Cavs’ Need to Stop Expirimenting

A little over a week ago, on November 20th, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost a home game to the Washington Wizards 98-91 to drop their record to 4-8. After beating the Wizards on the road in the previous game, this was a tough pill to swallow.

Following the contest, Mike Brown told the media that only one player played hard the entire night, rookie G Matthew Dellavedova. When the Cavs took the floor for the next game in New Orleans, the coach wanting to send a message to his team, started Dellavedova.

The wine and gold blew a 12 point lead late in the fourth quarter that night and they haven’t one a game since, getting blown out in their two road games (San Antonio and Boston) and dropping a home game to the Miami Heat.

In both the road games, the contest was basically over in the first quarter. Could that be because Cleveland doesn’t start their best players?

It is time for the coaching staff to go back to basics and start the games with veteran players to keep them in the game right from the get go.

Mike Brown needs to settle on a regular rotation to settle down the mess that the Cavs are becoming.

Let’s start at center. We get that the staff wants to start Andrew Bynum because he can get loose before the first and second halves, and there is no problem with that. The big man isn’t killing the team with his play and he needs the time to get his game back.

At power forward, Tristan Thompson needs to play more. The third year man from Texas is averaging 32 minutes per night, but in the last five games, all losses, he hasn’t played more than 26 per night, and has only scored in double figures once, and also only has one game with more than 10 rebounds.

He needs to play at least 30 minutes per night, and probably should get 33-35 minutes.

The small forward spot is a mess, but Earl Clark has to be shaking his head after last night. On Wednesday vs. Miami, Clark shot 5 of 11 from the floor scoring 13 points. Against Boston on Friday, he received 12 minutes.

Clark may have problems guarding small forwards, but he is a better shooter than Alonzo Gee. If Cleveland has the lead, Brown can give more time to Gee, a good defender to protect the lead.

In the backcourt, most people thought the idea would be that Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Jarrett Jack would split the time. We would start Irving and Jack, another veteran who can help the team get off to a good start, and use Waiters as the key offensive player on the second unit.

Irving should be out there for at least 36 minutes with Jack and Waiters splitting the other 60 at the guard spot.

The second unit should be Waiters and Gee, with Anderson Varejao backing up Thompson and Bynum. Brown needs to also work Tyler Zeller and Anthony Bennett in the rotation, and he should let them know when they are going to get into each game and give them time. As young players, they need that type of stability.

That is, of course until GM Chris Grant can deal Varejao to a contending team. The Brazilian has had a fine career in Cleveland, but with Thompson, Zeller, and Bennett needing minutes, it is time to cash in on the asset.

Brown’s statement about playing hard has the Cavs spinning out of control. It’s time to go back to basics and tonight’s game against the Bulls would be the perfect time to do it.

Ultimately, Cavs’ Offensive Woes are on Brown

Many coaches who get their second job will say the one thing they learned from their first opportunity is that they should be true to themselves. That way, when they ultimately get canned, they have only themselves to blame.

Mike Brown has now been fired twice from NBA coaching gigs, so you would have to assume that he has learned his lesson and is guiding his young team the way he wants to.

If he’s not, and he is placating his star player, which he was accused of in his previous tenure here, that is on the coach. At this point in Brown’s career, he should have learned to please himself.

That’s why the media people who were hammering Kyrie Irving for the last four minutes of the Cavs loss on Friday night, when they blew a 12 point lead with four minutes remaining, can’t have it both ways.

The criticism came from Irving taking every single shot for the wine and gold for a three and a half-minute period.

The simplistic Cavalier offense went back to the spread the floor and hope Irving can penetrate attack that was used when LeBron James was here and Brown was running things.

Is Kyrie a ball hog? Does he have confidence in his teammates? Has he bought into the hype that he’s one of the sports’ next superstars?

There is no question that Irving likes to show off his handle, and he may figure he’s the best option to take a shot in crunch time. It sometimes takes a long time to develop trust when you are an all-star type player.

And he wouldn’t be a great player if he didn’t have some sort of ego.

However, if the coach isn’t down with the way his point guard is playing at crunch time, he can take some action. He can sit the player next to him on the bench.

Now, we understand this will bring out the feelings of “Oh no, if we hurt Kyrie’s feelings, he will leave when he can”.

But Brown can’t feel that way. His job is to win games and make Kyrie Irving and his teammates better players.

The coach’s attitude has to be something to the effect of if I’m going to go down, I’m going to go on my terms. That, of course, is if he disagrees with the way Irving is taking over down the stretch of close games.

The feeling here is that if the coach doesn’t take Irving off the floor, then the Cavs’ offense in crunch time is exactly what Mike Brown wants.

Which also shifts the blame from the player to the coach.

Bobby Knight used to say that nothing gets the message to the brain quicker than when it is sent through the butt, meaning if a player loses playing time, he will correct the behavior.

We understand that Knight is old school and many of his methods don’t work today, but if Irving isn’t doing what the coaching staff wants, then Brown has no choice but to take him out.

So, what we are saying is that the media can’t have it both ways.

If they want to blame Irving for stagnating the wine and gold offense, then the coach should share the blame for allowing it.

If it’s not on Kyrie Irving and it’s the offensive plan, then that’s on Brown for having a simplistic offensive plan.

The point is the coach is responsible for why the Cavaliers’ offense is anemic at best. Yes, they’ve improved defensively, but that’s only half the game.

Steelers Drive Nail Into Browns’ Season

Some things are inevitable. The winter is cold, water is wet, and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers are struggling through a disappointing season, but they still managed to come to First Energy Stadium and paste the Browns, 27-11, ending the home team’s playoffs chances in more way than one.

The black and yellow squad also knocked out QB Jason Campbell with a head injury, meaning it’s back to Brandon Weeden, which is just another reason Rob Chudzinski’s team will once again not advance past 16 games.

At the bye week, several media people (and we agreed) said the Browns’ front office needed to bring in a running back and another quarterback seeing the alternative if something did happen to Campbell was Weeden. They failed to do either move, and now will watch Weeden once again prove to everyone he is not an NFL starting quarterback, probably for the next couple of games.

Pittsburgh had one of the league’s worst rushing defenses, yet the Browns could not exploit it, gaining only 55 yards rushing in 16 attempts.

The coaching staff will say the score dictated the passing game, but Cleveland came out and ran only five times in the first quarter (gaining 17 yards) on a cold and blustery day downtown.

When Chris Ogbonnaya ran for 10 yards on his first carry of the second quarter (the Browns’ first play of the quarter), it gave him two carries for 15 yards. He was given the ball just twice the rest of the game.

Of course, it didn’t help that on his next carry, he gained eight yards and moved into Steelers’ territory, but coughed up the ball for the second consecutive week. Pittsburgh turned the turnover into three points and a 13-3 lead going into the half.

Starting the second half, the Browns’ held on the 4th and 1, and starting marching into Pittsburgh territory to get back in the game, but that’s when Campbell was knocked out with a blow to the head (no penalty, either thanks to the great NFL officiating crew), resulting in a fumble and a return to the Browns’ four yard line, where the visitors promptly scored and ended the game for all intent and purposes.

From then on, it was a Chudzinski/Turner passing show, with Weeden throwing 29 times in the last quarter and a half, completing only 13 and throwing in a pick six by William Gay to top off another dismal performance.

The game story going in was the pressure the Browns’ defense had been putting on quarterbacks, but they registered no sack on Ben Roethlisberger today, while Cleveland passers were sacked five times and one was knocked out of the game.

Still, with 17 of the Steelers’ points coming as a result of turnovers by the offense, it is tough to blame Ray Horton’s unit. They actually pitched a shutout in the second half.

The defeat wasted a record-setting performance by WR Josh Gordon, who caught 14 throws for a team record 237 yards and a touchdown. Gordon continues to impress, despite people who want to constantly bring up any negative they can find about the second year wideout.

Over the years, we have maintained to be successful in the NFL, you have to run the ball, and you have to stop the run. The Cleveland Browns have mastered the latter, but they will continue to struggle until to do the former. And to do that, they must make a commitment to the running game, even though it’s a passing league.

Today’s defeat means it is time to start looking at 2014. However, if Brandon Weeden has to start most of the games remaining. Even the evaluation process will be difficult.

Signing Murphy Another Solid Move

The Cleveland Indians made a wise decision to sign former Texas Rangers OF David Murphy to a two year contract the other day.

Yes, Murphy is coming off a bad season in which he hit .220 with 13 HR and 45 RBI with a 646 OPS in 2013, but if he hit like he has for the rest of his career, his asking price would have been much higher.

Prior to last season, his lowest OPS in any season in which he played 100 or more games was 729. This happened in 2011, when he still hit .275 with 11 home runs.

For his career, he’s a .275 hitter with an OPS of 778. Now, since he played in Texas, an extreme hitter’s ballpark, his numbers could have been inflated, but he hit .284 in Arlington and .266 on the road, not a drastic difference.

To be fair, he did show more power in the Texas ballpark.

We know that Terry Francona likes to platoon if he has two players where it works and he seems to have that with Ryan Raburn and Murphy in right field.

Against right-handers, Murphy is a .280 hitter with a .347 on base percentage and a .469 slugging percentage. That makes him an outstanding offensive player against those pitchers.

Another thing we like about Murphy is that he puts the bat on the ball, striking out around 70-80 times per season every year since 2009. And as an added bonus, in 21 career games at Progressive Field, he hit .365 with 3 homers.

What this move means going forward is that Drew Stubbs will likely not be on the roster after December 2^nd, when teams have to offer players arbitration for next season.

Stubbs, acquired last season in the Shin-Soo Choo three-way deal, gave the Tribe plus defense and speed, but struggled at the plate.

It is doubtful the front office will want to pay him the $3-4 million he would likely get next season to be a part-time player/defensive replacement.

The Indians could also move Stubbs to centerfield and see what interest there is in Michael Bourn on the trade market. While this is unlikely, if GM Chris Antonetti wants to make a big splash in a trade or on a free agent, he would probably have to move a big contract.

Bourn was bothered by injuries, but he also didn’t have a good season, hitting just .263 on the season with an on-base percentage of .316, poor for a leadoff hitter. His OPS also dropped to 676, meaning he was a below average offensive player.

He’ll play next season at age 31, and his game is predicated on his speed, management may take a chance on moving him before his value decreases more.

Again, if Bourn is dealt it means the Tribe is freeing up money for a big time move. Otherwise, look for the veteran to be back in Cleveland in 2014 and leading off hoping to rebound from an off-season.

The next move for Antonetti will likely involve the pitching staff because the Indians have holes to fill in both the starting rotation and the bullpen. You have to believe Terry Francona wants a couple of veterans in those areas to replace guys like Ubaldo Jimenez and Joe Smith.

This isn’t going to be like last winter, when the Tribe signed Nick Swisher and Bourn. But if they keep making solid moves like the Murphy signing, it will be a good hot stove season on the North Coast.

Cavs’ Parts May Not Fit

Since the holiday season is upon on, it seems appropriate to refer to the roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers as the island of misfit toys.

This isn’t to denigrate the talent of some of the players, and really, it is not to rip on GM Chris Grant for his selections in the draft.

Grant’s job is to draft the most talented player available when it is his turn to pick. So, if he thought Anthony Bennett was the best player last summer (and it is way too early to judge otherwise) then you have to take him.

The problem with the roster is it is too heavy in some areas and it needs help in others. Our thought was that Grant could deal from strength to shore up the weaknesses, and he may do that in time, but he can’t wait much longer.

Let’s look at the power forward position. Currently, the wine and gold have four players that are primarily “fours”: Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Earl Clark, and Bennett.

Mike Brown tries to alleviate the problem by playing Varejao at center and Clark at small forward, but they give up a lot (Varejao—size, Clark-quickness) at those spots.

Most NBA teams use two power forwards on the roster, so right now, there is an overload there.

At the small forward, the Cavs have Alonzo Gee, a defensive specialist, and they can play swingman C. J. Miles there as well, although in limited minutes.

Gee doesn’t shoot well enough to be considered a problem for the player assigned to guard him, and Miles doesn’t have the size to be able to guard the elite small forwards of the league, although he is the one Cleveland player who has knocked down open shots thus far.

In the backcourt, the Cavaliers have the centerpiece of the current roster, point guard Kyrie Irving. Irving can score and set up teammates, and if he has a weakness, it’s that he loves his dribble.

It would be one thing if he were moving with the dribble, but more often than not, he’s at the top of the key bouncing the ball and going nowhere.

That could be because of the simplistic offense the coaching staff runs.

The other players who get time in the backcourt (along with Miles) are Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack, both combo guards rather than true off guards. This means both are more effective with the ball in their hands.

However, the coaching staff probably wants the ball in Irving’s hands.

You could have plays where the ball starts in Waiters or Jack’s hands and they set up Irving, but you would have to have something set up for that, and right now that doesn’t look to be the case.

So, the three-headed backcourt doesn’t seem to fit well together right now.

So, the pressure is on Grant to convert his superfluous parts into ones that can help this basketball team win and win now, because although there is talent on the roster, it doesn’t fit together.

There are too many players who have similar games, which is fine if they play at different times, but when you have to play Waiters and Jack at the same time or have Thompson and Varejao on the floor at the same time, it’s a problem.

If this team is going to start winning, this roster may have to be fixed. Grant has to make some moves to get this team to start putting games in the win column.

Bengals Show How to Score Without the Ball

After the first quarter of today’s game against Cincinnati, the Cleveland Browns looked like a team bound for the post-season.

They dominated the Bengals. Andy Dalton threw two interceptions to Joe Haden, one resulting in a touchdown, the first pick six of his career. The Bengals couldn’t run the ball either, and it appeared the Browns were going to get a huge win on the road and put themselves in great shape for an AFC North division crown.

Cleveland was even running the football well, as Chris Ogbonnaya had a 43 yard run, the longest of the year by a Cleveland running back and led 13-0. The era of good feeling ended on the Browns last play of the first quarter, when Jason Campbell was picked off by James Harrison.

Then came the nightmare of the second quarter and all of that went up in smoke as the Bengals scored 31 points in the stanza, and without any real offense either.

Dalton hit TE Jermaine Gresham on Cincy’s first play of the quarter to cut Cleveland’s lead to 13-7.

After a Spencer Lanning punt that was deflected giving the Bengals the ball on the Browns 38, it took five plays, one a flea flicker pass from Mohamed Sanu to Gio Bernard, to take the lead 14-13.

The momentum officially shifted.

On the subsequent drive, the Browns’ offensive line fell apart as Campbell was sacked and TE Jordan Cameron picked up a holding penalty.

The Browns started to throw the ball almost exclusively underneath, and did pick up two first downs the next time they had the ball, but Lanning’s next punt was blocked and run in for a touchdown. It was now 21-13 Cincinnati.

After another holding penalty, it took two plays for the Bengals defense to strike, forcing an Ogbonnaya fumble after a reception and Vontaze Burfict returned it for another score and the Bengals scored 28 unanswered points with their offense running just 10 plays.

And even though they were down just two scores and there was still more than a half to play, and the conditions weren’t exactly ideal, Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner decided to stop the running game almost completely.

They ran just once more in the first half, and the passes thrown were mostly of the checkdown variety.

The punting unit capped off a dreadful quarter by allowing a 27 yard return by Adam Jones to set up a Mike Nugent field goal. The 13-0 lead at the quarter had been turned into a 31-13 deficit.

At that point, Cincinnati had demonstrated no ability to move the ball against the Cleveland defense, yet they led by 18 points.

That fact made it very curious when Chudzinski went for it on 4th and 5 at the CIN34 on the Browns’ first series of the second half. He could have pinned the Bengals back with plenty of time.

He got away with it because Campbell hit Josh Gordon for a 74 yard touchdown pass on the next possession, closing the gap to 31-20.

Chudzinski’s gambling tendency got the best of him early in the fourth quarter, as he went for it on 4th and 3 at the Browns’ 27 with almost 11 minutes left in the game. The Browns were down 18 at the time, and that quickly became 21 as Nugent hit another field goal that didn’t need any gain by the Cincinnati offense.

The Bengals gained just 224 yards on the game and caused two turnovers. Horrible play by the punt block team (resulting in 14 points) and a huge fumble recovery which put another seven points on the board won this game for Cincinnati.

The coaching staff (once again) put their quarterback in a horrible situation by ignoring the running game and when they did run it was only on first down. There was no creativity. This on a day the Browns averaged five yards per carry.

In an ironic twist, former Brown Bobby Rainey, cut a few weeks ago by Cleveland, gained 160 yards for Tampa Bay today.

Maybe the offensive line simply doesn’t block for the run very well.

Despite the loss, the Browns are still very much in the playoff chase, just a game back for the second wild card spot, just a game behind the Dolphins and Jets.

A win next week against the Steelers at home and then against Jacksonville will put the Browns at 6-6 and right in the thick of it.

As long as the special teams improve and the coaching staff stays with the running game.

Why Don’t Fans Respect Santana?

Last night, Twitter was filled with rumors of a deal involving the Indians and Los Angeles Angels with the Tribe sending Corey Kluber to the west coast in exchange for slugger Mark Trumbo.

While both teams have denied the rumor and quite frankly, it doesn’t make much sense for the Indians from this point of view: It is very likely Cleveland will be losing two starting pitchers (Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir) to free agency, so it doesn’t make sense to trade another.

However, the debate then turned to a discussion of the merits of Trumbo, comparing him to current Indian C/1B/DH Carlos Santana.

It was surprising to find how little regard Tribe fans have for Santana, who is arguably (and statistically) the team’s second best offensive player behind Jason Kipnis.

The Angel’s slugger certainly has the traditional numbers, hitting 34 home runs and knocking in 100 runs last season with a .234 batting average.

However, if you look deeper into the numbers, it is very clear that Santana is a better offensive player.

Why? For one, he makes less outs with an on base percentage of .377 compared to Trumbo’s .294 figure. While some people pooh-pooh walks, they aren’t outs, so the offense moves on to the next player.

And while Trumbo belted 34 dingers compared to Santana’s 20 circuit clouts, the Tribe’s switch hitter had virtually the same slugging percentage (.455 vs. Trumbo’s .453).

However, Santana had nine more doubles in less official at bats because of the walks he takes.

So, in the two major categories that measure hitting effectiveness, the ability to get on base and the ability to move runners (slugging), Santana is superior.

And these aren’t subjective statistics either. They are measurable.

Both players are the same age (both will turn 28 in the first half of 2014), so there isn’t an advantage on the upside of either player.

You could assume that Santana may be more productive since he will likely be catching less next season as Terry Francona has publicly stated that Yan Gomes will be the starting catcher heading into training camp.

There aren’t many people who disagree that squatting behind the dish and taking foul tips off your body don’t help your offensive numbers.

Another statistic against Trumbo is his strikeout rate, which continues to go up. In his rookie year of 2011, the right-handed hitter fanned 120 times.

That number increased to 153 times in ’12 and last year, he whiffed 184 times. That’s Mark Reynolds territory.Still, what is surprising to us is how little Tribe fans regard Santana.

Is he a gold glove catcher? No, but he’s not the worst defensive backstop in the American League either.

He’s not a guy who belts 30 homers, nor does he knock in a boatload of runs.

And he’s not the pure hitter that his idol, former Indians Victor Martinez is either.

However, he is a very good offensive player. The average American League player has an OPS of 725. Santana’s is 832.

We have always said a player who has an on-base percentage of .350 and a slugging percentage of .450 is a very good offensive player. Santana gets a check in both of those areas.

Carlos Santana will probably never win a league MVP, and he may never make an All-Star team. However, he is a very valuable commodity.

It’s a shame some baseball fans in Cleveland don’t realize it.

Cavs Victim of Unrealistic Expectations?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a victim of excessive expectations.

They won 24 games last season, and yet, some people were projecting them to win between 45-50 games this season, an incredible leap considering the wine and gold didn’t add a “franchise” type player over the summer.

They did add Mike Brown as coach, a man with a winning legacy in his time in the NBA, but a guy who has had one of the game’s best players on his roster every single year he has been a head coach in the NBA.

Sort of a Phil Jackson-lite, so to speak.

We always wondered how Jackson would do if he didn’t have Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant on his team. Now, Brown may show us what would happen in his place.

Brown has a sterling reputation as a defensive coach, and one look at last season’s Cavaliers would show you the wine and gold needed to change their mindset about playing on that end of the floor.

Offensively, Brown needs help. His best offensive team in his previous stint in Cleveland was when John Kuester was on the staff handling it.

This year’s team looks like Brown’s early teams with LeBron James when the attack was little more than give the ball to James and hope something good happens. Except that Kyrie Irving isn’t the player that James is.

This isn’t to dismiss the play of the team thus far, nor do we insinuate that the Cavs will be a failure this season.

It’s only nine games in, and actually the Cavaliers are on a 41 win pace because they’ve lost all their games at home and lost all the road contests.

Brown’s team is also one with several new players (Andrew Bynum and Jarrett Jack) getting key minutes, another (Anderson Varejao) returning from injury, and still others (Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller) in just their second year in the league.

They are still getting to know each other and also getting better as players.

However, that doesn’t mean that the offensive scheme doesn’t mean to be changed.

When the Cavs have the ball, the offense is mostly run and pick-and-roll, and if that doesn’t work, then they look for someone to take the opponent off the dribble and go to the basket where he can score or pass to a wide open teammate.

That’s as simplistic of a scheme as you can get.

There is little motion away from the ball, nor are any screens set away from the ball to free someone up for an open look.

That may not seem like a big deal, but in close games against good defensive teams, you have to be able to execute offensively. There has to be a plan, and right now we don’t see one.

And we also don’t agree or believe the coach’s statement that they worked only on defense in training camp. High school and college coaches put in offenses and defenses in a four-week time period.

We don’t believe there was no opportunity to at least put in a workable motion offense to this point in the season.

It’s much too early to get discouraged about this basketball team; they’ve played only nine games. But people need to realize they may have been overly optimistic about this year’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

This isn’t a top tier playoff team in the Eastern Conference, and getting to that point was an unrealistic goal.

Tribe Needs to Spend, but Spend Wisely

Baseball’s General Managers’ Meetings take place this week, and thus the first trade rumors and maybe the first trade of the season will take place.

The first free agent signing may also happen.

Already, outrageous contracts are being talked about and the sabermetric people are justifying large contract demands for guys like Ricky Nolasco and Ervin Santana, based on what other players comparable to them received in the past.

The Cleveland Indians will stay away for these long-term, big money deals for pitchers who are a little above average. Not because they the ownership doesn’t want to spend the cash, but because they don’t make economic sense.

Yes, baseball is flush with cash because of the new television contract, and even the Tribe should be able to spend more than they normally would because of it. However, it won’t mean going crazy with deals that will hamstring the franchise’s ability to improve in the future.

We have written before the reason to make the qualifying offer to Ubaldo Jimenez is because it is a one year deal, and even if the right-hander goes back to 2012 form, the Indians can walk away after the season.

For proof, look at the contracts signed by Mark Reynolds and Brett Myers last season. Yes, it didn’t work out, but no harm, no foul. They were one year deals and they are over with. No problem going forward for GM Chris Antonetti.

It doesn’t make financial sense to give a five-year deal to a pitcher with a lifetime record of 89-75 and an ERA of 4.37 (Nolasco) or one who has a career mark of 105-90 with an ERA of 4.19 (Santana).

Instead, the Tribe may look toward older pitchers for a one or two-year deal to compliment Justin Masterson, Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, and Zack McAllister in the rotation. That’s why you’ve heard them connected on some sites to Tim Hudson (38 years old), Bronson Arroyo (37), and Bartolo Colon (41).

They may also take a shot on Josh Johnson, who has had some injury problems in the past, but will be just 30 years old next season.

Of course, they are still involved with trying to re-sign Scott Kazmir, who would like a three-year deal, and currently Antonetti is offering one. Looks like there is room for a compromise at two years (which we would do) with a club option for a third season.

The same goes for the bullpen, which could be losing Joe Smith, Matt Albers, and Rich Hill, and have already cut loose Chris Perez. The one area were the Tribe has organization depth is in the bullpen with C.C. Lee, Preston Guilmet, and Blake Wood, who appeared with the Indians last season, and relievers like Tyler Sturdivant, Austin Adams, Shawn Armstrong, and lefty Kyle Crockett, who was drafted last year, on the horizon.

And don’t forget Vinnie Pestano, who could make a comeback after his lost 2013 season. He wouldn’t be the first relief pitcher to have several good years, a horrible one, and then regain his effectiveness.

That’s why we would be shocked if the Indians contacted free agent reliever Joe Nathan, who will be 39 next year. This is not to say Nathan won’t be effective next season, but Antonetti can afford to spend the money in other places than at closer, where they have in-house alternatives like Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw.

The Indians will be active again this off-season, because that’s the new way of the organization since Terry Francona has come aboard. They will try to make the playoffs every year.

But the basic ideas of the organization will remain the same, and that is maintaining payroll flexibility. That means no huge deals to players who are a bit better than average.

Do Browns Need to Run the Ball?

The running game has certainly been de-emphasized in today’s NFL.

It used to be a tenet about good teams that they had to be able to run the ball and also be able to stop the run.

Earlier this week, Browns’ All Pro OT Joe Thomas scoffed about his team’s lack of a running game, saying something to the effect that it really isn’t important anymore.

Is he correct?

We looked at the top 10 rushing teams in the league this year and found more teams that are winning than losing.

The top two rushing teams to this point are Washington, who led the league last season and are currently sitting at 3-6 on the season after last night’s loss to Minnesota, and Philadelphia who are 4-5 on the 2013 campaign.

That certainly supports Thomas’ opinion that the ground game isn’t a prerequisite for winning.

However, looking at the rest of the top ten shows the following teams: Seattle (8-1), San Francisco (6-2), Green Bay (5-3), New England (7-2), New York Jets (5-4), and Kansas City (9-0).

Notice that several of those squads also have Pro Bowl caliber quarterbacks in Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, a possible future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers, and a definite enshrinee in Canton in Tom Brady.

The other two teams among the leaders are Buffalo (3-6) and Oakland (3-5). Thus, six of the ten having winning records.

Conversely, the worst running teams in the NFL shows only two teams with a winning record: New Orleans (6-2) and Dallas (5-4).

Atlanta (2-6) is the worst team in the NFL on the ground, followed by the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars at 0-8.

The Giants (2-6), the Ravens (3-5) and Pittsburgh (2-6) round out the top five.

So, what we can conclude is that you have a better chance of being successful if you can run the ball, which when you think about it, isn’t really a change in conventional wisdom.

That brings us to Thomas’ team, the Cleveland Browns, who rank 25^th in the NFL in rushing.

A closer look shows that coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator have had to be very creative in getting some of the yards on the ground the Browns have accumulated.

The trick/gadget plays used by Turner have accounted for 15% of Cleveland’s running game. That would include reverses by WRs Josh Gordon and Travis Benjamin, plays out of the wildcat formation by MarQueis Gray, and the fake punt by Josh Aubrey that went for 34 yards.

Taking away those eight plays would lower the Browns’ average yards per carry by a half yard (3.7 to 3.2), and the latter figure would rank third worst in the National Football League.

The flaw in Thomas’ logic is that if you are a good team, a winning team, you have to be able to run the football to protect leads. In reality, the Browns were lucky to be able to burn over six minutes off the clock last Sunday in the victory over Baltimore.

As the weather conditions at home get more severe, the ability to run the football will become more and more important.

That’s why the front office needs to do something during the bye week to improve this aspect of the game.

If the Browns want to be a winning team, perhaps one that can make the playoffs, they have to be able to run the ball, particularly late in games.

A majority of the good teams in the NFL can do just that.