The Crazy Spending in Baseball

The Major League Baseball GM Meetings were held in Naples this past week, thus beginning the Hot Stove League. Free agents are fielding offers, trades are being discussed, and the speculation of who will be playing where has started in baseball. The sport has money coming out of its eyeballs, and even though it is a weak free agent class, it won’t stop the owners from spending a boatload of cash.

The question is: Is that the right thing to do?

The answer here is no!

The owners are basing their spending habits on who is the best free agent available rather than how that player’s performance ranks among others at his position. The fact a player is a free agent does not increase his value. Look at the contracts given out already this season. The Blue Jays just gave Frank Thomas a 2 year deal worth an estimated $23 million. The Big Hurt had a big 2006 season with the A’s, but he has played over 100 games in a season only 50% of the time since 2001. If he has injury problems again next season, Toronto is paying a lot of money for nothing.

Now take the Indians’ Jake Westbrook, who could be a free agent after the 2007 season. Based on Westbrook being a workhorse, he will likely command about $10 million per year if he has another season similar to ’06 next season. If you owned a major league baseball team, would you pay the righty this much money? The reality is Westbrook is a #3 starter, not an ace of a staff if you plan on being a contender. There is probably no way the Tribe will pay him more than C.C. Sabathia in 2008. Some team will, but is it good use of your payroll to pay a pitcher like Westbrook that kind of money? Only if you are the Yankees, Red Sox, or Cubs.

The rest of baseball has to spend cash wisely. If Larry Dolan says that, he is called cheap. But he is correct. Teams like the Tribe cannot get bogged down in paying average players huge dollars. The Indians have two superstars, Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner. They are among the best in the game at their positions and merit big money. Sabathia is the Tribe’s best pitcher and is among the top starters in baseball. He deserves lots of cash. In order to keep these guys wearing a Tribe uniform, the team can’t pay the Jake Westbrooks of the world $10 million per year. I hope Tribe fans understand that.

The best plan of action this year may be to wait the market out and find some good value buys for the bullpen at a better price. Giving a three year deal to a situational lefty like Jamie Walker might work out, but chances are it will not. The owners will spend lots of money this year, and will complain about it 3-5 years from now. That’s what the crazy spending will do for the game.

It's Not Chic to Pick the Bucks

It’s coming, and no one can wait. The Ohio State-Michigan game will be played on Saturday afternoon and although the game is always the most important of the year to the players, fans, and alumni, it has never been more important on the national scope. The winner goes to the BCS National Championship game. It’s #1 vs. #2. Both teams undefeated. And it seems like all the love is reserved for the Wolverines. Why?

I figure it’s because of the tremendous amount of sports coverage we have today. We have CBS, ABC/ESPN, and Fox Sports nationally covering college football. We also have sports talk shows, both local and national, covering this game. That means there are hundreds of voices talking to us about the game in Columbus this Saturday. The chief way to be heard is to say something provacative, which means to be noticed, you have to call for the upset.

This all started about three or four weeks ago. The "experts" started to jump on the Michigan bandwagon. These talking heads said that Lloyd Carr’s boys were really the best team in the country. The same thing happened two years ago with USC. They were so good for so long that the commentators had to nitpick to find something wrong with them. That season, nobody beat the Trojans and they went on the win the National Championship. They were that good.

Ohio State might be that good this season. I don’t think it will be a walkover game on Saturday, but why is Michigan getting all the love? They’ve beaten Wisconsin and Notre Dame, handing both teams their only loss of the season. However, Notre Dame has been exposed as not being a powerhouse, needing big comebacks to beat mediocre Michigan State and UCLA. The Badgers have had a great season as well, as they will finish 11-1 after smashing Buffalo (not the Bills) this weekend. However, no one is ranking them among the best teams in America this year. Let’s face it, outside of OSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin, The Big Ten is having a down season.

I realize that OSU’s biggest win to date was the defeat of Texas on the road in week #2. The luster of that win was diminished by the Longhorns losing to Kansas State last weekend. But, compare some of the scores in Big Ten play between the two teams. Michigan won by narrow margins for the most part, while the Buckeyes won in blowouts. Take Northwestern since Ohio St. beat them 54-10 last week. UM defeated them by a 17-3 score. Here are the scores against other common opponents–

OSU Michigan

28- 6 Penn State 17-10

38-17 Iowa 20- 6

38- 7 Michigan State 31-13

44- 3 Indiana 34- 3

44- 0 Minnesota 28-14

Where Michigan beat teams, Ohio State dominated them. The experts handicapping this game gain nothing by picking Ohio State to win. There’s no reputation to be made. They are #1, they are favored. That’s why there is a groundswell of support for Michigan. If Ohio State doesn’t play well, they will lose. But if both teams are on the top of their games, Ohio State has proven it’s been the better team for the entire college football season.

Few Mistakes = Browns Win

Charlie Frye and the Browns’ offense kept mistakes to a minimum yesterday and the result was a 17-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Frye threw the short pass accurately, offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson rolled him out a few times, and the QB fired the ball out of bounds when necessary. It was an efficient, although somewhat conversative performance on offense, but it produced a triumph, albeit with a great deal of help from a rapidly improving defense.

The Falcons came into the game as the leading rushing team in the NFL, and the Crennel/Grantham defense held them to more than 70 yards below their average. Stopping Warrick Dunn allowing the Brownies to drop into zones which nullified Michael Vick’s passing effectiveness. Of course, Vick’s receivers didn’t help him by dropping numerous passes including one that would have been a touchdown by Ashley Lelie. Vick did have two long runs, but overall the defense stopped him from making big plays. Safeties Sean Jones and Brodney Pool were seemingly all over the field, with both making interceptions (although Pool should have just knocked the ball down).

Kellen Winslow made two big catches on offense, both with him being split out against cornerbacks. The second, which set up the Browns only points in the second half, was incredible. The running game was inconsistent, but the offense played ball control with a conservative yet effective game plan, particularly in the first half.

The other thing in the game that stood out was the officiating, which was below standards. The unnecessary roughness call on Orpheus Roye was terrible. When a guy like Vick has the ball, he is a running back. If Roye had given the Falcons’ QB a forearm behind the line of scrimmage, it should be a penalty. When the QB crosses the line of scrimmage, he’s a running back! It wasn’t a heinous shot, and it shouldn’t have drawn a flag.

The other bad call was in favor of the Browns. When you look up safety in the dictionary, it would show the Falcons’ Rod Coleman’s sack of Charlie Frye in the end zone. I don’t care where Frye’s "forward progress" was, he was sacked in the end zone. Why are NFL officials so afraid to call a safety? If you watch enough games, you know the zebras don’t want to call a safety. Change the rule or start making the correct call. Cleveland got a huge break here.

The Steelers also won keeping the defending champs tied with the Browns at 3-6 going into next week’s tilt on the lakefront. Has anyone noticed the Bengals’ collapse, by the way? They are now just a game ahead of Cleveland and Pittsburgh in the AFC North. Sunday’s game seems anti-climatic right now considering the Steelers record and the fact that the big game in the state will be Saturday in Columbus. The Browns are 2-1 in their "new" season, and they could win two straight for the first time since 2003 with a home game victory against the black and gold.

A Little Bench Goes A Long Way

The Cleveland Cavalier bench played a major factor in last night’s 113-94 romp over the Chicago Bulls at the "Q". Sasha Pavlovic finally had a chance to wear his uniform under his warm ups scoring 16 points in the contest. It was good to see Coach Mike Brown make some adjustments in the use of his bench after the first four games.

It is quite obvious the David Wesley and Damon Jones have given the team nothing in the early part of the season. It’s too soon to bury both players, so hopefully they can contribute at times during the season. However, through five games, Wesley is 1 for 12 from the floor, including 0 for 8 from behind the three point arc. Jones, the self proclaimed greatest shooter in the NBA, has hit just 8 for 26 from the floor, including 5 for 16 from 3 point land.

Enter Pavlovic, who gave the wine and gold a much needed offensive lift off the bench. He hit 6 of 9 from the field, including a couple of 3’s, and went to the basket as well as hitting the jumper. This is in contrast to Jones, who treats the paint like it will give him an allergic reaction. Giving yourself some options with the ball puts the defense in a quandry.

What Pavlovic needs most is consistency in his game. He has had games like this before, and then faded back to the end of the bench. However, I think Coach Brown has to give him some substantial minutes in games as long as Sasha produces. Giving him 20 minutes one night and 5 the next plays with his head. In return, Pavlovic must work hard on the defensive end. That has been the weak point of his game in the past. He certainly has the athletic ability to handle himself on "D", the mental discipline to do it is another.

Anderson Varajao and Donyell Marshall have been constants as reserves. The coach has a pretty good idea of what he is going to get out of those two players. The Cavs need two more reliable guys off the bench. It is early enough to play Shannon Brown to see if he can develop into one of those players. Right now, Sasha Pavlovic has an opportunity to show he can be a reliable bench option. Here’s hoping Mike Brown gives him some more chances.

A Good First Step

The Cleveland Indians filled one of their needs yesterday by acquiring 2B Josh Barfield from the San Diego Padres for 3B/1B Kevin Kouzmanoff and relief pitcher Andrew Brown. This deal is a good one for the Tribe from all different angles.

1). The team filled the second base need at an affordable price. Barfield was a rookie last year so he is not making a lot of money and cannot be a free agent for at least five years. Thus, Shapiro still has plenty of cash to spend on the bullpen and a righthanded bat for the middle of the lineup. The Tribe got a 2B arguably as good as anyone on the free agent market, but at a much better price.

2). Barfield is the youngest player in the deal. At 23 years old, Barfield has already played a full year in the major leagues. Kouzmanoff and Brown have never done that. The former Padre should still be at a point in his career where he has plenty of improvement to come, while Kouz will be at his peak years in the next two or three seasons. Barfield has started to make more contact as well. He whiffed over 100 times in the minors in 2005, but only 80 times at the big league level in 2006. He also can steal a base, as he pilfered 21 for San Diego last season.

3). They didn’t give up anyone really in their 2006 plans. Kouzmanoff had a tremendous minor league season in 2006, but was blocked by Andy Marte at 3B and Ryan Garko at 1B. Keep in mind that Kouz has had injury problems involving his back and hamstrings for the past two seasons. It’s one of the reasons he started last year at Class AA Akron. That’s one of the reasons the Indians made the deal for Marte was KK’s injury problems. Brown was a dark horse to be in the ’07 bullpen. He can throw hard, but has had control problems. He definitely wasn’t a favorite to win a job next season.

I have heard Barfield talked about as a guy who will hit perhaps in the #2 spot next season, but I don’t think that will be the case. Those comments are based on the second baseman’s stolen base numbers. His ability to get on base as of right now doesn’t merit hitting that high. He will probably be in the #7 or #8 slot for now, and if his plate discipline continues to improve, he could hit second. His defense is rated as good, not spectacular, so that should be an improvement from ’06 as well.

Reading some reports on Barfield, he is classified as a very good situational hitter (something the Tribe needs) and is a hard worker (something the Tribe covets). After the 2004 season, there was talk about moving him to LF because his defense didn’t measure up at second, and he worked very hard to improve his glove work and become a good 2B. Work ethic was the thing that attracted Shapiro to guys like Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore.

I still feel the extra money the GM has will be spent on a bat. They want to fill two or three bullpen spot, but it has been said that at least one will be filled internally (Sipp or Lara?). Buster Olney has written that former Indian Justin Speier would be a perfect fit for the 2007 Indians. Either way, relief pitchers don’t cost the kind of money that Shapiro has to spend. A big bat does however.

This was a good first step in forming next year’s club. Here’s hoping more moves like this are to come.

Too Much LT

If I were a San Diego Charger fan, I would be wondering today why it took my team almost three full quarters to give the ball to the best player on our team, LaDanian Tomlinson. Once Marty Schottenheimer decided this should be done, the Chargers cruised to a 32-25 victory over the Cleveland Browns yesterday. Of course, by this time, shouldn’t an odd coaching decision be called a "Schottenheimer"?

Tomlinson carried the ball just 7 times in the first half, and the Lightning Bolt offense struggled after a good opening drive. The Cleveland defense put pressure on Phillip Rivers, gave up the short pass, and totally bottled up San Diego, holding their offense to 3 points in the first 30 minutes. Does Browns’ defensive coordinator Todd Grantham do a great job of adjusting or what? The last two weeks, the Cleveland defense stopped the opponents after good opening drives. Add that to the fact he is constantly changing personnel due to injuries to key people. Yesterday for example, the brown and orange were missing Orpheous Roye, Willie McGinest, and lost Leigh Bodden early in the game.

When Marty decided to put the ball into LT’s hands, the running back dominated. A 10 yard game became a short pick up, as Tomlinson started picking up yards in chunks. He wound up averaging over 9 yards per carry. The Browns’ defense just could not stop him, and his three TD’s in the last 17 minutes of the game had to leave Charger fans scratching their heads.

On offense, Charlie Frye struggled. Frye injured his thumb in practice on Saturday, and probably missed some throws due to the injury. However, the thing that bothers me is his stubbornness in not getting rid of the ball. He is a competitor and his natural instinct is to try and make something out of nothing, but he also needs to realize when it is okay to take a sack or throw the ball away. I find myself sitting in my living room yelling "get rid of it" on repeated occasions.

I understand he made a great play to hit Joe Jurevicius off a scramble in the fourth quarter, and he only alluded one tackler on that play. On his fumble that resulted in a San Diego touchdown, he was running around for his life, dodging would be sackers until he put the ball on the ground. That’s a play where he should have chucked the ball into the stands after getting by the first tackler. The same thing happened in the third quarter, but Frye’s fumble was nullified by a penalty.

Frye is a young quarterback and he’s going to make mistakes. Heck, he’s started about 10 games in the NFL. What bothers me is that he’s not learning from those mistakes. Yes, he’s operating behind a sieve for an offensive line. Yes, his receivers drop balls at times. But, please Charlie, you have to take these prior experiences and apply them the following week. Maybe if Cleveland employed a veteran back up QB, the learning curve would be accelerated.

On the bright side, the Brownies once again played a competitive game against a probable playoff team. Four of the team’s six losses have been against teams that are currently 6-2 (Saints, Ravens, Broncos, and Chargers). That’s not an excuse, just an explanation of how tough the slate has been so far. And of course, it doesn’t get any easier next week when they play the Falcons and Michael Vick. Atlanta leads the NFL in rushing. Hopefully, Crennel and Grantham’s defense will be up to the challenge.

Sheffield to the Tribe?

Rumors out of New York have the Indians being one of three teams (San Francisco and Houston are the others) interested in acquiring outfielder Gary Sheffield from the Yankees. Sheffield is unhappy with the Bronx Bombers because they picked up the third year option on his existing contract instead of renegotiating an extention to that deal. The righthanded hitter would be a perfect fit here, but only under certain circumstances.

First, the Tribe needs a proven righthanded professional bat. Sheffield is most definitely that. He’s a lifetime .297 hitter and is closing in on 500 career home runs (he has 455). Plus, Sheffield has walked 300 more times than he has whiffed for his career. He has never struck out as many as 100 times in a season. He has knocked in 100 or more runs eight times in his career. He would be a perfect fit hitting fourth in the Indians lineup between Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. If he would be happy in Cleveland.

The slugger has a history of being a malcontent when he is not happy with his contract status. He has a reputation of not playing his best when he is worried about his next deal. If Sheffield feels unwanted or is not sure where he will be playing in 2008, he could be a problem in the locker room.

If GM Mark Shapiro can give the current Yankee an extension for 2008 with an option for ’09 based on certain benchmarks like games played, or number of at bats, it would be a good move for the Indians. At $13 million per year, Sheffield figures to be cheaper than some of the other players of his caliber who might be available. For example, the bidding for Alfonso Soriano figures to start at $17 million per season. Unless he starts showing his age, Sheffield is a better hitter than Soriano, the golden boy of this free agent class.

The guess here is the Tribe would have to give up some pitching to make the deal happen. I’m sure the Yanks would like Cliff Lee or Adam Miller, and the Indians would probably part with Jake Westbrook, who can be a free agent after the 2007 campaign, or Paul Byrd and a prospect. Getting Sheffield would make the Indians a beast offensively. Fixing the pitching, particularly the bullpen, would be the only thing Shapiro needs to concentrate on. Of course, based on this past season, it will take a great deal of concentration.

Brown Needs to Play Brown

The season opens for the Cleveland Cavaliers this evening as they take on the Washington Wizards in a rematch of last year’s first round playoff series. The Cavs’ roster has not changed greatly from last season, and the hope is that injury free seasons from Larry Hughes and Anderson Varajao will boost the team to a division title. The early word is that tonight’s non-active players will be rookie Daniel Gibson, recently acquired Dwayne Jones, and first round draft pick Shannon Brown. That’s my first second guess of the NBA season.

No one gets better watching basketball. If they did, I would be an all pro. The wine and gold needs another big physical guard who can defend. Right now, they have Eric Snow and that’s about it. Hughes and LeBron James play the passing lanes well and come up with a lot of steals, but the Cavs need someone to stop guards from penetrating. That’s where the pick of Shannon Brown made sense. At 6’4" and 205 pounds and young legs, he has the physical skills. Brown was also touted as being a good defender in college under the coaching of Michigan State’s Tom Izzo. Mike Brown and the Cavs need the rookie to contribute.

The coach gave his nine man rotation a week ago, and Shannon Brown was not a part of it. Instead, both David Wesley and Damon Jones were in line for playing time. Jones and Wesley are both undersized shooting guard, and although Wesley has a better defensive reputation, he still has lost a step and could have a problem with bigger off guards. Jones couldn’t guard a phone booth, as we learned last season. Both players should not be getting court time.

Mike Brown needs to start getting the former Spartan ready to contribute in the playoffs. That won’t happen by not playing him. He needs to get on the court, and that needs to happen starting in game 1. The coach shouldn’t have to be concerned about making the playoffs this year, that’s a given. He does need to advance further for this season to be considered a success. The Cavs need Shannon Brown to be a contributor for that to occur.

That’s also the reason Mike Brown must limit James’ minutes in the regular season. Yes, #23 is only 21 years old, but playing more than 40 minutes wears on anyone. Getting 38-40 minutes per night would seem to be the correct number to keep the King fresh. It would also make his teammates adjust to not having him on the floor.

There is an old coaches saying that if you don’t use your bench, you won’t have one. The Cavaliers coach has to take that into consideration. Give the bench guys time from the first game, and make Shannon Brown a part of that bench. The benefits will pay off in the long run, which translated means next spring.

Now, That's Smart Play Calling

New Browns’ playcaller Jeff Davidson did what he should have done yesterday in Cleveland’s 20-13 victory over the New York Jets. Facing a team with a subpar run defense, Davidson had the Browns run and run, and then run some more. Reuben Droughns carried the ball 33 times in gaining 125 yards as Davidson took advantage of the Jets inability to defend the ground game. Even though he got a little conservative in the 4th quarter, that’s what offense is all about.

It was only the second time this season that the Brownies called an effective game with the ball. The first was the Ravens game when they took advantage of the "46" defense by throwing the ball on 1st and 2nd downs. I understand that football teams have to have an "identity", but

running the ball against a team that cannot stop it is just smart football. A rare special teams breakdown made the game closer than it should have been with the Jets running a kickoff back for a TD, and the usually reliable Phil Dawson missing a short field goal. Had either of these not occured, it would have been a no sweat win for the brown and orange.

What really stood out to me was the play of the defense. After the first quarter when New York went with a no huddle offense, the Cleveland defense totally shut down the Jets. The usually efficient Chad Pennington had a horrible day and having a number of passes deflected at the line of scrimmage. Sean Jones had an outstanding game with two interceptions, proving once again that Butch Davis did not leave the cupboard completely bare when he "resigned".

Yesterday’s win also vindicated those who said the Jets were not as good as their record said because they had played such a weak slate. The Jets are 4-4 and so is Carolina. Since the Browns played both teams, who do you think is better? The triumph also allowed the Brownies to move into a tie for third in the AFC North with the defending Super Bowl champ Pittsburgh Steelers. How does that feel Pittsburgh? Heck, you even lost to a team the Browns beat.

The upcoming game against San Diego is a different story. The Chargers have La Danian Tomlinson, and the Browns must control him. The best chance the Browns might have is if Marty Schottenheimer goes into "Marty-ball" mode. Which brings up another question: How can the Jets’ offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer survive holidays with his family. Imagine the disapproving looks from Marty when Brian tells him he lined up his quarterback as a wide receiver in one formation.

The real test for Jeff Davidson will come when the opponent stops the run. Then, Browns’ fans will see just how creative the new guy can be. Until that time, give JD credit for committing to the run and following through. It got Browns a win in his first game in the job.

Stuff

Taking the time today to write about some stuff going through my head in recent days:

The so-called genius of Jim Leyland. Kenny Roda’s man crush on Leyland has reached incredible proportions. This is not to say the Tigers’ skipper is not a good manager. Heck, he once stood up to Barry Bonds! However, Leyland is not the reincarnation of John McGraw. Detroit finished 8th in the AL in runs allowed last season, and this year they led the league in pitching. That’s why the Tigers are in the World Series. The emergence of Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, and the signing of Kenny Rogers are the three biggest reasons Detroit won the pennant. Leyland may have changed the losing culture in Motown, but the pitching is the reason they won. If the Tigers’ manager is so smart, how do you explain playing the horrible Neifi Perez so much down the stretch.

The best in the NBA. In Branson Wright’s question and answer column on Sunday, he was asked about LeBron James being the best player in the NBA. Basically, his comment was since Dwayne Wade was on the Miami Heat and they are the champs, Wade would be considered the better player. This kind of comment drives me crazy. Wade is a great player, but he did have Shaquille O’Neal on his team. If the Cavaliers had Shaq last season, do you think the Cavs would have won? If winning titles is a criteria, then Steve Kerr is one of the all time greats of the NBA. I’m so tired of hearing that Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing aren’t truly great players because their teams never won. If there was a draft of all NBA players today, LeBron James would be the first pick. Period. That means he’s the best player in the league.

Cavs’ Season Starts Wednesday. With all of the hand wringing about the Browns’ offensive coordinator and the worry about whether or not Larry Dolan will spend money, there isn’t much talk about the opening of the NBA season next week. Lest you forget, the Cavaliers should be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons lost Ben Wallace and are aging, and Shaq is another year older as well. Meanwhile, at 21 years old, the Cavs’ resident superstar is still getting better. Cleveland, Miami, and New Jersey are the frontrunners to get to the NBA Finals this season. In a city starving for a winner, we all should be excited about that.