Here’s Hoping Browns Aren’t Reaching for QB

It is becoming an annual rite of passage for football fans in Cleveland, Ohio.

The season ends, and the Cleveland Browns are looking at the quarterbacks who are entering the NFL from the college ranks, and the national pundits are talking about the Browns moving up in the draft to take yet another signal caller.

Last season, GM Ray Farmer resisted the temptation to use the fourth overall pick to take a passer, but succumbed to pressure from around the city to find one and moved up to pick Johnny Manziel with the 22nd choice.

Now, NFL insiders are saying that Farmer is enamored with another Heisman Trophy winner, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, and the Browns are looking to move up to get him.

Adding fuel to the flames is the man who appears to be Cleveland’s next quarterback coach, Kevin O’Connell, is currently working with Mariota, preparing him for his personal workouts with pro teams.

While the Browns certainly have to upgrade the quarterback position, we aren’t sure that picking another guy out of college is the answer, particularly this year.

Most scouts say the most talented passer coming out this year is Jameis Winston from Florida State. However, Winston has a lot of baggage and after coming off the Manziel circus, do the Browns want to deal with that again?

Mariota has the size, but is he ready to step in and play at the NFL level? His offensive system at Oregon was gimmicky, trying to catch the defense off guard by running plays quickly. That’s not going to happen at the professional level.

And this isn’t to say we wouldn’t take either guy. If one or both fell to the Browns’ first pick at #12 overall, or even further to #19, you would have to think about drafting either player, but we would also bring in a veteran, not necessarily Brian Hoyer, to compete for the job.

We just wouldn’t sacrifice a draft pick, or perhaps multiple choices to move up in the selection process to get either.

Why? Because even though quarterback is a most important position, it’s not the only hole the Cleveland Browns have to fill.

They could use a wide receiver. They could use another offensive lineman. They could use defensive line depth and another linebacker as well.

If a quality player is available at one of those positions, Farmer should use the picks he has to fill one of those spots. Don’t reach for a quarterback yet again.

We say that because in our opinion there aren’t any signal callers available who are worth the price of trading an extra high draft choice. So, basically you would be expending the pick you traded for plus another pick, probably in the first three rounds of the draft.

If we thought either Winston or Mariota was an Andrew Luck type player, then the Browns should do what they have to, but that’s not the case.

So, Farmer and the front office should simply sit tight, and draft the best player available, and continue to build a strong team around whoever plays QB when the regular season starts in September.

It’s about time the Browns learn from their mistakes.

Forget the Numbers, Love is Still a Key Component

Every time the Cleveland Cavaliers lose a basketball game, the reaction from the fans on social media is predictable. Two people take the brunt of the blame.

It is either David Blatt’s fault, because that’s who we are in Cleveland, it’s always the coach’s fault. God forbid, we ever make the players responsible for a defeat.

The second person who gets hammered for a loss is Kevin Love. The only reason we can think of for this is that Love was apparently expected to average 25.0 points and 15 rebounds per game when GM David Griffin traded this year’s first overall pick, Andrew Wiggins and last year’s first overall pick, Anthony Bennett, along with other stuff to get the Timberwolves’ best player.

It’s not fair to Love, who certainly isn’t playing terrible, he’s averaging 17.1 points and 10.5 boards per contest. And most basketball people realize it was Love who had to make the biggest adjustment among the Cavs’ stars, certainly more than LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

He is taking the least amount of shots since his second year in the league at 13.1 per game, down from the 18.5 he took per night with Minnesota a year ago. He’s also making less, hitting just 42.7% compared to his career mark of 45.1% with the Wolves. And his three-point accuracy is down slightly from his lifetime figure of 36.2% to 34.7%.

We have noticed that Love has been tentative in taking open shots at times, most notably in last Friday’s loss to Indiana which ended the wine and gold’s 12 game winning streak.

That and his decreased shooting percentage are the only problems we can find in the former UCLA star’s game.

There are some who think the Cavaliers would be better off with Tristan Thompson in the lineup instead of Love. They are showing a lack of understanding of basketball when making that statement.

The Clippers’ Doc Rivers said it correctly when talking about Love last week. You have to guard him. Even if he’s shooting for a lower percentage than his norm, defenses have to pay attention to him. And when he’s standing out around the third point line, opponents have to respect him, and that opens up driving lanes for Lebron James and Kyrie Irving.

That’s a key for the Cavaliers’ attack.

Conversely, Thompson doesn’t have to be guarded. He has to be kept off the offensive boards, where he is very effective, but most teams would be thrilled if the fourth year pro out of Texas would shoot anything beside a lay up or a dunk.

People who only look at the raw numbers only don’t understand this dynamic. Sometimes it is not what the player does, it’s what he is capable of doing that counts.

So, as long as Love is a threat, he is a very important piece of this Cavalier team.

It appears that Love realizes that his shot is off and he is putting time in to correct that. We also believe that James’ “fit out” comment had more to do with the tentative play of the former all-star. Love was told to be himself and not “fit in” during the preseason, and James sees him thinking too much and not playing his game.

In the meantime, just be patient. Love will regain his shooting touch, and when he does, this offense will be even better.

The Cavs are getting better on a game by game basis. Hopefully, that will continue well into the spring.

Tribe Should Take a Shot at Shields.

In 2013, the Cleveland Indians surprised many people in baseball by signing OF Michael Bourn just before the start of spring training.

The surprise was mostly because the Tribe doesn’t go after a lot of high-priced free agents, and they had already signed Nick Swisher the prior December.

The Indians should shock the baseball world again with a late off-season signing. It makes all the sense in the world for them to ink James Shields to a contract before spring training opens in Goodyear in less than two weeks.

Shields figured to get a deal worth more the $100 million following last season when he helped the Central Division rivals, the Kansas City Royals, get to the World Series.

But, he hasn’t signed yet and you would think he might be willing to sign a shorter term deal at higher dollars per year.

GM Chris Antonetti could perhaps talk his superiors into going two years at $36 million total.

We know what you are thinking, the Wahoos have a set starting rotation with Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, newly inked Gavin Floyd, Danny Salazar, and southpaw T.J. House.

Our argument would be first that you can never have enough pitching and getting Big Game James would allow the Indians not to be so dependent on youngsters Bauer, Salazar, and House.

Plus Floyd is coming off a fractured elbow, and Carrasco dazzled over the last two months, but it was the first time he pitched well as a starter since coming off of Tommy John surgery.

Shields would fit nicely in the #2 or #3 spot in the rotation and last year his numbers away from Kansas City were tremendous, going 10-2 with a 2.97 ERA, compared to a 3.51 ERA at home.

Imagine combating Detroit’s lineup in a three game series by pitching Kluber, Carrasco, and Shields. Or going against the White Sox with Chris Sale and Jeff Samardjiza, not to mention taking a key cog from the American League champions.

It would stamp the Indians, not the Tigers and not the Royals, as the team to beat in the division.

It would also send a much needed signal to the ticket buying public that the Indians recognize they have a talented ballclub and are going for it, not hoping they can somehow nudge themselves into the playoffs.

And the best thing is Cleveland would be getting a good deal. They wouldn’t be paying the high-end deal the right-hander was thought to be getting.

They should be able to handle such a contract because their other starters are young and haven’t even reached arbitration as of yet, meaning there isn’t a lot of money concentrated in the starting rotation.

Don’t forget that Shields would also be a leader along with Kluber among the pitchers. The story in KC was that he told the others in the rotation that they needed to combine for 1000 innings amongst them.

Financially, when Antonetti decides the time is right to move OF David Murphy, that will allow $6 million to be moved off the payroll and the signing would make Josh Tomlin (approximately $1.7 million) expendable too.

We realize that this is never going to happen, but it makes all the sense in the world for the Indians to make this move. And it is fun to dream.

On the other hand, the Bourn signing came out of nowhere. It would be great if the front office would surprise us all once again.

Overreaction to Browns’ So-Called Mess.

A couple of years ago, the Cleveland media regarded pro football writer Jason La Canfora as a mouthpiece for Browns’ executive Michael Lombardi. These people never liked Lombardi from his days here in the Belichick regime, and so most of what La Canfora wasn’t taken seriously.

However, his column yesterday was treated like it was gospel judging by the conversation on sports talk radio yesterday.

This isn’t to say there isn’t some grain of truth in what he wrote yesterday, but it seems to have exploded throughout the city and fan base, and we think everyone should take a step back and ease up a bit.

First of all, there are no names mentioned, just unnamed sources or people within the organization. This probably means former team president Joe Banner or Lombardi or people who they know that still work there who may be disgruntled.

It is also likely that some stuff came from former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who was referred to as the “lone bright spot on offense” and a “talented assistant” within the article.

The decision to draft Johnny Manziel was also panned, with Brian Hoyer being praised. Remember that Hoyer’s biggest advocate within the organization was Lombardi. We have said this before, Brian Hoyer is a decent NFL passer, no better, no worse, and the Browns should still be working to upgrade at that position.

This isn’t to say that the Browns’ organization is a well oiled machine, nor are we saying that Haslam isn’t making decisions that he shouldn’t be making, which would mostly be on personnel.

However, we are saying people need to consider the source of this blistering review of the entire organization.

On the other hand, it has been reported that Mike Pettine wanted to hire John DiFilippo as offensive coordinator last season, but was overruled because Shanahan had more experienced. If the head coach wanted him in the first place, then what is wrong with getting him now?

His hand-picked defensive coordinator, Jim O’Neil, looks like a keeper. So, let’s give Pettine the benefit of the doubt on DiFilippo.

As for the coach’s film review with Haslam and team president Alec Sheiner, perhaps those two simply want to learn what the coaching staff looks at, and asked Pettine if they could watch with him.

We understand that might be a stretch, but it is a plausible scenario.

La Canfora also referred to the Browns having a huge amount of high draft choices and significantly large salary cap space had they traded Josh Gordon and not signed the free agents brought in, and had a front office who loved Teddy Bridgewater and Odell Beckham Jr. Doesn’t anyone see that is a blatant endorsement of the Banner/Lombardi regime?

He pans Haslam for vetoing a possible Gordon deal. That’s probably because Gordon was one of the team’s best players and you can’t keep going down that road. Most of the fans and media alike were against making that deal at the time.

And Bridgewater’s stock took a huge hit after his terrible pro day, and he wound up being taken with the last pick in the first round.

It’s much easier to judge players after the fact.

Look, we aren’t saying the Browns’ front office is stable and doesn’t make puzzling moves. However, would you believe a story about a restaurant from someone who just got fired? You would have to view the tale with a jaundiced eye.

That’s all we are saying here.

The Delly Dilemma

Cleveland is a working class town and we love when we have an athlete who overcomes the odds and gets to the highest level with limited ability.

Players like Brian Brennan, John McDonald, and even Brian Hoyer quickly become fan favorites, although each of them have critics because they don’t possess the gifts of the true stars of their respective sports have.

The Cavaliers have one of these players now in reserve guard Matthew Dellavedova.

Delly is a grinder, the kind of player that coaches love. Mike Brown loved his grit, determination and fundamentally sound game as a rookie last year, and David Blatt has the same feeling toward the Australian.

Earlier this year, when the Cavs were ravaged with injuries, Dellavedova was forced to play a lot, getting around 30 minutes per game during a period from Christmas through the first week of January.

Unfortunately, the Cavaliers’ record during that period was 2-7. That wasn’t the second year player’s fault, but it does point out that if your team is playing him that much, they probably aren’t very good.

For the season, when Delly plays more than 25 minutes in a game this season, the wine and gold’s record is 3-6.

That doesn’t mean he has no place on the roster and should be cut. In fact, if the Cavs were to get rid of him, he would snapped up by several teams immediately.

Why? Because he does the things that most NBA players don’t do.

First, he works hard on defense, and doesn’t cower to anyone in the league. Last season, Brown had him guard Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, who is a seven footer, because Dellavedova is going to bother him and make him work for every point he gets.

Second, he doesn’t need the ball in his hands. Look at the problems the team had with Dion Waiters, who needed touches and shots for him to be engaged.

The Aussie knows his role and isn’t out there looking to score. He’s had one game this season, a loss to Dallas at The Q, where he has taken as many as 10 shots.

However, if his minutes are kept in the 10-15 range, he can be a very effective player. In the Cavs’ current 11 game winning streak, Dellavedova has had a positive +/- rating in seven of them.

He is becoming a better shooter as well. Most of his opportunities come from spotting up from behind the three-point line, and he’s improved from last season’s 36.8% mark to a very good 42.4% in 2014-15, which by the way in tops on the Cavaliers.

He does need work at the free throw line, as his 64% shooting from there makes him a liability if Blatt is going to have him out there at crunch time.

We would rather see Iman Shumpert out there if Blatt wants defense or J.R. Smith if the Cavs need scoring in the fourth quarter, but Blatt has shown a tendency to stay with the hot guy, so if Delly has it going, he is going to get the opportunity.

Matthew Dellavedova is a guy who can get minutes on a good NBA team, but his coaches have to be aware that he is best served with limited minutes. It’s a talent based league, and players like him can be exposed if they play too much.

Hopefully, David Blatt will grow to understand that. Grit and determination only go so far in the professional basketball.

But fans who think he shouldn’t get minutes are wrong. He’s fine if he plays around 10-15 minutes per night.

Why Is Tribe So Bad at Selling Themselves?

Last weekend, the Cleveland Indians held their annual fanfest, bringing in former and current players, along with manager Terry Francona to meet and mingle with the fans.

Once again, it was a very crowded place to be, indicating once again that there is plenty of interest in the Tribe, but unfortunately it doesn’t translate into larger crowds filling Progressive Field.

Let’s face it, for all of success on the field the Indians have had over the last two seasons with Francona at the helm, they are a boring franchise in terms of making news.

With all of the wheeling and dealing that occurred within major league baseball this winter, the Indians made one trade, bringing Brandon Moss from Oakland for minor league infielder Joe Wendle.

And while watching MLB Network last week, they showed a list of least money spent on free agents during the off-season, and there were the Indians sitting in the top five, with only Gavin Floyd’s $4 million deal as of right now.

That really isn’t moving the fan base to dig into their pockets and buy tickets, which by the way, aren’t even for sale yet in terms of single game purchases.

So, even if there were a reason to buy tickets, you can’t unless you are interested in a season ticket program.

And the biggest thing the front office has been promoting this winter is the renovations to the ballpark, which will not seat approximately 10-15% fewer fans come April.

So we can add not very good at promoting itself to being boring in terms of making news.

We asked the people at the website, MLB Trade Rumors, if they even had someone monitoring the Indians since not only do they not make any moves, they also aren’t really involved in any rumors either.

By the way, they laughed at our question, and said in their opinion, Cleveland can look forward to a very good season.

We agree, that’s why it’s a shame more people can’t see that, and why the organization has such a hard time promoting itself.

We wrote an article a few weeks ago that gave nine things about the team that the front office should be pointing out, instead of saying how the team has limited money to spend, and talking about market size.

That lack of self-promotion is probably the biggest problem with the Cleveland Indians.

Because there is interest in this team. We know that because the local ratings for the games is very high. If you are on Twitter during a game, there is plenty of comments, both pro and con during the contest, the same as there is for a Browns’ or Cavaliers’ game.

And some of the players, particularly the young core of talent, are starting to be recognized by the fan base. You can see allegiances being formed with Michael Brantley, Corey Kluber, and Yan Gomes.

Many people are looking forward to this season so they can finally see one of the sports’ top prospects in SS Francisco Lindor.

We don’t know why the Indians are so bad about this aspect of the game, and along with the appraisals they do in regards to the men who are playing, they should examine why they cannot connect with the people who buy tickets.

They are like the terrible sales person who has a great product to sell, but because their spiel is so poor, they can’t get folks to try it.

That makes it a priority for the team to get off to a fast start so people will sit up and take notice. It will be especially difficult this spring because it is likely the Cavaliers will be in the midst of a playoff run, and that will consume the fan’s interest.

Here’s hoping the message can be received some how, because it appears the Cleveland Indians will be in the middle of a playoff race again in 2015.

Cavs Are Improvising in Blatt’s Offense.

It has been said that basketball is to sports as jazz is to music.

The game has structure, but the players improvise, and they have to in order to be successful at it.

That’s why we think it is funny when we hear the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t running the offense that coach David Blatt wants to run.

The wine and gold are getting more confident with Blatt’s system, which is designed to move the ball without a lot of dribbling, because we are seeing the passing game more and more each game. But the players still go back to one-on-one play from time to time.

Of course, that may be the coach’s compromise to the players, especially guys like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving who can probably break down the player guarding them at any point in the game.

Coaches want the players to be players, not robots. So, if a play is designed and the player sees someone open under the basket, good coaches want the man with the ball to make the right basketball play.

That was in evidence in the Cavs’ win over the Clippers a couple of weeks ago late in the game.

Blatt designed an inbound play late in overtime, with James as the inbounder. Apparently, the play was to get the ball to Kyrie Irving around the three-point line, so if someone was to be fouled, it would be the team’s best free throw shooter.

However, James saw Tristan Thompson break to the hoop, uncovered. So, we made the correct read and fired it to Thompson for a dunk, while being fouled. That’s what coaches want, break the play, especially if it leads to an easy hoop.

No coach wants to run set plays every time down the floor. It’s one way to get the players to carry a grudge against the guy in charge.

Of course, there are coaches who are control freaks and want to micro-manage everything their team does, but usually those coaches have a very short shelf life.

Most coaches probably don’t even want to call plays, because that would mean a lot of transition baskets, and their players would know where the ball should go and when it should move.

Take Wednesday’s win over Portland, which extended the Cavaliers’ winning streak to eight games. Irving was really the only player who had things going for Cleveland, and the coach and his teammates recognized that and got him the basketball.

The result was a 55 point night for the former first overall pick, and a win for the Cavs.

The previous game, only James and Irving were hitting shots vs. Detroit, so they carried the load.

To be sure, that wasn’t the coach’s design going into the game, but everyone adapted, and it led to a victory.

Blatt doesn’t want his team to have to depend on huge nights by his two all-stars to win every night, but right now, a few players are struggling to make shots (yes, Kevin Love is in a bit of a slump), so James and Irving are carrying the load. There is nothing wrong with that.

Tonight, perhaps J.R. Smith might get it going or Love can get hot, or Timofey Mozgov will be able to score inside, and the players will depend and feed off of them. That’s the kind of sport basketball is.

Early in the year, there was too much one on one play and too many players looking for their shots, and the offense struggled. That seems to be changing.

That means the Cavs are playing as a team, and selfishness is disappearing.

That’s a good thing and it could mean better things are yet to come.

Manziel’s Future? It’s Up to Him.

Last year, the Cleveland Browns excited the NFL and fans of the team by moving up a few spots in the draft to take former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

The media swarmed training camp and Manziel’s progress in practice and the pre-season were closely monitored by everyone.

He didn’t win the job to start the season as Brian Hoyer led the Browns to a 7-4 record, but Hoyer started to show some warts and Johnny Football made his debut against Buffalo and led Cleveland to a touchdown on his first drive.

Unfortunately, that was the high point of his season.

However, after Hoyer struggled mightily at home against the Colts, a game the defense played magnificently, coach Mike Pettine named the rookie the starter against Cincinnati.

The Bengals led 14-0 after the Browns had the ball once, a three and out, and the myth of “Johnny Football” was gone.

What if Hoyer played well against Indianapolis, making the Browns 8-5, keeping them in playoff contention, and Manziel didn’t see any action after the Bills game?

Everyone connected to the Browns would be looking forward to the first round pick being the starter going into the 2015 season, and no one would be doing stories about how unprepared the kid was to be the starter in those games.

But the games against the Bengals and Panthers did happen and now there are serious questions as to whether or not Manziel has a future in the NFL.

Those games could show Manziel that he needs to put a lot of work into his profession or he will be out of the league fairly soon. Whether he does this or not, the proof will be during the spring mini camps and when the team convenes in Berea (or wherever) in July.

Right now, it doesn’t look like he is making it a priority in his life to be a starting signal caller in the NFL. He appears to be more interested in being a celebrity.

So, what should the Browns do?

We have already advocated that six quarters of action isn’t enough of a look to decide Manziel can’t be an effective player in the league, but he needs to show he has the dedication and he needs an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach who will tell him the style he played in college won’t work in the professional ranks, and teach him to be a pro passer.

If Manziel comes to camp in July and doesn’t put the work in, then the Browns have a big decision, and we wouldn’t have any complaint if they let him go at that point.

Until then, GM Ray Farmer can’t put all his eggs in Manziel’s basket, nor should he settle for Brian Hoyer. The Browns need to attempt to upgrade the position if they want to get to the post-season.

In the meantime, the people who want to “send a message” to the locker room by cutting the rookie aren’t thinking clearly. They view him as a punk who will never amount to anything.

That’s short-sighted. He has some ability and the Browns owe it to themselves to find out if he has the determination and drive to be successful in the league. However, they can’t wait too long.

Six quarters isn’t enough of a sample size. What they really need to see is the level of commitment from the player himself.

Maybe Browns Need to Stop Chasing QBs

In Cleveland, football season consists of two parts: The regular season, when games are actually played, and the draft season, which sometimes starts in the middle of the fall, because the Browns are usually struggling.

Part of the draft season is the constant search for the “franchise quarterback”, something the brown and orange have lacked since the days of Bernie Kosar.

This winter, with Brian Hoyer a free agent and Johnny Manziel teetering on the edge of his professional career, the search for the quarterback is in full bloom.

As GM Ray Farmer said after the season ended, most teams don’t have elite QBs, so most team have to figure out a way to win without one. That’s the boat the Browns are in today.

It is ridiculous to listen to some of the theories espoused by fans in this regard.

Some are willing to suffer through a 1-15 season in order to get “the guy”.

First, it doesn’t appear that an Andrew Luck type (and that’s the type of guy you are looking at) will be available in the 2016 draft.

Others are willing to overpay for a veteran, even an injured one like Sam Bradford of the Rams. Yesterday, we heard 92.3’s Dustin Fox talk about giving up the 19th overall pick for Bradford, who has played seven games in the last two seasons combined.

That’s crazy in our books. Would we give up a third or fourth round pick for the former first overall pick? Yes, but dealing a first rounder (not to say Farmer would consider this) is typical of what the Browns have down over the years.

They are talking themselves into bad decisions. Remember that two of our elite passers, Ben Roethlisburger and Aaron Rodgers, fell to their respective teams. They didn’t trade up to get them.

On the other hand, the Browns seemed to talk themselves into Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden, and Manziel. They were intrigued, but not “in love” with any of them, meaning there wasn’t a consensus within the organization that these were the guys to make Cleveland a winning team.

So, what should the Browns do this off-season? Well, we would look to upgrade the spot by bringing in a veteran, trying to find someone better than Hoyer.

Maybe Jake Locker or Matt Moore, or perhaps work a deal for Philadelphia’s Nick Foles or Bradford. However, we wouldn’t give up a first rounder in either deal, nor would we think their current teams would expect one.

As for Hoyer, remember that despite all of Manziel’s unpreparedness to play in the NFL, at least some in the organization thought they were better off with the rookie than Hoyer going into the Cincinnati game. That’s how bad Hoyer played in the weeks leading up to that contest.

It is up to the coaching staff and personnel department to figure out a way to win with average quarterback play. Want a role model? Look within your own state, where the Bengals do it on a year in, year out basis.

A strong running game and a solid defense can win you many football games, just look at Seattle, who has a chance to defend its Super Bowl title next week.

Yes, Russell Wilson is a very good QB, but he is at least third on the list of reasons as to why the Seahawks win.

Do the Browns need to upgrade at quarterback? Of course, but it’s time they stopped passing on better players to pick people just to take them. It’s like they are a desperate high school senior right before prom.

Farmer and Mike Pettine has accumulated a lot of solid players at other positions. Maybe they should be dominant at other spots to cover for the weakness behind center.

The K in Kipnis Should Be For Key

The Cleveland Indians’ offense was inconsistent at best last season. They finished in the top half of the American League in runs scored (7th), but they scored three runs or less in exactly half of their games, going 25-56 when that occurred.

This means when they reached four runs, their record was 60-21, an outstanding mark. So, if the Tribe can cut back on some of those games where they score under four runs, their record should improve.

As a comparison, the Indians’ main rivals in the Central Division, the Detroit Tigers, scored three runs or less in 63 games, 18 less than Cleveland. The AL West champs, the Angels had this occur 65 times.

Kansas City, who most think have a mediocre offense, couldn’t get to the four run mark 79 times.

How do the Indians improve the scoring? Well, we are sure they are hoping for Brandon Moss, acquired from Oakland this winter, will help by providing more pop, having hit 25 home runs in ’14 and 30 dingers in ’13.

However, the key to the Tribe scoring more runs in 2015 is Jason Kipnis.

In 2013, Kipnis made his first all-star game appearance, hitting .284 with 17 homers and an 818 OPS. Last year, he got off to a slow start and battled injuries, his numbers dropped to just .240 with six home runs, none after the end of July.

In fact, in the season’s last two months, Kipnis batted a paltry .235 with only five runs batted in. Despite that, Terry Francona showed a lot of confidence in him by continuing to put him in the middle of the lineup.

Obviously, the Indians need the soon to be 28-year-old to be more like the guy who played in 2013 if the offense is to improve. And at that age, he should be in the prime of his career, plus his new six-year, $52 million contract kicks in this season, so Cleveland owes him a lot of cash over the next five seasons.

To make it simple, if Kipnis isn’t an above average offensive player over the next three to four seasons, the Indians will be in a lot of trouble.

He got paid off of the ’13 season, but his second season in the big leagues (2012) wasn’t outstanding either, as his OPS was just 714. His average was .257 and although he did bang 14 long balls, he only had 40 extra base hits. He accumulated 57 in 2013.

So, there should be some concern that last year wasn’t a total fluke.

Kipnis walked 76 times in ’13, but just 50 times last season, and the injuries shouldn’t be an excuse there, unless something was wrong with his eyes. He swung at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone and struggled with men on base, hitting just .221 with runners on. He hit .300 in this situation the prior year.

He also struggled at Progressive Field, batting just .218 there last season, compared to .288 in ’13.

Many fans talk about Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn as players the Indians need to be productive to make a run in 2015, but the simpler answer is a return by Kipnis to something close to his 2013 numbers.

If he can, Francona’s lineup should be much more productive. If he can’t, the Tribe will need to do something about a guy they owe a lot of cash to in the coming years.