No Matter Who’s Making Decision, Browns Need to Get It Right

Most people’s assessment of Browns’ CEO Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi is they think of themselves as the smartest people in the room.

The team’s search for a new coach isn’t really supporting that argument.

It is clear at this point that when the Browns (most likely owner Jimmy Haslam) decided to fire Rob Chudzinski, they didn’t have a plan to hire his successor. It appears to be a knee-jerk reaction by someone, probably Haslam, after a seven game losing streak to end the season.

Sounds a little bit like what goes on in Washington and their owner Daniel Snyder, a man who is the butt of jokes by people who work in and cover the National Football League.

That’s not what we thought we were getting when Haslam bought the team from the reclusive Randy Lerner.

So, the view here is now Banner and Lombardi have to clean up that mess, which isn’t a great job, but one they are paid pretty handsomely to do.

There isn’t anyone out there that is going to create a buzz with the Cleveland football fan, although that really shouldn’t be a consideration. It’s more important to hire the right man for the job. Remember, no one had really heard of Mike Tomlin when the Steelers chose him, and as Banner would put out, Andy Reid wasn’t greeted with fanfare when he got the job with the Eagles, either.

The front office asked for permission to hire Denver offensive coordinator Adam Gase early in the process, but Gase decided to not interview for any job until the Broncos are eliminated from the playoffs. Maybe Gase takes the job and the Browns can say they got their man, but supposedly Minnesota wants him too.

The problem that Chudzinski’s firing after one year has caused is it makes other candidates leery of taking the job because of security. Yes, head coaches are highly paid in the professional football, but they are still human beings and they want to have some assurance that they will get more than a year to produce results.

Haslam’s decision isn’t helping attract candidates.

Neither are the rumors that Banner and Lombardi want to limit the new coach’s authority in terms of the roster. We have been advocates in the past of not giving coach’s total control because they favor the players they brought in, even if they aren’t cutting it.

However, the coach needs to feel like he’s part of the process, not that it’s Banner and Lombardi’s show and the coach is a replaceable part.

There is going to be negativity about this ownership/front office until winning starts taking place on Sunday. The main problem with Haslam and his crew is that the Browns went 5-11 in 2012, and finished with a worse record in 2013.

While the roster may be more talented (they are quick to point out five Pro Bowlers), until the progress shows up in the win column, fans are going to be skeptical.

They don’t want to hear about “the process” anymore. Other teams in the NFL turn around on the yearly basis. This year it was the Chiefs, last year it was the Colts.

It’s never the Browns.

There seems to be uncertainty in Berea regarding who is in charge now. Is it Haslam calling the shots on the new coach? Is it Banner?

Fans want to see an open search. Why isn’t Mike Munchak (22-26 with no QB in Tennessee) interviewed? How about Jack Del Rio (68-71 with two playoff appearance in Jacksonville)?

Regardless, fans really can’t judge any hire until the games start in September. That being said, the Browns need to get this hire right.

Time for Tribe to Honor Albert Belle

Over the last few years, the Cleveland Indians have honored several of the players from their playoff teams of the late 90’s by putting them into the club’s Hall of Fame.

Sandy Alomar Jr. was the first to go in, fitting because he was the first piece of the puzzle when the Tribe traded for him after the 1990 season.

Kenny Lofton and Charles Nagy quickly followed him and last year, Carlos Baerga received the honor.

And there is no doubt that Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez will be inducted some day very soon, but their playing days ended too recently to be considered.

However, there is one name that is missing. The central figure for the first few years of the winning seasons including the strike shortened 1994 season and the American League Championship team of 1995.

It is time for the Indians to put Albert Belle in the franchise’s Hall of Fame.

We realize Belle’s departure from Cleveland as a free agent after the 1996 season was not exactly friendly and he antagonized the fan base when he came back to the lakefront as a member of the White Sox in subsequent visits. But you can’t ignore the fact that he’s one of the best players ever to wear an Indian uniform.

The slugger hit 242 home runs with the Tribe, leaving town as the franchise leader (he was passed by Jim Thome), and hit .295 with a 949 OPS in 913 games as a member of the team.

He led the American League in runs batted in three times with Cleveland, as well as leading the AL once in home runs, doubles, and runs scored once in his tenure here.

And in his last three seasons on the north coast, he finished second twice and third once in the MVP voting.

Of course, baseball historians will wonder years from now why Belle didn’t win the award in 1995 when he batted .317 (8^th in the league) with 50 HR (led league) and 126 RBI (tied for AL lead) on the best team by far in the junior circuit.

He hit at least 34 home runs the last five seasons in Cleveland, and knocked in at least 100 runs in those seasons as well. The significance of that is the 1994 season, the strike season, lasted only 113 games.

Yes, Belle was a controversial figure to be sure. He was suspended early in his career for different issues, and was once sat down because of a corked bat.

However, we also may have been the most studious players in the game when it came to his craft. He studied opposing pitchers and made adjustments.

In game five of the ’95 World Series, Belle went to school on new Hall of Famer Greg Maddux’ pitching him away and homered to right field in the first inning.

There is no question when you went to an Indians’ game in those days; you waited in your seat for Albert Belle to come to the plate. If you were at home, you made sure you were watching when Belle was hitting.

He was a “must see” player.

The Indians haven’t announced their honoree for the 2014 season yet, and the lately the antagonism between the Tribe and Belle has softened, so maybe he will get the nod.

But if they aren’t considering Albert Belle, they should. And we have a feeling when Belle is inducted, the fans will respond with a thunderous ovation.

Cleveland is a forgiving city, and they want to open their arms for the most exciting player to wear a Tribe uniform over the last 50 years.

Cavs Show They Are Going For It, Getting Deng

Over the past few weeks, we have been critical of the way the Cleveland Cavaliers roster has been put together and the inaction of the team’s GM, Chris Grant.

Early this morning, Grant finally did something and also cashed in some of the assets he’s been collecting over the past few seasons.

Grant dealt Andrew Bynum, a player who had worn out his welcome in Cleveland for whatever reason, and three future draft picks to the Chicago Bulls for two-time all-star small forward Luol Deng.

Finally, the wine and gold have a legitimate small forward.

Deng can be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, but it is refreshing to see a Cleveland team close to a post-season berth take a chance and try to make the playoffs instead of collecting more tickets for the draft lottery.

Let us remind you that even though the Cavs are 11-23 on the season, they are just three games out of the eighth seed in the weak Eastern Conference.

We have been bemoaning the balance of the roster for a few weeks now, as our feeling is it is made up of point guards and power forwards.

The Duke alum is still just 28 years old (turning 29 in April) and is averaging 19.0 points per game this year, a figure that would put him second on the Cavs. He’s also grabbing seven rebounds a night and is a solid defender (2^nd team all defense in 2011-12), which should make Mike Brown happy.

He’s a career 16.0 point scorer and is a 46% lifetime shooter from the floor. He’s a quality player and quite frankly is the second best player wearing the wine and gold.

And you basically gave up nothing to sign him, because the draft picks are something a young team doesn’t need. Why add more youth, and the players coveted by the people who value the unknown may never be as good as the newest Cavalier.

Bynum was a risk when the Cavs inked him to a two-year deal last summer, having not played at all last season. He showed some flashes of playing well, most notably a 20 point effort against the Bulls ironically. However, Cleveland basically paid him to go home a little over a week ago.

For the Cavs to turn him into an all-star in Deng is unbelievable.

Hopefully, there are still more moves to come because the team is still top-heavy with guards who need the ball and power forwards. For example, where does Mike Brown find minutes for first overall pick Anthony Bennett.

Now the onus for success shifts toward the coach, who needs to shorten his rotation to nine players.

For right now, the starting lineup will have two players who can shoot (Deng and C.J. Miles) to go with Kyrie Irving.

Our proposal is to use Irving, Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack at guards with Miles getting time at both shooting guard and small forward with Deng.

Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Bennett, and Tyler Zeller should divide the big men spots.

That would leave Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark as the odd men out.

What is clear is the Cavs have a better mix of talent today than they did yesterday, and their GM used an asset to improve his basketball team.

Whether or not it translates to success on the floor is now up to the coaching staff.

Hard To Criticize Possible Move for Gasol

The Cleveland Cavaliers rehired Mike Brown as coach because they wanted to re-establish a defensive identity.

Last season, they ranked 25th in the NBA in points allowed per game at 101.2 and were the league’s worst team in defensive field goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot 47.6% from the floor.

However, this season the Cavs have actually allowed more points per game at 101.3, but their defensive field goal percentage has dropped to 16th in the Association at 45.1%.

The wine and gold is actually rebounding better defensively as well, ranking last in the NBA in 2012-13, and this year improving to 14th.

So, the case can be made that the Cavaliers do play better defense, which is what Brown was brought in to accomplish.

While we have been critical of Brown’s ability to coach offensive basketball, how does the scoring compare to last season?

Last season, the Cavs scored 96.5 points per night, and shot 43.4% from the floor. This year, the points are down to 95.5 (one point per game) and the shooting percentage has also dropped to 42.2%.

So, Cleveland has improved the frequency with which their opponents make shots, but they are still allowing the same amount of points while they are scoring less than last year.

Therefore, there hasn’t been any improvement in total.

The record hasn’t improved all that much as Byron Scott’s team was 7-25 after 32 games, while this year’s edition of the Cavs is sitting at 11-21.

It’s the lack of dramatic improvement that gets basketball fans in Cleveland antsy. Many people thought the natural progression of young players, the return to health of Anderson Varejao, and the addition of Andrew Bynum could get the Cavaliers over the .500 mark and into the playoffs.

The return to the playoffs is still a possibility as the wine and gold is still just three games out of a post-season spot despite their mediocre record.

That’s why a change is needed and the quicker the better.

With the amount of youth on this basketball team, there isn’t a huge gain to be made by making the draft lottery again. To be sure, the fans and media who believe that everyone in the draft is great will disagree, but really, GM Chris Grant needs to change the culture of losing that has seeped into the franchise since LeBron James departed.

That’s why if Grant can get C/F Pau Gasol from the Lakers for Bynum, he should do so immediately.

If Gasol comes here with the right attitude, and he hasn’t had any character issues in the past, he would provide a player who has been on winning teams and would also provide a legitimate scoring threat, averaging 15.3 points per night this season.

Remember, the Cavs are dealing a player they no longer want in Bynum and perhaps, if the rumors are true, a wing player who has fallen out of the rotation in Alonzo Gee, so it’s hard to be critical of the move.

Plus, Gasol can be a free agent at the end of the year, which helps with salary cap implications.

It still doesn’t address the need of a legitimate #2 guard and/or a small forward, positions the Cavs need to take a leap in the standings and also to balance the roster, but it is getting something for nothing.

However, Grant then needs to make another move to bring in players at other spots besides guards who handle the ball who can score. And he needs to do that as quickly as possible.

The Cavs need to do anything they can to make the playoffs and show young players like Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Tristan Thompson what it’s like to experience playoff basketball.

That’s what the “draft people” don’t get. The franchise needs to take a step forward and the quicker the better.

GM Grant Needs to Add Shooter

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a struggling basketball team.

They’ve had four draft picks in the top four of the draft over the last three years. They’ve hired a new coach. They’ve taken some chance on the free agent market.

Yet, to date, the result is the same. They continue to struggle and right now they are sitting at 10-21 on the season, and are on pace to win 27 games, a mere three more than last season, a record that got their coach, Byron Scott, fired.

That would seem to put the onus squarely on the shoulders of GM Chris Grant.

Grant has brought in some talented players, with the prime example being Kyrie Irving, the first overall pick in 2011, won the NBA Rookie of the Year, and has made an all-star team.

Outside of this year’s first overall pick, Anthony Bennett, the other two players who were selected in the top four of the draft were power forward Tristan Thompson, a solid player in the league and Dion Waiters, who has shown ability since entering the league last year.

So, Grant hasn’t taken any stiffs, with the disclaimer that it is still way too early to make any judgment on Bennett, who’s only 31 games into his rookie season.

Still, it seems that the GM hasn’t put together a basketball “team”, meaning the mix of talent hasn’t been working.

While we have supported Grant’s talent evaluation in the past, we did so thinking he would convert the duplicate talent he has at certain positions and convert them where the team’s weaknesses are.

The wine and gold have a plethora of power forwards in Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Earl Clark, and Bennett and a bounty of point guard types in Irving, Waiters, and Jarrett Jack.

This forces Mike Brown to have to play two power forwards and two point guards for much of the game. That’s not a good mix offensively and defensively.

What the Cavaliers do not have are shooters. Sure, Irving won the three point shooting contest last season, but he’s more of a penetrating guard than a pure shooter.

The odd thing is, these types of guys should be fairly easy to obtain, a lot of them bounce around the league like Kyle Korver and J.J. Redick.

That’s what is lacking with the Cavs right now. They don’t have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket from outside.

So when Irving and Waiters get into the lane with dribble penetration, they don’t have options to kick it out to, which makes the defense protect the basket all the more, making it tougher for those guys to score.

The extra power forwards aren’t as critical because Brown can use them, along with Tyler Zeller at center to alleviate some of the logjam, but the imbalance in the backcourt and at the small forward spot isn’t providing a winning mix.

On New Year’s Eve, the Cavs played the Indiana Pacers even for three quarters, but simply couldn’t make shots in the fourth quarter, being held to eight points for most of the quarter.

When a guard did get into the paint, there was the overwhelming presence of Roy Hibbert, and when the ball got kicked outside, they don’t have a reliable shooter.

If anything is to be salvaged this season, Grant has to act quickly. As it stands, the wine and gold can still make the playoffs despite their mediocre record.

In basketball, pure talent isn’t the only determining factor. You have to have the right mix and the Cavaliers don’t.

It’s on Chris Grant to make the correct moves and balance out his roster. And he needs to do it sooner than later.

A Coach’s Life Isn’t Fair, Just Ask Chud the Scapegoat

It turns out that Rob Chudzinski received just one year to try to turn around the Cleveland Browns, getting fired last night after a 4-12 season.

Did Chudzinski do a great job coaching this season? No, but he deserved another season to see if he would do better with a quality draft and therefore a better roster. Instead, he became the sacrificial lamb for a front office sensing more anger in an already disgruntled fan base.

The former head coach did make mistakes, most notably in his judgment of QB Brandon Weeden. Although Weeden did play well in the first two exhibition contests, it was clear early on that the football team didn’t respond to him.

However, isn’t the bigger miscalculation by Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi, who didn’t get another quarterback after the season ending injury to Brian Hoyer with the Browns having a 3-2 record. When Weeden struggled in games against Detroit and Green Bay after being put back in the lineup, the coaching staff had no other alternative than Jason Campbell.

And after Campbell became the starter, it made Weeden the only alternative going forward. That’s not on the coach, that’s on the personnel department.

We have been critical of the Browns’ ignorance of the running game, but what choice did they have after Banner and Lombardi dealt Trent Richardson to the Colts for a first round pick in 2014. Yes, it was a good deal (Joe and Mike can pat themselves on the back), but it left the squad without a legitimate running threat.

It would seem to be another case of the personnel people letting the coaching staff down.

Another thing that let Chudzinski down was the defense. After the Browns’ lost to the Steelers in Cleveland to drop to 4-6 on the year, they lost three games in which they scored a total of 85 points. That’s an average of 28 points per game.

However, Ray Horton’s unit allowed 97 points in those games against Jacksonville, New England, and Chicago. And the first two of those games were fourth quarter collapses by the defense.

Had the Browns won two of those games, they would have ended the year at 6-10. Would Chudzinski have been fired then?

Yes, your record is what it says it is, but the former coach was offensive minded and somehow he pasted together a plan (with Norv Turner) to put up 28 points with no running game and a veteran journeyman quarterback.

But he loses his job because the owner and front office want better results?

Supposedly, the team made the decision after the Jets’ game, which came one week after the Browns scored 31 points against Chicago. That means yesterday’s game didn’t figure in the decision.

So, the coach has one bad game and the decision is made to jettison the coach.

Many in the media are complimenting Haslam on a “bold” move. But, it says here he comes off looking like Jerry Jones or Daniel Snyder, an impetuous owner who makes knee jerk reactions. The bold move would have been to see what Chudzinski could do with a year of head coaching experience under his belt.

Nobody wanted Haslam to be like the reclusive Randy Lerner, but with this move he comes off as a meddler.

Firing the coach puts the pressure squarely on the owner and his hand-picked people (Banner and Lombardi) to win and win now. That’s something that has been needed in Berea, but we’re not sure they had to relieve the head coach of his duties to establish it.

The Browns’ Continue to Be a Farce

Only the Cleveland Browns can overshadow another defeat in Pittsburgh on the last game of the season with the surprising rumor that they are firing their head coach after one year on the job.

But that’s what happened as the Browns finished the season with a six game losing streak finishing the campaign at 4-12 and securing the fourth overall pick in next May’s draft.

So, the team did improve in one area, they have a higher pick in the draft, going from sixth to fourth.

Today, the yardage was virtually the same (293 vs. 292), the turnovers were the same (two apiece), but still the Browns lost by 13 points, mostly because they decided to go for it three times in Steeler territory when they would’ve attempted field goals.

Still, that decision isn’t sufficient enough to fire a coach after one season when the front office basically punted the draft, trading picks this year for more next year, traded their starting running back after two games and then not replacing him, and played the first few games of the season without a pro level right guard.

There will be more discussion of that if and when the news becomes official.

As for today’s game, the Browns first offensive series summarized the philosophy for the season. Edwin Baker, who gained 69 yards on 18 carries, gained five yards on first down. They passed on the next two plays.

The Browns averaged four yards per carry again today, but ran it only 20 times on a rainy and windy day. Pittsburgh trusted the run game with 29 attempts.

They also went most of the first half ignoring Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon as well. We realized the Steelers were trying to stop Gordon, but it doesn’t seem to make other teams stop going to their best player.

Gordon did wind up grabbing seven passes for 82 yards.

The other bright spots were S Tashuan Gipson, who had an interception of Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger, his fifth of the season, a team high.

Another Pro Bowler, TE Jordan Cameron, has a solid game with five catches for 69 yards, and ILB Craig Robertson, who has struggled in the second half of the year in pass coverage, also had an interception.

However, the discussion during most of the game locally, was the news about a possible change in the coaching staff.

We have said previously that the ownership and front office must stress to everyone that losing is not acceptable. They didn’t exactly send that message with the trade of Trent Richardson, no matter how well it worked out.

When the Browns won going into the bye week, sitting at 4-5 after a win over Baltimore. We implored the organization to improve the team by adding a running back and getting another quarterback in case Jason Campbell got hurt. They needed to get one because it was clear Brandon Weeden couldn’t do the job.

On the other hand, the Steelers started the year at 0-4, and rebounded to finish at 8-8, and a possible playoff spot. Why? Because they are used to winning. The organization wanted to win.

They didn’t sit at 0-4 and think, we could get a good draft pick. They worry about each season as it unfolds.

The Browns continue to be like the sign in the bar: We’ll be good next year!

Lack of Waiters Takes Away Huge Chunk of Cavs’ Offense

The Cleveland Cavaliers have hit a wall since Dion Waiters went down with a sprained wrist, losing four of their last five, following a skein where they won five of six.

That stretch made it appear that the team was turning a corner and at 9-13 following the winning streak, they looked poised to challenge the .500 mark, which in the Eastern Conference would certainly get you in the playoffs.

Casual fans throughout northern Ohio were also talking about how the offense had picked up with the wine and gold scoring over 100 points five games in a row. They were quick to point out that Mike Brown’s offense was working.

But Waiters injury has sent the Cavaliers into a tailspin. Why? Is he that important to this basketball team?

How can that be since he is supposedly a malcontent?

The reason can be explained by examining Brown’s offense.

In today’s Plain Dealer, Terry Pluto discusses how the Cavs’ shooting percentage and scoring are down from last year. This drop in offensive efficiency has offset the improvement made on the defensive end.

As we have discussed before, Cleveland’s attack is predicated on dribble penetration, and right now, the Cavs only have two players who can take defenders off the dribble consistently: Kyrie Irving and Waiters. This means the latter’s absence cuts the number of players who can perform the primary tenet of the offense down to one.

Watch tonight’s game. There is very little movement away from the basketball. And in close games, where defenses tighten up, it becomes increasingly more difficult for players to get to the basket. That’s why the wine and gold struggle in late game situations. They spend 3/4 of the shot clock trying to get to the basket, and have precious little time to set up a good shot.

Instead, why not pick away from the ball to free up an open and very makeable mid-range jump shot or even open up a driving lane for someone else to get to the basket?

The Cavaliers’ shooting percentage is down because they are forced to take bad shots with the shot clock winding down because there is no offensive plan.

C. J. Miles was hitting shots early in the year, scoring 86 points in his first six games (14.3 ppg), but since, he has scored in double figures just three times, scoring just 6.2 per night. The closest anyone has come to picking up the perimeter shooting has been Earl Clark.

They can be effective when the defense is playing well, and they are forcing missed shots and getting out to run the floor, because they aren’t in half court situations. We also see Irving trying to force tempo off of made shots to get the Cavs into situations where they can get a good look before the opposing defenses are set up.

So, what is the solution?

Well, there are two. First, they could get one or two more players who can get to the basket on a regular basis. Then, the Cavs can spread the floor and open up the court to create driving lanes.

Or, they could develop an offense that has some movement away from the ball to free players up for open mid-range jump shots. At this point in the season, that would certainly be more difficult.

Brown has tried to develop a low post presence with Andrew Bynum in the game, and that has helped. Bynum most definitely draws a double team down low, which leaves someone open. Starting Clark at small forward would provide two outside shooting threats (along with Miles) to go with the inside out game.

The points total is starting to climb, but the Cavalier offense isn’t really more effective. Getting Dion Waiters back in the lineup would be a start in making the attack a lot better.

Browns’ Defense Can’t Handle a Lead (Again!)

Another Sunday, another loss for the Cleveland Browns, who dropped their sixth straight game in the Meadowlands, 24-13 to the Jets.

Today’s defeat had a typical twist, with WR David Nelson, deemed not good enough to make the Browns in training camp, caught two touchdown passes (6 and 5 yards) to exact revenge on the guys who cut him.

Defensively, once again, Ray Horton’s crew couldn’t stand prosperity. The Browns took a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, and really, at that point in the game were dominating the Jets. The score would’ve been 17-0 because the offense couldn’t score after having a first down inside the NY five yard line.

As soon as Cleveland finally did get in the end zone on a 5-yard run by Edwin Baker, his second rushing touchdown in two weeks with 6:47 to go in the half, the defense allowed QB Geno Smith and the Jets to march right down the field for a touchdown in 13 plays, including four key third down conversions. There was 1:18 left in the second quarter.

The coaching staff decided to keep the ball in the air instead of running the clock and going into the locker room with a 10-7 advantage.

On the first play after the punt, the defense allowed RB Bilal Powell to run up the middle for 39 yards into Cleveland territory and gave Rex Ryan’s team a new lease on life. Three plays later, including an unnecessary roughness penalty on Tashaun Gibson, and the Jets’ Nick Folk kicked a chip shot field goal to tie the game at halftime.

The defense, who had been stout against the run all season long until last week, was gashed again and again, allowing 209 yards on the ground. Considering the plan should have been to make Smith throw the ball considering his 21 interceptions on the season, this was totally unacceptable.

This week when Horton gets his time with the media, he shouldn’t be spouting numbers showing how well his unit is really playing. The past two weeks, they have been battered. And once again, the defense didn’t sack Smith, which more often than not has been the case recently.

Offensively, there was the obligatory dropped passes, including one in the end zone by Greg Little, who should thank the coaching staff every week for their patience, because it’s hard to believe he would get this much of an opportunity with any other team in the NFL.

QB Jason Campbell didn’t have a good day either, but the drops didn’t help. He hit on just 18 of 39 throws for 178 yards and one interception. You would think because Campbell didn’t play well, Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner might mix in the run more.

Well, you’d be wrong.

Baker carried just 17 times for 64 yards, almost four yards per shot, and in total, Cleveland averaged 5.5 yards per running play.

Even though it’s a passing league, you still have to run the ball in the NFL to win. The front office and coaching staff simply have ignored this part of the game.

WR Josh Cooper subbed for Davonne Bess and played like the organization expected the veteran to play, grabbing four catches for 26 yards.

This is another example of the different agenda the organization has had all year. They traded for Bess, and he was going to get every opportunity to show what he could do.

So, with one game left at Pittsburgh, the Browns are staring at seven straight loss to end the season in the face.

Until everything done in this organization is about winning and winning now, nothing is going to change in Berea. No matter who they take in the draft, Joe Banner has to turn around the attitude, one that he and his staff came into the year with.

Stop looking to next year!

Small Moves, Good Moves for Tribe

The baseball winter meetings came and went for the Cleveland Indians without any moves.

However, in the week after the get together, the Tribe started adding some pieces, mostly to upgrade the pitching staff, and in particular, the bullpen.

First, GM Chris Antonetti added reliever John Axford, presumably to be the leading candidate to be the closer.

The right-hander led the National League in saves in 2011 with 46 for the Brewers and had 35 more in ’12. That year, his home runs allowed started to rise and last year, his strikeouts dropped to just one per inning.

Keep in mind; he fanned 179 in 143 innings in ’11 and ’12 combined.

He pitched well for the Cardinals down the stretch and in the post-season after being traded to them last season.

We feel he is in the same position as Vinnie Pestano, a pitcher who has had a great deal of success for two or three years, and simply just had a bad season. It wouldn’t be a surprise if both hurlers didn’t bounce back in 2014.

He averaged 95 MPH on his fastball last year, so his troubles weren’t a result of losing his stuff.

A few days later, the Indians signed RHP Shaun Marcum to a minor league deal. Marcum has had success in the past in Toronto and Milwaukee but had some circulation troubles last year with the Mets. Those problems were taken care of with surgery, so he should be ready.

Marcum is typical of the low risk, high reward signings Antonetti specializes in. Certainly, the Tribe’s success in taking care of rehabbing pitchers probably draws pitchers who are coming off injuries.

If the right-hander is sound, he can be a middle of the rotation starter. He’s basically this year’s version of Scott Kazmir, and much like him, he’s not a guy Terry Francona can count on going into spring training, so the Indians still need rotation help.

Yesterday, Antonetti pulled off a deal, sending OF Drew Stubbs to Colorado for LHP Josh Outman, a LOOGY. Stubbs is a fourth outfielder type with good speed, a good glove, and a guy who strikes out a ton.

Outman will help in the bullpen, as he held left-handed hitters to a batting average under .200 for his career. He will take Rich Hill’s place in the ‘pen.

What the Stubbs deal really does is free up money. The outfielder would have received somewhere between $3-$4 million in arbitration had he went that route, so trading him frees up that money in the Cleveland budget.

(Of course, we’ll ask again…where did that national television contract cash go?)

That money should help in getting a legitimate starting pitcher to slot between Justin Masterson and Danny Salazar in the rotation. And if that’s the case, then the trade is really a no-brainer.

With the addition of David Murphy and the likelihood that he and Ryan Raburn will platoon in right field, Stubbs became superfluous.

And the Indians, in their mid-market situation, can’t afford to pay players who won’t get a lot of at bats, $3 million per year.

We still see a big acquisition this winter for the Tribe, probably a starter, and dealing Stubbs is a step in that direction. Picking up a guy who can be a useful relief pitcher is icing on the cake.

Remember that last year, fans scoffed at getting players like Kazmir, Jason Giambi, and Raburn. They worked out in these cases, but seriously, what’s the harm in taking a chance on guys like them.

Hopefully, one of the players who joined the organization this week can have the same effect on the 2014 Tribe.