Guardians’ Season Preview In Our “Perspective”

To say the Cleveland Guardians had a very quiet off-season would be an understatement. The biggest news around the franchise was the hiring of a new manager. For the first time since the end of the 2012 season, someone besides Terry Francona is running the club.

In terms of personnel, the front office didn’t exactly build up last year’s roster for new skipper Steven Vogt. The biggest trades brought in Scott Barlow to bolster the bullpen, and they took a shot on a heretofore failed Yankee prospect in Estevan Florial.

But as the regular season opens tonight in Oakland, the obvious question is will the Guardians resemble the young upstarts that won the American League Central Division in 2022, or the squad that was a disappointment in ’23 with a 76-86 record?

How They Can Win. This probably starts with good health for the pitching staff. The Guards lost Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie for good chunks of the season a year ago, and if they stay healthy, the rotation should be in good shape.

We say that even though there are three sophomores in the rotation. Tanner Bibee was second in the AL Rookie Of The Year voting last year, and Gavin Williams looks like an ace in waiting. Logan Allen is a solid fifth starter.

The bullpen added Barlow, who has closed in the past with Kansas City, to go with Emmanuel Clase, which should lessen the burden on the latter.

The offense is improved with upgrades at catcher in Bo Naylor, and they should get better production out of centerfield (Myles Straw was one of the game’s worst hitters a year ago) and the RF/DH spot which were black holes last season.

And Jose Ramirez approaches the type of season he had in 2021 (36 HR, 103 RBI, 893 OPS) and Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez produce closer to their 2022 campaigns.

And most importantly, Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter get called up around the All-Star break and give the hitting yet another boost.

Why They Won’t. The offense isn’t any better than the 12th in runs scored last season and the front office is still searching for answers.

Ramon Laureano shows why the A’s released him last season, and when Manzardo and DeLauter make their much-anticipated debuts, they struggle to find consistency.

And the search for the next everyday shortstop continues as neither Brayan Rocchio nor Gabriel Arias seize the job.

The young starters of a year ago take a step backwards and the rotation is in flux. The bullpen, save for Clase, proves ineffectively and Nick Sandlin and Eli Morgan continue to give up gopher balls by the bushel.

This causes the trade of Bieber before the deadline and signals the beginning of a new “rebuild” behind Ramirez, Manzardo, DeLauter, Juan Brito, etc.

What Do We Think? This team appears to be a .500 ballclub. The good news is the division is awful. The Twins suffered losses and the White Sox are in total rebuild move. The Tigers are trying to contend, but also kind of overachieved a year ago, and the Royals’ pitching is still an issue, although they are spending money (sigh, what could have been).

We think the Guardians will finish with between 78-84 wins, which could be enough to get them in the post-season.

And we definitely think by the end of the year, both Manzardo and DeLauter will be wearing Cleveland uniforms.

Moving On From Straw Is A New Direction From Guards?

Probably nothing signals a new era for Cleveland Guardians’ baseball than Myles Straw being put on waivers and outrighted to AAA.

Straw is kind of the poster child for the question of how important is being an elite defender to play on an everyday basis? Straw won the Gold Glove in 2022 and was certainly a tremendous glove in patrolling centerfield during his tenure in Cleveland, but frankly, he was one of the worst hitters in the sport.

For a team that finished 12th in the American League in runs scored a year ago, his bat was no longer a luxury they could afford.

In Ozzie Smith’s second season, he batted .211 with a 522 OPS. As good as Smith was with the glove, if he didn’t provide better offense, we would have been a bench player for a while, and then would have been released.

And he’s probably the greatest defensive shortstop ever.

Smith gradually got better with a bat in his hands. Perhaps Straw will at some point, but if he doesn’t, we would guess he won’t be a regular in the major leagues again.

Not to get bogged down with Straw, but the curious thing about him is he never changed his offensive approach in games. He never learned or improved his bunting skills. He also stopped running when he did reach base, which was even more curious.

As for the rest of the roster, it does look like Straw’s replacement in center might be converted shortstop Tyler Freeman. We have long wondered what Freeman would do if he was getting regular playing time, and we guess we will know find out.

The pedigree is there as far as his minor league numbers go. He slashed 393/387/780 in AAA and overall, 382/430/812. Now, it’s up to him to prove those numbers can translate to the big leagues.

We were also happy to learn Brayan Rocchio will be the primary shortstop over Gabriel Arias, because we think the former is the better offensive player.

We aren’t saying the organization should ignore the defense, especially when you’ve built everything around your pitching staff, but to us, if it comes down to playing a pretty good fielder who can hit vs. a great glove who cannot, we go with the first option every time.

Estevan Florial made the team despite a lackluster camp, and it will be interesting to see how Steven Vogt uses him. Our thought with him is if he doesn’t do anything with the bat, there is the logical spot for Kyle Manzardo to come in and replace him on the roster.

The pitching staff is very much in flux because of injuries and the virus which affected the team all spring. Gavin Williams and Sam Hentges will start on the injured list, and we already know Trevor Stephan is out for the season.

So, Carlos Carrasco will open as the fifth starter, and Tyler Beede, a non-roster invitee who pitched in Japan last season also will be on hand. Hunter Gaddis is now a reliever, and was very good in Arizona, fanning 17 in 11-2/3 innings.

Rookie Cade Smith could also make the big club after striking out 11 in eight frames in spring training, coming off whiffing 95 in 62-2/3 innings in the minors last season, albeit with a 4.45 ERA.

How will this group of Guardians perform once the games count for real in Oakland on Thursday night? We will talk about that in a couple of days.

Cavs Need To Get Healthy And Right The Ship. Quickly

The last month for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been a conundrum. They’ve been missing several key players, including their best, Donovan Mitchell, who has played in just five of the 17 games following the All-Star break.

Evan Mobley and Max Strus are two other starters who have not been available for the bulk of the second half schedule because of injuries.

In that time period, Cleveland has defeated the league’s best team, Boston, the third seed in the West, Minnesota, and had impressive road wins against New Orleans and Indiana.

But they’ve also lost home games to a battered Miami Heat team and Brooklyn.

There are only 12 games remaining in the regular season, and the wine and gold have a west coast trip before the season comes to a close. And they are in real danger of losing home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, as both the Knicks and Magic are just one game behind in the loss column.

What all this means is coach J.B. Bickerstaff needs to find a winning formula and quickly. Yes, the Cavs have a very good record on the road at 21-13, but we don’t think they want to have their first-round playoff match up without the majority of the games at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

First and foremost, they need to get Mitchell healthy. He is their unquestioned leader, and when Darius Garland and Mobley were injured in December and each missed about a month, the ball was put in his hands and he thrived.

Averaging 27.4 points and 6.1 assists per night, along with five rebounds, his ability to score inside, driving to the bucket is sorely missed. And remember, he’s still shooting 37.3% from behind the arc.

Jarrett Allen has held his own, scoring 16.3 points and grabbing 10.8 boards on a nightly basis, as well as being a solid defender, and Caris LeVert has stepped up his game too.

LeVert gets criticized by many of the younger fans because he doesn’t make threes (which is really a stupid criticism) has also stepped up particularly the play making that Mitchell provided. He is dishing out 7.9 assists since the All-Star game, although his scoring and shooting is down.

To us, he has sacrificed his scoring to do what is best for the team, and perhaps that is the first step for many of the other Cavs in order to right the ship.

Cleveland did sign veteran Marcus Morris Jr. to a ten day contract, and at 6’8″, Morris provides some size in the front court and he can knock down shots.

Bickerstaff isn’t blameless either. We do believe he made the decision to have LeVert handle the playmaking duties over the turnover prone Garland, but we don’t understand his substitution patterns at times.

He went through a stretch where he ignored Sam Merrill, who despite a slump in early March where he hit just 4 of 29 threes, has knocked down 17 of his last 37 (46%). Friday night, he didn’t use Craig Porter Jr., even though Garland wasn’t playing particularly well.

And he played a sore kneed Mitchell 44 minutes in an overtime, and that’s when Mitchell went back out of the lineup.

We hate to say it, but how the Cavaliers perform from here on out and during the playoffs will likely determine if Bickerstaff returns as head coach next season.

Also, we also believe if Mitchell signs an extension with the Cavs, a roster shake up will occur, and Garland will likely be traded.

The Cavs do need toughness, but part of that starts with adding size, something outside of Allen and Mobley, the wine and gold desperately need.

A Week Away From Real Baseball For Guardians

It’s just a week away, baseball fans. We know the Dodgers and Padres are playing a series in Korea, but the real season gets underway a week from today, and the Guardians have a long trip to start the campaign as the construction at Progressive Field continues.

Steven Vogt’s squad are scheduled to play 10 games before arriving in Cleveland for the home opener. And some of the questions about the roster are beginning to take shape.

We have no inside sources on this and no hidden agendas, so this is just our opinion on how things are shaking out.

At shortstop, it appears Brayan Rocchio is taking the lead after struggling mightily at the beginning of exhibition play. The switch-hitter is starting to swing the bat well, up to .270 and he isn’t doing it against minor league pitchers.

His chief competition, Gabriel Arias, had the same problem that plagued him a year ago in the big leagues, lack of contact. Arias has hit just .167 (5 for 30) and has fanned nine times.

When Arias hits the ball, he hits it hard, but he just doesn’t do it often enough to be in the lineup every day.

The other hotly contested spot is centerfield, with incumbent Myles Straw, one of the game’s worst hitters last year vying for time with Estevan Florial, with Tyler Freeman trying to nose his way in the mix.

How the playing time gets divided is probably dependent on how much the organization believes Straw’s bat is fixed. Frankly, he hasn’t faced the quality of pitching the other two have, but he has gone 9 for 25 with three walks.

Florial’s spring training has been shocking and not in a good way. We knew he had a lot of swing and miss in his game, but in exhibition play, he has gone 6 for 40 with 19 strikeouts. Oh, and just one extra base hit and two walks. If we were the skipper, it would be very difficult to write his name in the lineup.

He’s out of options, so it is very likely he will make the trip to Oakland.

Freeman has faced the best pitching of the three and has hit .286 with a 783 OPS. We have been wanting to see him get every day playing time in the majors for a while now, because of his minor league pedigree.

He will be in the mix for sure, it will be interesting to see how Vogt will handle his at bats.

And lastly, will Deyvison De Los Santos make the team? He’s a rule 5 draft pick, so if he doesn’t make the big club, he has to be offered back to Arizona or work out a deal to keep him.

He’s a right-handed bat, which is in his favor. He’s picked it up a bit recently, and overall has gone 10 for 42 with a double and a home run. On the negative side, he has also whiffed nine times without drawing a walk.

Perhaps the Guardians already made this decision when they sent Kyle Manzardo back to the minors, despite him going 8 for 21 with four extra base hits. If they would’ve kept him, he would have been in the mix at 1B and DH, where De Los Santos can play the outfield and third base as well.

Not keeping Manzardo sends the wrong message to us. The organization traded a major league starting pitcher to get him and he played in AAA last year. He should have made the team unless his spring training was like say, Florial’s.

We all know why Manzardo isn’t with the big club, they are manipulating his service time instead of focusing on winning a division that is very winnable.

It’s another reason it is tough to be a Guardians’ fan sometimes.

Teams Starting To Creep Up On Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled since the NBA All-Star game. Much of the struggles have been because of injuries, but still, they are 7-8 since the game in Indianapolis, and their once solid position in the Eastern Conference standings is no longer.

When the break came, the Cavs were 36-17, second in the East, and three games ahead in the loss column over 3rd place Milwaukee, and five losses ahead of New York and Philadelphia.

As of today, they have dropped to third, and are just two games in the loss column ahead of New York, and three over Orlando.

We don’t think we need to say that if the wine and gold drop to the #5 spot, they will not have home court advantage in the opening round playoff series.

Donovan Mitchell came back from his knee issue to play two games last week, but said after Saturday’s defeat in Houston, he will likely miss more time due to the knee, trying to get it completely healthy.

So, with a tough stretch coming up, eight of the next 11 are on the road, J.B. Bickerstaff is going to have to come up with another way to win basketball games. They had great success without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley earlier in the season, but this time, it’s Mitchell, clearly the most important player on the team.

The Cavs are also missing Mobley again, this time with an ankle injury, and Max Strus. Both are important players, but they aren’t Mitchell, who carried the Cavaliers when Garland and Mobley missed a great deal of time in December and January and did it when Bickerstaff put the ball in his hands.

What would we do in the meantime?

First, we would slow the pace even more than they have already. Cleveland is 21st in the league in pace, and we would slow it down even more, especially against the better, more athletic teams in the NBA.

Second, we would start Caris LeVert in Mitchell’s absence and put the ball in his hands and that of Jarrett Allen.

We know we have been very critical of Darius Garland, but why not take advantage of what he is doing well right now, which is his long-range shooting. He was making 33% of his threes before the break, and has been on fire after, knocking them down at a 42.6% clip.

He still is turning the ball over more than we would like, and if we see him drive to the basket one more time and get stripped, we will lose whatever mind we still have.

LeVert is averaging 5. 2 assists per game with just 1.5 turnovers, and Allen has done a very good job operating out of the high point and finding open shooters on the perimeter. He’s averaging a full assist higher than he ever has in his career, and still could wind up with the highest scoring average since he came into the NBA.

We would also get Craig Porter Jr. on the floor more when LeVert is not in the game.

The organization might disagree because the Cavs have the league’s best road record, but we think it is important for the wine and gold to have home court for the first round of the playoffs.

That means to need to stack some wins despite the injuries. They only have six home games remaining, so they are going to have to gut it out on the road.

It won’t be easy.

Free Agent Week For Browns? Meh.

Every year, Browns’ fans wait for the legal tampering period and beginning of the new league year to see if their football team will make a big splash in free agency. This year, those people were probably underwhelmed.

What GM Andrew Berry did this year was mostly under the heading of keeping the band together. The biggest move was keeping DE Za’Darius Smith, who was second to Myles Garrett in sacks last year for Cleveland at 5.5.

The Browns also kept DT Maurice Hurst and Shelby Harris, two key members of last year’s top ranked defense.

In terms of bringing in outside help, it was more like a plop in the bathtub than a big splash.

Before the period started, Berry traded two low draft picks to Denver for former first round pick Jerry Jeudy, who is more name than productive to date. He had a reputation in Denver for being a guy who was more proud of his draft status than having a willingness to work.

His high in yardage in his four years with the Broncos was 972 in 2022.

Look, it’s not a bad trade because giving up a 5th and 6th round pick for decent wide receiver isn’t a high price, but expectations that Jeudy will be a big threat for Deshaun Watson at this point are likely unfounded.

Jordan Elliott went to San Francisco in free agency, so the Browns signed Quinton Jefferson, who was with the Jets last season to fill that gap. As of right now, Jefferson is the likely starter with a career high six sacks last season. However, this is his fifth team in the last five years, so he would be considered a journeyman.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t productive, or can’t help.

Cleveland lost linebackers Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker and replaced them with Jordan Hicks, who started 13 games for Minnesota last season (he’s 32-years-old) and former Steelers’ first round pick Devin Bush.

Probably the signing that received the most scrutiny though was bringing in QB Jameis Winston to back up Watson. Winston, a former Heisman Trophy winner and first overall draft pick, will replace the popular Joe Flacco as the top reserve.

Many people who cover the Browns have noted the team seemed to want to move on from Flacco because of his popularity with the fan base and quite frankly, the lack of that for Watson.

Winston isn’t a bad choice to be the backup though. He has started 80 games in his NFL career, and in 2019, threw for over 5000 yards and 33 touchdowns. Unfortunately, he also led the league with 30 interceptions, and has been prone to that in his pro career.

But in New Orleans, where he spent the last four seasons, he started 10 games and fired 20 TD passes against just 11 interceptions. Still, his INT rate didn’t drop drastically.

It is difficult to see where the Browns are a better football team than they were at the end of the 2023 season. Even though this time of the year gets a lot of press, there is still plenty of time before training camp starts at the end of July.

And don’t forget there is a little thing at the end of April called the NFL Draft, where moves can be made and of course, you can draft players out of college.

We also doubt Berry is done manipulating the salary cap either, so some “big splash” moves could still be made.

Also, remember, the Browns are already a good football team. They did win 11 games last season.

The most interesting move is hiring former Titans coach and Walsh Jesuit grad Mike Vrabel as a consultant. To us, you can never have enough smart football guys in an organization and Vrabel has shown to be one of the best coaches in the NFL.

Discussing Darius Garland

During the 2021-22 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the surprises in the first half of the season. Coming off a 22-50 record the previous season, Cleveland was sitting at 35-23 as the All-Star game was heading to their home at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

While Evan Mobley was having a very good rookie season, the team’s breakout star was third year guard Darius Garland, averaging 20.3 points and 8 assists per contest.

And he was only 22 years old.

Garland was shooting 47.7% from the floor on 16.3 shots per game, 37.8% from three-point range and making 91.1% of his free throws playing a little less than 35 minutes per game. While Jarrett Allen was named to the all-star rosters later because of injuries, it was Garland who was the breakout star.

After the break, Garland’s shot attempts increased to 19.4/game, but his shooting percentage dropped to 43.5%, although his three-point shooting got better. His minutes increased to 38 per night and his assists increased to 10.

Watching the games at the time, we thought Garland seemed to be in the “I’m an all-star” mode. The Cavs went 9-15 down the stretch, mostly because they lost Allen to a hand injury. They were 37-27 when Allen was hurt, and went 7-11 without him.

Garland had a very good regular season last year, being paired with Donovan Mitchell. He averaged 21.6 points, on 46.2% shooting (career high 41% from three), and his assists were down from 8.6 to 7.8, understandable because of Mitchell’s presence. His turnovers also decreased from 3.6 to 2.9.

But in the playoffs, he had a problem (as did all the Cavs) with the increased physicality. He shot 43.8% from the floor and had just 5 assists compared to 3.6 turnovers per game in the series loss to New York.

He also had problems guarding Jalen Brunson, although to be fair, anyone not named Isaac Okoro had the same issue.

This season, Garland has regressed. To be fair, he has battled injuries all year, missing games early in the season after getting hit in the eye, and then a little over a month with a broken jaw.

His shooting is down slightly (45.6% from the floor, 38.2% from three), and so are his assists (6.2) and his turnovers are up to 3.3. He’s had just two games with 10 or more helpers, and since Mitchell has been out, he’s had some problems late in games with turnovers.

Garland scored 34 points in a win over Minnesota last Friday, but had five turnovers in that game, and was fortunate to be bailed out when he dribbled into a trap late in the fourth quarter, and then in an isolation situation, had a possible game winning shot blocked.

In Monday’s loss to Phoenix, Garland again dribbled the air out of the ball on a key possession late forcing a bad shot. He scored 30 points in that game.

In our coaching days, we used to tell players the last thing we would use to check to see if a player had a good game, was the scoresheet. We feel the same way about these two games.

When Garland was out and the ball was in Mitchell’s hands, it seemed the ball moved more. It doesn’t seem that way now, the ball is sticking in Garland’s hands.

This Cavalier season will be measured by how the team does in the playoffs. However, because Mitchell’s contract situation, there will likely changes to the roster this off-season. If Mitchell stays, Koby Altman has a decision to make with his backcourt.

Who Will Make Up Guardians’ Roster?

It is kind of sneaking up on people, but the Cleveland Guardians will open the season a little over two weeks from now, two weeks from Thursday in fact, when they take on the Oakland A’s in Steven Vogt’s debut as manager.

Vogt and the front office haven’t made many roster decisions as of yet, so there are still a lot of players in camp, and they can only take 26 to Oakland. Here is how we see things shaping up to date, barring injury.

The catchers are set, Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges will be the backstops, and the starting rotation will be Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Logan Allen, unless Williams’ elbow issue is lingering.

Three quarters of the infield are set with 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Andres Gimenez, and 3B Jose Ramirez, the shortstop job is still seemingly up for grabs as neither Gabriel Arias (3 for 16) nor Brayan Rocchio (2 for 20) have taken control.

And in the outfield, it looks like Steven Kwan and Ramon Laureano has spots etched in stone, and because of his contract, Myles Straw is a lock too. That would be 13 players.

Five spots in the bullpen are settled: Emmanuel Clase, Scott Barlow, Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, and Nick Sandlin.

Two of the last three spot in relief should go to free agent Ben Lively and old friend Carlos Carrasco. That would leave the last spot going to either Xzavion Curry, Hunter Gaddis, or Tim Herrin.

With the 8 relievers, that means 21 spots are filled and five would be open. We assume Tyler Freeman has one of those spots locked up, and the decision should be whether he is starting in centerfield, shortstop, or second base (with Gimenez moving to SS).

Will Brennan probably has the team made as well, which would leave three spots open. One of those would be the utility infield spot, which likely will not go to phenom Angel Martinez. More than likely it would be either Arias or Rocchio, probably the former, with an outside shot for Jose Tena.

Another question would be the players who are out of options, of which Cleveland has four. Two of them, Hentges and Lively should have spots locked up.

Deyvison De Los Santos is another because he was selected in the rule 5 draft and has to make the team or be offered back to Arizona. If he stays, he’s pretty much the 26th man.

The other is Estevan Florial, who has underwhelmed to date, going 2 for 22 with 10 strikeouts. He really has done nothing to make the team, but we wonder if he gets a spot because he’s out of options.

If the organization keeps both De Los Santos and Florial, that will make the roster complete. And it would also keep David Fry and Kyle Manzardo off the Opening Day roster.

We would like to see both in Oakland on March 28th. Fry is a right-handed bat with some pop and can also serve as a third catcher. That would enable Vogt to pinch-hit for Hedges on days he starts.

We’ve been pretty clear that we think Manzardo should come north with the big club, but we would like to see more at bats vs. big league arms. So far in camp, he has gone 6 for 13 with two doubles and two walks and four Ks.

On the flip side, we only want him up if the Guards plan to give him plenty of plate appearances. If he’s going to be in there once or twice a week, then send him to AAA.

Of course, there could still be some minor trades or worse, injuries that affect this projection. However, the beginning of the season is getting closer.

Finding The Right Backup For Watson Is a Big Deal

The “legal tampering” period in the NFL starts Monday, so the free agent frenzy is about to begin. We are sure Browns’ GM Andrew Berry will make an impact, as the team has already freed up salary cap space by restructuring the contracts of Denzel Ward and Jedrick Wills.

However, it wouldn’t be a Browns off-season without discussing the quarterback position. We are sure the front office figured once they traded for Deshaun Watson in 2022, that discussion would be over for the next five to ten years.

But due to injury or suspension, Watson has played only 12 games since the 2020 season, which when the ’24 season begins was four years ago. And when he has played, he’s only shown some glimpses of the player he was his four years in Houston, when he put up a 104.5 passer rating.

And that’s why the back up spot is important. When you are a playoff team, like the Browns were in 2023, and they hope to be back in ’24, you can’t have your season do down the drain having an inexperienced reserve QB.

Of course, the people’s choice is Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter last season, and actually had the team’s highest passer rating for the Browns a year ago, 90.2 to Watson’s 84.3.

Better yet was Flacco’s average yards per attempt, which was 7.9 compared to Watson’s 6.5. In fact, if Flacco had qualified for the passing title, that figure would have put him at sixth in the NFL, and his 13.1 yards per completion would have placed him second behind Brock Purdy.

We would prefer Flacco as well, if only because he was here a year ago and the offense ran very well with him under center. The downside is he is a totally different quarterback than Watson, so the question would be would you need a different offensive system should something happen to the starter.

However, we continue to think while Watson is clearly the more athletic of the two QBs, if he’s open to it, we think he can learn a lot from the veteran, who guided Cleveland into the playoffs a year ago, and has been on a Super Bowl winning team.

Kevin Stefanski’s offense is predicated on running the football and using play action off of it. Flacco operated it to perfection. Watson would prefer to play from the shotgun, so he doesn’t have to turn his back on the defense.

We understand Watson has been in the NFL since 2017 and made three Pro Bowl teams with the Texans. We also are of the belief that you are never too old to learn. We would like to see Watson at least give it a try.

Watson has been vocal on his podcast about not being fully comfortable with Stefanski’s scripted plays to start each game.

In our opinion, if he were playing like he did in Houston, he would have more of a leg to stand on. But when you’ve played 12 games in the last three seasons and have had maybe a couple of games when you resembled a Pro Bowler, you ought to be more open to new ideas.

And maybe he has already discussed this with Stefanski and new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Having Flacco on the roster could be a valuable resource in helping him.

We also think the Browns will start talking to Watson about running less, putting himself in harm’s way only when he has to. Certainly, the investment in him and his availability over the last two years figures into that.

No doubt the first option for the Browns is to have Watson be the quarterback he was in Houston. But they have to be prepared if that doesn’t happen next season.

Cavs Need To Be Tougher, And Not Physically.

If not for two “miracles”, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be 3-7 in their last 10 games. But Max Strus did hit a 59-foot shot to beat Dallas, and Dean Wade did go crazy Tuesday night in Boston, so the wine and gold have tread water since the week before the All Star Game.

Yes, Donovan Mitchell has missed five or those games, and hasn’t played the past three contests with a bone bruise in his knee after playing 44 minutes in a double overtime loss to Chicago last week.

Since Darius Garland broke his jaw in December, there is no question Mitchell is the driving force of the team, so his absence looms large.

After the loss Sunday night to the Knicks, the team that eliminated Cleveland from the playoffs a year ago, once again, talk turned to toughness. Many in the media took that to mean more physical play, but we also think the Cavs could use some mental toughness as well, and not just among the players.

We have long discussed the organization’s avoiding of adding bigger bodies. Yes, they have the two big men starters in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, but other that those two, the Cavaliers usually are smaller at every other position on the floor compared to their opponents.

The point is it is tough to impose your will on other teams with smaller players. Tristan Thompson returning from suspension will help add more size, particularly around the basket.

We will say it one more time: Basketball is the one sport where size matters. For example, the defending champion Denver Nuggets’ smallest starter is Jamal Murray, listed at 6’4″. The Celtics have the best record in the East, and their smallest starter is 6’4″ Derrick White.

Cleveland will play the West’ top team, Minnesota on Friday, and the ‘Wolves’ start two seven footers, and the rest of their lineup is 6’4″, 6’9″ and 6′ point guard Mike Conley.

However, we also think the team needs to be mentally tougher. The Cavs have a history of getting big leads and losing them, seemingly taking their foot off the gas. Heck, against the Knicks, Mobley hinted the team relaxed a bit seeing Knicks’ star Jalen Brunson leave the game in the first minute.

The organization doesn’t help with the incremental steps in evaluating the season. Again, the goal should be to win the NBA title. After the season, you can take pride that progress was made, but the goal should be win every game.

It also doesn’t help that J.B. Bickerstaff comes up with excuses, usually about the referees after many losses. We aren’t saying there isn’t a time to complain about officials, but you can’t do it after half of your losses.

Instead, he should tell his team to play through things. Win in spite of opponents being physical. Do different things when the usual isn’t working. That’s how you develop toughness. Don’t use being a young team as an excuse. After all, Cleveland isn’t even one of the youngest teams in the league. They are right in the middle.

To their credit, they weathered the injuries to Garland and Mobley, and right now, Garland is back, but now Mitchell is out, and Mobley could be out for a while again with an ankle sprain.

Toughness isn’t putting a hard foul on a driving opponent. In fact, these days, it gets you ejected from the game. It does involve having a mindset of overcoming anything thrown at you by an opponent. Not making excuses.

By the way, we understand teams can’t do that every night in the NBA. But there are games teams point to. You have to play those games with a bit of an edge.