Cavs’ Putting Ball Back In LeBron’s Hands

When comparing LeBron James to the greatest players of all time, and the conversation inevitably turns to Michael Jordan, the comment that usually made is James is more Magic Johnson that MJ.

That has never been more true than this year, because James has been the point guard of the Cleveland Cavaliers all this season.

Derrick Rose started the season at the point, but when Rose went down with an ankle injury, Tyronn Lue went with a big lineup using James at the point.

When that didn’t work, he put Jose Calderon in the starting lineup. Because Calderon is 36 years old, and couldn’t play a lot of minutes, James spent a lot of time running the offense.

James is averaging a career high 8.9 assists per game this season, following last season’s 8.7 average, when he played the spot a year ago while Kyrie Irving was resting, or used in sets where Irving was basically playing the shooting guard spot.

This season, James had just three games with five assists or less in the first 36 games of the year. Why did we pick that point in the season? The next game on the schedule was Isaiah Thomas’ first game with the wine and gold.

In the next 16 games, prior to the 140-138 overtime win against Minnesota last Wednesday, James had four games of five assists or less. He also had seven games of five or more turnovers in that span.

This isn’t to pile on Thomas, who wasn’t 100%, and was in a free agent year, so perhaps he was trying to hard on the court, but it does point out that James seemed to be deferring to Thomas, trying to get him going.

Besides the fact that the since dealt guard was shooting at 36% during his tenure with the Cavs, and that he was shooting with more frequency than anyone else besides James, it was also taking the ball out of the team’s best playmaker’s hands.

That could be why James seemed to be very frustrated during the month of January. Not only was he giving up the opportunity to make plays for his teammates, the man he was trying to get going wasn’t making his shots.

Have you ever played hoops with someone who not only monopolizes the basketball, but can’t hit a shot or throws the ball away? It doesn’t give you a decent chance to win and it’s not a lot of fun.

That’s what James was watching for the last 30 or so days.

And we aren’t even talking about Thomas’ issues on the defensive end of the floor.

Watching the games, it’s obvious that James is setting up the offense on most possessions. Lue is having someone dribble the ball up past halfcourt, and then find James to initiate the attack.

That’s when the team has played its best for the most part.

Newcomer George Hill, the new starter at point guard, is really here because of his ability to knock down open three point shots. Sure, he will initiate the offense during some sets to give James a blow, but his main role is to spread the floor and hit threes, and right now he leads the league.

With Thomas moved on to Los Angeles, there is no question who is the distributor on offense. LeBron James is the man. He will draw the defense, and you better be ready when he finds you.

Browns Should Draft QB At One, No Matter What.

Well, the Super Bowl was held last Sunday and that means the real football season for fans of the Cleveland Browns is here…

The NFL Draft.

The next two and a half months will be filled with speculation as to which one of the quarterbacks entering the NFL this fall does GM John Dorsey like the best.

And make no mistake about it, the Browns should and in our opinion, will draft a signal caller when the draft meeting opens on April 26th.

There are many fans with the thought if Dorsey can sign (or trade for, depending on what Washington does) Kirk Cousins, then they can use the first and fourth overall picks on other needs.

We feel that would be a mistake.

Cousins has had a decent NFL career, starting 57 games and compiling a 26-30-1 record in those starts. Yes, we know win/loss record isn’t a very good way of judging QBs.

The former fourth round pick out of Michigan State has a career 93.7 passer rating. completing 65.5% of his throws, with 99 touchdowns, compared to 55 interceptions.

His average yards per attempt was 7.6 in 2017, ranking in a 9th place tie with Ben Roethlisburger in that category.

But is Cousins one of the best in the NFL?

We would rank him just outside of the top ten, which compared to the play the Browns have had at the position over the last 20 years, would make him Otto Graham.

However, we would not pass on a chance for greatness because we had a guy who might be better than average.

We have no idea if any of the quarterbacks coming into the NFL this spring will be great, but we know that Kirk Cousins isn’t great, nor will he ever be.

Here is who we would rank ahead of the potential free agent passer: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Roethlisburger, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Matthew Stafford, and Russell Wilson.

And by the end of next year, you may have no choice but to add Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. Also, if Andrew Luck is healthy, he’s yet another addition to the list.

The Browns would be better served seeing if Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, or Baker Mayfield can become elite NFL starters than signing Cousins and not adding a QB at the top of this year’s draft.

What if one of those passers became another Rodgers?

Signing Cousins would mean a four or five year commitment to him, which doesn’t work for drafting your future franchise quarterback with the first overall pick. That’s why we would stay away from him.

We would prefer Dorsey draft his guy at #1 and then stash him away for at least a full season, and maybe another half season beyond that. Let the rookie learn the game, so when he does go in there, he’s as prepared as can be.

Bring in a veteran (not Josh McCown, please) who can hold down the spot and give you a professional performance for a year or two. Perhaps someone like Tyrod Taylor or yes, Chase Daniel, a player Dorsey is said to like.

Hopefully, you never are in this position again, and that’s why you have to take a QB. We would favor taking the guy with the highest floor, or the player with the least “bust” factor.

But you have to take the chance to have greatness. Use the first pick on a quarterback.

Cavs’ Roster Make Over…Wow!

Wow! That is our first reaction to the wheeling and dealing done by Cleveland Cavaliers’ GM Koby Altman on the day of the NBA trade deadline, in which he turned over 40% of his team’s roster.

The Cavs were the NBA’s oldest roster and they were showing it over the last six weeks, losing 12 of their last 19 games and getting boat raced by every good team they played, and some average teams as well.

In three big moves, the wine and gold got younger, more athletic, and in our opinion, more likely to retain LeBron James when he becomes a free agent after the season.

Of the six players moved, the biggest impact looking to be the departure of Channing Frye, a veteran glue guy who provided leadership in the locker room.

Dwyane Wade, who went back home to Miami for a second round pick, will also be missed. Wade, no longer with the athleticism he had in his prime, still made the correct play, and tried to impart that to his teammates.

The other four were disappointments. Isaiah Thomas didn’t seem to fit in with the Cavs, and neither did the guy who came over from Boston with him, Jae Crowder.

Thomas is a good player, but was not 100% after the hip injury, and since he was a free agent to be at the end of the season, the Cavs couldn’t afford to see how that story ended.

Crowder scored more than five points per game less than he did a year ago, and was shooting five percentage points less in 2017-18.

Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert have been injured much of the season.

In return, Cleveland got three players in their mid-twenties in Rodney Hood (25), Larry Nance Jr. (25), and Jordan Clarkson (25) and George Hill, who will turn 32 in May.

Hood, coming from Utah, is enjoying his best season as a pro, averaging 16.8 points per game, shooting 38.9% from three point range. He’s long too at 6’8″, and a good free throw shooter at 87.6%.

Nance Jr. is coming home, where his father’s number hangs in the rafters. He’s a solid defender, can jump through the ceiling, and is scoring 8.6 points and grabbing 6.8 board per contest.

Clarkson is a combo guard, with a career scoring average of 14.5 points per night. He can knock down threes, although he’s kind of a streaky shooter. He is getting 3.3 assists per game in an average of just under 24 minutes.

Hill is the veteran and will likely take over starting duties. He’s 6’3″, and currently leads the league in three point shooting at 45.3%. He is scoring at 10.3 points per game with Sacramento this season, after getting 16.9 a night last season.

This quartet makes the wine and gold longer and that should help the defense. Hill keeps his man in front of him, something not seen much in Cleveland this season.

We have begged coach Tyronn Lue to slow down the pace because of the age of the team, but with the younger legs, he should be able to get the ball up the floor quickly going forward.

But now the Cavs have some young players who can get better going forward to go with James, and that may be enough, along with a draft pick that could be in the top five by the time the season is over, to entice him to re-sign in northeast Ohio.

That pick could be used on draft night to bring in another star player in a trade.

The biggest thing for the fans is hope that the Cavaliers, who looked very little like a team that can make deep playoff run over the last few weeks, now can do just that.

It may take some time for the new pieces to gel, but if and when they do, there is no question the Cavs are in a better place than they were two days ago.

And that’s a good thing.

Gilbert Should Be Careful What He Wishes For

When it comes to Cleveland sports, many times we point out reasons why we can’t have nice things. Apparently, the same is true of the people who own the teams here as well.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, owned by Dan Gilbert, currently have the best player in the sport of basketball playing on the team. However, from many reports, it appears the owner has fallen in love with the same thing football fans look forward to every year, the draft process.

LeBron James, the best currently playing basketball, and the leader of the team that won the only professional sports championship the city has in the last 54 years, can be a free agent after this season. And Gilbert seems to be making the decision very easy for him.

The Cavs do possess what is certain to be a lottery pick in this summer’s draft. Now, we would not give up that pick for a rental player, but we would deal it for a younger player who could wear the wine and gold for at least a few years.

We are sure James would understand that, but what is disturbing to the ownership and the star player aren’t getting along again. We know they will never be friends after what happened when James left for Miami following the 2010 season, but Gilbert should understand the ways of the NBA by now.

It has been reported that the owner “wants his team back”, which is theory should be the case, but not in professional basketball. Like it or not, the star players carry a tremendous amount of clout.

James should finish his illustrious career with the Cavs, and in our opinion, we believe he would like to do just that. Unfortunately, the situation seems to be pushing him away from the franchise.

With James, the Cavaliers should be a contender to get to the NBA Finals every year. The superstar, even at 33 years old, is still a force in the NBA. He’s also a global icon, meaning Gilbert’s team in relevant on a worldwide basis.

Trying a rebuild through the draft is a slow, tedious process, and quite frankly doesn’t have a great success rate.

Anthony Davis is arguably the most talented player to enter the NBA in the past 10 years. His teams have made the playoffs just once in his first five seasons in the league.

How many years would Cavs fans have to wait before another playoff experience?

Gilbert is a smart man, making billions of dollars in the business world. However, he’s not smart enough to know what he doesn’t know, which is how to put together a winning basketball team.

Surely he has to know the value of the Cavaliers greatly diminished without James on the roster. It certainly did when LeBron left the first time.

The way the team is constructed right now, it doesn’t look good for this season, but that’s the beauty of having LeBron James. With the right roster adjustments, the Cavaliers can make a fourth consecutive trip to the championship round.

But if ownership has decided one title is enough, James won’t stick around. His legacy within the sport is based on winning titles. If that opportunity doesn’t exist in Cleveland, The King will go elsewhere.

Heck. former Indians’ president Mark Shapiro was vilified here for saying the best fans can hope for was to contend once every few years, and now Gilbert feels one championship is enough?

Gilbert and his partners will have their team back, but will anyone care?

Tribe Looks To Be Waiting For July To Make Moves

With spring training starting in two weeks, it would be fair to say the Cleveland Indians have had a very quiet winter.

Sure, they’ve been in the news in terms of losing players, as Carlos Santana signed as a free agent with the Phillies, Bryan Shaw went to Colorado, Jay Bruce to the Mets, and Joe Smith departed for Houston.

The front office did sign Yander Alonso to replace Santana at first base, banking that Alonso’s power surge last year is sustainable.

After never reaching double figures in home runs during the first seven years of his career (his high was 9 in 2012 with San Diego), Alonso crushed 28 dingers in 2017.

He slugged .501 last season after never reaching the .400 mark during his career.

If changing the launch angle of his swing can be carried forward, then the Indians have Santana’s replacement, at least vs. right-handed pitching, against whom he had a 900 OPS a year ago.

President Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff obviously feel the platoon of Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer or perhaps Yandy Diaz can handle rightfield, after all the Tribe was in first place before they dealt for Bruce.

In the bullpen, the organization is banking on Nick Goody to step up and hoping perhaps a non-roster invitee such as Alexi Ogando, Preston Claiborne, or Neil Ramirez can emerge like Jeff Manship, Ryan Webb, or Scott Atchison have in recent years.

We believe the Indians feel comfortable in their place in the division, after all they won the American League Central Division by 17 games a year ago, and will use the first three months of the 2018 season to see what they will need for the stretch drive.

This means the July 31st trading deadline will be more important to Cleveland than the off-season was.

Management is banking on a return to form from Jason Kipnis to boost the offense, and this is a solid move. The second baseman has had an OPS over 800 in three of the four years prior to last year’s injury plagued campaign.

If Kipnis has was is an average season for him (.268, 17 HR, 74 RBI, 762 OPS) that will add offense for Terry Francona.

Don’t forget Chisenhall was having an outstanding season before missing most of the last two months. The former first round pick was hitting .288, slugging .521, and had a career high OPS of 881.

We are unsure about replacing Austin Jackson, who had a rebirth in Cleveland (.318, 7 HR, 35 RBI, 869 OPS in 89 games) with Melvin Upton Jr., who didn’t play in the big league during 2017.

Upton does have a career 760 OPS vs. southpaws, but hasn’t hit over .250 in the bigs since 2008, and is prone to striking out.

As for the bullpen, we think Antonetti and Chernoff will do what they did in ’16 and see what relievers come available as the season progresses.

Remember, that’s how Andrew Miller came to the Tribe. If you can get a bullpen piece of that magnitude to go with Cody Allen and the big lefty, you will be well suited for an October run.

This strategy also will show what you have in players like Diaz, Upton, Kipnis, and Francisco Mejia and Triston McKenzie.

And who knows, another minor leaguer may emerge as a piece other teams will covet.

Remember, the Cleveland Indians didn’t squeak into the playoffs last year, they had the best record in the AL. Even a slight regression puts them in a great position going into 2018.

Time For Lue To Be A Leader.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are teetering on the brink right now.

They haven’t played well since the holiday season started, the defense is getting progressively worse, and now, Kevin Love will be out for awhile after breaking his hand in last night’s loss at Detroit.

Some team’s would look at the injury and band together, strengthen their resolve to win games without their all-star. Look at Washington last night in their first game without John Wall, a 102-96 victory over Oklahoma City.

Unfortunately, we do not see that happening with this group of Cavaliers.

LeBron James looks disgusted with what is going on, and we are sure he and Dwyane Wade can’t believe what is happening.

The defensive effort on this team is putrid. We saw at least four times last night where Pistons went the length of the floor for layups without anyone stopping the ball.

That’s taught in fifth grade basketball.

We have watched probably thousands of basketball games and we have yet to see someone score without the ball. You have to stop the ball.

It’s time for strong leadership from Tyronn Lue, and we hope he has it in him.

It’s time for the coach to start holding players responsible.

If you aren’t going to put forth effort on the defensive end, you should be on the bench. And that means anyone, including LeBron James. The correct tone has to be set.

We found it ludicrous that Cedi Osman was inactive for last night’s contest, and when Love went down, that decision came back to bite the head coach.

Meanwhile, Iman Shumpert, who has been out since the middle of November with a knee injury, and when he came back fired up a three point shot 24 seconds after entering the game, was dressed, but he didn’t play, even when the game got out of hand.

So, the Cavs had to have Channing Frye and Wade playing in garbage time because Lue didn’t want to disrespect Shumpert and Derrick Rose by putting them in in that situation, even though neither played to that point.

Why didn’t Rose play? Outside of Sunday’s game vs. Detroit, he had played pretty well since returning from the ankle injury, averaging 10 points on 15 of 24 shooting. He has an off night Sunday and gets buried on the bench?

Lue’s rotations are often criticized and this is another case of a puzzling move.

Why was Frye benched when Tristan Thompson returned? Why did Derrick Williams lose playing time a year ago when he played well? It’s due to loyalty to veterans, and sometimes that’s not good.

Right now, the Cavaliers are getting very little on a nightly basis from Isaiah Thomas, JR Smith, and Tristan Thompson, all of whom are currently starting.

Besides James, which players are playing well? Jeff Green, Wade, Frye, and Kyle Korver come to mind. The problem is all of those players are over 30 years old, so limiting minutes for them has to be done to keep them effective.

Good players want to be coached. Wade is always pulling players aside to offer insights on the game, but it’s time for Lue to start basing playing time based on performance right now, and not the past.

It’s a critical time for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They need leadership from their coach.

Two Wins Doesn’t Mean Cavs Are Good To Go

For the first time since mid December, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won two games in a row. The consecutive victories came after coach Tyronn Lue moved Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup and moved Jae Crowder to the bench.

However, any thoughts that GM Koby Altman doesn’t need to make any moves heading into the February 8th trading deadline should be put to bed. This roster still needs some revamping.

First, the two wins both came at Quicken Loans Arena, where the wine and gold haven’t had trouble winning this season. They are 18-6 at home in 2017-18, one of the top ten records in the league this season. The best records are San Antonio (21-4) and Toronto (18-4).

The Cavaliers aren’t too far off that pace.

Cleveland is 11-13 away from northeast Ohio. Only seven teams have winning records on the road this season, but the Cavs are supposed to be an elite team. The best records are by Golden State, Boston, Houston, Toronto, and Miami.

Outside of the Heat, those are teams who came into the year searching a championship.

The good teams in the NBA also win big. The squads with the best records in games decided by 10 or more points are Toronto, Boston, Golden State, Houston, and Washington. Cleveland is 8-11, in the lower half of the league.

This is not a team that looks like an elite team, at least right now. So, management shouldn’t look at two victories, one over a Pistons team that has lost eight in a row, as a solution.

This basketball team still needs height.

The Cavs’ only true big men are Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, Channing Frye, and little used Ante Zizic. None provide a deterrent to opponents who want to drive to the basket.

It is something the front office has ignored since the middle of last season, when Chris Andersen and Andrew Bogut went down with injuries. It has to be addressed going forward.

We are sure that Lue would also be happy if some of the roster logjams are taken care of. With Isaiah Thomas back, he has to divide up time for Thomas, Dwyane Wade, and Derrick Rose at the point. For sure, Wade isn’t going anywhere, so moving one of the other two would clarify things.

Jeff Green has been a godsend to date, averaging in double figures in points (10.8) and is one of the few Cavs playing solid defense, but Lue can’t find minutes for Iman Shumpert, who hasn’t earned them, and Cedi Osman, who has.

And remember, in Sunday’s win over Detroit, neither Thomas, Rose, or Thompson played in the fourth quarter when the wine and gold put the game away.

Lue has problems fitting people into rotations, and the roster may be too deep because the coach can’t keep everyone happy. Players like to know how they are going to be used, and it is difficult for Lue to make that happen.

So, with just a week ago before the trading deadline, Altman can’t be complacent, he has to realize this roster needs help to get to the NBA Finals for a fourth straight year.

General Managers don’t usually get fooled by two games. Here’s hoping Altman isn’t either.

Cavs Need Thomas To “Fit In”

The first year LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he famously told Kevin Love (allegedly) to stop trying to “fit out”, and start trying to “fit in”.

He may have the same message now for new teammate Isaiah Thomas, who is struggling to find his place with the wine and gold since returning to the starting lineup.

Thomas seems to be playing like he did with the Celtics, being a high volume shooter, which was needed in Boston, because they really didn’t have any other scoring threats.

In Thomas’ first year with the Celtics, he led the green in scoring at 22.2 points per game. The next two leading point makers were Avery Bradley (15.2) and Jae Crowder (14.2), and neither of those two are known as guys whose primary reason for being on the team is putting the ball in the hoop.

Last year, Thomas scored 28.9 points a night, with again Bradley (16.3) and Crowder (13.9) ranking next.

This year, with the Cavaliers, Thomas is taking 26.4 shots per 100 possessions, the second highest rate of his career, behind only last season.

The difference is the wine and gold have plenty of other scoring options, namely LeBron James and Kevin Love. They also have several other guys known for putting the ball in the basket: Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, JR Smith among others.

So, it would seem Thomas needs to change his game, to fit in more into what the Cavaliers need to do to play winning basketball.

The other day in addressing the media, Thomas basically said that’s what here for, he’s a scorer, and if they don’t want him to score, then why did the Cavs trade for him.

That doesn’t seem to sound like a player who is trying to adapt to his new surroundings, or fit in to a team that has advanced to The Finals in each of the last three years, beating Boston in two of those three years, does it?

When the Cavs were playing well, winning 18 of 19 games with Jose Calderon playing the point, we felt if Thomas came in and played like Calderon, albeit penetrating a little more often, the Cleveland offense would be unstoppable.

Instead, they have a player who seems to have his own agenda on the floor. Thomas is forcing bad shots, driving into two or three players without leaving himself an angle to find a teammate, and all the while playing poor defense, which isn’t a surprise.

He seems like he is aware he will be a free agent at the end of this season, and is trying to put up numbers, instead of being part of a winning basketball team.

If he wants to see an example of how to make the transition, he could look at this current teammate, Kevin Love.

Love was a high volume scoring in Minnesota, on a team that never made the playoffs, and he changed his role in Cleveland.

Perhaps that’s the problem, as Thomas’ Celtics went to the Eastern Conference finals a year ago, with him playing the way he is now.

However, with the Cavs, Thomas is another weapon, not “the weapon”. He has the best player in the sport on his squad in LeBron James. He has another all star in Love, plus an all time great in Wade.

Thomas could be a big help to the Cavs if he would decide to fit in with the wine and gold style of play and learn to play off of James. Can he do that?

If not, then the Cavs probably have to make his tenure with the team a short one. They may not have a choice.

Tribe Fans Get To Celebrate A Hall Of Famer

It has been so long since a position player who played the majority of his career as a Cleveland Indian was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the writers, you would have had to have seen Lou Boudreau patrolling shortstop for the Tribe in the 1940’s.

And you thought the 52 year championship drought was a long time.

Boudreau was inducted into Cooperstown in 1970, so it has been 48 years until Jim Thome was voted yesterday into the Hall.

And make no mistake, Thome is a Cleveland Indian through and through.

The powerful left-handed hitter played 1399 of his games (out of 2543) as a Tribesman, hit 337 of his 612 home runs as an Indian, and knocked in 939 of his 1699 runs here.

For comparison, his next highest total for another team would be 529 games, 134 homers, and 362 RBIs as a Chicago White Sox player.

Thome is 8th all time in home runs, 26th in runs batted in, 7th in walks, 23rd in slugging percentage, and 18th in OPS.

Among the active players he is ahead of in the latter statistic are Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, who everyone regards as the most feared offensive players of today.

For those of you who still hold a grudge against Thome for leaving via free agency following the 2002 season, get over yourselves. You witnessed greatness, and you should appreciate that at the very least.

Think about it, from the team Boudreau left the Indians after the 1950 season until Thome made his debut on September 4, 1991, northeast Ohio fans didn’t get a chance to see a truly great player on an everyday basis.

True, we got to see Frank Robinson at the end of his career, Dave Winfield too, and Roberto Alomar spend three seasons at Jacobs Field, but all three had their best year’s elsewhere.

NOTE: Larry Doby played in Cleveland until 1955 and spent the ’58 season here too, but he was voted into Cooperstown by the Veterans’ Committee.

Cleveland fans have seen great pitching too, with Gaylord Perry, Dennis Eckersley, and Bert Blyleven taking the mound here for the good guys, but the last hurler who spent the majority of his career here was Bob Lemon, who was inducted in 1976.

Thome was here when Jacobs Field opened in 1994, he was part of the first Indians’ team to make the post-season since 1954. Heck, he caught the pop up that clinched the Central Division title in 1995.

He hit four home runs in that post-season.

He moved from third base to first base in 1997 when the Tribe traded for Matt Williams, and in game five of the ALDS against the Yankees, the deciding game, had a sacrifice bunt (he had only one in the regular season for his entire career) which set up Cleveland’s fourth run in what turned out to be a 4-3 victory.

He also made a diving stop in the field and turned it into a force out.

He’s the Tribe’s all time leader in home runs, walks, strikeouts, and intentional walks.

We hope that someday Thome is joined in Cooperstown by Omar Vizquel, and the Veterans’ Committee will see fit to honor Albert Belle and Kenny Lofton, two other greats from those teams of the 1990’s.

For now, savor the memories that Thome provided Tribe fans. It’s been a long time since the franchise had a Hall of Fame player. So, it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Tribe Starters Still Make Them Elite

There is no question this year’s off-season for the Cleveland Indians is not as exciting as last winter.

The biggest reason is a year ago, the Tribe brought in a big ticket free agent in Edwin Encarnacion and another bullpen arm in Boone Logan.

This year, most of the free agent news have been people leaving Cleveland. Relievers Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith went to Colorado and Houston respectively, while Carlos Santana (Philadelphia), Jay Bruce (New York Mets) and Austin Jackson (San Francisco) have also departed.

Even Logan is gone, signing with the Brewers.

Still, as spring training is a mere weeks away from commencing, Terry Francona’s team is the odds on favorite to defend their Central Division title, and they would still be considered one of the best teams in baseball.

The biggest reason for this is the Indians’ starting rotation, which may still be the best in baseball.

The starters ranked 2nd in Major League Baseball in ERA in 2017, ranking behind only the Dodgers, who have the advantage of playing in a league without the DH.

The only AL team within a half run of Cleveland’s 3.52 mark for starters is the Yankees, who had a 3.98 ERA. The World Champion Astros were at 4.03.

Among innings pitched for starting hurlers, two National League teams (Washington and San Francisco) led the majors, while the Tribe and Red Sox tied for the American League top spot.

Texas was next, a full 43 frames behind the leaders.

Indians’ starters also led the big leagues in strikeouts with 1066, 54 more than second place Washington and 65 more than the AL runner up, Boston.

And the Tribe’s rotation also narrowly edged the Yankees and Astros for the lowest batting average against.

That part of the team has been unaffected this winter. In fact, the Indians have six starters contending for the starting roles to start the season in Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, the man who finished fourth in the voting, Carlos Carrasco, and 17 game winner Trevor Bauer fronting the rotation.

They are backed up by Danny Salazar, who has as electric stuff as perhaps any of the three guys also mentioned, Mike Clevinger, who went 12-6 with a 3.11 ERA in 27 appearances (21 starts), and Josh Tomlin, who would be a middle of the rotation guys for many MLB teams.

Southpaw Ryan Merritt, who is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in five big league appearances, and Cody Anderson, who went 7-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 15 starts in 2015, before hurting his elbow and missing all of last year with Tommy John surgery.

Something has to give, because Merritt is out of options, and of course, since the Tribe will start the year with five starters, someone who started a year ago will have to begin this season in the bullpen.

We would guess since Anderson is coming off an injury, he will start the year at Columbus.

Julian Merryweather could make some starts at the big league level in 2018, and Cleveland still has Shawn Morimando and Adam Plutko at AAA too.

So they have some depth as well, although to be fair, none of those guys are even close to the six pitchers who made most of the starts in Cleveland in 2017.

That’s the big reason the Indians are still among baseball’s elite. Very few teams can put someone out there each and every night who has the ability to put zeroes on the scoreboard.

Francona always says when you think you have enough pitching, you go out and get more. It looks like the front office agrees.