The Sexton Dilemma

When discussion regarding the Cleveland Cavaliers’ future comes up, a talk about Collin Sexton is sure to follow. He is a polarizing figure to be sure.

Sexton was the 8th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, taken with the choice secured from Boston, originally that of the Brooklyn Nets, in the Kyrie Irving. There is a lot to like about the former Alabama standout, who just turned 22 years old earlier this season.

He is a gym rat to be sure. He is a tireless worker. There are stories during his rookie season that he had to be thrown out of the Cavs’ practice facility because he was consumed by basketball.

He can score the ball too. He is averaging a career high 24.0 points per game this season, a step up from 20.8 a year ago.

But the question for many, including ourselves, is this: Can he be the best player on a contending team?

Our answer is no, but could he be a contributor on a good team? We think so.

Watching him play, he doesn’t seem to have good basketball instincts. And what we mean by that is he doesn’t have a good feel in getting the ball to his teammates where they can succeed. However, again, he can flat out put the ball in the basket.

When the Cavs are struggling offensively, he can keep them in a game. We think about the recent contest against the Lakers where Cleveland led at the half because Darius Garland and Larry Nance Jr. were playing great. Sexton was out with an injury.

In the second half, the Lakers’ defense determined someone other than Garland and Nance were going to have to score. No one else could. That’s exactly the kind of game where Sexton could have been a huge factor. That’s when you need to have the “scorer’s mentality”.

The other thing is can a backcourt of Garland and Sexton be successful defensively. Perhaps, but that’s where Jarrett Allen and another big (Isaiah Hartenstein?) are needed.

Toronto won a title with small guards, but they had Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, elite defenders behind them. And Utah has the best record in the league this season, and have shot blocker extraordinaire Rudy Gobert protecting the rim.

Can Sexton be a part of Cleveland’s success going forward? Yes, he can, but to do so, it might have to involved taking a step back. Getting his teammates involved more, and then scoring when needed or just let Garland run the offense and be the finisher.

And take the open shots when they are there. We have seen Sexton have a good look, and dribble his way into the defense, thus causing a more difficult shot.

Maybe more direction is needed from the bench too. Being a young team, sometimes you have to tell the players where they want the shot to come from and who they would they want shooting.

Perhaps some of that comes from having veterans Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova back on the floor.

Many NBA players, including Michael Jordan, have had to learn to do this. So, Sexton can definitely learn this skill. Our question is anyone in the organization telling him this? For the Cavs to start playing consistent winning basketball, we think that’s what is needed.

Go Away, Hue. No One Wants To Hear From 3 Win You.

Fans of the Cleveland Browns have had a fun ride over the last 12 months. After wandering around in the desert that is losing, new head coach Kevin Stefanski came aboard and took the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

The team finished 11-5, the most victories for the franchise since 1994, when Bill Belichick was guiding the brown and orange.

With the NFL Draft coming to the city later this month, and the prospects of another winning season dancing in their collective heads, all is good if you are a pro football fan in northeastern Ohio. Heck, the Browns are even mentioned as, wait for it, Super Bowl contenders.

So, with all of those things being positive, something had to poop on the good feelings.

Hue Jackson reared his ugly head.

Why? We guess to remind everyone what a terrible dysfunctional organization the Browns, still owned by Jimmy Haslam used to be, even as recently as four years ago.

Jackson came aboard when Sashi Brown was put in charge of the organization, and his strategy was to stop putting bandages on things and strip the roster down to an expansion team level. Basically starting over.

Brown traded a lot of veterans and accumulated draft picks. We have to imagine Jackson was told what was going to happen when he took the gig, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Other teams have followed the same strategy in recent years, notably the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. WIth Todd Bowles leading the Jets, they still won four games in their worst season (we aren’t counting the 2020 season, when they supposed had their quarterback), and Miami went 5-11 in Brian Flores’ first season at the helm, after the team gutted their roster.

Jackson went 1-31 over a two year span. We bring up those other teams to show it is difficult to be that bad in the NFL. Usually, the worst teams win at least three games.

Not the Browns though. They won one stinking game over a two year period.

What’s worse is Jackson used his position, reporting directly to ownership (part of the dysfunction) to complain about Brown and the plan he appears to have signed up for. That led to Brown being fired and John Dorsey coming to Cleveland as the GM.

Dorsey famously brought in Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward, and Nick Chubb in the draft and of course, traded for Odell Beckham Jr. The rest of the draft picks both in 2018 and 2019 have not really been franchise changers, the best of the lot might be LB Sione Takitaki.

Anyway, the complaining about Brown which brought forth Dorsey, basically cost Jackson his job, because the new GM didn’t like the coaching the next year (2018) and fired Jackson after a 33-18 loss to the Steelers. Remember, Dorsey also traded Carlos Hyde during the year because Jackson was playing him instead of Chubb, who went on to gain 996 yards this season.

That’s how we see Jackson’s legacy as a head coach in Cleveland. Among coaches who have coaches at least a full season with the Browns, including men who coached just one season here, Jackson has the least victories with three.

Rob Chudzinski won four. Gregg Williams, the interim coach who took over for Jackson, won five. Even the much maligned Freddie Kitchens won six.

Go away Hue. Things are looking up for the franchise and its fans as the 2021 draft approaches. You have your place in the history of the Cleveland Browns, and it’s not good.

Asking Questions That Tribe Hasn’t Answered Yet

Spring training lasts six weeks because of the starting pitchers. They have to get enough time to get stretched out enough to throw around 100 pitches in a game once the regular season starts.

Because it lasts so long, there is plenty of time resolve most questions, but here are some we would like to have answers for, and maybe we will once the calendar changes from April to May.

What about centerfield? Our guess was the Tribe front office was hoping that Oscar Mercado would regain his 2019 form and seize the job, but the 26-year-old still has problems distinguishing a ball from a strike, so he will not be in Detroit today.

Bradley Zimmer has the same issue and was also sent down. So, Terry Francona’s options to start the season are veteran Ben Gamel, converted shortstop (and recently converted at that) Amed Rosario, and Jordan Luplow.

It’s not like Gamel hit his way on the roster either, he kind of walked his way on, drawing seven walks. He batted .171 (7 for 41). Luplow has been more of a corner outfielder since coming to Cleveland, although he is good enough defensively to play in the middle of the outfield.

The question to us, is why wasn’t Daniel Johnson given a look out there during exhibition play? He was 7 for 19 against fairly experienced pitching in Arizona.

You have to wonder how quick he will be back with the big club?

Outfield defense or lack of it? Compounding the lack of an experienced true major league centerfielder is that the two men who will play the majority of time in the corner positions are Eddie Rosario and Josh Naylor, neither of whom are known for their glove work.

The infield defense should be solid. Cesar Hernandez won a Gold Glove last year, and new shortstop Andres Gimenez won the job partly because of his glove. Jose Ramirez is very good at the hot corner.

However, perhaps the front office is counting on a lot of strikeouts because a team based on pitching like the Indians should back that strength with good defense.

Our guess is a lot of late game substitutions for defense in the outfield in games where Cleveland is ahead. That’s why the Zimmer decision was a bit curious. Although we never have been a fan because of his lack of hitting, he can go get it in the field.

Who’s Still Here in August? If the Indians get off to a slow start, expect the trade winds to start swirling, mostly involving Ramirez. The front office learned from trading Francisco Lindor was that they probably moved him too late, just one year before he was a free agent.

With Ramirez under club options through the 2023 season, it would seem the club could get maximum value dealing a superstar player with two full season left on a reasonable contract.

And if Ramirez is moved, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Hernandez and/or Eddie Rosario also on the block.

If the Tribe is in contention, Ramirez is probably off the table, at least until the end of the season, but Hernandez could still be moved if one of the Tribe’s infield prospects shows they are ready to come up.

And if they are in contention, Eddie Rosario is probably having a big season.

The Cleveland management have put a lot of pressure on their young pitching staff for the 2021 season. Can they answer the challenge? If so, these questions won’t be discussed much, but if Terry Francona’s squad can’t muster up enough runs or the outfield defense is porous, you will hear a lot about all three.

Evaluating The Cavs Rebuild.

Our thoughts on the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to vary on a weekly basis. That’s probably because they are so inconsistent.

They are a very young team, the third youngest team in the NBA, behind only Minnesota and Oklahoma City, so the ups and downs are understandable. And the biggest thing the team needs is probably stability, so the organization has to grow together, the front office, coaching staff, and the players.

Recently, it has come to light that owner Dan Gilbert’s son, Grant, is taking more of a role in the organization. Grant Gilbert is just 23 years old, and hopefully, he will realize what the smartest people can do, realize what he doesn’t know.

If the younger Gilbert takes over the operations of the team, what does that mean for Altman? And if the latter is let go, does the new man in charge hire someone with a long history in the NBA.

Again, the rumor mill has Brock Aller, the vice president of basketball operations and strategy with the New York Knicks, and former Cavalier front office employee (in general terms, he was the “capologist”) returning to head up basketball operations in Cleveland.

Aller is well respected within the league, but he’s an analytics guy. And that might work as long as it comes along with someone who knows the game, who understands how players work together and fit with each other.

The game isn’t all about statistics.

If we were asked who the best player currently on the Cavs is, the answer would probably surprise you. We are sure most fans would say it’s Collin Sexton, averaging 24 points and a little over four assists per game.

We would certainly say Sexton is the best scorer, but the best basketball player, in our opinion, is Larry Nance Jr., averaging just 10 points per night, but adding in seven rebounds and three assists during a usual night’s work.

Certainly, by the amount of supposed interest in Nance at the trade deadline, a lot of NBA teams also see the value in the skill set of the one time Revere High School standout.

This isn’t to denigrate Sexton. If you watched the Cavs’ loss to the Lakers Friday night, you could see they needed someone who can put the ball in the basket, which Sexton can do. Our question has always been, can the two small backcourt players (Sexton and Darius Garland) work long term in the NBA, even today’s version of it.

As for Altman, he should certainly get big kudos for the trade which netted Jarrett Allen, who at 22 years of age, has all kinds of upside. He should be a huge building block for the franchise going forward. We don’t mark him down for the Andre Drummond situation. The Cavaliers gave up nothing to get the big man, and it just didn’t work out.

But what is his second best move? Drafting Sexton? You can make an argument, an analytical argument, that Sexton is the third worst player (using VORP–value over replacement player) in the draft.

And Garland is the worst player using that category in the 2019 draft.

By the way, our eyes don’t agree with those ratings.

And in the most recent draft, Altman drafted a defensive player with a limited offensive game in Isaac Okoro with the fifth overall choice. He’s been a mainstay in the lineup all year, but at 6’5″, he’s too small to play small forward, which is where he spends most of his minutes.

To us, the biggest problem is this is year three in the second post-LeBron James era, and we still really don’t know what the direction of the franchise is. Is it too soon to think that should be the case?

However, if Grant Gilbert takes over the team, he may start asking what is going on with the franchise. And if he doesn’t like the answers, there could be another change at the top for the Cavaliers.

Previewing the ’21 Tribe

This week is the week baseball fans have been looking forward to all winter. Opening Day of the 2021 season starts on Thursday, April 1st.

The Cleveland Indians have made the post-season in five of the last six seasons, and in 2019, when they didn’t, they still won 93 games.

Can they do it again in 2021?

Why they can make the playoffs. Zach Plesac joins Shane Bieber as a second ace of the starting rotation and the rest of the young pitchers keep the Indians in every game, much like last season. Logan Allen’s strong spring training translates into a solid regular season.

The back end of the bullpen, led by James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, and Nick Wittgren, make Terry Francona’s team unbeatable if they have a lead after six innings.

Offensively, Jose Ramirez has another incredible season at the plate, comparable to the recent seasons where he finished in the top three of the MVP voting. Josh Naylor fulfills the expectations everyone seems to have for him and becomes a guy who can put up an 800 OPS.

Andres Gimenez does a solid job at the plate, and shows why he was the correct choice to take over at shortstop because of his glove.

Eddie Rosario hits like he always has at Progressive Field, putting up 30 HR and knocking in 100 runs, and Franmil Reyes shows more consistency than ever, belting 35-40 homers.

Why they won’t make the playoffs. The inexperienced young starters don’t hold up over the entire 162 game schedule. Aaron Civale continues the struggles he had in the latter half of the 2020 campaign, and Triston McKenzie can only give the big club about 50 innings.

The offense simply can’t score enough runs to win games, and Jose Ramirez gets pitched around in any situation where the opposing team can avoid him.

The pitching isn’t help by poor outfield defense. Naylor shows he’s the best option at first base, as the other candidates for the position, first Jake Bauers, then Bobby Bradley struggle to contribute at the plate.

Reyes continues to be streaky at the plate, with periods where he is red hot, followed by several periods of 0 for 20 and 2 for 44 mixed in.

The bullpen is spotty, Karinchak struggles with his control enough that Terry Francona can’t trust him in tight games, which because of the hitting, the Indians are involved in a lot of.

And Gimenez struggles enough at the plate that Amed Rosario moves back there vs. lefties, making the defense struggle at another spot.

The Indians won’t be a bad team this season, in fact, we don’t think they will be below the .500 mark. However, an awful lot of things will need to go right for them to make the playoffs. The inexperienced rotation (remember, no one besides Bieber has pitched more than 250 innings in the big leagues) has to be very, very good.

That means two other members in the starting rotation (Plesac, Civale, or based on spring training, Logan Allen) have to be of all star caliber. And the bullpen has to be excellent as well, with Karinchak and Clase overpowering hitters.

We believe you need seven solid bats to have a good lineup, and right now, the Tribe has Ramirez, Eddie Rosario, Cesar Hernandez, and Franmil Reyes. We think Naylor can be another, but can two others step up?

It will be an interesting season for sure, as we watch Gimenez and Naylor develop, and also look at the progress of the players at the AAA and AA levels, once minor league action starts.

We figure somewhere in the neighborhood of 83-85 wins. They will be a competitive team, but won’t have enough to make the post-season in 2021

No Big Moves For Cavs, But A Change That Can Still Be Made.

There is one thing that is certain with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And that one thing is change. You can be pretty certain every season that the roster that opens the season will have major changes by the end of that year.

We understand why. The Cavs are far from a finished product, in year three of the second post-LeBron rebuild, and GM Koby Altman should be looking for assets to keep the franchise moving forward.

Cleveland already took part in the biggest trade of the season, the one sending James Harden to Brooklyn, which netted the wine and gold center Jarrett Allen, a major building block for the rebuild, and forward Taurean Prince. The only roster player Altman surrendered in the transaction was guard Dante Exum.

This year was relatively quiet at the deadline, with the Cavs dealing veteran big man JaVale McGee to Denver for a pair of second round draft picks and a young big man, Isaiah Hartenstein.

Hartenstein is a seven footer, a second round pick of the Houston Rockets in 2017. He’s played in the league for three years, appearing in 81 games, averaging 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

He’s a project and can also play some power forward, something McGee really couldn’t do. And since he’s averaged just nine minutes per game in his time with the Rockets and Nuggets, he figures to get more time in Cleveland.

As for McGee, the franchise did right by the veteran. We will skeptical what kind of attitude he would come to town with, considering the Cavs’ rank in the league, and that he has played most of the latter part of his career with championship teams (Warriors and Lakers), but he took the veteran leadership role to heart and was a solid guy, by all reports, in the locker room.

The Nuggets have aspirations of getting to The Finals this year (they traded for Aaron Gordon from Orlando today as well), and getting a big man with McGee’s experience should help in that regard.

So, what do the Cavs do going forward? We would like to see playing time start to be based on merit rather than draft status.

It’s time for the organization to start bringing some mental toughness for the players. Yes, they are a very young squad, made even more so with today’s trade. The oldest guy who gets significant playing time is Larry Nance (28). The second oldest is Prince (26), who is currently injured, followed by Cedi Osman at 25.

There needs to start being accountability for the players. We understand fans want the team to lose and gain a higher pick in the NBA Draft, and maybe Altman feels the same way. And while the team might wind up getting a very talented player, you can’t have the other young players thinking losing is acceptable.

If a Lamar Stevens or a Brodric Thomas are giving Bickerstaff more than say, former first round pick, Dylan Windler, then play the former. This isn’t youth sports where everyone should get an equal chance. If you produce, you earn more playing time.

Ask Dean Wade. He took advantage of his opportunity even though some people, including us, thought he looked unplayable.

It’s called culture, and the Cavaliers franchise has been in a malaise since James departed for Los Angeles. The rest of this season should serve as the beginning of a change.

Still Questions For Tribe: Rotation and CF

Spring training is getting down to the nitty gritty. The regular season commences a week from tomorrow in Detroit and the Cleveland Indians still have questions in the starting rotation and in centerfield.

Coming into camp, the favorites for the last two spots in the rotation seemed to be rookie Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill, who came over in the Mike Clevinger deal at the deadline last season.

However, things in baseball don’t always work out like you want them.

Both McKenzie and Quantrill have struggled in Arizona, and Terry Francona and pitching coaches Carl Willis and Ruben Neibla might be thinking of going in a different direction.

McKenzie, who has only thrown 39 innings in the past two seasons combined, has walked 10 hitters and allowed seven home runs in 14-1/3 frames. True, it is spring training, the ball tends to fly in Arizona, and the righty might be working on pitches, but those aren’t good numbers.

Quantrill has had issues with command all spring too, walking nine in his 11 innings pitched.

Complicating things in a good way has been the performance of southpaw Logan Allen. He’s thrown 9 innings in the desert, allowing just one run and fanning 11. He may have just earned a spot on the big club.

Another complication is that Adam Plutko is out of options. The right-hander has allowed five runs in 8 innings of work, but has struck out nine.

It would not be a shock if Plutko got the baseball in the home opener on April 5th against Kansas City. The others (McKenzie, Quantrill, and Allen) all have options and the way the schedule is set up for the Tribe, they really don’t need a fifth starter until the season’s tenth game, April 13th against the White Sox.

That would also allow Francona to carry an extra bullpen arm for the first week and a half of the season.

Centerfield got a little clearer when Oscar Mercado was sent to the alternative site, leaving Bradley Zimmer, non-roster invitee Ben Gamel, and converted infielder Amed Rosario vying for playing time or to make the roster.

Also, Jordan Luplow has started playing in the Cactus League games, and yesterday started in center.

The front office has to be pulling for Zimmer, a former first round pick. To date, and he has faced pretty experienced pitching, he is 9 for 30, with five walks. He has fanned nine times, which is his biggest issue, not putting the ball in play.

The veteran Gamel, a left-handed hitter like Zimmer, is 7 for 31 (.226). It would seem to be tough for him to beat out Zimmer. Rosario, who would seem to be a platoon option with either Zimmer or Gamel, is 8 for 24 on the spring, and would seem to have a roster spot locked up.

Luplow, who has crushed left-handed pitching since joining the Indians would seem to give Francona, another option in CF, if he wants to give Andres Gimenez a day off against a tough lefty, or an option in RF, should he want to do the same with Josh Naylor.

It is difficult to think the Indians will keep six outfielders, another reason it could be tough for Gamel to hold down a spot.

And don’t forget Harold Ramirez (3 for 18), another right-handed bat, and could be in play as well.

Our prediction here? Zimmer will get the nod against righties, with A. Rosario playing the middle of the outfield vs. southpaws. The possible complication? Cleveland opens in Detroit, and Comerica Park has a huge outfield. Francona might favor defense in the Motor City.

Cavs Should Consider All Avenues To Improve.

One of the worst things an organization can do to tie an excessive amount of promotion into a player who is either just coming into professional sports or hasn’t made their bones at the professional level.

The Browns kind of did this with Baker Mayfield, especially after his rookie season, when the team went from 0-16 to 7-8-1. It was all Baker, all the time in northeast Ohio, and Mayfield admitted he didn’t work as hard in the off-season after his rookie season. The result following was a 6-10 disappointment.

Mayfield learned and led the Browns to an 11-5 mark and the playoffs last season.

It appears the Cavaliers have painted themselves into the same corner with Collin Sexton. Sexton’s work ethic is not in question, the man is a tireless gym rat.

However, even before the third year pro out of Alabama was drafted, the pick he was taken with was held up as the ultimate prize in the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston. It was Brooklyn’s choice, but they spoiled it by playing tough minded ball, and instead of being projected as the NBA’s worst team, they won 28 games.

So, Cleveland wound up with the 8th pick overall, and selected Sexton, who has put up numbers in his two and a half season with the Cavs, a career 19.6 scorer, shooting 45.6% from the floor, and 39% from three point range.

He became the symbol of the new Cavs, the post-LeBron Cavs, although the team went 19-63 his rookie year, and then 19-46 in his second season, shortened by the coronavirus.

There have been many reports with the NBA trade deadline coming up, that GM Koby Altman has told teams several players are untouchable, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, and Sexton among them.

To be fair, the drafting of Sexton was followed by picking another ball dominant small backcourt player in Garland, under the guise of taking the best player available. While that is generally a solid concept in drafting, it is usually done with the expectation of trading from strength at some point to improve a position of need.

But the organization has said they are going to keep both smaller backcourt players. So, that theory goes out the window.

Sexton puts up numbers. He’s improved to 23.9 points and 4.2 assists per game, but his shooting percentage has leveled off from last year. He’s scoring more because he’s shooting more. His second year partner at guard, Garland, is scoring at 16.5 points and 5.9 assists per night, taking on the facilitator role.

Watching games, it is noticeable how much better the offense flows when Garland is on the floor.

Sexton doesn’t seem to have point guard instincts right now, and when Garland isn’t in the game, the offense should run through him, but it doesn’t. Too many times, he reverts to trying to do everything himself.

Cavs’ analyst Campy Russell said after Friday night’s loss to San Antonio, that the teams’ young guards have to learn to get everyone involved.

In our opinion, Altman should consider any move to improve the 2021-22 edition of the Cavaliers. However, there are players we wouldn’t trade either. It would be difficult to find a big man more skilled than Allen, so he stays. And the team needs (we might say desperately) someone with the feel for the game Larry Nance Jr. has. So, we wouldn’t move him either.

And we think Garland shows all the signs of being able to be a solid player in this league, but can a backcourt of Garland and Sexton co-exist and be successful in the NBA? Even the three point happy NBA?

Keep in mind, Sexton is coming off his rookie deal and the Cavs have to start paying him.

Put promotion aside. Yes, the organization held up Sexton as the first piece of the rebuild following the departure of James, but they need to listen on the young guy if they think it can help the wine and gold get back to the playoffs sooner.

We aren’t saying Sexton has to be moved, but we would not be opposed to listening. We are aware we go back and forth on the young player, at times, he looks like he has this game figured out. But then he reverts back.

It’s not easy to build a competitive basketball team.

Don’t Be Disappointed In Browns’ Lack Of Activity

At times, we think fans of the Cleveland Browns are so used to losing, they don’t know how to react now that the organization has a sense of order to it.

We were reminded of it against this week when the legal tampering phase of NFL free agency started and GM Andrew Berry signed only two players: S John Johnson III, formerly of the Los Angeles Rams, and DE Takk McKinley, a former first round pick of the Atlanta Falcons, who forced his way out last season.

Johnson is a stud, just 25 years old, ranked among the top 20 free agents by several publications who rank these things. He has eight career interceptions and has two seasons where he had over 100 tackles. His defensive pass rating was 71.9 for the 2020 season.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods likes to run a 4-2-5 alignment, and having three safeties in Ronnie Harrison, Johnson, and hopefully a healthy Grant Delpit will allow him to have the correct personnel to do it. Remember, the way to combat the Chiefs’ offense, and a Lamar Jackson offense, is with speed.

Berry continued his pattern of signing free agents coming off their rookie deal, meaning he is interested in getting players just entering their primes, which seems logical, but many teams chase the big names, getting players who may have one good year left. In Browns’ history, those would be guys like Donte Whitner or Karlos Dansby.

McKinley is a wild card, and we doubt the front office considers him the sole solution to getting help for Myles Garrett in getting to the quarterback. He did have at least 10 QB hits in his first three seasons with the Falcons, and added seven more in the four games he played in 2020.

Because Berry made a splash early in the process a year ago, inking Jack Conklin and Austin Hooper, the anticipation was he was going to do it again, and when the Browns didn’t get Carl Lawson, Romeo Okwara, Bud Dupree, or Trey Hendrickson, fans were questioning the organization.

First of all, we are sure that among the people who think the Browns need another pass rusher is Andrew Berry. We also know training camp doesn’t start until late July or early August, so he has plenty of time to upgrade the position.

Remember, Cleveland also has nine draft picks in next month’s NFL Draft (to be held right here in Cleveland). He could be working on a deal for a edge rusher, or he could wait to see who becomes available if and when other teams release players due to salary cap considerations.

Or he may go off script and do a one year deal for a player he thinks might have one good year left, especially if used on passing downs.

We understand Berry has really been a GM for one season, but under his watch the Browns did make their first playoff appearance since 2004 and won their first playoff game since 1994. So, while he apparently hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt from everyone, he has from us.

We also trust ownership to spend money when the time is right, and with Baker Mayfield still under his rookie contract, that time might be now. We don’t think Cleveland will enter the 2021 campaign with a ton of cap space.

It’s sexy to make a big splash early in the free agency process, particularly in northeast Ohio, where the Indians don’t spend, and the city isn’t a destination point for NBA free agents since LeBron James no longer wears the wine and gold.

This front office will get it done. Don’t lose faith.

Tribe Roster Battles Rage On

It seems like spring training just started for the Cleveland Indians, but when the sun sets on St. Patrick’s Day Wednesday, Opening Day will be just two weeks away for Major League Baseball teams.

For the Tribe front office, it seems like the biggest questions that remain are centerfield, first base, and who will make up the last few spots on the pitching staff.

Right now, it appears the decision has been made to play Josh Naylor in right, so that spot is settled.

At first base, the discussion centers on Jake Bauers and Bobby Bradley. As we predicted last week (patting ourselves firmly on the back) Yu Chang has started to get reps at the position as a platoon partner for the two left-handed bats in Bauers and Bradley.

Complicating the matter is that Bauers does not have an option left, so if he doesn’t make the final roster, he is subject to waivers. Bradley can be sent down this season without that penalty.

Bauers has displayed a good eye in Arizona, walking six times thus far, but has just two hits in 13 at bats (.154), and has the better glove at first, and he can also play the outfield. Bradley has hammered the baseball to date, going 7 for 18 (.389) with two homers and four doubles. He has had strikeout issues throughout his time in the minors, but has fanned just three times thus far.

Here’s the rub. It’s difficult to judge Bradley in spring training because breaking balls don’t have the bite they normally have in the desert air, and that’s usually where the strikeouts come for players with contact issues.

If the front office wants to give Bauers a good last look before making a decision, then he will make the roster and Bradley will start at the satellite camp. Look for both to get plenty of at bats during the next two weeks.

Centerfield is a little less cut and dried. Terry Francona said Amed Rosario will start to get reps at the position because A). Andres Gimenez seems to have beaten him out at shortstop, and B). Oscar Mercado hasn’t shown much at the plate.

Now, Rosario could also be getting time in the OF because the skipper would like to give Eddie Rosario or Naylor a day off against a tough left-hander as well.

But, it is no sure bet that Mercado will get the bulk of the playing time in center once the regular season starts. He is just 4 for 18 with a double. And Bradley Zimmer (6 for 17, but 7 K’s) and perhaps Daniel Johnson (4 for 13, 2 HR) are still in the mix, possibly as left-handed platoon options with Mercado.

As for the pitching, the rotation has three spots nailed down in Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, and Aaron Civale, and it would be a shock if James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, Nick Wittgren, Phil Maton, and Blake Parker aren’t in the bullpen.

The last two spots in the rotation come down to Cal Quantrill, Triston McKenzie, Adam Plutko (out of options), with Logan Allen making a hard charge. Plutko and Quantrill could stay as relievers too, but the organization appears to want to give every chance for latter to be a starting pitcher.

If McKenzie doesn’t make the team initially, it is probably to manage how many innings he throws throughout the season. Remember, he’s pitched just 33 innings in the last two seasons.

If Plutko does start the year in the ‘pen, that leaves two or three spots (depending on whether Francona wants 8 or 9 relievers) open. One spot will be used on a southpaw, either Anthony Gose or Oliver Perez. Gose, a converted outfielder, has been impressive in four innings, allowing just two hits and whiffing five hitters.

Perez is Perez, tricking hitters with a variety of deliveries and arm slots. Could they keep both lefties? We can see that.

We would guess veteran Bryan Shaw has a leg up on the last spot in the bullpen. We understand the angst from some fans, but really, why not give him a shot. He wouldn’t be the first relief pitcher to have a couple of bad years and then bounce back.

It probably comes down to Shaw or rule 5 draftee Trevor Stephan for the last spot. Stephan, of course, would have to be offered back to the Yankees if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Don’t forget, there is always the possibility of a strained muscle to keep an extra player around and buy some time for the organization to make decisions as well.

What we mean is, things can and probably will change before the Tribe breaks camp in two weeks. That’s how this usually works.