Lack of Consistency Killing Tribe

It has been well documented that the Cleveland Indians have had issues stringing together wins. When they emerged victorious both Friday and Saturday in Texas, it marked the first time the Tribe has won two in a row since the first week of the season.

The biggest problem? Consistency.

Terry Francona’s club simply can’t put anything together on a day-to-day basis.

For example, in their last seven games, the Indians have had games where they are tallied eight runs twice, and another where they scored ten times. In the other four games? Cleveland scored one run twice, two runs once, and three runs once.

Since it is difficult to win games where you score three runs or less (although the Tribe did win 2-0 on Corey Kluber’s gem on Wednesday night), this team can’t put together any kind of streak.

The pitching isn’t any better. In the same seven games, Cleveland hurlers had contests where they had a shutout, allowed two runs twice, and three runs once. That’s good, right?

Except that in the other three games, the pitching staff allowed eight runs twice and five runs on another occasion.

Even individual players have had the same ups and downs. Now, we realize that not everybody can be like Michael Brantley, but some of the Indians players have been woefully inconsistent.

While the starting pitching looked to be a strength coming into the year, the main starters have yet to reach a point where they are good most times they take the hill.

Kluber has had four of eight starts where he has thrown six or more frames allowing two runs of less. The other four appearances? 23 innings pitched allowing 19 earned runs.

Carlos Carrasco has been about the same. In four of his eight starts (we threw out the game he was hit by the line drive), he has pitched 24-1/3 innings and allowed eight runs, for an ERA of under 3.00. In his other starts, he has pitched 19 innings, allowing 14 earned runs.

To be fair, Trevor Bauer has been good in five of his seven starts and Danny Salazar in five of his six opportunities.

The fifth spot has been an out-and-out disaster, with southpaws T.J. House and Bruce Chen combining to allow 38 hits in 19 innings of work.

The bullpen has been most up and down as well, with only Zack McAllister and lately Bryan Shaw showing solid efforts on most nights. Long man Ryan Webb has done his job well also.

That’s not good enough if you want to put together a winning streak.

The hitters aren’t immune either. Brandon Moss was counted on to be a power presence in the middle of the order, and he does lead the club in home runs (5) and RBI’s (23). That’s great until you see three of those dingers and 13 of the runs he has knocked in have come in THREE GAMES!

In the other 32 games, he’s hit 2 homers and knocked in 10, which is about what David Murphy has done in part-time duty.

We will leave Jason Kipnis out of this because he’s been torrid for about a two-week stretch, it hasn’t been a select few games.

We know Nick Swisher is battling back from surgery on both knees. He came into today at 9 for 35 on the year. He was 7 for 8 in two games, and in the other eight games he appeared in, he was 2 for 27.

Until the Tribe starts getting good performances on an almost nightly basis from their hitters and pitchers, they are going to keep scuffling.

What makes players good is consistency. Many guys can have a good night every once in a while, and right now, that’s what’s happening here.

It has to change soon, because the other teams in the AL Central are all playing pretty well.

Thompson and Delly Fit Perfectly on This Year’s Cavaliers

It is fitting that two of the three players on the podium after last night’s series clinching win over the Chicago Bulls were Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson. After all, they contributed mightily to the Cleveland Cavaliers blowout victory in the Windy City.

Most of the press surrounding this year’s Cavs have fittingly been about the team’s “Big Three”, the triumvirate of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, all-stars who probably rank among the NBA’s top 25 players.

Then you have the three players who were acquired in trades in January: J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mozgov, who contributed greatly from elevating the team from the .500 mark at the time of the deals into the team that had the best regular season record from the time of the trades until the end of the campaign.

No doubt they are primary reasons the wine and gold are one of the four teams remaining in the NBA playoffs.

Thompson and Dellavedova are the quintessential players who are perfect fits on good teams.

There are a bunch of NBA players who are good players on non-playoff rosters. Until this year, Evan Turner is the guy who fits that bill for us. They are stat compilers. On those teams, somebody has to take shots, score points, and grab rebounds. That doesn’t mean they are good players. They are just the best player on a bad team.

Some players have skill sets that don’t fit with bad teams.

Think about both Thompson and Dellavedova on last year’s Cavs team.

Thompson was highly criticized because of his lack of offensive game and that he wasn’t more of a shot blocker. Those were things the pre-LeBron Cavaliers needed. So much of the offense depended on Kyrie Irving, and since Thompson was the fourth overall pick in the draft, people felt he should be able to contribute on that end of the floor.

With the addition of James, Love, and Smith, Thompson no longer needs to score, and Mozgov takes the role of rim protector.

So, Thompson does what he does, which is provide energy and is a monster on the glass, exactly what this group needs. And he does it as at a high level. Those things are important on teams that are competing for a title.

As for Dellavedova, his ball handling is questionable, which made him a target for critics, especially because the guy he backs up might be the best dribbler in the league.

And if he was forced to play 30-35 minutes on a nightly basis, his warts, that is to say, the reason he wasn’t drafted, would show through.

But he doesn’t have to play those kind of minutes in Cleveland.

What Delly does do is play gritty defense on both point guards and shooting guards alike, and can stick the occasional three-point shot. He’s a solid passer, being able to find the open man. He’s added a penetration move this year which he caps off with a lob pass to Thompson or Mozgov for dunks.

Last year, when the Cavs were headed for the lottery, he was a guy that we wondered why he got the time he received from then head coach Mike Brown.

We get that coaches love him, he plays hard and defends. But a bad team needs more from the back up point guard.

Again, on a winning team, Delly fits perfectly.

If they left the Cavs and went to lottery teams, the fans in those cities would probably be disappointed by what they would get out of either player.

However, on a winning team, they possess skill sets that playoff teams need.

What a difference a year makes.

Blatt Can’t Win, No Matter What Happens

David Blatt is in a no win situation.

He knows it. It goes along with the territory when you are coaching the league’s best player in LeBron James.

When James’ team wins, he gets the credit, and when his team loses, the coach takes the blame. Not LeBron.

So, the big to-do about James waiving off the play Blatt was calling in the huddle before the game winning shot, is nothing. Blatt wanted James to be the inbounder, probably to find J.R. Smith, who knocked down three shots from beyond the arc to get the Cavaliers back in the game.

James said he wanted the shot, and the coach obliged.

That’s why Blatt made the comments about “picking up the tab” in his post-game press conference. James wanted the check and Blatt gave it to him. There’s nothing to the story.

We’ve heard many people refer to the movie “Hoosiers”, about this situation, and we admit we thought the same thing.

In the movie, Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) was calling a play with the game on the line for another player, with his squad staring at the coach in disbelief. Hickory High’s star, Jimmy Chitwood, told the coach he would make it, and the play was changed.

No word whether or not Dale was skewered on Twitter the next day.

The other thing Blatt is being hammered about was trying to call a timeout when there were none to call.

We hate to tell people, but that’s on one of the assistant coaches. If you have ever coached at even the high school level, you know the head coach has assistants make sure he is aware of things like how many timeouts he has and the foul situation on individual players.

Our guess is that no one reminded Blatt the Cavs didn’t have any timeouts remaining.

And that’s not something he can say to the media and not sound like he is throwing someone under the bus.

And as usual, Blatt doesn’t get any credit for the wine and gold’s comeback from an 11 point deficit late in the quarter, and for the squad’s defensive effort in the fourth quarter which allowed Cleveland to have a five point lead with around two minutes left. That’s a 16 point swing.

Nor does he get credit for staying with Timofey Mozgov staying in the game in the fourth quarter because he was playing well. Blatt is a “feel” coach, and he played the hot hand, something he has done throughout the year.

As for the inbound play, we think James Jones, who was the trigger man on the play was a little too conservative and forced the use of at least one timeout. There appeared to be players open, but Jones didn’t want to make a mistake with a turnover.

It turned out, the refs forced the turnover anyway when they called an offensive foul on James, who was getting hit repeatedly by Derrick Rose and Mike Dunleavy Jr. when they were trapping James.

The point here isn’t to say Blatt is a perfect coach, but merely to point out that he is not a complete idiot either.

We have said from early in the season that Kevin Love and Blatt were the go-to guys whenever this basketball team had problems. And the national media is quick to point every flaw out because he’s an outsider in NBA circles. They don’t know him.

Yes, he’s arrogant. He’s confident in his ability to coach and win at any level.

He’s learning his way around the NBA and has become more humble at least to the media.

He just can’t win because of the situation. Just realize it’s a tough spot to be in.

Tribe Front Office Can’t Afford To Be Patient Anymore

Although the ever patient front office of the Cleveland Indians says you cannot evaluate a team until they play 40 games, we have always done the first look-see of the club after they have played 1/6th of the schedule, or 27 games.

The Indians hit that mark after Thursday’s loss to Kansas City, and the results aren’t good at all.

The Tribe sits at 10-17 on the year, a pace that will give the club its first 100 loss season since 1991, when they were still playing at old Municipal Stadium.

It has been a total team collapse.

The offense, which ranked in the top half of the American League in scoring runs last season, is currently 10th, and has scored three runs or less in 11 of the first 27 games. So, there is a good chunk of games where they would be lucky to win the way they score.

We have always said you need seven solid hitters to win in the AL, putting pressure on the opposition pitching staffs. If we set the benchmark as an OPS over 700 (which is below the league average), in terms of everyday players, Terry Francona has four at his disposal: Michael Brantley (935), Carlos Santana (797), Brandon Moss (736), and Jason Kipnis (722).

Ryan Raburn and Mike Aviles qualify too, but they only play against left-handers.

And to be fair, Lonnie Chisenhall is creeping closer to the 700 mark at 691.

That means on most nights, pitchers can relax after the first four or five Tribe hitters. The worst offenders are Michael Bourn (522) and Jose Ramirez (455). The front office’s stubborn refusal to bring up Francisco Lindor and to continue to play Ramirez is mind-boggling.

Now, we understand Lindor isn’t tearing up the International League, hitting just .248. But his OPS is 683, more than 200 points higher than Ramirez. And Lindor is a better defensive player.

The pitching staff hasn’t fared much better, ranking second to last in the league in ERA.

The main culprit here has been control, the Tribe ranks 12th in the AL in walks, and a terrible defense. This week’s Sports Illustrated has an article saying Cleveland’s defense ranks among the worst of all time!

Moss is not a RF by trade, he’s more of a 1B/DH. Bourn doesn’t cover ground like he used to in CF. Ramirez isn’t good, and losing Yan Gomes to an injury after five games isn’t helping either.

The ballclub’s best defender by metrics? The much maligned Chisenhall.

Corey Kluber’s struggles have been well documented. The defending Cy Young Award winner is 0-5 with a 5.04 ERA. T.J. House wasn’t good, but didn’t really have a rotation set, so between that and his shoulder troubles, we will give him a bit of a pass.

The bullpen has been chaos, however. Cody Allen, the closer, has allowed 15 hits and eight walks in 10 innings of work.Nick Hagadone’s control troubles have resurfaced. Scott Atchison is starting to pitch like a 39-year-old. Bryan Shaw’s workload over the last two seasons look to have caught up to him.

The best reliever on the team has been Zack McAllister, who has a 1.72 ERA out of the ‘pen.

This is an area that can be fixed because bullpens can be interchangeable parts, but it will take some tough decisions by the front office.

Austin Adams has pitched well in Columbus and looked good in two appearances here. Why not get him up here? C.C. Lee has a live arm and did some good things at the end of ’14, get him up here too.

GM Chris Antonetti and president Mark Shapiro preach patience all the time. It is no longer early. Right now, the Cleveland Indians are a bad baseball team.

The time to start fixing the team is right now, before it gets too late and what shaped up as a fun summer of baseball is totally ruined.

Cavs Now Even, But It’s Going to Get Tougher

The Cleveland Cavaliers faced their first adversity of the NBA playoffs last night and passed with flying colors, evening up their Eastern Conference semifinal series at one game apiece with a 106-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Obviously, when the Cavs win they get very good performances out of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, and Game 2 was no exception.

James scored 33 points and had eight rebounds and five assists, while Irving put up 21 points with three assists in the win.

But with Kevin Love sidelined, David Blatt needs other players to step up. Iman Shumpert has done just that in both games, and last night, he hit several three-point shots early, finishing with 15 points and seven boards.

He has stepped up big time with J.R. Smith serving a two game suspension, and with Smith returning Friday night, perhaps Shumpert can continue to provide the long-range shooting that Love provided.

We believe for the wine and gold to win in this series, they need a good performance out of one of their three “old hands”, meaning James Jones, Mike Miller, or Shawn Marion.

Jones provided such a game Wednesday night, hitting five of nine from beyond the arc and scoring 17 points. He hit two big triples after the Bulls ran off 14 consecutive points in the third quarter to cut a 25 point lead down to 11.

The Bulls never got any closer.

Coaches can be stubborn, so Blatt should be commended for seeing that the Mike Miller as a starter experiment didn’t work, and going to Tristan Thompson to begin the game.

Thompson, who really fits the definition of a guy who is better on a good team that a bad one, scored only five points, but grabbed 12 rebounds, and as usual, kept several possessions alive by tracking down his teammates errant shots.

And you have to give credit to the much-maligned Matthew Dellavedova, who had nine points and nine assists.

However, now it’s on to the Windy City and without a doubt, those games will be a challenge. Marginal players are usually more productive at home, so the burden will be on James and Irving, to get the team off to a good start.

Shumpert, who left the game with a groin injury, hopefully can continue to contribute as he has over the last four games, and they will need Smith to come back from his suspension to pick up right where he left off.

If Smith can pick up right where he left off before the last two games, the Cavs will be able to spread the floor the same as when Love was playing because the Bulls will have to honor the ability of the two former Knicks to make long-range shots.

Because as much as last night’s game was about James’ aggressiveness, Shumpert’s first quarter shooting was equally a key. He provided the three-point shot that was missing in the first game.

The best case scenario is for the wine and gold to come out early like they did last night in Game 3, and take the Chicago fans out of the game. It would also show the Bulls that Monday night was the aberration.

James needs to be in aggressive mode again, because it doesn’t appear the Bulls have any answer for him in the paint.

The three-point shooting is key in this because making some shots from outside will open up the middle.

Without a doubt, this is a series now.

Tribe Pitchers Need to Throw Strikes, Get Better Defense

There is certainly no question the Cleveland Indians have gotten off to a slow start. They have one of the worst records in the American League to date.

However, if the season ended today, and we still have about 5/6ths of it remaining, the second wild card would be the Baltimore Orioles, who currently sit at 12-11.

For you math majors, that means the Indians are just 3-1/2 games out of the playoffs with a whole lot of season to go.

That doesn’t mean that the Tribe’s roster isn’t flawed and is in need of improvement, of course, we said that all winter.

The recent offensive resurgence has put the Wahoos 9th in the AL in runs scored per game, but the pitching staff, considered to be the reason Cleveland was supposed to contend this season, has gotten off to a woeful start, ranking 13th in the junior circuit in ERA, ahead of only Boston and Toronto.

Surprisingly, they’ve done that despite ranking second in the league in striking out hitters.

If not for Danny Salazar, who didn’t even make the team out of spring training, the rotation would be going through a two and a half week stretch with very few good performances.

We aren’t concerned about Corey Kluber as of yet, and Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco have really been more good than bad to this point, so the starters have done okay. Not spectacular, like they were in August and September 2014, but they’ve kept the team in games.

Unfortunately, the bullpen, which has been tremendous over the past two seasons, is leaking oil, and the team’s defense has not improved from a year ago, even though the errors are down.

The Tribe pitching staff ranks 14th in the league in walks and the relief corps has contributed greatly to that statistic.

The wildness plagued Nick Hagadone has walked five in nine innings. Marc Rzepczynski has issued four free passes in 6-2/3 innings. Bryan Shaw’s walk rate is up as well.

And although Terry Francona has supported closer Cody Allen, he has to be getting nervous. Allen has allowed a whopping 15 hits and seven walks in nine innings of work. He pitched on Sunday and gave up a bomb to Russell Martin. If you come into a game and starting walking people, you are going to get yourself in trouble.

The question is how long with the skipper be confident in the guys who have served him well for so long?

The Indians have enough problems getting leads to cough them up once they have them.

And the defense hasn’t helped the pitching staff either. Yesterday, the Blue Jay scored six runs in the fourth, an inning where Cleveland did not make an error, but gave Toronto five or six outs.

Jose Ramirez didn’t get to a ball good shortstops would have fielded. Lonnie Chisenhall didn’t get an out on a high chopper. Carlos Santana caught a runner straying too far from third base, but didn’t record an out.

Trevor Bauer fielded a chopper, looked home, realized he had no play, and didn’t retire the batter.

So, instead of no runs or maybe one, the Jays put up a six spot.

It should be a concern because it was a huge problem last season and it hasn’t improved much.

How can it be fixed? It probably can’t at this point without a drastic move. As far as the bullpen goes, it looks like the usage of the past may have caught up with these guys.

Several people suggested moving a couple of the current crew in the off-season, to bring in fresher arms, but the front office wasn’t proactive.

The Indians aren’t buried in the standings, but they do need to start playing better. Improvement in throwing strikes and in the defense would be two areas to help the Tribe improve.

Browns Fill Needs, Nothing Wrong With That.

The Cleveland Browns seem to have had a very good draft. Just let that sink in for a minute.

It wasn’t sexy like some people in the media wanted, they didn’t draft a quarterback early, nor did they take a wide receiver. However, what they did do was address a major weakness.

For all the moaning and hand-wringing about the quarterback play in 2014, the Browns ranked 20th in the league in passing yards. Granted, that is in the lower half of the league, but it is not the worst, which is where their defense against the running game was in 2014.

So, in their first five choices in the first three rounds, they picked three defensive players, two of them specifically picked to help against the run.

Washington NT Danny Shelton was the pick at #12, and at 6’1″ and 343 pounds will play in the middle of the defensive line for Cleveland. He, along with a healthy Phil Taylor, will occupy blockers and make plays against the run.

In the third round, GM Ray Farmer traded back in to pick another interior defender, DT Xavier Cooper from Washington State who weighs 293 pounds. Cooper is said to need more strength, but is very fast for a tackle, which should help him rush the passer as well.

Farmer didn’t ignore the pass rush either, selecting OLB Nate Orchard in the second round. Orchard, from Utah had 17.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss last season, and was said to give first round pick Andrus Peat from Stanford fits when they played the Cardinal in ’14.

The Browns needed play makers in the front seven and they may have added three in this year’s draft. You really can’t complain about that.

On the offensive side of the ball, perhaps no team in the NFL has a better threesome on the left side than Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio and Alex Mack. However, as good as they are, the right side had problems. So, Farmer addressed that by taking Cameron Erving from Florida State, who can play any position on the line.

He will no doubt move in here at either right guard or right tackle.

And the offense also lacked a change of pace running back, which the Browns addressed in the third round by taking Duke Johnson from Miami. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, which is not a strength or Terence West or Isaiah Crowell. This gives the offense an added dimension.

It seems when the Browns draft skill position players, they are criticized for not addressing the offensive and defensive lines. And when they take care of the infrastructure and take care of the basic needs of the team, then they get heat for not making a splash.

We don’t know if the players they have taken so far will be Pro Bowl talents, but it does appear that both Shelton and Erving should start in Week 1, which first round picks should do.

That’s why you draft them there.

You have to give Ray Farmer credit for addressing the weaknesses of his football team. Are there still more to fill? Yes, we undoubtedly need a play making wide receiver. But, it’s not like he took a left tackle instead of one.

The Browns can’t be a contender until they can run the ball and stop the run. That’s basic football.

Last year, they showed big improvement in the running game, and this year they are taking strides to stop the opponents.

That seems like a plan, which they are usually mocked for not having one.

Who Needs To Step Up For Cavs in Round Two.

There was a cloud over the Cavaliers’ series clinching win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday, because of the shoulder injury to Kevin Love and the looming suspension of J.R. Smith.

So, when play resumes with the Eastern Conference semi-finals on Monday, the way the wine and gold play, and who they play will be quite different from the one that has rolled to 39 wins in their last 48 contests.

Losing two starters is definitely going to effect the Cavs, whether they want to admit it or not.

Both of the players help with floor spacing because of their abilities to make three-point shots. So, does David Blatt replace them with other players with that talent, or does he try to win a bit differently.

Many have speculated that James Jones may get the start in Love’s spot, and while Jones has the ability to fill it up from beyond the arc, he cannot rebound like Love and doesn’t have the bulk to defend near the basket.

To be sure, if Jones starts, he won’t get Love’s minutes, and without doubt we will see a lot of Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson together on the floor.

Thompson is a better defender than Love, so perhaps the Cavs won’t need to score as much with that tandem on the court.

As for Smith, the logical move would be to move Iman Shumpert into the starting lineup, since that was probably how it was supposed to be before Smith fit like a glove along with the rest of the starters.

And although Smith played solid defense for Cleveland, Shumpert is better on that end of the floor, so again the gain will be when the Cavs don’t have the ball.

Then the question becomes who replaces Shumpert in his role? The obvious answer is veteran Mike Miller, another guy who can stretch the floor with the three-point shot, but he hasn’t been accurate all year-long, hitting just 32.7% from behind the line, compared to almost 41% for his career.

Or Blatt could choose to go with even more defense and put Shawn Marion out there.

Without a doubt, all three of the veterans picked up in the off-season (Jones, Miller, and Marion) are going to be counted on to be contributors in the next series, and really Kendrick Perkins can be added to this list.

Most figure the next opponent for Cleveland will be Chicago, based on no one ever losing a series once they have a 3-0 lead.

If that is true, it will be difficult for the Cavs to win without Love, no matter what kind of strong face the organization puts on the situation. Love was very important to the offense because of floor spacing. His ability to make shots from outside opened up driving lines for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

Can the Cavs still win? Of course, but they will need to get contributions from guys who haven’t given them much in the first round, meaning Miller, Marion, and Perkins.

They still have two of the league’s best players in James and Irving, and remember the Cavaliers advanced to two Eastern Conference finals and one NBA Finals with rosters not as talented as this one.

That’s the power of LeBron James.

And he plays for Cleveland.

It’s Starting To Not Be So Early for Indians

If you were going to write a blueprint on how to contend for a division title in baseball, we would guess it wouldn’t say to start off 4-11 against your own division foes.

That’s what the Indians have done and in the process have dug a little hole for themselves.

They are now seven games out of first place and the calendar hasn’t even turned to May.

There is plenty of time for the Tribe, as they haven’t reached the 27 game point of the season, the one-sixth pole if you will, but it will come sometime next week, and right now, Terry Francona’s team looks moribund at best.

The culprit? The same as last year, an inconsistent offense that lacks hitters who provide professional at bats.

Last weekend’s series at Comerica Park was a perfect example of what we are talking about, as the Indians scored 13 runs in the first contest, and followed up the next day by tallying just one.

The team’s best hitter to this point has been a guy many people wanted to replace before the season opened, Ryan Raburn, who has hit .385 in 26 at bats and is tied for the club lead (with Brandon Moss) in extra base hits with seven.

Of course, three of Moss’ long hits game in the 13-1 rout of the Tigers we were speaking of earlier.

Granted, it is early, but the usual Indians’ line up features a lot of players batting anywhere from .240 to .150.

On the other hand, at what point is it no longer early?

When the same things are occurring to start the year as ended last season, there may not be time to wait.

We had discussions over the weekend about CF Michael Bourn, who was finally dropped out of the leadoff spot after starting off 2015 the same way he closed last year: Striking out a lot, not getting on base, and not stealing bases.

At this point, it would be a shock if Bourn caught fire and wound up the year with an average of over .250.

Jason Kipnis is looking like the ’14 version which was an injury plagued campaign.

Lonnie Chisenhall is looking like second half Lonnie, not the one who flirted with .400 in the first half of 2014.

The defense continues to struggle. Thank goodness Cleveland pitchers lead the American League in strikeouts, lest more balls be put in play to challenge the tin gloves the Indians’ fielders use.

GM Chris Antonetti has built this team on pitching, yet continues to put subpar defenders behind his collection of power arms in the front of his rotation.

We have been clamoring for Francisco Lindor to be called up since the trading deadline last season, but once again, today we heard a bunch of corporate speak about how he is not yet a finished product.

And we say that despite the fact we like Jose Ramirez. Ramirez will be a good player someday, but he’s a second baseman, not a shortstop. Lindor is a shortstop.

Roster problems weren’t taken care of either this winter. When Antonetti traded for Moss this winter, they didn’t move David Murphy, despite the plan to play the newcomer in RF.

Therefore, the Tribe doesn’t have a backup centerfielder on the roster. Wouldn’t Tyler Holt fill a role with this team?

Anyway, based on past experience, Antonetti will wait and wait before making any changes with the roster. By that time, it may be too late.

We picked the Indians to emerge as the division winner, but right now, this team doesn’t have the look of a playoff team, except for the starting pitching.

Hopefully, the season doesn’t get away from them by then.

Browns Have Other Needs Than QB, Take Care of Them

Just think, a week from now, it will all be over.

You might think we are talking about the Cavs’ first round series against the Boston Celtics, which may be over later this afternoon.

No, we are talking about the NFL Draft and the northeastern Ohio football fan’s annual rite of passage, trying to figure out what quarterback the Browns should go after so they can start qualifying for the playoffs.

We get so absorbed into this and the perceived need for a QB, that people lose sight that you need a complete team to win the Lombardi Trophy.

What do these quarterbacks have in common: Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, Colin Kaepernick, and Alex Smith.

All would probably be considered in the top half of signal callers in the game, but none of them played in the playoff after last season.

This is not to say the Browns don’t need help at the QB spot, but first, they need to see what Johnny Manziel can do, because six quarters isn’t enough evaluation time, and second, they have other needs to fill.

That’s why it is ludicrous to us to consider trading both first round picks for another rookie quarterback.

You probably will wind up with a player who can’t start in the first game of the season, but you also lose the opportunity to add two players who could.

The conversation on sports talk shows regarding getting a passer border on desperation.

In the past week, we heard hosts excited by a scout saying the basement for Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota is Smith, the former first overall pick, who has turned into a serviceable player in Kansas City.

However, if that draft were held today, Smith wouldn’t be the first player chosen, because he’s not a great player.

There is also continued talk about dealing one of the Browns’ first round selections for Sam Bradford, a guy who has played seven games in the past two seasons. While we would be interested in Bradford, that kind of price is simply too high.

We realize it is the silly season.

Rumors about the Browns trading for a quarterback appear daily, because the national perception is that the franchise will do anything to get one.

And there is no question that Cleveland needs a great QB, a lot of teams do. Unfortunately, wanting Jameis Winston and Mariota to be one, doesn’t make them one.

We were asked earlier this week what we want the Browns to do this Thursday night. Our reply was to stay right where they are at #12 and #19, and pick two players who can start and help this football team in 2015.

That said, if you could move a first round pick for a proven top ten quarterback in Philip Rivers, we would consider that, because he’s proven to be quality player.

But we don’t think San Diego will move him, so it’s a moot point.

GM Ray Farmer needs to get help to defend the run, a huge weakness for the Browns in 2014, and they need a difference maker in the front seven. Someone the offense needs to account for.

And although Paul Kruger had a good season last year, Cleveland still needs a dominant pass rusher.

They also need offensive line help, a tight end, and wide receivers. Players who could help the Browns in those area will likely be there when Farmer picks on Thursday night.

Let’s hope the Browns’ front office understands this and doesn’t let their quarterback envy show.

Just be smart, not spectacular.