Since the Cleveland Cavaliers lost one of the game’s best players, there is a lot of speculation on what they should do next.  One of the popular theories out there is the team should go into total rebuilding mode, dealing most of its better players in an effort to get back in the lottery and draft the game’s next all star.

 

That is a high risk, low reward plan of attack.

 

When the Cavs won the draft lottery in 2003, they had one of the top picks in one of the greatest drafts in recent history.  Besides LeBron James going first, Carmelo Anthony went third, and James’ new teammates Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were also in the top five picks. 

 

Those kind of players don’t come out every year, so losing and getting one of the top picks doesn’t guarantee success. 

 

In 2004, Orlando won the lottery and picked Dwight Howard, but many thought Emeka Okafor would be a difference maker as the second pick to Charlotte.  He wasn’t and the best player picked that year in the top 10 is probably Andre Iguodala, with Devin Harris, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng also being lottery picks.  Not a lot of playoff appearances after Howard. 

 

In 2005, Milwaukee chose Andrew Bogut with the first pick, although the best players selected among the lottery picks were guards Deron Williams (3rd overall) and Chris Paul (4th).  The only player to be on an NBA title team in the top 10 is Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum, who was the 10th selection.

 

In 2006, the Toronto Raptors had the first pick and took Andrea Bargnani, who is averaging 13 points and five rebounds in his career.  LaMarcus Aldride and Adam Morrison were the next two picks.  The best player taken in the top ten is Blazers’ guard Brandon Roy, the sixth selection in the draft.

 

2007 saw Ohio State’s Greg Oden taken ahead of Kevin Durant, who has become the best player in that draft, and one of the best players in the NBA.  Al Horford, Jeff Green, and Joakim Noah were other notable top ten picks.

 

So, in the five year span including 2003 through 2007, the first pick in the draft turned out to be a superstar in the league twice, James and Howard in 2003-04.  Derrick Rose was the #1 overall pick in 2008 and he is a tremendous player, so you could raise the proposition that you have a 50-50 shot of getting a franchise player if you get the first pick. 

 

However, there are just two appearances in The Finals for those players, and no titles. 

 

The other three years saw the best player in the draft going later in the first round, ranging from the second pick (Durant) to the sixth pick (Roy).  Therefore, if you are going to lose on purpose, you better be in the right half of the guessing pool.

 

And looking at the top ten of each of these drafts, there are more misses and average NBA players picked in the beginning part of the draft than there are all star type players.  So, general managers and amateur GM should have a better alternative or at least a supplement to getting into the draft lottery, because no team has won a title by using that plan.

 

It seems many of these people are the same folks who look forward to the NFL draft every year.  They are in love with potential and the unknown.  It is tiring to hear people talk about what a great roster the New Jersey Nets have.  They won 12 GAMES in 2009-10!  12!  They certainly have some players who might wind up being good, but right now they are a terrible team. 

 

Others have mentioned Memphis as an up and coming team.  Why?  Because they have Rudy Gay, a very good player, and Zack Randolph, a malcontent in the past; O.J. Mayo, whose position is still up for grabs, and Marc Gasol, who is a good big man.  Still, they haven’t made the playoffs with this group.

 

You have to remember that winning is a learned skill, and the Cavaliers have a bunch of players who won 127 games in the regular season the past two years.  As Byron Scott said, James isn’t the only reason for all those wins.

 

There is no question the Cavaliers need to upgrade their roster, but there are other ways of getting better than destroying the roster and building from scratch.  In fact, the two teams in The Finals used trades to get where they are, the Lakers getting Pau Gasol, and Boston getting Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

 

GM Chris Grant and owner Dan Gilbert have to get a plan, but losing should be the last option they try.

 

JK

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dan Gilbert’s letter following LeBron James’ departure may have been a mistake on his part, but it does provide a stark contrast to his neighbors on Gateway Plaza. 

 

You see, the Cavaliers’ owners rant shows passion and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win, something that most Indian fans don’t see from the Dolan family. 

 

You can be sure that the Indians’ front office and ownership want to win, mostly because it means more cash in the Dolan’s pockets.  And even the most hardened Tribe fan will admit that is high on the list of important things to do for the franchise.

 

WKNR’s Greg Brinda says the Indians’ ownership likes to argue with their fans.  They are constantly telling the people who buy tickets why the team can’t compete and that the economic rules of baseball hurt their chances of winning. 

 

Guess what?  The fans don’t care about the whys and wherefores; they just want to see a winning baseball team.  They will point out that Detroit and Minnesota aren’t big markets, yet they have been in contention consistently over the last five years, and in the Twins’ case, even longer. 

 

The Cavs lost their best player, and one of the sports’ best players, and the owner comes out and says he is more committed than ever to bring a winner to Cleveland.  

 

The Indians have traded two of the best pitchers in baseball over the past three years, one of them with a full season remaining on his contract in Cliff Lee.  Then, during the off-season, the ownership tells us that the best they can hope for is to contend every four or five years, when a group of young players grows together and before they will be eligible for free agency.

 

Which team do you think the fans feel better about?

 

No one expects the Indians to have a payroll anywhere near those of the Yankees and Red Sox, but fans do expect the franchise will try to win.  That’s why the backlash of last season’s Lee and Martinez trades still effect attendance.  Not only did the Tribe flush the 2009 season, but this season as well. 

 

George Steinbrenner’s death this week just reminds Cleveland sports supporters of what would have happen if he had bought the Indians in 1972 instead of Nick Mileti.  Steinbrenner wanted to win badly and demanded perfection, he would not have stopped until he delivered a winner here.

 

And he certainly wouldn’t have spent time moaning about the unfairness of baseball’s economic system. 

 

That’s the problem with the Dolan’s, they spend more time bemoaning their fate than doing something about it. 

 

Wouldn’t it be nice if Paul Dolan would issue a statement saying his organization’s talent evaluation in the amateur draft has been horrible and it must change?  Or if he said the so-called “prime” prospects the team received in the deals for C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee have been disappointments thus far? 

 

No one is asking for him to do it all the time.  Much like Steinbrenner’s rants, if you do it too many times they ring hollow.  That’s why Gilbert’s comments were so well received.  It’s not as though he does it all the time. 

 

It would be great for the Indians to show their fans that they do want to win, and it’s okay to tell your fans that.  Instead, we get silence.  Heck, GM and soon to be team president Mark Shapiro doesn’t really make comments any more. 

 

Fans want to hear that owners want to win just as much as they do.  There’s nothing wrong with that.

 

MW

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a problem.  They have pretty much sold out the up coming season because season tickets holders had to renew before the playoffs started. 

 

So, now the organization has to do something before the season starts to keep the people who put up a ton of cash for the 2010-11 season happy.  And it probably isn’t the right thing to do.

 

The most prudent action would be to start dealing off the team’s assets to accumulate young players and draft picks in an effort to get back into the draft lottery in an effort to find a new superstar to build around. 

 

However, all of the tickets sold won’t allow Dan Gilbert to do that.  Instead, he feels the need to make a big splash, even though there doesn’t seem to be one available. 

 

Gilbert’s guarantee that his franchise will win a title before his former superstar wins one was made with bravado and machismo, but it was ill conceived.  It was made five days ago, and now fans are anxious because nothing has been done to improve the team. 

 

And now, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has decided to leave the team and sign with the Heat as well.  This isn’t a huge deal, because the big man doesn’t have much left in the tank, and he has served this franchise well.  But still…

 

By the way, isn’t it odd that all of a sudden, someone has turned into the great recruiter?

 

Gilbert is going to have a very disgruntled fan base soon if new GM Chris Grant can’t make some kind of move soon to energize this basketball team.  He needs to put his money where his mouth is, and the sooner the better.

 

In the past few days, the team has expressed interest in guys like Rockets’ guard Kyle Lowry and former Hawks’ swingman Josh Childress, and signed Lowry to an offer sheet yesterday.  The mention of those guys isn’t making the hair on the back of your neck stand up with anticipation.

 

They are solid players, but they aren’t guys who could make the team return to the playoffs in the upcoming season. 

 

The fans are expecting getting an all-star type player, one who will at least start on the 2010-11 edition of the Cavaliers, and right now there isn’t any hope on the horizon to get that type of player. 

 

Minnesota’s Al Jefferson would have been that type of guy, but Utah completed a deal for him yesterday. 

 

The point is we all appreciated the owner’s passion in making a statement that captured the feelings of the fans, but they ring hollow right now because it doesn’t appear the wine and gold is close to making an impact move.

 

So, Dan Gilbert has put himself and his front office on the clock.  Sometimes, there is activity behind the scenes, and the media doesn’t pick up on them.  A couple of years ago, the Mo Williams trade seemingly came out of nowhere.

 

After the owner’s letter immediately after the ESPN telecast on Thursday, basketball fans in this area were expecting an impact move from the Cavaliers.  Part of that was the position they were put in by someone’s indecision.  Still, season ticket holders can’t be happy by what is happening at The Q.

 

JK

 

It’s time for the Midsummer Classic in baseball, and it’s also time to take stock of our hometown Cleveland Indians.  Fausto Carmona owes Shin-Soo Choo a thank you for his injury right before the all star teams were announced, because the Tribe right fielder should have been going to Anaheim for his first appearance as an all star.

 

Instead, Carmona gets his first nod, and he is a good story too.  After being banished all the way to the Arizona Rookie League last season because he couldn’t throw a strike, Carmona has rebounded with a winning record at 8-7, and an ERA of 3.64. 

 

With the trade deadline coming up at the end of July, which Indians will be dealt before the end of the month?

 

The most marketable commodity is always pitching, so it figures that most conversation will center around Jake Westbrook and Kerry Wood, neither of whom is pitching so well that the Tribe will get a boatload of prospects. 

 

Wood has closer experience, but really hasn’t been effective in the role since joining the Indians, so contenders will be viewing him as help as a set up man.  His salary is also prohibitive, so the return from Wood will be minimal. 

 

The biggest reason to trade the former Cub is to open up the closer spot for Chris Perez, who has just one less save this season than Wood. 

 

Westbrook has been inconsistent as well, in his return from Tommy John surgery, and also has a high salary.  However, he does eat up innings and would be a reliable fourth or fifth starter for a contender. 

 

However, it has been said that GM Mark Shapiro doesn’t want to deal him because he can serve as a mentor to the team’s young starters.  Let’s hope that’s just posturing.

 

Westbrook was overpaid when he signed, and if he wants to come back next season for a lot less cash    (around $3-4 million would be acceptable), then re-sign him then. 

 

The sinkerballer still has the annoying habit of giving up “response” runs consistently.  That is to say, if you get him an early lead, chances are he will cough it up.  Plus, dealing him would give the team a chance to give Carlos Carrasco or Josh Tomlin a long look in the rotation. 

 

The other Indians who are candidates to be moved are 3B Jhonny Peralta and OF Austin Kearns, but neither has a lot of market value.  There aren’t many contenders looking for someone to play the hot corner, and Peralta is not exactly an attractive candidate, with an OPS of just over 700 (709), and he’s not exactly Brooks Robinson defensively.

 

Dumping Peralta would allow the Tribe to play Jayson Nix at third when Asdrubal Cabrera comes off the disabled list, there by opening up 2B for Jason Donald.  And don’t forget, Jared Goedert at Columbus, who has banged 15 HR’s in AAA, and 22 overall in the minors.

 

The problem with Kearns is since May 1^st, he’s hitting just .239 with an OPS of under 700.  Those aren’t numbers that will have contenders chomping at the bit to get the veteran outfielder.  Plus, there really isn’t a ready replacement for Kearns until Choo is back from his injury.

 

Unless Shapiro is interested in just dumping players, there may not be as much activity in the trade market as you might think.  However, getting rid of these players would be beneficial to the team for next year and beyond.

 

KM

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Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert is taking some heat, no pun intended, for his letter to the team’s fans and his comments in an interview with the Associated Press.

 

Although he shouldn’t have brought up the opinion that LeBron James quit in both this past season’s series against Boston, but also in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against Orlando the year prior, there is no problem here with his other comments.

 

Gilbert was speaking for all Cavalier fans in his statement on Thursday night.  He was hurt and disappointed, especially since he did everything he could to deliver a title for James.  His comments will only make him more popular with the city of Cleveland populous.

 

Besides, it’s not as though James can leave again, and it’s not as though there’s a chance he’s coming back in a year or two.

 

A number of the ESPN commentators, (by the way, are there more self-serving idiots than some of these guys?) said Gilbert’s tirade would make it impossible to attract players to the franchise.

 

That’s lunacy.  The Cavs had one of the best players in the league and couldn’t attract big time free agents.  Heck, Chris Bosh refused a sign and trade to team with James before the owner went off.  If Gilbert is willing and able to dole out a boatload of money, players will come.  Otherwise, the organization will have to make trade to get quality players.

 

There is also is no problem with Gilbert going back on his earlier decision not to do a sign and trade.   Once James made the decision, it was the prudent thing to do to get something back.  The four draft choices were nice, but not a huge deal immediately because the Heat figure to be title contenders.  However, who knows what might happen in 2015.  Remember, everybody shows age.

 

The bigger chip will be the $14.5 trade exemption, which should allow the team to deal for a very good player without having to give up a lot.

 

One more thing on the owner’s comments, he said what a lot of owners would like to say.  Mark Cuban tweeted "Way to go, Dan" on Friday.

 

The next order of business for GM Chris Grant should be to deal players who made their living off of playing with James.  Guys like Boobie Gibson and perhaps even Anderson Varajao could be on the block, although the latter’s defensive skills had nothing to do with James, and that’s his real value to the team. 

 

We’ve said before that Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon have more skills than were shown in the wine and gold’s offense this past season.  Let’s see if new coach Byron Scott will get more out of them.

 

Will Grant and Scott go after free agent Richard Jefferson as the new small forward?  Jefferson played for Scott in New Jersey and is a solid player who would give the new Cavs three very good players in addition to Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams. 

 

One last comment about the circus that occurred in Miami on Friday night, besides the nausea it caused.

 

Apparently, someone woke up Pat Riley this off-season, and now he’s a genius again.  Riley has won just one title since Magic Johnson ceased being his point guard, and that title was because he gravy trained it by booting Stan Van Gundy out the door. 

 

Riley was excellent orchestrating with Johnson the "Showtime" Lakers that the new Cavs coach played on, but he also took the game to a low with the thug style of play he coached with the Knicks in the 90’s.  You know it’s just of matter of time before he’s roaming the sidelines again.

 

Also loved James’ comments that he and his buddies want to return the Heat to the top.  Return?  They were there just one season.  In fact, since 2000, the Miami Heat have had just two 50 win seasons (2003-04 and the title year of 2004-05).  FYI, the Cavs have had four seasons with that total in the same span.  It’s not like they are playing for a traditional NBA power like the Celtics and the Lakers, or even the Bulls.  Miami is hardly one of the league’s hallmark franchises, and they were in the middle of the pack in attendance this season despite having Dwyane Wade.

 

That city is certainly deserving of a winner.

 

JK

 

Well, now it’s official.  LeBron James stuck it to the city of Cleveland, northeast Ohio, and Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert.  He’s decided that he would rather be part of an ensemble cast than the star of the show. 

 

Too bad he didn’t let everyone know that before he left.

 

Really, Gilbert did everything he could to build a championship team around James.  He brought in players he wanted like Larry Hughes, Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison to help bring a title to the city and to the man formally known as The King.  In return, James gave him the back of his hand.

 

And, we understand the media of today and the globalization of ESPN, but the way James handled the situation was wrong.  He didn’t need to have a one hour special to tell everyone he was leaving Cleveland.  A simple press conference would have done.  He showed up the whole area, including his beloved Akron.  He’s entitled to make his decision, but he didn’t need to rub our nose in it.

 

Also, the ESPN commentators made the Heat the instant favorites to win next year.  Those of you who are my age will recall the Los Angeles Lakers of the late 1960’s, who teamed a triumverate of superstars in Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain.  Guess what?  They didn’t win, and the hope here is James, Wade, and Bosh have a similar fate.

 

The NBA puts too much emphasis on rings.  Remember that guys like Robert Horry and Steve Kerr have a handful of jewelry, while Charles Barkley and Karl Malone do not.  Does anyone really think those guys aren’t great players?

 

In the end, this mentality got to James, and he didn’t want to wait to win a championship.  He’s no better than a Vince Carter, who when the going got little tough, he got going tough, decided to bail.

 

It was nice of James to mention loyalty as he was bolting out of town.  Also, how he threw his Cavalier teammates under the bus too.

 

People will compare his departure to Art Modell taking the Browns out of Cleveland.  This is worse.  In the past decade we have watched players like Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome leave for more money.  This time that wasn’t an issue, and the great player still left.  And it is not as though the Cavaliers are a losing team, either.  He left for a team that was eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

 

Cleveland is a strong city, and will get over this jilting one day.  However, LeBron James deserves the villain status he will have in this city.  He publicly humiliated the area he grew up. 

 

Instead of the king, he’s the backstabber.

 

JK

 

Professional athletes are always talking about how they want to win.  However, there are degrees.  All players want to win, but how many hate to lose? 

 

Michael Jordan’s most important attribute might have been his competitiveness.  The man simply hated to lose.  So does Kobe Bryant, but at times he doesn’t trust his teammates to get the job done.

 

Free agents talk about how they want to win, but most decide on the financial aspect of free agency.

 

Following the 1995 baseball season, Roger Clemens said it was important for him to win a World Series ring.  However, instead of signing a contract with the defending champion Cleveland Indians, he went for the biggest paycheck with the non-contending Toronto Blue Jays.  Guess winning wasn’t as important as a bigger contract.

 

This brings us to Chris Bosh, who has said in the past he would love to play with LeBron James, but apparently not if James wants to stay in Cleveland.  He falls in line with others who claim they want to win, but really they want to make the decision most beneficial to themselves. 

 

In case Bosh hasn’t noticed, the Cavaliers have had the league’s best record in the regular season the past two years.  And if Bosh is as good as advertised, and make no mistake, he’s a tremendous player, doesn’t it stand to reason that his presence would make Cleveland the favorite to win a title? 

 

Now the all-star big man wants to play with #23, but only in Chicago, Miami, or New Jersey.  Oh yeah, and he wants a max contract, which would necessitate a sign and trade with Toronto.  Therefore, it appears like there are more important things to Chris Bosh than winning a championship.  If playing with James and winning was the goal, why not accept the trade to Cleveland that apparently the Raptors management would agree to?

 

Unless this is a negotiating ploy on Bosh’s behalf, he come across as a guy who talks like a guy who wants to win, but really wants things his way.  If he goes someplace else and James stays in wine and gold, his best chance to win may have just passed him by.  Perhaps, he doesn’t care about that.

 

JK  

 

MW

 

Tonight at midnight is the moment we have been hearing about since the Boston Celtics eliminated the Cavaliers about six weeks ago.  LeBron James will become an unrestricted free agent, and can negotiate with any NBA team. 

 

What will James do?  No one knows at this point, but his reputation will be tarnished if he doesn’t resign with Cleveland. 

 

LeBron James is the “man” in the Cavaliers organization.  Dan Gilbert may own the team, but all basketball and marketing operations revolve around James.  And why not?  The only team in the past thirty or so years that has won an NBA championship without a superstar is the Detroit Pistons in 2004. 

 

Look at the teams who have won.  They have been led by Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and the trinity of stars with the Celtics in 2008. 

 

By the way, all of those guys, except for O’Neal played their entire career with one team. 

 

Critics say seven teams have won without James since he entered the league, which is true, but history shows you have a better chance to win if you have great players.  That is undisputable.

 

Since James is that player for the Cavs, isn’t he responsible for the wine and gold winning a title?  There is no doubt it’s not easy to accomplish, but it’s his job as the best player to elevate the performance of his teammates.

 

If he leaves, he is the same as guys like Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, who wanted to go to teams that were winning.  Those two, and others like them, never realized it was their responsibility to make the squad they were playing for better.  They were supposed to be the leaders.

 

Also, it’s not as though management hasn’t tried to win while #23 was with the team.  Gilbert and former GM Danny Ferry put players in place to give the wine and gold a shot at winning a title most seasons.  The only time the team won less than 50 games in Ferry and Mike Brown’s tenure was the 2007-08 season, and that could partly be attributed to Anderson Varajao’s holdout.

 

Can you imagine if the Cavaliers’ management had done to James what the Miami Heat did to Dewayne Wade?  The Heat basically stripped down the roster the past two years so that they were no threat for a championship.  Yet, Wade is hinting that he wants to stay in south Florida despite this.

 

The reason Cleveland has little flexibility in regards to the salary cap was their effort to keep improving the team to win a title, with James as the best player.  Now, the superstar is going to use that against the organization? 

 

If James departs, not only did he not deliver a title, he also put the team in a terrible position to rebuild because they are so far over the salary cap.  That doesn’t look good when people look back at this era in the franchise.

 

LeBron James doesn’t owe anybody anything.  He’s also entitled to be a free agent; it’s his right as an NBA player.  However, if he is really interested in his legacy and place in basketball history, he needs to stay in the wine and gold. 

 

Otherwise, he’ll be looked upon as a guy who didn’t get it done.  The other players on the modern NBA’s Mt. Rushmore (Bird, Magic, Jordan, Bryant) played for one team.  Yes, they had other great players on their teams, but #23 needs to give Dan Gilbert an opportunity to do the same without the constant threat of leaving.

 

JK

 

After losing seven straight games, the Cleveland Indians ended interleague play with a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, and also traded 1B Russell Branyan once again, this time back to Seattle where he played last year, for a couple of minor leaguers. 

 

This should be the first of several roster moves by the Tribe between now and July 31st, the deadline in which any trade can be consumated without needing waivers.  The next Indians to go could include 3B Jhonny Peralta, RP Kerry Wood, and perhaps starter Jake Westbrook. 

 

The Branyan deal meant that Matt LaPorta was recalled from Columbus and will be in the lineup everyday at 1B.

 

Rumors are swirling that OF Michael Brantley is the next youngster to be called up, which means another deal is on the horizon, unless the team decides to DFA Andy Marte. 

 

The guess here is Marte is still around because GM Mark Shapiro and heir apparent Chris Antonetti are trying to move Peralta, which would make Marte the third baseman, at least temporarily.  If a deal can’t be worked out, then Marte will be released, thus opening a roster spot for Brantley, who has been hot at Columbus, and is starting to show signs of being able to drive the ball, as his slugging percentage has climbed above the .400 mark.

 

This is unless both Peralta and Marte are moved and Jared Goedert, who is hitting .327 between Akron and Columbus with 15 HR and an OPS of 988 for the season, takes over at 3B for a look see. 

 

The Branyan move is a no-brainer.  One, he is a one dimensional slugger, who strikes out at a high rate, and lately has been hurting the team defensively.  After Saturday night’s game, Justin Masterson indicated he thought Branyan should have handled a pick off throw in the fifth which contributed to a two run inning for Cincinnati. 

 

Signing the slugger drew head scratches from nearly everyone when it occured, and giving him at bats at the expense of LaPorta made it look even more strange since the young slugger was the key acquisition in the C.C. Sabathia trade in 2008. 

 

One of the players picked up in the deal could also impact Brantley’s recall.  Ezequiel Carrera, 22, is a CF, who last year led the Southern League in hitting at .337.  He doesn’t have much power, but does have good speed.  He is currently injured with a hip pointer, but when he is ready, he could replace Brantley in center for the Clippers. 

 

The other player is 21 year old SS Juan Diaz, who is hitting .295 with 7 HR and 41 RBI at Class A High Desert in the California League, which is a huge hitters league.  Carrera is regarded as the better prospect, but he has limited pop in his bat, although he is still very young and could develop it later.  Ironically, Carrera came to Seattle from the Mets in the same trade which brought Joe Smith and Luis Valbuena to the Indians.

 

Speaking of Smith, can we all agree he needs to go back to the minors?  Let’s take a look at Jess Todd again, or anyone else who can throw strikes consistently.  In his two appearances since he’s been back, he came in to face a right handed hitter (Jayson Werth) and walked him, and Friday night, he came in after the Tribe scored to make it a 5-2 game, and immediately gave up a solo homer to Scott Rolen, and then four more hits. 

 

Manny Acta said his bullpen has been a trouble spot, but the front office isn’t giving him any help.

 

Let the trading begin, Mark Shapiro.  And Matt LaPorta, the pressure is on you to show us what you can do.  You will now have an opportunity everyday.

 

KM