No Matter What People Say, The Browns Have Made Progress.

The Cleveland Browns just cannot avoid drama.

They are most definitely an improved football team this season. After years and years, six in total, of four and five win seasons, the Browns will NOT lose 10 games this season for the first time since 2007.

The defense has shown tremendous improvement as the season as gone along, and the offense has some promising rookie running backs as a foundation for the future.

However, even though the brown and orange still have an opportunity for nine victories, there has been criticism of the current front office by a franchise icon, and others speculating that coach Mike Pettine may not be safe if his team loses the last two games, which would be six of the last seven overall.

Want to talk about dysfunction? Firing Pettine after the progress made this season would be the exhibit A for the prosecution.

That can be remedied by owner Jimmy Haslam taking the time to talk to the media and allay everyone’s fears by saying Pettine and GM Ray Farmer will absolutely be back next season and he looks forward to another step forward in 2015.

In a normal world, he wouldn’t have to do that because both are under contract, but after the firing of Rob Chudzinski after one year last season, and the cleaning out of the front office as well, you can understand why supporters of the coach are worried.

Haslam needs to do it and do it before this Sunday’s game at Carolina. It’s the decent and smart thing to do. Most of the fans feel Pettine has done a good job and that he and Farmer have indeed started a culture change in Berea.

The head coach switched quarterbacks last week because the guy who started the first 12 games wasn’t getting it done anymore. If there were any other circumstances, like a meddling owner, those were superseded by Hoyer’s declining play.

So, the rookie first round draft choice played poorly in his first NFL start, and now everyone is looking at needing another signal caller in the ’15 draft. To quote Aaron Rodgers and LeBron James, “relax!”

Look, we weren’t on the Manziel bandwagon as the draft approached last May, especially with the fourth overall pick. However, judging him on one game, especially against a team that reached the playoffs the past three seasons, is ridiculous.

Manziel is a competitor and that performance last Sunday probably eats at him every minute until he can get back on the field this week. If he doesn’t learn from his first start, then he’s not as smart as we think.

He has seen the speed of the game first hand and should be making adjustments. Hopefully, he has learned that it is important to play mostly from the pocket and not follow his instinct to run around if the first read isn’t open.

Those are the things we should see against the Panthers on Sunday.

The best thing about Manziel’s day last week was that we will never have to go through his first NFL start again. Let’s allow him to play a few games before condemning him to the island of misfit passers, which includes several Cleveland quarterbacks who have played here since 1999.

We understand the NFL is a week to week sport and each game gets analyzed way too much. However, this organization has made progress overall in 2014, even if they lose the last two games.

Let’s remember that before we press any panic buttons.

Right Now, Tribe Counting on Good Things to Happen for Contention

Roughly two years ago, around this time, the Cleveland Indians announced the signing of free agent Nick Swisher to a four-year contract.

We bring this up, because it’s the last time the Tribe front office did anything off the field to excite its fan base.

There is no question the Indians are in a tough situation. They have assembled a solid young core of talent that is under control for the next three to four seasons.

They have the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the American League in Corey Kluber and another player in Michael Brantley that finished in the top three in the AL MVP voting.

They have one of the top catchers in the game in Yan Gomes, and a host of good, young arms, albeit without extensive track records in the starting rotation.

However, the face of the franchise is probably their manager, Terry Francona.

GM Chris Antonetti has made one move this off-season, getting left-handed slugger Brandon Moss from Oakland for a minor league second baseman, but that move gives Francona a glut at 1B, RF, and DH with Moss, David Murphy, Carlos Santana, and Swisher, not to mention Ryan Raburn.

The Indians made the wild card game in ’13, and went to the final weekend of the 2014 season with a chance to repeat a post-season appearance. So, they most definitely have to be considered a contender.

That’s why this would be as good a chance as any to take a shot and “go for it”, like many teams have this winter.

The franchise has needed another solid bat, particularly one from the right side for several years, and they could use another reliable veteran starter to go with the kids they’ve assembled. However, the ownership’s glass ceiling of an $85 million payroll ties the hands of the front office.

Instead, the management talks about how the Tigers likely won’t be as good as they were this season, and the Royals look like they will lose James Shields, so the Tribe is in the mix.

It seems their primary plan to win is other teams not being as good.

Within their own division, the Tigers have a better hitting lineup on paper with Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Yoenis Cespedes in the middle of the batting order, and Chicago has two top starters in Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija. Not to mention the Royals are the defending American League champions.

The Indians are hoping Jason Kipnis has a rebound season, Lonnie Chisenhall hits in the second half like he did in the first half, and Michael Bourn and Swisher can stay healthy.

They also need seasons similar to last season from Brantley, Gomes, and Kluber.

That’s a lot of wishin’ and hopin’.

While defenders of the ownership will claim attendance has to improve for the team to spend, we are here to tell you there is a large core of baseball fans in the area who want the front office to show they are all in, much like the White Sox have shown their ticket buyers.

Imagine if the Indians traded for Samardzija or signed Melky Cabrera as a free agent. The former would have formed a great one-two punch with Kluber at the top of the rotation, while the latter would have been a great fit in RF, a switch-hitter with a high average and some pop.

Yes, we know the White Sox play in one of the top media markets in the country, but Seattle isn’t and they signed a player who hit 40 homers a year ago.

We are excited about the Indians because they are a solid team, but they need a boost to make them a favorite for a division title, and to interest the fans in the area.

They still have two months until spring training starts, so there is still time for trades, but right now the Indians seem content to do what they normally do.

Fair or not, they need to do something to compete with the Browns and Cavaliers for the ticket money and headlines in the media.

Will Tito Staying Lead to Bigger Emphasis on Winning?

During this past baseball season, we speculated that we wouldn’t be surprised if Tribe skipper Terry Francona decided to resign this off-season because of the inactivity of the front office at the trading deadline.

Yes, we knew that Tito took the gig because of his relationship with team president Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti, but we felt experiencing what we perceived as a lack of interest in going for it would show Francona that this wasn’t the job for him.

How wrong were we?

This morning, it was revealed that Francona signed a two-year contract extension to remain the manager of the Indians, meaning he is signed through the 2018 season.

Perhaps the only bad thing this means is the ownership will not be making any changes to the front office group through that same time period.

Antonetti’s comments today trumpeted the “stability” mantra, claiming it is a positive thing. And it would be if this was one of the most successful organizations in the sport over the last 15 years. However, it isn’t.

If keeping Francona means more of the last two seasons, both of which finished with an above .500 record and in 2013 ended with a spot hosting the wild card game, then we are all for that. There is no question that although people have had questions with the manager’s in-game strategy (including us), he gets the most out of the talent on the roster.

And maybe Shapiro and Antonetti understand their best chance at remaining the contender the Indians have been the last two seasons is to have Francona at the helm. Because before Tito arrived, this was a franchise that couldn’t put two consecutive good seasons together.

After two World Series titles with Boston, it is doubtful that Francona wants to wallow in mediocrity here over the next four to six seasons. So, does this contract extension mean the front office is going to make another push to bring in more talent this off-season?

Remember that before his first season as manager, the Indians brought in Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn as free agents and also traded for Trevor Bauer. Now, the club has a solid, younger nucleus in Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, and Yan Gomes among the position players, and a young starting rotation led by Cy Young Award candidate Corey Kluber that will be in place for the next few seasons.

So, it is incumbent on the general manager to add some pieces, some productive veteran pieces, to this young core to push them over the top. Did Francona get assurances that this would happen going forward?

Probably not, but his friends have to know how he feels.

We have maintained that this roster doesn’t need an overhaul, it just has to add one or two pieces, and those will likely come via the trade route. Both MLB Trade Rumors and Baseball Prospectus listed the top 50 free agents this winter and neither site had the Tribe signing anyone on the list.

The good news is the best manager the Indians have had in a long time is going to be here for at least the next four years. The bad news is the tie in with Shapiro and Antonetti, and Tito’s link to them probably insures they will be here for that period as well, which is fine if the Indians are regular participants in the playoffs.

If they aren’t, it will be almost 20 years since Shapiro took control of the organization without the success of his predecessor, John Hart. How long will fans accept it if Francona can’t continue to work the magic of the last two seasons.

Why Don’t Tribe Fans Show Up? Front Office Needs to Look in Mirror.

It is an annual rite every fall in Cleveland, especially if the Indians are in contention. Why doesn’t anyone go to Progressive Field?

Last night, they drew just under 10,000 fans for a game with post-season implications because the Tribe is still under five games behind for a wild card spot in the American League.

Certainly, there is interest in the Indians, their local television ratings ranking near the top in all of major league baseball. However, those ratings don’t translate to putting people in the seats.

We are sure that the front office has conducted polls and surveys to find out why fans do not turn out for games, and it appears they respond to some of the comments by making changes to the game day experience at the now 20-year-old ballpark.

However, they ignore the real reason for people staying home and that would be the lack of trust in the current ownership and front office.

Instead, they spend a lot of time trying to contradict the opinions of the masses, mostly by pointing out market limitations, etc., and they also have many media people backing them up in regard to the perception of the fans.

They need to realize that perception is reality and they need to do something to change the mindset of the playing public.

Fans do not believe there is any real commitment to winning with the Indians, and they can back that up by the total inactivity of GM Chris Antonetti both at the trading deadline this season, but also during the winter when the Tribe was coming off a 92 win season, and interest in baseball was up all around the town, because of the sizzling September that put the team in the playoffs.

Instead of striking while the iron was hot in terms of interest, the Tribe didn’t make any significant moves this winter (sorry, David Murphy) to show the fans they weren’t satisfied with being ousted in the single game wild card contest.

Then they followed that by trading away two veterans who were key parts going into the 2014 season at the trading deadline even though the Indians were very much in contention at the time.

If Antonetti did make a trade to bring in let’s say David Price at the deadline, would there have been instant sellouts at Progressive Field? Of course not, but there is no question there would have been a buzz around the city, and the talk shows would have been filled with Tribe talk.

Which brings us to another failure of the front office, and this is something we’ve addressed before. The Indians made a terrible short-sighted move in staying with WTAM as the team’s flagship station instead of moving to an all sports stations like WKNR or 92.3.

No doubt both stations would have more Indians’ based programming if a significant amount of their spring and summer programming was Tribe baseball. As it stands right now, the baseball team is an afterthought on both stations.

The continue to misjudge their market. What draws people to game in Cleveland, Ohio is winning and the hope of winning. All the other stuff is nice, but it doesn’t give fans a reason to go to the ballpark. If the Indians make the playoffs again this year, they will start to see fans returning to watch.

Even the Browns have suffered attendance loss because of their terrible record over the last several years.

Is there a solution? A good start would be lowering ticket prices and putting individual game tickets on sale around Thanksgiving Day so fans can buy them as Christmas presents for hard-core baseball fans.

But the Tribe needs to make a splash this winter and show fans they want to win.

Until that perception is changed, there is going to be a problem. The Indians are the third sports option right now in Cleveland now that LeBron James and Kevin Love are with the Cavaliers. That means it could be June before the Tribe has a stage all to itself.

They need to give fans a reason to show up at Progressive Field, but they need to stop ignoring the basic problem–that they aren’t interested in winning big.

Things That Wouldn’t Surprise Us About The Tribe

The Cleveland Indians are hanging on by their fingernails at a possible post-season berth. They sit five games out of the second wild card berth, and our opinion is you have to be within five on Labor Day to be a real contender.

And in doing nothing at the trade deadline to add a significant piece to the current roster, it appears the front office is starting to look forward to the 2015 season, as the Indians are currently the second youngest active 25 man roster in the major leagues.

So, even though we haven’t officially given up on this season, we have started contemplating what will happen with the 2015 edition of the Cleveland Indians.

It wouldn’t surprise us if:

Jason Kipnis moved to third base. The Tribe brass has hinted they would like to see a keystone combination of Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez because of the defensive upgrade it would provide. If that happens, then Kipnis would have to find a new position.

Logically, Kipnis would move back to LF, his college position, but Cleveland’s best player, Michael Brantley, is in that spot. So, we wouldn’t be surprised if GM Chris Antonetti either traded Lonnie Chisenhall or moved him to another spot (RF?) and put Kipnis at the hot corner.

We understand about the defensive movement of players seeming to have an adverse effect on the ’14 Tribe, but if this is done early enough, the players involved could come to spring training playing their new positions and be ready for Opening Day.

Nick Swisher bounced back. It is no secret that the Indians’ big free agent acquisitions before the 2013 season haven’t worked out, but of the two players (Michael Bourn being the other), Swisher is a better bet for a comeback in our view.

First, it is likely Swisher will be a DH, keeping his ailing knees away for the pounding of defensive play.

Second, Swisher’s 2014 season is an anomaly. Although, he didn’t drive in a lot of run last year, he still banged out 22 HRs, on par with his career numbers.

On the other side, Bourn’s numbers seem to be in steady decline. He’s never been a great offensive player, but his stolen base numbers continue to drop and he’s not an effective leadoff man anyway because of his low on base percentage. If he can’t steal bases any more, then he should be hitting at the bottom of the order.

We aren’t saying Swisher is going to hit .280 with 30 homers, but he could hit in the .250 range with a lot of walks and 20+ dingers. That wouldn’t be bad.

Terry Francona decides he’s done. This is a long shot to be sure, but Tito’s had problems with his legs over the years, and there seems to be a little disconnect between himself and the front office, which is the reason he came here in the first place.

While it appears Francona has slipped into the veteran manager’s viewpoint of trusting only veterans, that seems to be in conflict with the front office’s desire to give opportunities to players like Tyler Holt and Ramirez.

Perhaps it is the other way around and it is Francona who would like to play the youngsters, but his continued play of Chris Dickerson says otherwise.

Again, we believe this is a long shot to happen, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

In another week, when the rosters can expand to 40 players, we may start to get an idea of what the 2015 Cleveland Indians will look like. We could see Lindor arrive along with Jesus Aguilar and maybe 3B Giovanny Urshela and of course, a boatload of bullpen arms.

Here’s hoping the current players can put that off by getting on a hot streak over the next week.

Will Tribe Make a Move? History Says No.

The Cleveland Indians are heading into the All-Star break in the middle of an important homestand.

They took two of three from Kansas City and now are in the midst of a four game series with the Yankees and finish it off with a three game set with the White Sox.

The Tribe needs to get at least six wins while at Progressive Field.

With the Oakland A’s pulling off a huge trade on the fourth of July, and the Angels and Yankees making minor deals to help their ballclubs, so far the Indians haven’t done anything despite a roster that needs some help if they are going to stay in the post-season race.

The question is will they?

It would go against the pattern of this franchise since the Mark Shapiro regime took over in 2001.

In 2007, a year in which the Indians won the division, the only move made near the trading deadline was to re-acquire OF Kenny Lofton for a minor leaguer. While Lofton helped Cleveland down the stretch, it wasn’t a bold move.

Last season, GM Chris Antonetti dealt another low minor leaguer to St. Louis for left-handed reliever Mark Rzcepczynski, who certainly helped shore up the Tribe bullpen.

The one big move the front office made was in 2011, when Manny Acta’s crew got off to a quick start, Antonetti did make a bold move in dealing his past two first round picks, Drew Pomerantz and Alex White to Colorado for RHP Ubaldo Jimenez.

Jimenez was wildly inconsistent for much of his tenure here, although he was tremendous down the stretch last season as the Indians made the playoffs.

However, the scorecard on the big righty is 2-1/2 seasons in Cleveland, with a half-year of being a stud pitcher. That’s not enough of a return when you give up two first round draft picks, even if they don’t succeed for the organization they were traded to.

As a matter of comparison, the A’s traded two first round picks to obtain Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, a deal that looks to be a better one than Cleveland made three years ago.

So, if you are hoping the Indians are going to make a big splash at the trade deadline, you are probably going to be disappointed.

If they wanted to make a megadeal, they would have to part with their top prospect, SS Francisco Lindor, and that’s not a move we’d be willing to make for a player who may only be with the Tribe for the next year and a half at best.

However, the Indians still have depth in their system in the middle infield and the bullpen, and have some well regarding pitching prospects in the lower minors.

If they don’t make a move, they are counting on a lot of luck to stay in the race. They will need Nick Swisher to emerge from his three-month slump and for Justin Masterson to suddenly put it all together.

Right now, those things don’t seem likely to happen.

Instead they go out and get a career back up in OF Chris Dickerson from Pittsburgh to help out while Michael Bourn is out. Nothing against Dickerson, but wouldn’t it be better to see what Tyler Holt can do? Holt has some upside, Dickerson has a proven record of mediocrity.

And why not give some of Bourn’s at bats to Ryan Raburn and/or Mike Aviles if you don’t want to give a rookie the bulk of the playing time?

If the Tribe doesn’t stay in contention, they have only themselves to blame because these weaknesses have been visible for at least a month, and the front office has done nothing to address them.

Doing that would be a bold step. The history of the front office is they are only bold sellers, not bold buyers.

No Emotion Needed From Gilbert Now

There was good news from the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday as the players cleaned out their lockers and the front office had meetings.

No one got fired.

Yes, we’ve advocated that changes have to come for the organization, which has gone from 19 wins in the first season after LeBron James left for free agency, to 21 in year two (strike shortened), and then 24 in year three, to this year’s disappointing 33-49 record.

However, here’s hoping yesterday’s inactivity was due to everyone in the front office, including owner Dan Gilbert, taking a deep breath and not making any rash decisions.

In Cleveland, and probably Detroit, we all know that Gilbert is an emotional creature. His famous rant after James made his decision is derided throughout the NBA, but was applauded by his fan base. That could be a reason attendance hasn’t dropped off drastically despite four straight seasons of mediocre basketball.

It was reported this past week that Gilbert is irate about the lack of a playoff spot this season, and insiders think major changes are in the work this summer. But as of right now, nothing was announced.

It was just last off-season that former GM Chris Grant, with the owner’s approval, hired back former coach Mike Brown, and didn’t even interview anyone else. That’s the type of emotional decision that needs to be avoided this time.

Now, there have been rumors that the wine and gold want to bring in a president of basketball operations to oversee the front office and decided the fates of interim GM David Griffin and Brown. That’s a solid decision.

However, two frontrunners for the post that have been mentioned are former Pistons Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. The Pistons happen to be Gilbert’s boyhood team, so hiring either of them despite questionable records as coaches/executives would be thinking more with your heart than your head.

The owner is the Board of Governors meeting this weekend and should be picking the brains of the other basketball minds there to decide what would be the best course of action for his team. George Karl is another name that has been bandied about for the lead hoops position, and in our opinion would be a tremendous hire, even if he never played for Detroit.

We think Karl is one of the country’s best basketball minds.

Even so, this is a decision that has to be well thought out and not rushed into. There is a long time between now and the NBA draft, when free agency and trades are consummated. It’s a two month window.

As for the coach, Gilbert shouldn’t let the big contract he and Grant gave Brown be any consideration.

While the team did gain nine games in the win column, there is no question it was a disjointed season, filled with many streaks.

Brown thinks the team seemed to improve in the second half of the season, but January had a six game losing streak, followed by a six game winning streak, which was following by a 15 game stretch in which Cleveland won just four games.

Whenever, it appeared the team was “getting it”, playing team basketball, it was followed by a period in which they executed like they just met each other that very afternoon.

We aren’t going to speculate what that means, but it doesn’t show the players were buying in.

If this summer’s decisions are made with a cool, calm, calculated mind, then the future of the Cavaliers may indeed be brighter. Emotional decisions have gotten them to where they are now.

Browns’ Front Office Keeps Looking Toward “Next Year”

If you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns, you must also be a fan of the movie Groundhog Day, because you should be used to seeing the same thing day after day after day.

Yes, you did have a brief ray of sunshine watching local product Brian Hoyer win his first two starts, and the Thursday night win against Buffalo actually gave the Browns a winning record after five contests.

But Hoyer got hurt, and it is back to the weekly crapfest on Sunday afternoons.

Seemingly, no one in the front office cares because they are focused on the 2014 season and the almighty NFL draft. Their confidence in that process is probably higher than it has any right to be.

No team, let us repeat, no team, hits on every one of their draft choices.

The Browns have turned into the sign seen in various bars: “Free Drinks Tomorrow!” That’s the mantra in Berea every year: We’ll Be Good Next Year.

Except that so far, next year never comes.

They traded Trent Richardson after the second game of the year for a first round pick in next May’s selection process.

While Richardson has shown to be an average running back at best, and getting a first round pick has to be considered a win, it still left a gaping hole in the running game.

Defenses don’t have to respect the running game when playing Cleveland. That makes it tough on the quarterback. There has to be better players out there than 32-year-old Willis McGahee.

Chris Ogbonnaya is never going to be compared to Jim Brown or Barry Sanders, but he did have some decent games in 2011, gaining 334 yards in 11 games with 4.6 yards per carry average. Why not give him the ball 15-20 times per game?

Because he’s miscast on this roster as a fullback.

Why not bring in a legitimate fullback and let Ogbonnaya get more carries? Because the Browns are going to be good…next year.

After Hoyer was injured against the Bills, management didn’t go out and get another quarterback. If they had, the newcomer would have already spent two weeks learning the offense and would be an option to play perhaps as soon as after the bye week.

What if Jason Campbell plays poorly after replacing Brandon Weeden? What alternatives do Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner have? They can’t possibly go back to Weeden for a third time.

However, there is no alternative on the current roster.

Once again, that’s because the management is focused on 2014, not this season.

Browns’ fans have suffered through fifteen seasons of failure and shouldn’t have to endure any more. Granted, it’s not the current regime’s fault for the past, but they should be cognizant that the fans base is getting disenchanted.

They shouldn’t make moves that could handicap real progress being made down the road. But there are players who could be brought in to play and contribute without salary caps implications.

This front office is clearly putting all of its eggs into picking several impact players in next year’s draft.

However, what is their plan if that fails? Another three year rebuilding plan? The coaches are trying to win every game. It would be nice if management helped them do anything within reason to facilitate putting games in the win column.