Looking At Free Agents Who Can Get On Base For Guardians

With the hot stove league season firmly in place, we have discussed the Cleveland Guardians’ need to help their offense, which has dropped to ninth in the American League in runs scored.

We also feel the biggest need for the team is getting hitters with the ability to avoid making outs. We understand that may sound trite, but Cleveland ranked third from the bottom in on base percentage at .303. In a nutshell, they need batters who can reach base in other ways besides getting hits.

Guardians’ hitters ranked fourth last in the AL in drawing walks a year ago, and only Jose Ramirez walked more than 50 times last season. Myles Straw drew 67 walks, but only 29 were in a Cleveland uniform.

Are there any free agents available that could help in this area. Yes, the front office could (and should) target players on the trade front who get on base as well, but we wanted to look at the players already available.

We also aren’t going to look at players who will be well outside of the price range the Guardians operate in. So, even though Kris Bryant has a .376 on base mark, we know the Cleveland front office isn’t living in an area where they could give the former Cub and Giant what he is looking for.

We would be interested in a one or two year deal for former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen, who not only gets on base, but also would solve one of the corner outfield spots.

McCutchen is 35 years old and had a 778 OPS in 2021, hitting .222 with 27 HR and 80 RBI. He did walk 81 times however, so his on base percentage was a respectable .334. If his batting average got back into the .250 range it has been over the past few years, he would be a solid addition.

Another intriguing option, although he might want big money, is Anthony Rizzo. In our opinion, the Guardians need a first baseman, and Rizzo had a .344 OBP last year and a 783 OPS, hitting 22 dingers, knocking in 61 and drawing 52 walks in his time with both the Cubs and Yankees. He has a lifetime .369 on base average.

There is also soon to be 34-year-old Tommy Pham, coming off a poor season with San Diego, in which he hit .229, but still had a .340 OBP. He also had 15 homers. The right-handed hitting Pham has a career .364 on base mark, and also has a career 810 OPS. He might be worth a one or two year deal as well.

And last is the player the Guardians have been linked to by many sources, former Oakland A’s outfield Mark Canha. He will be 33 next year, and over the last three seasons, has on gotten on base at 39.6%, 38.7%, and last year’s 35.8%, drawing a career high 77 walks.

He also has some pop, hitting 60 home runs over the past three full major league seasons.

All of these players strikeout a little more than we would like, but as long as they are drawing a good share of walks, we can live with the whiffs.

Adding one of these players would be a big help to the offense for Terry Francona’s squad, and the fact they are veterans wouldn’t hurt. The game is measured by the number of outs, and these guys do a better job of avoiding them than what the Guardians currently have.

NBA’s Biggest Surprise? How About The Cavs?

It is fair to say the Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the surprise teams in the NBA through the first three weeks of the 2021-22 season.

Faced with a brutal early season schedule, which had them playing just three of their first 11 games at home, and with games against eight playoff teams from a year ago, J.B. Bickerstaff’s crew has gone 7-4, winning the last four contests, and now have a schedule featuring eight of their next nine at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Just think about what you will think if the Cavs take care of business at home.

However, this is still a very young basketball team, so it is tough to predict the future, but they have won the last four despite not having Isaac Okoro, Kevin Love at all, and no Lauri Markkanen for the last three. All three of those players are in the nine man rotation Bickerstaff favors.

After the first two games, in which the Cavaliers allowed 132 and 123 points respectively, we would not have thought this type of success would be possible. We have said on many occasions, that until defense is taken seriously by this organization, winning would be very difficult.

Since then, the 113 points put up by the Lakers on October 29th (game #6) is the most scored against Cleveland. They rank in the top half of the league (13th) in defensive efficiency.

They also started trying to race up and down the floor in those first two games, but since have slowed it down, so much that Cleveland is 25th in the NBA in pace.

It’s a formula that has led to success. Hats off to Bickerstaff and the coaching staff for developing a system that allows this group to have some prosperity.

Bickerstaff decided to go with size at the beginning of the season, using Markkanen, Jarrett Allen, and rookie Evan Mobley at the same time. That move has paid dividends to date, even without Markkanen on the floor lately.

Allen, who signed a $100 million deal over the summer, has played like an all star, averaging 14.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per night, and shooting 68.7% from the floor. He also keyed two wins on the defensive end in this streak, defending Damian Lillard and OG Anunoby from making game winning shots.

We can’t say enough about Mobley. When we saw him at the summer league, he looked frightfully thin, but obviously he has a great work ethic. He’s noticeable bigger and stronger, and playing like someone in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.

He’s scoring 14.9 points and grabbing 8 rebounds per game and is a force defensively near the basket and on the perimeter. And he’s shooting 52% from the floor. Add in two and a half assists and 1.3 blocks, and you have someone impacting both ends of the court.

The scoring is more balanced as well. Collin Sexton doesn’t have to score 25 points per game anymore. This year’s team has eight players averaging nine points or more per contest. They have five players taking more than 11 shots per night.

And what an addition Ricky Rubio has been! We said when he came over from Minnesota, he knows how to play. His 13.7 points and almost 7 assists per night have been invaluable so far.

And despite what on most nights is a nine man rotation, no one is playing more than Mobley’s 34.4 minutes per night, and that’s probably a little high considering he’s a rookie (and his frame). Our guess is when Love and Markkanen return, that number will go down some.

Right now, this group is one of the game’s surprising teams, and the key word is “team”. If the wine and gold can continue this style of play on this extended home stand, it could be a fun winter in downtown Cleveland.

Teams will start figuring a way to counter what the Cavs are doing, but they do have veterans in Rubio and Love to help the young guys through it.

Browns, Baker, OBJ: It Just Didn’t Fit

The knee-jerk reaction to the events that occurred this week with the Cleveland Browns is to declare the age old saying “same ol’ Browns”. That’s not entirely fair.

The old Browns, the ones led by Hue Jackson, Joe Banner, etc. seemed different. The head coach and the GM usually seemed like they were on different pages and many times one sabotaged the other.

This current group, with Paul DePodesta, GM Andrew Berry, and coach Kevin Stefanski, seem to be on the same page. They come to decisions together, they don’t seem to be running to owner Jimmy Haslam to point out a mistake made by one of the others in order to gain more power within the organization.

We don’t know what brought the situation with Odell Beckham Jr. to a head, but in our viewpoint, the front office dealt with it swiftly and decisively.

Our opinion was the video put out by Beckham’s dad, released a day before the trading deadline, was a move to force the front office to trade the wide receiver. Perhaps Beckham, if frustration, went to Stefanski and requested a quarterback change, and was told there would not be one.

But when Berry couldn’t reach a deal that made sense for the Browns, Stefanski, Berry, and DePodesta decided it was time to cut ties with the wide out. The reason Beckham was told to stay away from practice on Wednesday and Thursday was the negotiations were taking place with his agent to release him or put him on waivers.

Whatever, the situation was didn’t work out in Cleveland. First, OBJ has the reputation and carries himself like an elite pass catcher, but the fact is he hasn’t been one since 2016, when he caught 101 passes for 1367 yards with the Giants.

The following season, the injuries started, ironically in a pre-season game against the Browns, when a hit by Briean Boddy-Calhoun caused a sprained ankle. Beckham and the Giants claimed it was a dirty hit, but in our view at the time, it looked perfectly legal.

OBJ missed most of the 2017 season, playing just four games, and the following year, his numbers dropped to 77 catches for 1052 yards, and was traded to the Browns following that season.

He played through a core injury in ’19, but barely had 1000 yards receiving (1035), catching 74 passes. Last year, it was the torn ACL, and this year a shoulder injury.

There is no evidence he was a bad guy in the locker room, but did he have the same priority as the other players? As former Steelers’ coach Bill Cowher said yesterday, would OBJ rather catch eight passes in a Browns’ loss than catch one pass in a Cleveland victory?

We have been on teams with players like that, and it makes one roll their eyes.

You also have to think about the fact (and it isn’t anecdotal, the numbers are real) that Baker Mayfield has better numbers with Beckham not on the field than with him on the field. Now, we don’t have empirical evidence as to why that’s true, but if Baker has a good game today, it will be brought up again.

In football, sometimes a player isn’t a good fit in a particular offense.

History gives us a similar situation, ironically involving the same teams. After the Browns traded Paul Warfield to get Mike Phipps prior to the 1970 draft, feeling they needed to replace Warfield, Cleveland traded for Giants’ WR Homer Jones, who made two Pro Bowls, and averaged over 20 yards per catch with New York.

Jones had those gaudy numbers in part, because he found open spots while Fran Tarkenton, a scrambler, ran away from pressure. With the Browns, and a regular drop back passer in Bill Nelsen, Jones caught just 10 passes for 141 yards and a single touchdown.

He was out of the league the next season.

Sometimes, it just doesn’t fit. That seems to sum up Odell Beckham Jr.’s time with the Browns.

A Major Off-Season Starts For The Guardians

The 2021 Major League Baseball season ended last night and fans of Cleveland baseball were subject to seeing highlights from the 1995 World Series, because the Atlanta Braves won their first world championship since defeating the Indians in six games that season.

And the end of the season means any reference to the team henceforth will be as the Guardians, as Cleveland’s name change takes effect. In fact, the name “Indians” above the giant scoreboard in left field was starting to be removed on Tuesday.

Besides the name change, the front office has a lot of work to do before spring training opens (hopefully because of the negotiations for a new CBA) in February in Goodyear, Arizona.

The offense needs to be improved for sure. The Guardians have finished in the lower half of the league in each of the last two seasons in runs scored, and it has been noted, you have to score runs to get into the post-season. Four of the top five teams in scoring made the playoffs in the American League.

While it is always noted pitching wins in October, and that is true for the most part, but in the regular season, teams need to score. Cleveland finished 9th in runs in 2021, and they likely need to get into the top six if they want to play past game 162 in 2022.

The corner outfield spots need to be upgraded badly, as well as second base and first base. And the offense in general would be helped by getting more guys who avoided making outs. Guardian hitters had an on base percentage of just .303 in ’21, ranking 13th in the league.

They ranked 7th in home runs, but it would be nice if there were men on base when Jose Ramirez or Franmil Reyes launched one into the seats.

For the first time in awhile, the pitching was also below the league average, with Cleveland ranking 10th in the AL in ERA, dropping from 1st in the COVID shortened season of 2020.

Certainly the injuries to Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac had a lot to do with that. For a stretch in June and July, Terry Francona was using J.C. Mejia and Sam Hentges as rotation pieces.

However, the pitching for 2022 could actually already have been bolstered by what happened this past summer. Cal Quantrill emerged as a rotation piece, going 8-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 40 appearances, including 22 starts. As a starter, he went 8-2 with a 3.12 ERA.

He most certainly will start spring training as a starter.

The other excellent development was the growth of Triston McKenzie. The wiry right-handed finished the season 5-9 with a 4.95 ERA, but in a seven start span from August 5th to September 14th, he went 4-2 in 46 innings, with a 1.76 ERA and 48 punch outs. Included in that span was a near perfect game against the Tigers, where he didn’t allow a baserunner until two outs in the 8th.

On the other hand, this season should have told the brass you can never have enough pitching depth. Eli Morgan is still around, and they traded for Peyton Battenfield and Konnor Pilkington at the deadline, and second round pick (2020) Logan Allen had an excellent season. And of course, Mejia, Hentges and Logan Allen (the Reyes’ deal) are still around, depending if they stay on the 40 man roster.

Hentges might be viewed as more of a reliever.

The first big decision will be which minor leaguers need to be protected from the “Rule 5” draft, and that determines how many players currently on the 40 man roster will be protected.

It should be an interesting winter, besides the rebranding, for the Cleveland Guardians

Browns Season At Crossroads?

What figured to be a promising season for the Cleveland Browns is now at a crossroads. They certainly are not out of the playoff race at 4-4, but any margin for error has gone out the window with Sunday’s 15-10 loss to the Steelers at First Energy Stadium.

The margin for error has grown very slim though. If you figure 11-6 is the record needed to make the post-season, then Kevin Stefanski’s guys have to go 7-2 the rest of the campaign, which includes two games with both the Ravens and Bengals, and contests against the Raiders, Packers, and a return date with the Steelers.

We still believe the talent on the roster means they have a chance to win any of the games they have remaining. Yes, three of their four losses have come by five points or less, but as Bill Parcells famously said, you are what your record says you are.

Former Plain Dealer sports editor Hal Lebovitz used to talk about “zero defects”, eliminating mistakes that can keep you from winning games against better teams. This team is not adhering to that motto. They have simply made too many errors, usually not egregious ones, that have kept them from winning games.

Last Sunday, it was dropped passes. Look, not all of any quarterback’s passes are going to be perfect, sometimes the receivers have to make plays. TE Austin Hooper dropped a pass on the game’s first drive. Maybe the Browns get a touchdown if he catches it. As it was, Cleveland settled for a field goal.

Then the usually reliable Jarvis Landry dropped two passes (one easy, one not so much) and fumbled after getting a first down in Pittsburgh territory (20 yard line) in the fourth quarter.

Opposing teams are loading the box because either Baker Mayfield doesn’t want to throw deep or the team doesn’t have anyone who can get open deep. Quite frankly, we think it is more of the latter.

We doubt it will happen today, but can we agree to start the countdown on the amount of time Odell Beckham Jr. has with the Browns? It simply hasn’t worked out, and we don’t know why. We do know Beckham hasn’t really been an elite wide receiver since 2017, so maybe expectations are simply too high.

He has flashes, but doesn’t seem to be able to play at a high level on the weekly basis.

And what remains true is Mayfield is a more efficient passer without Beckham on the field. Again, we aren’t sure how that works, but it is true.

This isn’t just on the offense either. We didn’t think it was possible to think an NFL team didn’t play well defensively in a game they allowed just 15 points, but the loss this past week made us think otherwise.

The defense has forced just five turnovers on the season, which ranks second to last in the league. They also seem to allow one very long drive (time wise) per game, and it seems it occurs after the Browns score. The offense seizes a little momentum, and the defense allows it to go to waste.

They seem passive as well. Ben Roethlisberger is basically a statue right now in terms of mobility, yet, there were very few blitzes to put pressure on and perhaps force a mistake. We understand Denzel Ward is out right now, but why not dial up some extra pressure from time to time.

And when you get a penalty to put the opponent in 1st and 20, it is best to not let a receiver be wide open down the middle for a first down on the next play.

We continue to say it, this football team has talent, lots of it. But they have to stop the silly pre-snap penalties, drop passes, etc. And one more thing, in the absence of the wide outs doing anything, why not let David Njoku loose?

Sexton Has A Different Role For These Cavs.

Basketball has been declared at times as the jazz of sports. It is spontaneous. While certainly there is a coaches’ blueprint to a free break, many times the players make it up as they head to the basket.

We always favored getting the ball to the middle of the floor, with two other players filling the wings, with spacing being important so one defender cannot cover two players. But really, once the player with the ball heads up the floor, there is room for creativity, as long as the ball gets in the basket.

It’s a joy to watch teams playing the game by moving the basketball around by passing. Some of our favorite teams were that way. Before the Cavaliers existed, we loved watching the Knicks of the late 60’s, with Red Holzman preaching “hit the open man”, led by Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, and Willis Reed.

Even though the Cavs went to the playoffs the first time in 1975-76, the team that won the NBA title the following year, fellow expansion team Portland led by Bill Walton, operating the offense from the high post, and Maurice Lucas providing muscle and toughness, passed the ball incredibly.

Walton’s nagging injuries probably kept them from a long run at the top.

The 1985-86 Celtics, with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, and Walton as a sixth man, were another team who won playing a beautiful style of hoops.

We think about this because even though this year’s edition of the Cavs has been an early surprise, starting out 3-3 despite just two home games, some fans don’t like how they are winning.

Keep in mind, those three wins came against playoff teams from a year ago: Atlanta, Denver, and the Clippers.

The problem is the lesser role being taken offensively by Collin Sexton, and right now, it is working for the wine and gold.

Sexton’s shots are down from 18.4 per contest to 13.6 this year. And so far, it’s been good for the wine and gold.

Last year, only five players averaged 10 or more shots per game, and two of them were Andre Drummond, who played just 25 games with Cleveland, and the other was Yogi Farrell, who played only four.

This year, five players who are entrenched in the J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation all average at least 10 shots. Besides Sexton, Darius Garland, Ricky Rubio, Lauri Markkanen, and rookie Evan Mobley all get that many looks.

That’s what happens when you add more talent to the roster.

Also, it doesn’t appear Sexton is buying in to the offense being played by Garland and Rubio. Garland’s assist numbers are up from 6.1 to 8.2 thus far, and Rubio’s 6.6 helpers per game are two more than Matthew Dellavedova provided in his limited time last season. He was second on the team in assists.

Sexton’s numbers have dropped from 4.1 in 2020-21 to just 1.9 this season. Big men Mobley and Kevin Love are averaging more.

The four year guard from Alabama’s role is changing. He’s on a team with more talent, and has to adjust.

What we don’t understand are the fans who seem disappointed by this changing role. They seem to want the guy who scored 24 points per night on a team that frequently were non-competitive.

Basketball can be individualistic in terms of moves and dunks, but it’s still a professional sport, and winning is the ultimate goal. If the Cavaliers are better with Collin Sexton taking less shots, that’s fine.

And for sure, there will be games the team needs Sexton to score 35 points to win. And he needs to be ready to do that.

By the way, the year Kobe Bryant took the most shots in his career (27), the Lakers went 47-35. The seasons in which the Lakers won their last two titles with Bryant? He averaged about 21 shots per game. Reason? The team was better.

This Cavalier team seems to more good players. Mobley is pretty good for a rookie. Rubio is a solid veteran. Garland continues to improve.

Fans (and Sexton himself) need to be more concerned with the number in the win column increasing, even if the number in the scoring column is dropping.

No One Said It Would Be Easy For Browns

Based on the misery of some of their fans, it is hard to believe the Cleveland Browns made the playoffs last season for the first time in 18 years and actually won a game for the first time since Bill Belichick coached the team in 1994.

They are envious of other teams, particularly when it comes to quarterbacks. Apparently, the guy who led the team to the post-season isn’t good enough.

We wrote this summer about the top signal callers in the game and we determined the top five QBs in the NFL were in no particular order Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Russell Wilson.

Sounds fair, right?

Outside of Brady, who we believe no one questions is one of the best, if not the best, there ever was, the other four guys on that list have combined for three NFL championships. Brady, of course, has won seven.

And right now, Watson isn’t playing because of legal issues and Wilson is injured.

The point is Browns think if they had one of those guys, they would win the Super Bowl. Maybe they would, but the reality is the fans of those teams have those guys and more often than not, except for the team Brady is on, they don’t.

The envy has extended to the Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow as well after last week’s drubbing by Cincinnati over Baltimore. We remember a couple years ago, 2019 in fact, when a visiting team went into Baltimore and whipped the Ravens 40-25.

The winning team’s QB was very good that day, completed 20 of 30 passes for 342 yards and a touchdown.

If you remember that quarterback being Baker Mayfield and that team being the Browns you have a good memory.

Cleveland finished 6-10 that season, while the Ravens went 14-2.

No, we don’t think the Bengals will have the same fate at the end of the season, but our point is these things happen. Yes, Cincinnati is much improved, but let’s see what happens after 17 games (or even after they take on the Browns next week) before crowning them as the new bullies on the block.

These folks apparently need to have the other three teams in the AFC North be terrible when the Browns are good to feel comfortable. That’s not reality.

The AFC North might just be the most competitive division in the NFL. Three teams made the playoffs last season, and the team that didn’t, the Bengals, has made giant strides. Yes, the other teams are very good, but so are the Browns.

Will it be easy to win the divisional games? No, but Kevin Stefanski’s team is good enough to do so. We would not be shocked if the Browns won each of the next two games to be sitting at 6-3 after nine games.

And as for the other issue people are talking about, the health of Mayfield, let us remind you that professional athletes don’t think the way other people do. They want to play. If it is at possible to be out there and compete, they will go out on the field and help their teammates win.

That’s why Mayfield said, if he’s hurting the team by playing, then he will sit down. But he thinks he can do the job, and so does the coaching staff.

If Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt think a less than 100% Baker Mayfield is a better choice than Case Keenum, that’s all we should need to know.

They want to win too.

Yes, if Mayfield takes a big hit on the shoulder again, he likely will miss more time and possibly could be lost for the season. That scenario probably doesn’t change if he sits out this week or the next two weeks. He’s going to have to have surgery after the season.

Just don’t pretend these athletes think the same way as we do. They are different cats.

Have Cavs Found A Winning Style?

Three games is hardly enough time to make any judgments on the any team and the Cleveland Cavaliers are no exception. A lot could change during the next eight games for the wine and gold, especially because seven of those games are on the road.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are the reason for the games away from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, by the way.

It might surprise you based on the team’s first two games, but the Cavs have moved up to 20th in the league in defensive rating after the victories over Atlanta and Denver.

Much was made about the five words on the wall in the Cavs’ practice facility being the coaching staff’s mantra, but we felt until one of those words becomes “defense”, we fear this team in going to struggle.

Perhaps J.B. Bickerstaff hit on something by switching to a zone, with rookie Evan Mobley at the top of it to start the second half in Saturday night’s victory over the Hawks. The rookie can be a monster in this defense with his length and quickness, and he covers up for most of the lack of ability defensively by his teammates.

It will be interesting to see how often Bickerstaff goes to this defense on this trip.

Also interesting is the rotation employed by the coach, who right now seems to only trust nine players, and with Darius Garland nursing a sore ankle, he played only eight guys in a game he probably figured he needed badly with the long trip coming up.

The only bench players getting time are the veterans, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love, and Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman.

He tried to use Kevin Pangos and Dean Wade in the home opener against Charlotte, but neither gave much in the way of performance.

We did not understand Bickerstaff’s insistence on pushing the ball up the court. The last two games, Cleveland has slowed the tempo and taken care of the basketball.

We fear the young players do not make good enough decisions trying to beat teams up the floor and that leads to turnovers. Rubio can handle this. Perhaps later in the year, after watching the veteran, Garland and Sexton can handle this as well. But for now, we love the decision to slow it down a bit.

And as with last season, three point shooting continues to be an issue. The Cavs are still one of the worst teams in terms of shooting the long range shot, and that’s with Rubio knocking down 9 of 23.

The next two players in terms of attempts, Lauri Markkanen and Sexton, have made a combined 14 of 46 shots from beyond the arc (30.4%). Although Osman has hit 5 of 14 shots from distance, 14 of his 24 shots have been threes and we don’t understand why.

In our way of thinking, he’s a slasher and a decent passer once he drives to the hoop, and we feel he would be more effective playing that type of game.

Despite starting three players seven feet tall, the Cavaliers are getting hammered on the board, outrebounded by an average of nine per night. We think this is due to the big men trying to stop the parade of guards going to the basket, and then being out of position.

Once again, that would be corrected with a better defensive concept in the half-court.

It’s going to be a tough trip to start the year, for sure. But starting with a win last night, it certainly was an encouraging start.

First Step To Help Guardians’ Attendance? Have Fun!

The Cleveland Guardians’ organization is very good in soliciting opinions. As a former season ticket holder (we guess), we are on their mailing list and we get surveys all the time regarding our feelings, usually about the experience at Progressive Field.

We have a confession too. We are probably not the demographic they really want to hear from. At the end of each questionnaire, we are asked for our age. Let’s just say, our favorite player growing up was Sudden Sam McDowell, so we bet our answers go into the “he’s get off my lawn” guy file.

We are often critical about the “game experience” at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, mostly because (we know, this is silly) we go downtown to watch a baseball game.

Most of the surveys have to do with the different types of food or beverages at the ballpark, although recent ones have dealt with the renovations which will occur over the next few years at Progressive Field and the latest had to do with game experience and the franchise name change, a bit late on that one, no?

The attendance for Cleveland baseball spiked under two separate times: The late 90’s when the team was dominant and the Browns did not exist, and the late 1940’s when yes, the franchise won its last World Series (1948) and it was owned by Bill Veeck, who was in touch with things people liked and was willing to take risks.

Many times in sports, the answer is right in front of you.

For instance, the Browns were successful in the late 50’s through 1970 with a running attack led by the great Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. The current edition of the team is following that path with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt (no, we didn’t forget D’Ernest Johnson).

The late 80’s Browns’ defense had two shutdown corners. The current organization is trying to do the same, although it’s a plus having Myles Garrett.

We doubt the Guardians’ front office can put together a lineup with potentially six Hall of Famers (Jim Thome and Eddie Murray are already there, and you can make very good cases for Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, and Omar Vizquel, while Manny Ramirez would be there if not for PEDs), so why not go the Veeck route in an effort to boost attendance.

Veeck spoke to the fans, asked them what they liked and what they didn’t, and then put that into action. Instead of announcing giveaway days and special promotions, he just did them, so fans didn’t know when they showed up if someone special was going to happen or not.

We greeting fans when they arrived and spoke to them as they departed. He was like a host at a party who wanted to make sure everyone had a good time.

We understand Paul Dolan doesn’t seem to be comfortable doing this sort of thing, but he could hire people who can do it.

This is not to say all of the folks who work at Progressive Field are uncaring robots. Many enjoy the people who attend the games, but it has to be universal.

Once you create fun, then allow people to experience it, lower ticket prices, which are among the highest in the sport. Get rid of dynamic ticket prices. Have ticket deals for the times when the weather is less than ideal in Cleveland.

Alternative jerseys? Fans love them, Cleveland hasn’t done this. When was the last time the franchise celebrated a former player by putting them in the team’s Hall of Fame? Those are just simple things? Why doesn’t the organization do them?

We have said it many times over the past few years, there is interest in the major league baseball team here, the television rating show it. Why don’t folks come downtown? That’s what the ownership should be trying to find out?

It’s not rocket science, but it is about fun. Make it fun to attend a Guardians’ game.

Maybe the front office doesn’t know what fun is?

Even With Injuries, We Are Still Optimistic About Browns

Apparently, Browns’ fans were optimistic about the 2021 edition of the brown and orange until they had one bad game. Some of the stuff we read and heard following last Sunday’s loss to Arizona made us chuckle.

First of all, it is not as though the Browns are playing horribly on a weekly basis. Their three losses are to the defending AFC Champion Chiefs (currently 3-3), the Chargers (4-2), and the NFL’s lone undefeated team, the 6-0 Arizona Cardinals.

They held fourth quarter leagues against the first two teams listed.

Now, we understand you are what your record says you are and Kevin Stefanski’s team is 3-3. We also understand this team is pretty beat up right now. Still, we think this is still a solid team and right now, we aren’t very worried about the immediate future.

Yes, that could change with a loss tonight to the Denver Broncos, who have beaten the Giants, Jets, and Jaguars, three teams with one win each, but have lost to Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Las Vegas. So, even with the key players out for Cleveland, it’s a reasonable thing to think that the Browns can win.

They then have some extra time off to get ready for Pittsburgh on Halloween. Perhaps some of the injured players can return for the Steelers.

The defense needs to get better and quickly, like tonight. Joe Woods’ unit has allowed 84 points the last two times it has taken the field. That’s completely unacceptable, and despite fans trying to twist it, giving up 42 points in an NFL games usually puts that contest in the loss column.

We thought the reason GM Andrew Berry brought in players like Ronnie Harrison, Grant Delpit, Greg Newsome, and Jeremiah Owusu-Koamoah was to defend mobile quarterbacks, yet it seems like the defense plays those type of QBs tentatively.

And they are paying a price for that.

We felt at the beginning of the season it would take time for the defense to gel, and was fooled by the performances against the Bears and Vikings, particularly the latter. Now, with key pieces on offense missing, would be a good time for the unit to come together.

Part of that would be getting some turnovers. The Cleveland defense has come up with just four takeaways on the season, ranking 29th to date. By contrast, the unbeaten Cardinals have produced 13 turnovers. Playing complementary football is always a good thing.

One thing the Browns have going for them under this regime is organization. Last Sunday, was the first time there was a little breakdown in that, but we think no matter what, the game plan will be to try establish the running game. Even with Case Keenum calling the signals, we would guess the plan won’t change.

Our concern is Keenum’s arm strength. It isn’t the same as Baker Mayfield’s, so the offensive coaches will no doubt take that into account. Look for a more quick hitting passing game.

Stefanski doesn’t like to make excuses and we won’t either. The Browns should win the football game tonight, and if they don’t then they have a problem.

If they can get a win and then comeback and win at home against the Steelers, we are sure the doomsayers will dissipate.

The Cleveland Browns have a solid roster and have built some depth the past few years. It’s time to show that off.