There Are Some Positives Regarding Browns

For most football fans nationwide and even some in Cleveland, the persona of the Cleveland Browns is negative.

The owner is a “lite” version of the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, the head coach and general manager don’t get along, and the recent drafting history of the team is abysmal.

That’s just recent history.

To be truthful, since the Browns returned to the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1999, there has been just one playoff appearance and two winning seasons, the last being in 2007, which is only eight years ago.

We get it. There isn’t any real reason for optimism, especially if you buy in to the premise that unless you have a great quarterback, any franchise is doomed to failure.

Of course, stories like Mark Sanchez leading the New York Jets to an AFC Championship game, and Colin Kaepernick taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl prove that theory wrong.

Let’s just say it is definitely tougher to achieve success without a stud signal caller.

However, there are a lot of good things going on with the Browns, but it seems like people just continue to focus on the quarterback, and on Josh McCown being a journeyman.

That isn’t going to change. Aaron Rodgers and/or Andrew Luck aren’t going to magically show up in Berea, nor is the NFL going to cancel seasons until the Browns get a “franchise” signal caller.

Until that happens, here are some good things going on with the city’s football team.

The offensive line should be one of the NFL’s best. They have two Pro Bowl players in Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and another who is on the verge of that status in Joel Bitonio. John Greco, Mitchell Schwartz, and rookie first round pick Cameron Irving should be solid.

Having a very good line should help the running game and give the passer time to survey the defense and find open targets.

Even mediocre wide receivers will get open if the quarterback has enough time to throw.

The secondary is also a position of strength.

Joe Haden is one of football’s best cornerbacks, and both Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gibson made the Pro Bowl a year ago. Free agent signee Tramon Williams from Green Bay, made the squad in 2010.

There is also depth with second year players Pierre Desir, K’Waun Williams, and rookie Ibraheim Campbell. That’s why Justin Gilbert’s struggles are only an issue because he was a first round pick.

He’s not leaving a huge void on this team.

The defensive line is also deep with rookie NT Danny Shelton, and veterans Phil Taylor, John Hughes, Billy Winn, Desmond Bryant, and Armonty Bryant, and Randy Starks was added as a free agent. Xavier Cooper is another new addition via the draft.

This should allow defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil to keep these guys fresh, and hopefully that enables them to stop the run better, a huge weakness for the ’14 Browns.

So, there is a foundation for success with this front office. We can’t think of any Browns’ team with three areas of strength over the last 15 years.

And while the muscle pulls keeping players off the practice field is a problem, none of the injures have to do with knee injuries or broken bones that will keep players out for extended time.

For example, we are sure that Haden and Thomas would have played last week if it were a regular season game, and that is probably true with several other players.

So, you can focus on not having the QB, but there are several teams in the same boat around the NFL. On the other hand, we choose to look at the glass half full until proven otherwise.

Looking Toward ’16 During Last Six Weeks

The Cleveland Indians are currently holding auditions for the 2016 season, all able-bodied players in their system should have a chance to state their case to be on next year’s Opening Day roster during the last six weeks of the season.

If the Tribe were putting an ad in the sports pages, that is what it would probably look like.

You would have to think that among the everyday players, only Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes are for sures to be here next April. Although, Francisco Lindor is making a pretty good case for himself as well.

However, with players who do not have a track record should be required to earn their spot. So, if Lindor came to Goodyear not in the best shape, or he hits .150 in the exhibition games, it’s not a guarantee that he makes the squad.

Our guess is that Carlos Santana will be moved elsewhere because the Tribe doesn’t want to pay him $8 million next year for the production they have received. And we believe Mike Aviles and Ryan Raburn will be free agents after the 2015 campaign.

Chris Johnson will likely be back because of his $9 million deal for 2016, but that’s a tradeable deal so that is not etched in stone.

Giovanny Urshela has been impressive defensively, but we aren’t sure he will hit enough to play everyday. And if Jose Ramirez continues to hit like he has since his call up, Terry Francona will have to find a spot for him, unless, of course, GM Chris Antonetti uses him to bring back a legitimate bat.

So, the tryouts are really at the following positions: 1B, 3B, CF, RF, DH.

Even if Lonnie Chisenhall hits well down the stretch, the front office cannot be fooled by that. Chisenhall was tremendous in the first half last season, but hasn’t done much since.

Fans will get a good look at players like Jerry Sands and Abraham Almonte in August, and many at bats will be given to guys like Tyler Holt, Jesus Aguilar, James Ramsey, and Zack Walters in September.

Can Sands be the Tribe’s version of J.D. Martinez?

Can Holt and Aguilar contribute if given steady playing time, something they haven’t received in any of their big league stints?

Can Almonte and Ramsey at least be steady enough to hold down the fort until Bradley Zimmer arrives in Cleveland?

Can Walters ever make contact?

There is no doubt Antonetti will need to find some veterans to fill in at the beginning of the year, but those players should be given one or two-year deals, at mid-range dollars.

The team’s foray into the big time free agent market should be over.

Most all-star type players don’t hit the market until they are past 30 years old, so what you are buying is the player’s declining years. Even Los Angeles’ Albert Pujols isn’t the same player he was in St. Louis, and the Angels will want to get out of that deal soon.

If we were the brass, we would start working on a 10 year deal with Lindor, so he will be here through age 31. We will that strongly about his talent, and because of his unproven talent, it would not cost the franchise $200 million to do it.

Think of the deal Evan Longoria signed in Tampa during his first year with the Rays.

So the positions that are open will need to be filled with either youngsters or whatever return you get in dealing Santana and/or Ramirez, and/or some pitching.

Even if the Tribe doesn’t want to move a starter, they have some bullpen depth, and should really open next year with at least three new faces in the relief corps.

And yes, we would consider moving Cody Allen for the right price. As former GM John Hart once said, closers grow on trees.

The organization cannot be fooled by any success the Tribe has over the last six weeks. They have several spots to fill before the 2016 season begins.

As we said before…let the auditions start.

Nothing Really Learned From Browns Last Night

When watching NFL pre-season games, this is the rule of thumb we use–

For the first game, only the first quarter matters. For the second game, the first half matters. In the third game, the “dress rehearsal” if you will, the first three quarters matter. And the last game is just to decide who makes the back-end of the roster.

So, what did we learn from last night’s game against the Redskins? Not much.

First, it is tough to judge anything considering the Browns’ two best players, Joe Thomas and Joe Haden, didn’t even play. Nor did Dwayne Bowe, Terrell Pryor, Duke Johnson, and several others who could be key members of Mike Pettine’s squad when the regular season starts on September 14th.

The morning newspaper was filled with praise for new starting QB Josh McCown, which we thought was jumping the gun a little bit.

McCown played just one series, made the throws he needed to make, benefited from a pass interference penalty, and otherwise dinked and dunked the Browns into the end zone.

This is not to say, we don’t think McCown will be better than Brian Hoyer, because we think he will, but we didn’t see anything special about the performance last night. We want to see more.

As for the backup quarterback, Johnny Manziel, he showed improvement from last year, mostly in that he looked like an NFL quarterback.

Gone was the “Johnny Package”, the read option non-sense that is being phased out by most NFL teams because defenses have caught up to it.

And although Manziel scored a touchdown on a run, it was the type of run he should have made. He dropped back, the defense parted like the Red Sea, and he took the opportunity to get his team in the end zone. But, there was a marked difference in the way he approached the offense this year.

Overall, the offense was pretty vanilla with mostly short, safe throws, and perhaps the reason for that was the absence of Bowe, Pryor, and Johnson, who we think will be a big part of the passing game.

It was a little disturbing to see last year’s first round pick, Justin Gilbert, get torched on the opening series of the game, losing Pierre Garcon wide open on a deep pass, which he dropped.

He also whiffed on his next chance, a sideline route. He did recover to defend two passes in the end zone, but he needs to be better in the next couple of contests if he is going to contribute.

The run defense, which was arguably more of a weakness than the quarterback play a year ago, didn’t shine, so that is a bit concerning as well. They still have a hard time keeping backs from getting outside. To be sure, that will be a point of emphasis this week in practice.

Next week, we will get to see the people who are going to play in the regular season a whole lot more, probably through the first half. At that point, we should see more things to start forming opinions.

It was good to see football again, but that’s about all we saw. Nothing to get excited about, nothing to be depressed about.

That’s probably the ideal circumstance if you are Mike Pettine.

The Santana Dilemma

As the Cleveland Indians look toward the 2016 season, they know they are set in several positions.

Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley have put together seasons, this year and last year respectively, that would merit MVP consideration. Kipnis won’t finish as high the third place position Brantley had in 2014 because the Indians’ record doesn’t figure to be as good.

And the starting pitching has at least four spots in cement, barring a deal for a legitimate bat, with Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, and Danny Salazar anchoring the rotation.

You also have to figure that Francisco Lindor’s showing in his first big league experience gives him a leg up on the SS position, and Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez give the Tribe a solid catching duo.

That leaves RF, CF, 3B (has Giovanny Urshela done enough?), and DH as wide open spots heading into the off-season.

Notice that we haven’t talked about first base.

The incumbent, Carlos Santana elicits much debate among Cleveland baseball fans regarding his worth as a key component to the Indians.

On paper, Santana is a pretty good offensive player having a poor season, although the stat based people will tell you he is just fine. Even with his .223 batting average in 2015, he still is above league average according to OPS.

Still, since belting 27 home runs and knocking in 79 runs in 2011 at age 25, Santana really hasn’t blossomed into the hitter that season seemed to indicate he would be.

He had hit more than 25 homers just once in that span (last year with 27), and knocked in over 80 runs just once, also 2014 with 85. That’s not quite the production you would expect from someone at a premier power position.

The switch-hitter had more value when he spent most of his season behind the plate. The kind of offense he provided as a catcher was well above average for the position. As a 1B/DH, his numbers are just so-so. And his biggest value on offense is his ability to take a walk. He struggles with men on base, mostly because he appears to be too anxious to hit a long ball.

That’s weird because of his normal patient approach.

The lack of run production stands out in the AL Central where Miguel Cabrera, Eric Hosmer, and Jose Abreu play the same spot. Here are their OPS–

Cabrera    1.034
Abreu         .861
Hosmer      .851

The production the Indians receive from their first baseman pales by comparison.

Cleveland owes Santana $8 million for 2016, and the question is can they afford to pay that much cash for below average (for his position) production.

The guess here is that Santana’s days in an Indian uniform are numbered.

For one, we are hearing the switch-hitter being criticized on the air by both radio and television announcers, which can mean that the front office personnel are feeding the media their dissatisfaction.

Secondly, Santana’s defense isn’t strong either. While work with the glove isn’t a high priority for a first sacker, the Tribe seems to be putting a new-found priority on defense, and may be looking for someone who can improve that spot.

The reality is that Carlos Santana is a solid offensive player, but he’s not a middle of the order bat, which is what the Indians need him to be. If their lineup was strong enough to bat them sixth or seventh, that would be fine, but right now, it is not possible.

So this winter, when GM Chris Antonetti looks for a big bat to help the ’16 batting order, he will be looking for one that can play first, while he dangles Santana to get help somewhere else.

The White Flag Flies Atop Progressive Field

The Cleveland Indians have now completed 2/3s of their season, and the last 27 games (1/6 of the season) were a disaster to put the team in the mode of looking toward next season.

1st 27 games: 10-17
Game 28-54: 16-11
Game 55-81: 12-15
Game 82-108: 11-16

As you can see only in that second set of 27 contests did the Indians play good baseball, and in those other 81 games, or half the season, their record is 33-48.

That’s a pace to lose 90 games, which is where the Tribe could be headed at the end of the season. That would be the fifth such season under the Dolan/Shapiro/Antonetti triumvirate, which is one more season than they have been over the .500 mark.

Yesterday’s trade in which GM Chris Antonetti unburdened the franchise of two bad contracts in Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher for Atlanta’s bad deal in 1B/3B Chris Johnson, only emphasized what a disaster this season has been.

Johnson has a .280 lifetime average, but has slumped horribly from his 2013 campaign where he hit .321 with the Braves. He’s a high strikeout, low walk hitter, but has been pretty successful vs. lefties in his career (.313 average, 788 OPS).

And yes, we know, the Tribe pitched in $10 million in the deal to make it happen, so to be sure, we will hear how the ownership is willing to spend money. However, we would prefer that the spend cash to get good players, not to make bad ones go away.

The pitching staff now ranks in the top half of the American League, which was expected at the beginning of the season, but the offense has been putrid, as the Indians rank 12th in the AL in scoring, 12th in home runs, and 10th in batting average. They are 9th in OPS as a team.

Before the July 31st trading deadline, Antonetti started to clean house, moving a slumping David Murphy to the Angels, and a disappointing Brandon Moss, who hit a few homers but little else, to the Cardinals. The Moss deal actually netted Cleveland a pretty good prospect in southpaw Rob Kaminsky.

So, the Tribe is now is spring training mode, trying to see if Lonnie Chisenhall can play right field, and giving auditions to guys like Jerry Sands, to see if he can be their version of Detroit’s J.D. Martinez.

It would not be a shock to see Ryan Raburn moved before the end of the season to a contender to open up another spot on the 25 man roster to look at yet another young player. That’s really all the Indians have left at this point.

They can see if Johnson can take over Raburn’s role in ’16, since Cleveland has to pay him $9 million.

They can see if Jose Ramirez can rebound from a bad start to the year, and become a viable utility player, or re-establish his trade value. Remember he is still just 22 years old.

They can look at potential centerfielders, hopefully this means Tyler Naquin when he comes off the disabled list in Columbus. Tyler Holt got a whopping 20 at bats, so we wonder who will be in center tonight. Hopefully, it’s not Michael Brantley, whose defense is no longer adequate for the spot. It will probably be Abraham Almonte, just acquired from San Diego.

The Tribe owes it to the pitching staff to put a good defender out in the middle of the outfield. So, a promising season has come down to playing out the string and finding out if any of the young players will be able to be contributors in 2016.

This sad baseball season has only one-third of it left. At least for the Cleveland Indians. MW

How The Cleveland Media Covers Our Teams

We refuse to be political here, but everyone knows when it comes to news, the liberals watch MSNBC for their slant, while the conservatives favor Fox News.

That got us to thinking…what kind of bias do the people who cover Cleveland sports have? We will look at it team by team, in our humble opinion, of course.

Cavaliers. Right now, Dan Gilbert’s franchise is the favored child by the writers and broadcasters, because they present the best hope for a title on the North Coast, which would be a great story.

However, make no mistake, there is bias. Whenever there is any problem with the team, there is no question that David Blatt is probably the root of the issue, at least according to those who cover the team.

Blatt is a man full of confidence, which doesn’t sit well with the media. So, they will constantly pick on his problem with being called a rookie NBA coach, and because he can be condescending to them at times, they love to point out any errors he may make.

There is also a slant toward LeBron James, who is the best basketball player in the world, but he is a human too, and is not infallible. There are those who question James on how he relates to Blatt, but for the most part, James is right, and Blatt has no clue.

Browns. The most popular word to use to describe Cleveland’s professional football team is “dysfunction”. The GM and coach aren’t on the same page. The owner meddles. What will be the story if the Browns improve once again in 2015.

GM Ray Farmer is another guy who exudes confidence and that turns off some reporters as well. So, they like to point at his draft record, which isn’t sterling when it comes to first round choices.

However, it is kind of comical when 8th overall pick CB Justin Gilbert is passed over for first team reps in practice by last year’s 4th round selection Pierre Desir, Farmer takes a hit because Gilbert doesn’t get the nod.

Who do they think found Desir? Santa’s elves?

Mike Pettine is a serious man, and seems like he will be a solid NFL coach, but he is down to earth with the media, and in turn, you never hear a peep about him being at fault if the team goes 3-13.

And the scribes turned against owner Jimmy Haslam this week when he made some comments about reporters being accountable for their stories.

Guess some people should play along so the media will like them.

Indians. For a franchise that has produced just four winning seasons in 15 years, and just two playoff appearances, you don’t hear a lot of criticism being thrown toward the Dolan family, and the front office.

Our opinion is the guys at the top at Progressive Field are genuinely nice people, so they seem to get a free pass.

No one questions them about their horrible record at drafting in the 00’s, or why they seems to do nothing to put a team over the top when in contention.

The Indians are very media savvy, and seem to feed reporters with facts that make the organization look favorable, and they are reported without question.

But it is very quiet this summer despite being picked to win the AL Central Division for the first time since 2007.

We guess it pays to be nice.

Again, these are our perceptions about how the teams are portrayed locally. It would be nice if the personalities involved didn’t seem to have as much to do with how the coverage is slanted.

Sometimes “Conflict in Front Office” Is Good.

The other day, we wrote about how the Cleveland Browns get no credit for trying something different, when the Cleveland Indians are a stand pat organization, and they get criticized for not making any changes.

There is another way the two organizations are different as well, and it has to do with the relationship between the front office and the head coach/manager.

On the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, it’s a Kumbaya fest. Everyone seems to be on the same page and have the same opinion. In fact, it is difficult to tell who is doing the talking sometimes, be it president Mark Shapiro, GM Chris Antonetti, or Terry Francona.

They always seem to be in lock step, at least publicly.

On the other hand, the media loves to report about the discord between Browns’ GM Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine. It is further proof of the team’s “dysfunction”.

The reality is behind the scenes, there should be some disagreement between the coach and the person who picks the talent, because they should be coming at it from two different perspectives.

The coach or manager is trying to win, and win right now. That’s the way he gets to keep his job, and also, he is ultimately the person who the wins and losses are assigned to.

When the Browns have a 4-12 record, no one is saying that Ray Farmer’s squad has that record. It goes on Pettine’s record.

The general manager has to look at not only this year’s team, but also the future of the franchise, and if football’s case, salary cap implications.

Many coaches fall into the trap of favoring veterans with little upside because they are dependable, instead of going with a young player, who may have a bigger upside.

Think about the Indians in this situation. Terry Francona likes to have his bench filled with veterans like Ryan Raburn, Mike Aviles, etc., instead of keeping younger players like Tyler Holt or Jesus Aguilar.

In baseball, the GM has to weigh the positives of major league experience against not playing. For young players, they need to play. No one gets better by watching extensively. If that occurred, there would be a lot of fans who would be suddenly able to play professional sports.

When a team is in a situation like the Cavaliers are, it is easy for the coach and GM to be on the same page, because there, the goal is clearly stated. The Cavs are trying to win a title now, and everybody is “All In”.

However, in other situations, there is a different point of view for both the front office and the coaching staff, and that is healthy. It’s why you also don’t want to have a coach/GM in charge.

We remember Butch Davis proudly saying that all of his draft picks made the team. Of course, they did, because he was in charge of keeping them or letting them go.

Now, you don’t want the two people is total disagreement to the point where they cannot work together either. But, they should not be in lock step with each other.

To be sure, there have to be players that Farmer likes, that Pettine doesn’t, and vice-versa. It’s healthy and necessary in a winning organization.

The Indians seem to have a “group think” approach, and that’s not working well for them.

So, don’t be concerned that Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine don’t see eye to eye on everything. They have two different points of view.

Browns Get Criticized For Doing What We Wish Tribe Would Do

Yesterday, Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam took some members of the media to task for some of the reports regarding the “dysfunction” of the team.

We believe that the sports journalists, both print and broadcast, criticize GM Ray Farmer because the Browns aren’t being built the conventional way.

That way would be to find a “franchise” quarterback and then construct the rest of the team around said QB. Because the Browns do not have that guy, and they weren’t willing to overdraft in last April’s draft, it means Cleveland once again doesn’t have a clue, at least in terms of the Cleveland sports media.

By the way, doesn’t it say something that Farmer didn’t repeat the mistake, if he indeed made one, of picking another quarterback in the first round after the struggles of Johnny Manziel in his rookie season?

Farmer has said this publicly and apparently the people reporting on the Browns do not listen. He said the reality of the situation is that very few NFL teams has an elite passer, so those teams have to figure out another way to win.

The Browns’ front office recognizes this, and one of the things you always hear about the Indians situation when they complain about their small market status, is that other teams in the same situation figure out how to win, so why can’t the Tribe?

Haslam, Farmer, and head coach Mike Pettine have decided to try a different way to win, and that is building through a strong defense and a solid running game. It may not be the sexy way to compile victories, but they know that Josh McCown and/or Manziel aren’t top-notch quarterbacks, but they don’t use it as an excuse for not winning.

Pettine says it all the time, it’s a pass/fail league. And they don’t use not having an Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger as a reason to just punt the season.

Instead, they have decided to build the rest of their football team, and make each game about playing in the teens or low twenties, and putting up just enough points to claim a win.

And early last season, it worked. They dominated the Steelers at home, and the Bengals in Cincinnati. They lost to Pittsburgh on the road and the Ravens at home on last second field goals.

Yes, yes, we know those were losses, but losing on the last play is a bit different that leading going into the fourth quarter and getting hammered then.

Part of the problem the media has with Farmer is his attitude toward them. He’s not warm and fuzzy, and comes off at times like he’s smarter than the people who cover the team, which he is. If he wasn’t, their situations would be reversed.

The Indians front office acts like that all the time, yet no one challenges them, and if fact, because they are nice people, they seem to escape the criticism for their poor results.

If Farmer and Pettine turn this thing around, guess what. They will be even more detached from the media because they will have been correct.

Haslam set himself up yesterday by saying he like the direction of the team and there aren’t plans to make changes if the Browns have a bad season last year. However, at this point, he should be taken at his word, even though his track record says otherwise.

The reality is no matter what kind of schedule the Browns played a year ago, they did get better by three wins. The five straight losses is what makes everyone so down on the team.

Just think what the perception of the team would be is the season had been reversed, and the Browns lost their first five, and then rallied to a 7-9 season.

We both know that Farmer and Pettine would be hailed for putting the team in the right direction.

This is a key season because the slate is tougher in 2015. But give the Browns credit for not saying woe is us, we don’t have Tom Brady, so we are just going to finish 3-13. They have a plan, it’s just now one the media agrees with.

Tribe Makes Some Moves, We Wished For More

The Cleveland Indians made a series of trades before the July 31st trade deadline, moving two left-handed bats in David Murphy and Brandon Moss, and they also moved lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski.

We have no problems with any of the moves, as the deals with open up the roster for some younger talent.

Our regret is they didn’t do more.

The first trade, which sent Murphy to the Angels, is simply a case of the outfielder having a club option at the end of this year, which the Indians weren’t willing to pick up. So, they moved him for a minor league SS in Eric Stamets.

Stamets is purported to be a good athlete, and excellent defender who cannot hit, batting under .250 each of his last two seasons in the minor leagues.

But really, there isn’t a huge demand for corner outfielders who don’t have a lot of pop. The only question is getting another shortstop with Jose Ramirez (who can play other spots) and Erik Gonzalez already trapped behind Francisco Lindor.

The Moss deal was a surprise, but the 1B/OF was an all or nothing hitter with Cleveland, and that Antonetti was able to get one of St. Louis’ top prospects made this transaction a no-brainer as well.

The southpaw Cleveland received in return, Rob Kaminsky, is 6-5 with a 2.09 ERA this year in high A, and we hope he goes to Akron. In his three years in the minors since being the Cardinals first round pick in 2013, he has a 2.15 ERA.

He is said to have a deceptive delivery and hitters have a hard time picking up the ball. He’s also a strike thrower with just 68 walks in 217 minor league innings.

The return for Rzepczynski was OF Abraham Almonte, who is a .233 hitter in over 300 big league at bats, of which he was struck out in about a third of them. So, he’s more like a guy who will spend a lot of time in Columbus.

We would have liked to seen the Tribe move OF/DH Ryan Raburn too, and that might still happen before the August 31st waiver deal deadline. Raburn got off to a hot start, but has been mediocre with the stick since the middle of May.

The front office also didn’t resolve their Michael Bourn problem, so the outfielder who had a mini-renaissance this week (his OPS is up to 600 folks!), is still here and we assume that Terry Francona will continue to write his name in the lineup.

There were rumors that Cleveland was dangling Carlos Carrasco in the deal which would have brought back the impact bat, the team desperately needs, but nothing happened.

At the very least, these moves give the Indians an opportunity to look at some young players, like Tyler Holt and Jerry Sands, just recalled, and lefty Michael Roth, who came up earlier this week.

It also gives Lonnie Chisenhall one last chance to prove he can be a big league hitter.

The reshaping of the Indians’ roster has started. It’s unfortunate that the weaknesses of this team, that were evident as early as the beginning of May, weren’t addressed sooner.

Tribe Uses Stats to Deflect Criticism

We have been watching baseball for a long, long time, but we don’t dismiss some of the statistical analysis that is somewhat new to the game.

In fact, we were faithful readers of Bill James’ Baseball Abstracts when they first reached baseball fans’ consciousness and we agree with many of the things he first brought to light. Some of these concepts was the importance of on base percentage, and that OPS is a very good judge of offensive talent.

However, the game isn’t played on paper, it takes place on the field, and so it galls us when we read how the Tribe PR department, front office, and the fans who don’t think they do anything wrong, tell us how “unlucky” the current Indians are.

For example, it’s not bad luck that four to five hitters in the Tribe lineup on a regular basis are hitting under .230.

The biggest debate from the stat people is 1B Carlos Santana, who is revered by the sabermetric crowd because of his ability to draw walks. Despite his .224 batting average, he gets on base 35.4% of the time.

There is undoubtedly value in that. Another thing we learned from James is that the game of baseball is played based on the number of outs. Each team gets 27 of them. So, Santana has value in that he makes outs just 64.6% of the time, compared to let’s say, Brandon Moss, a player with a similar batting average (.220), but he makes outs 70.8% of his at bats.

However, the Tribe needs Santana to provide pop in the middle of the lineup, which he’s been unable to do. His career slugging percentage is .435, not sufficient enough for a middle of the order hitter.

Therefore, Santana really shouldn’t be hitting in the #4 or #5 spot in the batting order. Ideally, he would be more effective either hitting in front of someone who can drive him in, so he should be hitting #7 or #8 to get on base in front of Jason Kipnis, or in the two hole so Michael Brantley can get him home.

The organization is also guilty of using small sample sizes to deflect criticism. They are quick to quote that a certain player has had success over something like a 10 game stretch. Big deal. Most decent major league players can stretches that long where they appear to be pretty good.

The reality is you have to look at the season as a whole. Now, if you want to say a player got off to a slow start, and over the last 60 games, they are having success, we will listen to that argument.

The only statistic that matters is the winning percentage of the team. And right now, the Cleveland Indians are failing in that regard. No team gets to move up in the standings because the numbers show they aren’t as bad as they appear. It’s akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

Here’s another statistic we like to use: In the 14 years that Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti have been in charge, the Indians have four seasons over .500 and two playoff appearances. Guess what? Not good.

Are some of the hits by the opponents lucky? Perhaps. On the other hand, right now the starting pitchers are putting this team in a hole on a nightly basis. Last night, they were down 3-0 after the first inning.

Saturday night, they were losing 5-0.

Thursday, it was 4-0 after four frames.

This team’s offense doesn’t allow them to come back, so it is incumbent on the starters to put some zeroes on the board early. Is there any statistic that covers that up?

The entire organization needs to examine itself and look at different ways of getting it done. It’s not working right now.