Bourn Signing OK, A Starter Would Have Been Better

The Cleveland Indians shocked everyone in the baseball world by signing free agent CF Michael Bourn to a four-year contract, worth an estimated $48 million.

We aren’t sure how much this helps the 2013 Tribe, at least offensively.

We are happy that the front office was able to spend money, and it shows a change in how the Dolan family is running the team, but with the state of the starting rotation, the dollars would be better spent there.

To be sure, the Indians may have baseball’s best defensive outfield with Bourn, flanked by Drew Stubbs in right and Michael Brantley in left. And that should help a pitching staff that ranked last in the AL in ERA last season.

However, the American League is an offensive league, particularly in the regular season, and it says here that Bourn doesn’t help the offense all that much. Why? Because he’s not a very good offensive player.

Here’s hoping Tribe fans don’t see a speedy, centerfielder and think of former Indian great Kenny Lofton, because GM Chris Antonetti’s latest signing doesn’t compare favorably.

Bourn, a left-handed hitter has a lifetime OPS of just 704. He’s a leadoff man by trade, yet his career on base percentage is just .339.

To be fair, in recent years he has been close to the .350 mark which is acceptable for a guy hitting at the top of the order. However, by comparison to the best leadoff hitter the Indians have had in recent years, Lofton, Bourn isn’t close. Lofton’s career on base percentage was a robust .372.

Also, the newest Indian has little pop. His lifetime slugging percentage is .365 and last year it was still under .400 (.391). Just for a comparison that you won’t like, Ezequiel Carrera’s slugging percentage for Cleveland last year? Try .395.

When Bourn gets on base, he can run, averaging 51 stolen bases per season over 162 games. He’s also an excellent defender, the winner of two Gold Gloves.

For $12 million per year, you should expect a little more with the stick. And for a player who makes his living with his legs, you have to wonder how effective of a player Bourn will be in the last two years of the contract, when he will be 32 and 33 years old.

Many baseball website rated Bourn as one of the top free agents in the off-season, mostly based on his WAR (wins above replacement player). However, that rating is inflated because of his defense at a premium defensive position.

Still, according to Baseball Reference.com, the most comparable hitters to Bourn at this point in his career are former Indian Dave Roberts, Albie Pearson and Roger Cedeno. All solid major league players, but no immortals there.

Bourn will enable Terry Francona to perhaps move Nick Swisher to 1B and DH Mark Reynolds, or even isolate Stubbs weaknesses at the plate by limiting his at bats vs. right-handers. He’s a better hitter than Stubbs, so if you consider that an upgrade then we have to agree.

Swisher was a solid signing because he’s a consistent player with OPS of between 743 and 870 throughout his major league career. His lifetime figure is 828 and he’s usually around that figure.

If this signing enables Antonetti to deal an outfielder, preferably Stubbs, for a legitimate starting pitcher, then it’s a good move.

Bourn isn’t a bad player, it just says here he won’t be an impact signing for the Indians. At those dollars, he should be.

Did Tribe Help Offense Enough?

Unlike the past few seasons, the front office of the Cleveland Indians actually made some moves this off-season.

They traded arguably their best hitter, Shin-Soo Choo, because he was going to be a free agent after the 2013 season, and they turned him into top starting pitcher prospect Trevor Bauer, with OF Drew Stubbs thrown in the deal.

For a team that finished second last in the AL in runs scored, dealing your best hitter isn’t regarded as a smart thing, but GM Chris Antonetti did sign free agent Nick Swisher to replace Choo. So, what else did the GM do to help the offense?

He did sign free agent Mark Reynolds to play 1B to replace Casey Kotchman which is an improvement there. Of course, it would have been better for the Indians to sign pretty much anyone else to play the position because you can make the argument that Kotchman may have been the worst offensive player in the big leagues at that spot in 2012.

So, much of the improvement for Terry Francona’s squad will come from wishing and hoping. Some of that hope is merited and some is not.

On the positive side, Francona should get better seasons out of 2B Jason Kipnis (.335/.379/.714), Lonnie Chisenhall (.311/.430/.731), and Carlos Santana (.365/.420/.785).

Kipnis will be entering his second full year in the majors at age 26 and his career should be on an upswing. He will likely hit with more pop with experience and his slugging percentage should get into the .450 range with more doubles and homers. He’s a better hitter than the one who had just 40 extra base hits last season.

For perspective, Jack Hannahan had 20 extra base hits in half the at bats. Most people will agree that “the JK Kid” is a better hitter than Hannahan.

Chisenhall has been hurt by both injuries and former skipper Manny Acta’s love for Hannahan.

In 350 at bats lifetime, Chisenhall has 12 career homers. And as for his supposed lack of ability against southpaws, he has an OPS of almost 700 (696) against lefties and has hit five dingers in 88 career at bats.

For the record, 88 times at the plate is not a large enough samples to suggest he can’t hit left-handers.

Santana is entering his 27-year-old season, and he should be poised for a bounce back year after his OPS dropped below 800 for the first time in his career. His average for 162 games in his career is 24 HR, 83 RBI, and an 806 OPS.

Francona would gladly take those numbers.

However, as much as those guys figure to be better, Reynolds and Stubbs could be potential nightmares.

Reynolds had an 892 OPS in 2009, an outstanding figure and one that would make you overlook the 223 times he struck out that season. Since then, he’s had an OPS no higher than 806, and his batting average hasn’t been above .221.

He’s been pretty even over his career at home or on the road, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Reynolds hit in the .210 range, although with some long balls. If the rest of the lineup hits that’s fine, but here’s hoping fans aren’t expecting the guy who played in ’09.

Stubbs’ OPS has dropped from 773 in 2010, when he hit .255 with 22 homers to 686 in ’11 and down to 610 last year. As a comparison, Kotchman’s OPS last season was 612.

Stubbs is 28 years old so he should be in line for a bit of a bounce back season. But if he doesn’t, the alternatives are Ezequiel Carrera or rookies like Tim Fedroff, which may not be bad.

The point is this. The Indians have improved the offense, but is it enough to climb from 13th in the league in runs scored to the top half of the American League, which is where they need to be to contend.

That improvement will be more dependent on the progress of Santana, Kipnis, and Chisenhall, than on big seasons from Reynolds and Stubbs.

The starting rotation has similar questions.

Fans should be thrilled that the front office did a makeover on a team that has lost 90 games in three of the last four years. The question that has to be asked is: Did they do enough?

A Little Experience Goes a Long Way for Cavs

There is no question that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a very young basketball team. The third youngest in the NBA according to age.

Pretty much on a nightly basis, the wine and gold start two rookies (Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller), two second year players (Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson) and a free agent who they found in the D-League in Alonzo Gee.

That’s not a recipe for success.

After the injury to Anderson Varejao, there was little help off the bench. C.J. Miles has been inconsistent, although better lately, and Luke Walton had moments where his veteran leadership made a difference.

However, as the Indians have found out in recent years, in order to provide leadership and a steady hand, the older players have to play on a night in night out basis so the younger guys like learn.

Since Christmas Day, GM Chris Grant has brought in some productive, experienced players to help coach Byron Scott, and the difference has been noticeable.

Shaun Livingston was claimed on waivers that day, and since his first appearance on the floor for the Cavs, the team has gone 8-10, a much better record than the 7-24 mark prior to his arrival. He’s averaged just 4.8 points and 3.2 assists since joining the team.

However, it’s not just the numbers. His experience and feel for the game has made a great deal of difference because Livingston knows how to play. Scott uses him frequently in crunch time.

He’s not the player he was before a devastating knee injury, but he understands how to play, something the young Cavaliers need to understand.

Then, Grant picked up two more veterans in Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington from Memphis.

Speights gave Scott another quality big man to use behind Thompson and Zeller, a good shooter from outside and a solid rebounder. Most nights, the big man is on the floor during the fourth quarter of close games.

Ellington is a bigger version of Boobie Gibson, who can match up size wise defensively with other #2 guards. Being just a shade over 6’ (and that might be generous), Gibson has become a good defensive player, but just doesn’t have the height to match up with bigger guards.

The other thing that the former Grizzlies bring is winning experience. Memphis won a playoff series a year ago, and both Speights and Ellington are used to winning. There is no question is our mind that for most players, winning is learned.

Young guys, even a player as good as Irving, usually don’t know how to play winning basketball in the NBA. Irving has shown the ability to be tremendous at the end of games in terms of making shots, but he has to understand what needs to be done defensively and when to take chances with the basketball.

Now Scott has someone to turn to in tight games, guys that have played in playoff games and know what to do when games are on the line.

The young players have veterans to look up to and to learn from. And they are out there on the floor doing it, not just sitting around talking about it.

Fans all look at the incredible talent the players like Irving, Thompson, Waiters, and Zeller have, but every team needs players like Livingston, Speights, and Ellington too.

Now that the Cavaliers have them, the proof is showing up in the win column.

Browns Need Progress Not Headlines

Now that the football season is over, with a mixed bag of emotions (unhappy that the Ravens hoist the Lombardi Trophy, but thrilled Art Modell is not going to be enshrined in Canton this year). It is time to start looking ahead to the next few months, meaning the free agent period and the NFL draft.

By the way, does Jim Nantz think the Lombardi Trophy is named for Michael?

There are still many Browns fans unhappy with the choice of Rob Chudzinski as head coach, and even more disconsolate over owner Jimmy Haslam III’s remark over during Super Bowl week that it is unlikely his team will make a big “splash” in free agency.

Supporters of the brown and orange want results and want them as soon as possible, and we are no different.

However, to be sure, it is better to have results than glamor.

While we don’t know yet if Chudzinski is the right man for the job, and we won’t know until the games start for real in September, there is a large population of ticket buyers who are upset that Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher didn’t take the gig. Put aside for a moment that neither man expressed any real interest in returning to the sideline.

They wanted a “big name”, an attention grab. That’s because we are so insecure about our teams. It lends credibility to the Browns and the city if a man who has talked about the game on a network for the last few years is the head coach.

The same goes for free agency. Think about last year at this time, two of the bigger names on the market were Packers’ reserve QB Matt Flynn, who signed with Seattle, and Texans’ DE Mario Williams, who signed a huge deal with Buffalo.

How did those moves work out?

Flynn went to the playoffs, but watched on the sidelines while rookie third round pick Russell Wilson started for the Seahawks. Today, you can get Flynn in a trade for a lower round pick or if and when Pete Carroll lets him go.

Williams had an okay year with 10.5 sacks, but he didn’t turn the Buffalo defense into a dominating unit, as they ranked 22nd in yards allowed, and 26th in points allowed.

This isn’t to say no big name free agent is worth the effort. Certainly, Green Bay wouldn’t have won its Super Bowl in 1996 without signing the late Reggie White as a free agent. But guys like that are few and far between.

It also isn’t to say the Browns shouldn’t sign any free agents this off-season. If the Ravens decide to make WR Anquan Boldin an unrestricted free agent this spring, he’s a guy who would provide excellent hands as a wide out and serve as a mentor to Josh Gordon and Greg Little.

This team is in desperate need of leaders. They don’t have many veterans on the roster, especially since guys like Sheldon Brown and Ben Watson likely will not be back in 2013.

Also, the Browns need some older players who have experienced winning, something the young guys have certainly never experienced. There is a lot of sentiment that Chudzinski’s team simply doesn’t know how to win, and they need someone to show them the way.

Those are the types of players this team needs to bring in, and with room under the salary cap, they have the cash to bring in a few winners. Spending big cash on a player past his prime, or doesn’t fit the system used by Norv Turner and/or Ray Horton isn’t the way to go.

Rather than making headlines, the Cleveland Browns need to make victories.

One More Change Needed For Tribe

With spring training ready to start in less than a week, Cleveland baseball fans have a reason to feel optimistic.

They have a new manager, not just any recycled skipper, but a man who has two World Series victories under his belt in Terry Francona. They signed a high-profile free agent for the first time in many years in Nick Swisher. And they have to feel good about a trio of young players who are poised to make an impact in 2013 in Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Michael Brantley.

However, there is one more thing that needs to change for the organization when the team convenes in Goodyear next week. Spring training needs to be meaningful, meaning the 25 man roster shouldn’t be set before camp begins.

Earlier this week, MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reported that the Indians’ front office was going to bring starter Trevor Bauer to the major leagues when he is ready, and were not going to rush him, meaning it will probably be a mid-season call up for one of the top prospects in the minors.

GM Chris Antonetti may have been trying to take pressure off of Bauer, and lowering the expectations of fans, who look at the right hander just acquired from Arizona as a savior for the starting rotation.

That, in itself, is not a bad thing.

However, if Bauer pitches well in spring training and is dominant in the exhibition games, don’t think for a moment that Francona isn’t going to push for the kid to come north for Opening Day.

That’s the way is should be. Remember that Charlie Manuel had to lobby hard to keep a 20-year-old left-hander on the big league roster in 2001. C.C. Sabathia did just fine, going 17-5 in his rookie year.

Antonetti has brought in some veterans to compete for roster spot in Arizona, and some of those players are good risks. Ryan Raburn and Ben Francisco could make the team as reserves, and Matt Capps could earn a bullpen spot as well. All three have been good players in the past.

However, if they struggle in spring training and a guy like Tim Fedroff or even Ezequiel Carrera do very well, then Francona and Antonetti should keep the players who earned the spot. Too many times in recent years, the Tribe has kept the veteran who had a marginal spring, and have to release him during the season because he’s not getting the job done.

If a young player out-performs one of these non roster invitees to spring training, they should open the season with the big club.

Although Capps has a much better track record than pitchers like Jamey Wright, Chad Durbin, and Dan Wheeler, here’s hoping he’s not lumped in with them at the end of the season. The latter three were all borderline hurlers, yet the Indians let them make the team and only Durbin lasted an entire season, albeit in a mop up role.

It is our belief that Francona will not let Antonetti bully him on the make up of the roster. Manny Acta seemed to allow the GM to decide what players would make the roster, and Eric Wedge never picked the right team coming out of spring training.

Francona has a great relationship with both Antonetti and team president Mark Shapiro, but he also wants to win, and win right away. If he feels a young player is ready to help the Indians win when April 1st comes around, he is going to fight for that guy to make the big club.

That’s just one more change that is going to help the 2013 version of the Cleveland Indians.

Young Cavs Today Remind of Late 80’s Group.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their best stretch of the season last week, winning three straight led by Kyrie Irving, who scored at least 30 points in the wins.

Unfortunately, Irving had only 14 points at home against Golden State on Tuesday and the wine and gold’s winning ways ended.

That’s the way it is for a team dominated by first and second year players. Consistency is definitely going to be an issue.

Many supporters of the Cavs were bragging about the team’s representation in the Rising Stars game at All Star weekend next month, as all four of Chris Grant’s first round picks in the last two years (Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller) are participating in the contest.

It’s no guarantee of future success, but it does speak to the amount of playing time coach Byron Scott is giving to players with little experience. Alonzo Gee leads the Cavaliers in minutes played, but the next four who have spent the next most time on the floor are the four participants in the exhibition game.

It would be much better if Cleveland was competing for the playoffs, but the last time this many young players saw this amount of time for the Cavs was the 1986-87 season when Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper, Mark Price, and Hot Rod Williams were rookies.

Price wound up seventh on that squad in time played, but the top three were the other rookies, with Harper garnering the most.

We all know that three of those players made up the nucleus of some very successful squads in the late 80’s and early 90’s. If it weren’t for the worst trade in NBA history (Harper AND two first round picks for the rights to Danny Ferry), and a guy named Michael Jordan, to borrow an Indians’ slogan, what if???

Still, when they were rookie, that team finished 31-51 for the season, before improving the 42-40 the following season, and then to 57-25 in their third season together, when Magic Johnson called them “the team of the 90’s”.

While no one is predicting that type of rapid success for this young group of Cavaliers, it would be nice if they could come close to duplicating the progress of those young Cavs.

After that first season, Cleveland’s first round pick in the draft was Kevin Johnson, who went on to a great career with Phoenix, but is more important to Cavs’ followers as the trade chip which brought the team Larry Nance.

Here’s hoping this group of young players resembles that group more than another group of young Cavs in 1997-98, when four rookies (Cedric Henderson, Brevin Knight, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Derek Anderson) ranked in the top six for minutes played that season.

That group buoyed by veterans Wesley Person and Shawn Kemp finished the season 47-35 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Indiana. A back up guard on that team was Scott Brooks, now the coach for Oklahoma City.

They followed up by going 22-28 in a shortened season with Ilgauskas, who turned out to the best player out of the group, missing most of the season with a broken foot.

By the third year they were supposed to be together, Anderson was dealt to the Clippers for Lamond Murray, Big Z was still out for the season, and Knight’s time was cut considerably by rookie Andre Miller.

The Cavs finished 32-50 and were stuck in mediocrity until the drafting of LeBron James.

The current young guys wearing wine and gold look more like the first group because of the presence of Irving, who appears to be heading toward elite status.

Let’s hope that is the case so the future is bright, not bleak.

Tribe Spending Spree? Not Really

One of the great myth’s surrounding the Cleveland Indians is that they conducted a huge spending spree this off-season.

According the Baseball Reference.com, the Indians spent $66.5 million on salaries last season, and right now are projected to have a payroll of $73.8 million in 2013.

That figure would still be the lowest in the AL Central Division, and only Tampa Bay, Oakland, and Houston would have lower payrolls this season.

To be fair, that figure includes only 14 players, but rest of the 40 man roster won’t cost the team a lot of moolah because most of those guys will be paid the major league minimum or a split contract which pays them less in they aren’t in the major leagues.

The only player who remains unsigned that will make more than $2 million per year is probably INF Mike Aviles.

That isn’t to say you have to spend cash to win, just look at the A’s, who won the AL Western Division and only paid $50 million in player salaries, and the Rays won more than 90 games last year with a comparable figure.

GM Chris Antonetti might be able to pull off a contending team in 2013, but it won’t be because the Dolan family opened up the purse strings. He is not spending a heck of a lot more than he did on a squad that won 68 games a year ago.

Yes, the team did spend big dollars on free agent OF Nick Swisher, but it isn’t much more than they were paying Travis Hafner the past few years. The difference is that Swisher will likely be in the lineup more often.

The Indians also signed two other free agents, 1B Mark Reynolds and P Brett Myers, but they shed the contracts of Shin-Soo Choo (traded to Cincinnati) and Roberto Hernandez (released).

Antonetti has said there won’t be more free agent signings this winter because he has spent pretty much the cash allocated to him by ownership for player salaries.

This means there wasn’t intent to spend a great deal more in 2013, but the money will be spent wisely, meaning to players who will be productive.

However, we have maintained that there is no reason the Indians should not have an $80 million payroll, meaning they should be able to spend another $5 million for another player, preferably a starting pitcher.

Because the Tribe needs to start spring training with Ubaldo Jimenez as the fifth starter.

Right now, Terry Francona goes into camp with two reliable starters, Justin Masterson and newcomer Brett Myers.

Zack McAllister showed promise last season, but he’s pitched in the big leagues for a half of a season. Trevor Bauer is one of the game’s prime prospects, but has made four major league starts. Carlos Carrasco is coming off of Tommy John surgery.

Corey Kluber and David Huff are, well, Corey Kluber and David Huff.

Which brings us to Jimenez. You can flip a coin on what kind of performance you will get out of him on a nightly basis.

And if you are interested in winning this season, and to be sure, Francona wants to, you can’t have a pitcher like that in the top three of your rotation.

Here’s hoping the ownership gives Antonetti a little bit more cash to get the payroll where it should be, so he can obtain another starter.

That would do a lot for fans that still look at this organization with a jaundiced eye.

Please, No First Round QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns have a new owner, a new CEO, a new vice president of player personnel, a new head coach, and new coordinators. It was really a case of out with the old and in with the new.

Here’s hoping the new regime doesn’t do something that the front office’s of the past have done in the recent past. And that is draft another quarterback in the first round of this April’s NFL draft.

This is not an endorsement of Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, or even Thad Lewis. Both Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner will make a determination who is the best quarterback to run the offense, but either the Browns have to trade for a veteran who can start, or go with one of the guys currently on the roster.

The Browns have too many other holes on the squad to select another QB with the sixth pick in the draft, particularly when it is their only pick in the first two rounds.

The switch to a 3-4 defensive alignment means new defensive coordinator needs some more linebackers to implement the scheme. Also, the defensive backfield is short of another quality cornerback to pair with Joe Haden.

So, it would be a mistake to pick a quarterback in the first round.

Also, there are no Andrew Lucks or Robert Griffin IIIs in this year’s draft. The best passers available this year are West Virginia’s Geno Smith, USC’s Matt Barkley, and North Carolina State’s Mike Clennon. While all three might be taken in the first round, it would be because of the NFL’s search for possible franchise quarterbacks, not because they are first round talents.

A list of the best players available might list one or two of them in the top 30, and probably none of them would be in the top ten. To pick one draft guru, CBS’ Rob Rang, he has Smith listed as the 11th best player and Barkley next at 17. Those are the only QBs he has listed in the top 30.

That means taking one of those guys at six would be a big time reach, and with a franchise on the brink of playoff contention, it’s not worth the gamble.

No matter what anyone thinks of Weeden, he deserves the right to compete for the job, and in fact, he shouldn’t be handed the gig after a rookie season that didn’t see progress as it went on.

However, it is clear here that the offense ran by Pat Shurmur did not play to Weeden’s strengths, a thought shared by more than one NFL analyst during the season.

If CEO Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi want this team to improve, they need to bring in a guy who has played in the NFL to compete with Weeden, not another guy who hasn’t taken a snap in the pros, and will be learning on the job.

Drafting a player like Luck or Griffin III is one thing, but handing the reins to Geno Smith or Matt Barkley doesn’t seem like the thing to do if you want to get off to a good start next season.

The Cleveland Browns need to add an impact player with the sixth pick this spring, a player who can help now. Hopefully, they won’t be picking this high again for a while.

Letting last year’s high picks on offense (Trent Richardson and Weeden) improve, and helping out a defense that needs an assist in the secondary or in getting to the opposition’s quarterback is the way to help the Browns win in 2013.

Taking another QB isn’t a smart move now.

Cavs Trade Has No Downside.

Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers may be the team that ushers in the new NBA.

Oh, and by the way, anyone want to criticize GM Chris Grant now?

The Cavs made their first trade of the season by dealing little used Jon Leuer to the Memphis Grizzlies for C/F Marreese Speights, G Wayne Ellington, G Josh Selby and unbelievably a future first round pick, although the pick is protected by several criteria until 2019.

The trade was made by Memphis mainly to allow them to stay under the new luxury tax threshold, part of the new collective bargaining agreement negotiated last year following the lockout.

As said a week ago, the Cavs were a team with four building blocks and maybe two decent players who could be bench guys for a good team. They picked up another solid piece in Speights, a big man the team badly needed with the loss for the season of Anderson Varejao.

A former first round pick in 2008, the former Florida Gator gives Byron Scott some much-needed size inside. In recent games, the Cavs have had to use 6’8″ Luke Walton at power forward because of the lack of depth on the roster.

A year ago, Speights averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 22 minutes per night for a playoff team in Memphis. This year, his minutes have been cut to 14.5 a game with Zack Randolph healthy, but he still has been productive, getting 6.5 points and 4.7 boards on average.

Ellington has actually played more this year than Speights, scoring 5.5 points per game. He plays the same game as Boobie Gibson, which doesn’t bode well for the latter’s future with the wine and gold. He’s a spot up shooter who rarely makes a foray into the paint.

He’s bigger than Gibson at 6’4″, so he fits better than Gibson defensively because of his size.

Selby has a world of potential, but has played less than 300 minutes in his NBA career in two seasons. He’s a guy who went to Kansas with a big reputation, and probably should have stayed beyond his freshman year. He was ranked as the top recruit by at least one scouting service as a high school senior.

He should get a better opportunity to play with the Cavaliers, and perhaps he can realize his potential. He fits as a combo guard, but he has to earn time in a crowded backcourt with Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and an emerging Shaun Livingston, as well as Ellington and C. J. Miles.

The first round pick is an added bonus, and is the sixth acquired by Grant in the last three seasons. The pick is available starting in 2015, but is protected from being in the top five and from 15 to 30 in that draft and the 2016 selection process.

In 2017 and ’18, Cleveland will get the choice unless it falls in the top five picks. It becomes unprotected in 2019.

The Cavs’ bench was horrible early in the season, and in the last month, Grant has picked up a veteran point guard in Livingston, who has been a clear upgrade to Jeremy Pargo and Donald Sloan, and at least two other contributors in Speights and one of the guards.

It is obviously too late to help this season, but it gives Scott some options for the second half of the season.

It has been said before, but Grant is accumulating assets by gathering first round picks like a squirrel heading into winter. The philosophy is to pounce and use those picks to bring in a big time player at some point, a la the Celtics with Kevin Garnett.

If Grant succeeds, he will be a genius and will be hailed as a great general manager. If it doesn’t work, he’s a bum.

No pressure there, right?

Best Change For Browns Would be Winning

The Cleveland Browns announced yesterday that the venue that they play would now be known as First Energy Field.

Who cares?

Owner Jimmy Haslam also discussed uniform changes, cheerleaders, and the surface of the field during the press conference announcing the naming rights to the building formerly known as Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Again, who cares?

While some of these things are nice and add to the ambiance of the game experience, in the end they don’t matter.

All of those things are either about money or marketing. Let us remind you again, the best marketing plan in Cleveland, Ohio when it comes to sports is…WINNING!

Let’s hope Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner understand that, because if they do, the Browns will be the talk of the town, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Want proof? They pretty much are the subject of sports talk every day any way, and they’ve made one playoff appearance in 14 years. Imagine if they were a Super Bowl contender? Fans would be lining up at the stadium every day just to look at the edifice.

You couldn’t go anywhere in the area without bumping into someone wearing a Browns jersey or having someone barking at you. It would be that crazy.

For all of the shock and horror that would come with a change in the uniforms and/or helmet, if the Browns came out with chartreuse jerseys, ruby-red cleats, and a navy blue helmet and went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl, not one person would care.

The uniform change is all about money. It will give Haslam the right to make up for the billion dollars he spent to buy the franchise in merchandising. Many people who have Cleveland Browns’ paraphernalia will rush out to store to buy jerseys in the new style.

The uniforms have nothing to do with the performance on the field. That’s why it was a joke this season when fans complained about wearing white uniforms at home all the time. Heck, it wasn’t an issue in the 1960’s when the Browns were a perennial contender.

The only time we saw the brown shirts was when the team played in Dallas, St. Louis, and Los Angeles, because the Cowboys, Cardinals, and Rams also wore white at home.

As for going to field turf, which should be done for many reasons, but the end result will be added revenue for the Browns and Haslam.

The playing field at First Energy Stadium is a complete joke considering there are maybe 14 or 15 games played there every year. The severe weather conditions are a factor in late fall or early winter, but the grass looks chopped up even in September games.

Going to field turf would be beneficial to the primary tenant, because it would help speed players. However, it would also allow more games to be played at the stadium.

You could have more college games, some high-profile high school games, including state playoffs and at some point, even state title games with an artificial playing surface.

It would also make the stadium a site for concerts too, without the fear of damaging the playing surface.

Changes like these are fine, but they are like putting lipstick on a pig. None of these things will matter if the football team doesn’t win.

Here’s hoping the Haslam and Banner understand that.