seasons with Minnesota and this year, it’s at the break even point of 0.0.

His win shares for last season was 3.4.

The point is that by the analytics Kevin Love is a way better basketball player than Anthony Wiggins, and it is not even close.

Wiggins can score, there is no question about that. He’s averaging a career high 23.2 points per game. Unfortunately, that’s about all he does on the basketball floor, getting just 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.

Do the Cavs really need another high volume scorer?

Heck, Love averages almost two assists per game, and that is hardly his primary function on the Cavaliers.

Wiggins was the first overall pick, but he might be the only the third or fourth best player on his own team. Certainly, Karl Anthony Towns is better, and so is Zack LaVine.

And while Love is the third best player on the Cavs, Cleveland is a championship team, and they have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Being the third best player on a title contender is a heck of a lot better than being the third best player on an also ran.

The Cavs will probably overcome Love’s injury and will continue to pile up wins. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good player, or that he can be replaced.

That speaks more about the leadership provided by LeBron James and Tyronn Lue, and the championship pedigree developed here.

Kevin Love is a big part of this basketball team. Make no mistake about that.

Cavs’ Injuries Adding To Difficult March Slate

Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have been beset by injuries, which makes people nervous about the prospect to repeating as NBA champions.

It started with JR Smith’s thumb, which has him out until what looks like the middle of March. The question with this malady is will Smith have enough time to round back into shape, more of that meaning will his outside shooting be up to standard come playoff time in the middle of April.

Smith’s shooting and defense were of tremendous importance in the run to the title a year ago, so the seriousness of this injuries cannot be understated.

Then came the Kevin Love situation. First it was his back, which caused him to miss a few games, and now comes the revelation that the all-star forward has some knee problems, and it would not be surprising if he needs to miss about 3-4 weeks of action, which would put him out until the middle of March too.

And we haven’t even mentioned Iman Shumpert’s sprained ankle, which has put him out for a week, and at this point, it would be in the Cavs’ best interest to keep the guard out of action until after the All Star break.

With these injuries to key players, it is kind of amazing the wine and gold are still sitting at 37-16 and with the best record in the Eastern Conference by two games over Boston.

While no injuries are timely, these comes at a particularly bad time because the schedule is very heavy with road games in March.

After a road game tonight and a game vs. Indiana at The Q tomorrow, the Cavaliers start the post break slate with three home games.

Then, starting on March 1st, seven of the next eight games are on the road, and included in that span are games against Boston, Atlanta, Houston, and a home/road back to back against Miami.

It doesn’t get any easier after that. Following two home games against Detroit and Utah, Tyronn Lue’s squad goes back out west for games with the Clippers, Lakers, and Nuggets, then stopping in Charlotte before heading home.

At the very least, that portion of the trip could be concerned with getting Love and Smith back in the groove for the playoffs.

Besides all of the schedule and injury problems, remember that the trading deadline takes place next week, and it wouldn’t be a shock if GM David Griffin makes some sort of a move at the deadline to bolster the Cavs for the stretch run.

That puts Lue squarely in the middle as the guy who has to bring this all together, and he needs to do it while still winning games.

Over the past three years, and we include the year David Blatt was in charge, the Cavs have done a great job integrating new players into their culture, a tribute to both the coaching staff and the team’s leader, LeBron James.

Look at how quickly Derrick Williams has seemed to fit in being here not even a week.

Tristan Thompson summed it up the other night when he said the Cavaliers bring in guys who do one thing really well, and allow them to do what they do best.

The biggest thing is getting everyone in full gear when the playoffs start in the middle of April.

There isn’t any evidence to suggest this organization can’t do just that.

Spring Training Is Here!

People who aren’t baseball fans just don’t get it. We heard a few times on talk radio this week that hosts didn’t understand why baseball people get so excited over camps opening, when the regular season is still six weeks away.

It’s pretty simple. First of all, baseball is the one sport that occurs pretty much every day. To be a hard core supporter of the grand ol’ game is to make a daily commitment, 162 games played over 180 days.

Since it is played each day for the most part, it is missed when it isn’t here. So Tribe fans, still dealing with a heart breaking loss in game 7 of the World Series, haven’t been able to lick their wounds with action on the field since November 2nd.

Second, it’s an early sign of spring, the promise of warmer weather to come, looking forward to warm, summer nights at Progressive Field.

We don’t believe any other sport can offer the regeneration of warm weather to follow.

And Tribe fans are even looking forward more to the beginning of spring training this year because of last year’s success, but also because of the tremendous off-season Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff had, signing perhaps the most prominent free agent this winter in 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion.

They also added to an already strong bullpen by inking lefty Boone Logan as a free agent. They did have to say goodbye to two large contributors to last year’s success in Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis, but overall it appears the Indians are stronger than they were when they ended the season.

Baseball fans will be awaiting the first pictures from Goodyear, Arizona, particularly pics of the newest Indians, seeing Encarnacion in Tribe togs for the first time.

We also want to see how our old favorites look in camp, even through many of them were just in town for Tribe Fest at the end of January.

And we are all very anxious to see reports on those players recovering from injuries, mostly Michael Brantley, who missed virtually the entire regular season with shoulder issues.

Brantley’s recovery would be huge, adding another solid bat to an everyday lineup that finished 2nd in the American League in runs scored in 2016.

We will also be interested in the progress of Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, two stalwarts of the starting rotation, who missed most of the post-season fun with injuries. Neither should be a problem long term, but until they are on the mound in exhibition games getting hitters out, you can’t be sure.

It is also fun to follow the progress of the top prospects in the organization, to get your first look at catcher Francisco Mejia and outfielder Greg Allen, both of whom should get some “A” game at-bats.

And we will get a newer look at OF Bradley Zimmer, who will likely start the season in Columbus, and should be on track to make his big league debut this summer.

Those are just some of the reasons why baseball fans look forward to hearing “Pitchers and catchers report”. It’s the beginning of eight months of a commitment to the sport.

It’s a sign that winter will soon be over…baseball is back!