Last week, we discussed the dilemma regarding the Cleveland Browns taking Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III with their first pick (4th overall) in the NFL Draft.

We also advocated using that pick on the Baylor quarterback, if as expected, he declares for the professional ranks.

After hearing team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert talk in their post-season press conference, it doesn’t appear to be much of a debate.  The Browns aren’t going to take a quarterback in the first round this year, or probably any year that the duo are in charge of the Browns.

This organization is married to the west coast offensive system, and they believe that any QB who came from a shotgun oriented system in the collegiate ranks is ill prepared to play in it, at least right away.

Cleveland’s current signal caller, Colt McCoy, played in that type of offense at Texas, and has struggled to pick up the nuances of the attack, so it seems unlikely Heckert would waste the 4th overall selection on a player who doesn’t fit what the front office and coaching staff are trying to accomplish here.

Are the folks in Berea have to be privately hoping that one of the quarterback starved teams in the league, say Miami or Washington, trade up ahead of Cleveland, so they never have to make a decision on RGIII?

Then, the Browns can trade down to a slot around #10, get even more picks, and draft the best player available at that spot, probably a wide receiver, running back, or maybe a defensive player like a linebacker or cornerback.

Because if Griffin is there at four, Cleveland has a huge public relations problem. 

If they don’t like the Heisman Trophy winner, then they either have to pass on him, or make a significant trade to bring in a boatload of draft picks for him. 

Then, they have to explain to their fan base why they passed on a potential franchise quarterback, even though they haven’t had one since Bernie Kosar, 25 years ago.

Despite evidence to the contrary, that the top quarterbacks in the NFL have been drafted in the first round, Holmgren doesn’t believe in spending a top draft pick on a passer.  That’s based on his experience with Green Bay and Seattle, where neither Brett Favre nor Matt Hasselbeck were first round picks.

However, Green Bay did trade a first round pick for Favre, and the Packers and Seattle exchanged first round choices in the transaction that brought Hasselbeck to Seattle.

Then again, he’s never had a pick this high in the draft either, so maybe the lure will be too great.

In any case, Holmgren did say he wasn’t totally satisfied with the performance of McCoy, and said there will be an open competition at QB this summer.  Several people have said that means Seneca Wallace has a chance to start the season, because he runs the offense better.

That’s a mystery.  Wallace did play well against Arizona, but showed against Baltimore and Pittsburgh why he’s been a career back up in the NFL.  If he’s the starter opening day in September, the Browns will have another losing season staring them in the face.

That’s why they need to take Griffin.  They need a dynamic player at the most important position on the field.

Just don’t be surprised if they go in another direction with the 4th pick in this spring’s draft.

JD

The Cleveland Indians continue to say they are searching for another bat this winter.  From that standpoint, the off-season has not been a success, because unless Grady Sizemore returns to the player he was five years ago, the Tribe will continue to struggle at the plate as a team.

Last year, Cleveland finished ninth in the American League in runs scored with 704, behind such teams as Baltimore, Kansas City, and Toronto.  The Tribe does play in a better pitchers’ park than those other three teams, but in the junior circuit, you have to be able to score runs to win games.

And let’s not forget the pitching either.  One of the great myths about the Indians is that they had solid pitching.  Well, they ranked 11th in the AL in ERA, and were second from the bottom in striking people out.

Therefore, it’s not just the hitting that needs to improve for Cleveland to contend.  They have to improve in preventing runs as well.

GM Chris Antonetti did pick up veteran starter Derek Lowe, but he’s more of a back of the rotation guy at this point. 

The organization seems to be counting on the influx of good young players to help the Indians challenge for the division title in 2012.

Certainly, players like 2B Jason Kipnis and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall should help the offense, but they have no track record, so they can’t be counted on at this point in their careers.

That’s why getting a proven stick, particularly a right-handed one, would have be a key acquisition for the Tribe. 

A lot of jokes have been made, even some here, about some of the signings Antonetti has made this winter, getting OF Felix Pie, INF Jose Lopez, and RHP Robinson Tejeda as minor league free agents, and trading for Padres’ OF Aaron Cunningham. 

Seriously, those moves are low risk, high reward transactions.

Lopez is just 28 years old, and in 2009 hit .296 with 25 HR and 96 RBI for the Mariners.  If he can find that stroke again, he could be a nice contributor as a reverse infielder.  He can play both 2B and 3B.

Pie is now just 26 years, but at one time he was considered one of the brightest prospects in the game, ranking in Baseball America’s top 50 from 2005-07.  He hit .362 in 55 games at AAA Iowa in the Cubs organization in ’07, so he has ability.

Cunningham will turn 26 in April, and hit .288 in 53 games with San Diego in 2010.  He was ranked the 55th best prospect in the minor leagues prior to the 2009 season.  He hit .329 in Tucson last year, although the Pacific Coast League is a notorious hitters league.  He will probably make the opening day roster as a reserve outfielder, and as some have speculated, will fill the Austin Kearns role.  He’s a right-handed hitter.

Tejeda suffered with arm problems in 2011, but has been a successful pitcher in the majors prior to that.  In both 2009 and 2010, he had an ERA of 3.56 for the Royals, being used as both a starter and reliever.  In the first of those years, he allowed just 43 hits in 73 innings, striking out 87 batters.  His problem has been control throughout his career, walking around five batters per nine innings.

He’s a much more solid pick guy to take a chance on than Chad Durbin, who Antonetti signed prior to spring training last season.  Durbin had never been able to be effective in the AL, while Tejeda has shown he can be.

While everyone, including Antonetti, would like to see the Indians make a big move this off-season, the minor moves they have made are good ones.  It would not be surprising if one of these guys turned out to be a big contributor to the 2012 Cleveland Indians.

MW

There is no question that Cleveland sports fans want to grasp on to anything resembling hope. 

Patience is a word that supporters of the three professional sports franchises are tired of hearing.

That’s why after Tuesday night’s Cavaliers’ victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, people were talking about the improvement it seems the team has made since last season.

That was halted real quick when last night, the wine and gold looking terrible in getting pasted by Toronto north of the border. 

In reality, this is the kind of performance on back to back nights that happen when you are dealing with a young team. 

It’s way too early to evaluate the Cavs after just six games.

You have to first recognize that this team is very young.  True, they have veterans on the roster like Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker, and Anderson Varejao, but the rest of the squad are NBA babies, for the most part.

The only other player on the roster that is over 25 years of age is backup center Ryan Hollins, and his long-term future in Cleveland would be considered tenuous at best.

Two other reserves, guards Daniel Gibson and Ramon Sessions, are currently 25 years old, but will turn 26 before the current season ends.

The rest of the roster has all been in the NBA two years or less.

Two early stars this season are Cleveland’s two first round choices last summer:  Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson. 

Irving has shown great quickness in the first six games, and Thompson has been a shot blocking machine thus far, but remember, once the league gets a “book” on these two kids, they will have to make adjustments.

And although both appear to be good picks right now, you really can’t get a full dossier on either until the season reaches the halfway mark, and those adjustments will or will not be made.

Players such as Alonzo Gee and Sessions have shown improvement from last year too, but again, we are dealing with a very small sample size.  Sessions has shown better range on his jump shot, but will that continue?

In contrast, it’s too early to say Omri Casspi can’t be a contributor to this team.  Yes, he’s struggling right now, but it looks like he needs to relax just a bit.  He’s seems very mechanical at this point. 

Hopefully, he’ll get an easy basket early some night and relax and be able to settle in offensively.

Right now, Byron Scott has used his depth as advantage, using ten players on most nights, and really there hasn’t been much of a drop off in play when the coach substitutes.

It’s would be a great way for a young team without a “superstar” player to go, as long as all the players in the rotation are doing the job. 

But what happens if and when two or three of those guys are getting the job done?

The point is it’s way too early to make any judgments, and it still will be too soon after this long road trip concludes.

That’s not to say this team isn’t fun to watch right now. 

Let’s just sit back and watch how these guys continue to develop.  It’s nice to win, but really this year is a year of learning for the Cavaliers.

Scott and GM Chris Grant are learning who can be a contributor when the wine and gold will be ready to make the playoffs. 

Just another part of the “process”.

JK

The Cleveland Browns, by virtue of their horrible 4-12 record in 2011, have the 4th selection in this spring’s NFL Draft.

Will they draft a quarterback, or should they continue the “rebuilding process” with Colt McCoy, who played well as a rookie, but struggled with coach Pat Shurmur’s offense?

It really is a quandary. 

Look at the best quarterbacks in the game right now.  Most were picked in the first round.  Sure, Tom Brady was a 6th round pick and Drew Brees was taken in the 2nd round, but look at the rest of the passers, who people would consider in the top ten.

Aaron Rodgers–1st round pick
Ben Roethlisberger–1st round pick
Peyton Manning–1st round pick
Philip Rivers–1st round pick
Eli Manning–1st round pick
Matthew Stafford–1st round pick
Matt Ryan–1st round pick

As you can see, if you want an elite quarterback, the best place to find one is in the first round of the draft.

And if the Cleveland Browns are improving, they likely will not have a chance to get someone with the skill set of Robert Griffin III for a while, because hopefully, they won’t be picking in the top ten again for a long time.

So, you have to take a shot at him now, right?

A by-product of taking the Heisman Trophy winner would be the excitement such a selection would make to this moribund franchise. 

People would be talking about the Browns, and in a positive way.

On the flip side, you can make the argument that quarterback is not the primary need for the Browns and if you surrounded McCoy with better skill players at wide receiver and running back, this offense would look much better.

And you would have to think McCoy would feel more comfortable in the west coast offense in his second season running it, as opposed to Griffin having to learn it.

No one wants to sit through another season where the quarterback is learning instead of producing.

Another school of thought is that what needs to be fixed is the offense, not the person executing it.  Getting Griffin would be great, but could he succeed in Shurmur’s offense?

He would have the same problem as McCoy in getting used to taking snaps from center.  Griffin spent a lot of time in the shotgun formation at Baylor, just as McCoy did at Texas.

It would be more likely that draftees who play other positions can contribute right away, and at a high level.  Heck, the Browns started three rookies (Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard, and Jason Pinkston) all 16 games this season.

The opinion here is that the organization should bite the bullet and take Griffin.  There are no sure things in professional sports, but certainly Griffin has the ability to be a dynamic player at the most important position in sports, quarterback.

However, Shurmur would have to open up the attack and let Griffin do what he can do, and that is make plays. 

We all saw the impact Cam Newton made on Carolina’s offense this season.  Might Griffin be able to do the same thing?

And this is the perfect time to do it, with Cleveland having two first round choices coming up.

The second pick in the first round, probably around 20th-25th, can be used on other needs, such as a wide receiver or offensive lineman. 

And remember, the Browns will have another high pick in round two.  They will have three of the top 40 choices. 

Today’s NFL is a quarterback driven league.  If you have a very good one, you have a chance to win a title.

Think of the Browns’ championship contending squads, they all were led by premier passing attacks. 

Robert Griffin III is not a sure thing, but the talent is there to be an elite quarterback. 

The Browns have to take that chance.

JD

Perhaps Josh Cribbs said it best about the Browns’ season when he said the team almost always almost wins.

Still, last year team president Mike Holmgren said 5-11 isn’t acceptable when he fired Eric Mangini.  Well, he changed that didn’t he? 

This year’s Browns went 4-12 after another game effort in a 13-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Cleveland has now not won a game against the Ravens and Steelers since 2009, and overall, is 1-11 against the AFC North over the last two years.

That has to change if the Browns are ever going to challenge for a playoff spot.

If you want to be positive, you could say Pat Shurmur’s crew was competitive in every game against divisional foes.  Even the first Ravens’ game in which Baltimore rushed for almost 300 yards, was not a blowout.

But this team needs all kinds of help on offense, and not just in personnel.  As we have seen all season long, this offensive game plan just doesn’t work. 

And it probably doesn’t matter who the quarterback is. 

The Browns will have the 4th pick in this spring’s draft, and the speculation has already started regarding Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III from Baylor coming here to give Cleveland a “franchise” quarterback.

However, Griffin seems to operate better from the shotgun formation, which current QB Colt McCoy feels more comfortable in as well.

Unfortunately, no one has seen any flexibility from Shurmur in his desire to run a “true” west coast offense. 

That means if GM Tom Heckert drafts Griffin, it will mean another year of the “process”, as Griffin learns to deal with something he is not familiar with.

After the game, Shurmur said his team battled, which raises the “battling” record to 14-2.  Unfortunately, the NFL decides which teams make the post-season on wins and losses.

As for the season finale, it was the same thing we’ve seen in the previous 15 contests.  Cleveland had an early lead, 6-0, but couldn’t hold it.

They were outgained, 360 to 240, and Pittsburgh dominated on the ground, gashing the Browns’ defense 161 to 72. 

And the defense couldn’t get off the field when it needed to, allowing the Steelers to convert on half on their third downs, a large factor in Pittsburgh running 20 more plays than Cleveland.

Shurmur’s offense also averaged a paltry 3.9 yards per pass play, as Seneca Wallace hit on just 16 of 41 passes for 177 yards.  Wallace’s biggest contribution to the offense were his three runs totalling 44 yards, which made him Cleveland’s leading rusher. 

Can we put to rest all of the talk that McCoy was the offense’s problem?

The attack is inconsistent, as it was all season long.  There is nothing you can hang your hat on.  For example, rookie wideout Greg Little leads the team in receptions.  Today, he didn’t catch a ball.

Giving credit where it was due, Josh Cribbs played a tremendous game, with seven catches for 91 yards.  However, two plays stood out.

One was a great hit on a kickoff return after Phil Dawson’s second field goal.  Cribbs was being blocked and still hammered the returner to the ground. 

The second was after a reception in which the former Kent State product refused to let All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu bring him down.  The Browns need more of the fight the Cribbs gives each and every game.

And also, props need to be given to Dawson, who made three more field goals today in fierce winds.  Heckert needs to get Dawson back in a Browns uniform next season.

There are plenty of things to be optimistic about with the Browns, despite their record.  Rookies Little, first round pick Phil Taylor, and DE Jabaal Sheard showed a lot.  Sheard had another sack today, giving him 8-1/2 for the season.

But the offense needs an overhaul, and it starts with a coach using the talent to the best of their abilities.  Right now, Shurmur doesn’t do that.  Whether the quarterback next season is McCoy or Griffin or another veteran is brought in, the philosophy has to change, and other playmakers have to be on the roster. 

Otherwise, Browns’ fans will be suffering again at the end of the 2012 season.

JD

After just two exhibition games due to the NBA lockout, it appears that Cavs’ coach Byron Scott is still trying to feel his way as to who gets minutes and who doesn’t.

That’s why Scott is playing ten guys in the first two regular season games.  He’s trying to see what he has this season, and after a pair of contests, there are a few things that are becoming apparent.

First, the Cavs will need to win by playing solid defense, because they don’t have a go to guy on offense. 

Opening night against Toronto, the wine and gold were victimized by the pick and roll, and couldn’t overcome it.  Last night versus the Pistons, they got that under control and emerged with a road win.

In order to play better on the defensive end, Scott may want to change-up his rotation down the road.

His current starting unit features Anthony Parker and Antawn Jamison, two veterans in their mid-30’s, and Omri Casspi, who has some quickness issues.

That leaves that group very vulnerable on the defensive end. 

As the season goes on, Scott may replace either Jamison or Casspi with rookie Tristan Thompson (Jamison) or Alonzo Gee (Casspi) in order to provide more balance.

You can tell Scott is still searching for combinations because right now he is basically subbing entire lineups.  But it would be interesting to see Casspi on the floor with Thompson and Gee playing the #2 guard.

That group would give the coach some length and athleticism.

When Parker was re-signed during training camp, we questioned the move, and so far nothing has changed in that regard.

If this team is rebuilding, why give time to a 36-year-old guard?  Parker can still stroke the open three pointer, but hasn’t contributed much more offensively, and can’t move laterally on defense anymore.

The veteran’s minutes could be reduced by giving more time to Gee at guard, and also by using rookie Kyrie Irving and Ramon Sessions together in the backcourt.

Speaking of Irving and fellow rookie Thompson, both are showing why they were both picked in the top five of last summer’s draft.

Irving has shown good point guard skills, and rebounded with a good shooting night against Detroit after struggling in the lidlifter.

He can penetrate and looks to set up his teammates for easy looks.  He’s been erratic on defense at this point, but looks willing, and will learn to play NBA defense with experience.

Thompson has shown a better offensive game than advertised, and has made an impact as a shot blocker.  The former Longhorn can get off the floor.

One thing to remember about rookies, though.  The league will start to take away their go-to moves after a couple of weeks, so they will have to adjust to keep contributing.

Tomorrow night is a good test for this squad, because the Indiana Pacers look to be a much improved team, and they have a good defensive big man in Roy Hibbert. 

In the meantime, the wine and gold have to keep up the defensive effort they had last night against a team with more offensive options. 

Scott’s strategy with these Cavaliers might be to go 10 deep and keep as much pressure as they can on opponents. 

In the long-term, the Cavs will go as far as their young players take them.  However, if adjustments are made to help out on the defensive end of the floor, a 30 win season in the shortened campaign might be a possibility.

JK

2011 was a tough year for Cleveland sports fans. 

Yes, the Indians provided some highlights in the spring by getting off to a 30-15 start, but the bats stopped producing and the team wound up under the .500 mark for the year at 80-82. 

Cleveland State got to the NIT in college basketball, and won a game in the tournament before bowing out.

That ends the highlight portion of this blog.

The Cavaliers endured a record 26 game losing streak, and the Browns are suffering through another 10 loss season, their seventh in the last eight years.

Is there any hope for Cleveland sports?  If you are impatient by nature, then the answer is probably not.

The Indians had the best finish of the three professional teams here, but haven’t really done anything to build the modicum of success they had last year. 

They did acquire pitcher Derek Lowe, a veteran innings eater, to help the back of the rotation, but they also gave a good deal of the money they had to spend this off-season to OF Grady Sizemore, who hasn’t played well since 2008. 

That’s a huge gamble, and one not likely to pay off the way the organization thinks.  The Tribe is a team crying for an experienced right-handed bat, but came up empty for Josh Willingham (Twins) and Michael Cuddyer (Rockies).  They also finished “second” for switch-hitter Carlos Beltran. 

It’s the same old story for the Indians.  Tales of limited budget, poor economy in Cleveland, etc.  Detroit has similar problems, yet seem to be able to have a payroll over $100 million.

That means the real issue is the solvency of the ownership, and things won’t get better for the Tribe until that changes.

The Browns had some promise coming into 2011, with team president Mike Holmgren having his coach, Pat Shurmur, in place.  Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert are trying to build the team correctly, by building through the draft.  Cleveland went from one of the oldest teams in the NFL to one of the youngest in one year.

Still, this team has many questions, the biggest one involving its quarterback going forward.  Can Colt McCoy be a good NFL signal caller?

The next big question is can Shurmur be a head coach in the league?  Based on this year, you cannot blame anyone for having doubts.

The Browns look disorganized on a weekly basis, and the offensive game plan is atrocious.  If Shurmur isn’t the guy, then Holmgren and Heckert are just spinning their wheels with him. 

It is likely Heckert will have another top five draft pick to use in the spring, and this team still needs an infusion of talent.  That’s why it says here, the Browns will pass on a quarterback.  They can’t take a chance on getting no return in 2012 on that pick, or Atlanta’s pick in the first round.

The Cavaliers did get the first pick in the NBA draft last summer, and took Kyrie Irving with that choice and PF Tristan Thompson with the 4th selection.  Both players look good so far, but the wine and gold still need more help. 

This year looks like another step in the rebuilding process with another lottery pick to come in June. 

GM Chris Grant does have some trade chips to help speed up the deal in point guard Ramon Sessions and forward Antawn Jamison, and this squad desperately needs someone to put the ball in the basket. 

And they need more athleticism to improve at the defensive end. 

No, it doesn’t look like 2012 will be the year that end this city’s championship drought.  Instead, it looks like we all will get more familiar with the word “rebuilding”.

MW

After Seneca Wallace’s performance against Arizona in a 20-17 overtime defeat a little over a week ago, the blogosphere and the radio talk shows were filled with talk as to how much better Wallace looked at the controls of the Browns’ offense than Colt McCoy does.

Personally, it terms of results, there wasn’t much difference because 17 points doesn’t get victories in the NFL.  Yesterday, 11 teams scored more than 20 points, something rare for a Pat Shurmur offense. 

In yesterday’s 20-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Wallace did a pretty good impression of McCoy, putting up just 14 points and averaged just 4.5 yards per pass attempt.  Mix in an interception thrown off his back foot to kill a promising drive at the beginning of the game, and you have the total Browns’ quarterback experience.

Look people, it doesn’t matter right now if the starting QB for Cleveland is Colt McCoy, Seneca Wallace, Otto Graham, Frank Ryan, Bill Nelsen, Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar, the offensive game plan put together by this head coach is terrible. 

As we said earlier this week, Shurmur’s offenses don’t move the ball, and they don’t score points.  Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

The Browns even managed to run the ball too.  RB Peyton Hillis gained 112 yards against the vaunted Raven defense.  That wasn’t as much as Baltimore gained against Cleveland, as they had 162 yards on the ground.

Ray Rice was held to just 87 yards after getting over 200 a few weeks ago, but veteran running back/pot smoker Ricky Williams gained 45, and QB Joe Flacco somehow ran for 32 on a scramble.

On offense, this game was just more of the same.  The Browns had eight different receivers catch passes, but only two averaged over ten yards per grab:  Chris Ogbonnaya, who caught one for 12 yards, and Josh Cribbs, who caught 2 balls for 28 yards, however, one was a 23 yard catch.

It’s pretty easy to defend the Browns when they simply refuse to throw deep, no matter who the quarterback is.

And we haven’t even brought up the abomination at the end of the first half, when Cleveland had the ball, 1st and goal at the Raven 5 with 34 seconds left and managed not only not to score, but they didn’t even get an attempt at a field goal.

Wallace took the blame for not spiking the ball to stop the clock, since the Browns had no timeouts left, but it’s just another instance where this football team was poorly prepared. 

Another came at the end of the game when Cleveland had a chance to get the ball back with two minutes left, but rookie DT Phil Taylor jumped offsides, giving Baltimore a first down and allowing them to run out the clock.

The one bright spot was Cribbs 84-yard punt return which gave the Browns their first touchdown.  It was his first kick return for a touchdown of the year, and it gave the team a spark, since they were down 20-0 at the time.

There is one gripe about the game too.  The Ravens’ first touchdown was pretty much the result of a 60-yard pass interference penalty on S Mike Adams, on a pass that the Baltimore receiver had to come back on. 

The pros should go to the college rule on interference having it be a 15-yard crime.  There shouldn’t be any call an official makes that costs a team that much yardage, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the Browns or not. 

This wasn’t Adams pulling down a receiver who beat him deep.  It was a poorly thrown ball, and the Ravens benefited greatly from it.

There are fans who will talk this week about how the team didn’t quit on their coach.  They were down 20 points and fought back to make it a game. 

That’s a ridiculous endorsement of the coach.  The players are professionals and they should play hard.  It’s their job.

Once again, the holidays for Browns fans are for them to think about a high draft pick, and should the team take Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.  As long as the team is running this offensive plan, it would be like having Jeff Gordon drive your ’01 Nissan.

JD

If you put limits on yourself, you put a limit on what you can achieve.

That may be profound, but it applies to the Cleveland Indians organization.

A few years ago, Paul Dolan said something to the effect that the best a smaller market team like the Tribe can do is contend every few years. 

If that’s not setting yourself up for failure, nothing does.

That’s the way the Indians run their organization right now.  Many people said the trade for Ubaldo Jimenez was made because the team sees their window of opportunity to win closing after 2013.

The question here is why?

The Indians will tell you that guys like SS Asdrubal Cabrera and OF Shin-Soo Choo will be eligible for free agency at that point and will likely no longer be affordable for the franchise.

The contrasting opinion to that viewpoint (shared here) is why not keep a pitcher like Drew Pomerantz, and have a potential #1 starter in your control for six seasons.

Instead of having three poor seasons, followed by three contending seasons as a cycle, why not put yourself in position to be able to compete every year.  And that can be done by building an excellent farm system.

Supporters of the current regime spout the usual things about small markets, poor economy, etc.  However, according to projections on BaseballReference.com, Cleveland will have the sixth lowest payroll in the big leagues in 2012, ahead of only Toronto, Oakland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Tampa Bay.

Of those teams, Tampa made the post-season, and the Indians were the only other squad in contention for most of the 2011 season.

Cleveland and Kansas City spend around $40 million less in payroll compared to the other three teams in the AL Central Division.  That’s three to four good players difference.

The real reason the Indians have to take this cyclical stance for contention is that the Dolan family doesn’t have the revenues to spend more money. 

This is understandable, but not fair to the baseball fans of Cleveland. 

The apologists will tell you the Indians couldn’t get a certain player, because they couldn’t spend that kind of money. 

Let’s get one thing straight:  They could spend the money, there’s no salary cap in baseball.  They choose not to.  There’s a big difference.

No one expects the Indians to spend at the same level as the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and Angels.  There is no question this market cannot sustain that high of a payroll.

However, it’s very difficult for teams to compete if they spend around $70 million on players, unless they have a fabulous farm system, which the Rays have.

Cleveland doesn’t.

They did have a system that was on the rise, but the deal for Jimenez and the promotion of Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall stripped the organization of half of the team’s top prospects.

The Indians have some highly regarded players in the system, but most are in the low minors, several years away from competing at the big league level.

They do have a young core at the big league level with players like Cabrera, Carlos Santana, Kipnis, Chisenhall, and perhaps Michael Brantley.  But there isn’t any help on the way soon, so they are forced to look elsewhere to add talent.

They’ve tried and failed to bring in free agents like Josh Willingham, Michael Cuddyer, and Carlos Beltran, three established hitters who would’ve put the team into contention. 

The Indians will say those guys couldn’t fit into their budget constraints.  Just remember who created those limitations.

KM

When Mike Holmgren hired Pat Shurmur a little less than a year ago, Browns’ fans had some thoughts as to what they were getting.

An offensive coordinator for two years with the St. Louis Rams, it was hoped that the new head coach would bring the Cleveland attack into the 21st century, an upgrade over what Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll ran the past two seasons.

That clearly hasn’t been the case.

Another school of thought had Shurmur being like coaches like Mike Tomlin, the Harbaugh brothers, and Mike Smith, those guys being leaders.  Coaches who can inspire and motivate. 

That doesn’t seem to be Shurmur either.

That’s what confuses and irritates fans about the head coach of this football team.  They do not see anything which resembles hope when it comes to Pat Shurmur.

That said, it is clear to everyone that the coach of the Browns in 2012 is going to be Pat Shurmur.  He has the trust of the man in charge.

That doesn’t mean that Holmgren shouldn’t be guiding and molding Shurmur as a head coach.  Certainly, he needs to grow in the role, and the sooner, the better.

For a man whose background is on the offensive side of the football, Shurmur’s teams don’t score a lot of points.  That’s curious to say the least.

In fact, in his two years in St. Louis and this year with the Browns, Shurmur’s teams have scored over 20 points just five times.  That doesn’t win you a lot of games in today’s NFL.

In terms of gaining yardage, his offenses have ranked 29th (2011), 26th (’10), and 29th (’09) in his three years of guiding NFL attacks.  Those numbers were compiled as follows:

2011 Cleveland:  22nd in passing, 30th in rushing

2010 St. Louis:  21st in passing, 25th in rushing

2009 St. Louis:  28th in passing, 20th in rushing

So, what kind of credentials are those as an offensive coordinator?  His teams don’t score points, and they really don’t move the football effectively.

As for the leadership issue, perhaps Shurmur is dynamic in the locker room, but his sideline demeanor doesn’t come across on camera as that of a guy whose troops would follow him into battle.

And although he’s appeared agitated with some questions he’s received in press conferences, he’s more of a Bill Belichick monotone than a Jim Mora rant at this point.

Is he more of the chief executive type, a guy who delegates responsibility to his assistants and then makes it all come together on game day.  If he is, he’s not succeeding there either.  Just look at the mistakes made in clock management and substitutions on a weekly basis.  Sunday, CBS showed the Browns had just 10 men on the field when Buster Skrine intercepted a pass.

That’s why people wonder what exactly makes Pat Shurmur a head coach in the National Football League.  Many people say he’s a young coach and we should give him a chance, but where exactly does that trust come from?

Is he being mentored by Holmgren, who has coached two different teams to Super Bowls?  If so, it doesn’t appear that anything has rubbed off. 

It’s not wrong for Browns fans to expect something from Shurmur that would show us he’s the guy who can turn this thing around.  Right now, he’s in the same boat as his quarterback, Colt McCoy.  The best thing we can say is we don’t know yet.

If GM Tom Heckert can draft Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III with their first pick in the draft next spring, is Pat Shurmur really the man to mentor the young passer? 

There’s something to ponder.

MW