Contract Roundup

All three Cleveland teams were busy negotiating or finalizing contract extensions for key personnel this week, so I thought it would be useful to recap this week's transactions:

The Crooked Cap

Just so there's no confusion, Sabathia did not sign a contract extension this week. Negotiations are still ongoing between the Front Office and Sabathia's agent. Word on the street is that the Tribe has placed a four year contract with an option year on the table. No monetary values were provided, but a lot of fans have been pointing to the number of years as the potential snag for both parties up to this point.

The Diatriber countered with a comprehensive breakdown of pitchers awarded five year-plus contracts in the past and how those pitchers fared for their team(s). The article makes for a very interesting read; I hadn't realized just how spectacularly bad some of those hefty contracts were (my favorite one is Mike Hampton, I honestly don't know how the man can sleep peacefully). According to the article, only "[seventeen contracts] have been signed by starting pitchers for 5 years or more in the last 10 years, only six for 6 years or more, and merely three for 7 years or more." Most of those signings ended up as poor investments as the pitchers succumbed to age, chronic injury, or just plain stunk for the duration of the contract.

It's difficult to comprehend how Major League GM's continue to get sucked into this vortex of stupidity where 7-year contracts even enter the discussion. Actually, I'll just go ahead and say it: Brian Sabean, is a moron. The unfortunate part is that a ridiculous contract like Barry Zito's can cause a ripple effect in the pitching market, causing guys like Santana and Sabathia to expect no less than five years per contract.

Obviously, there isn't a single team that wouldn't like to have an ace of that caliber, but the team is paying more than just a salary. They're taking on a certain amount of risk as well and when the stakes (payroll flexibility, health, etc.) are so high, teams have to protect themselves. Taking on a player for a guaranteed four years is risky enough, but seven? How does an agent even ask for that kind of contract with a straight face?

I understand the pitcher is looking for the best job security possible and a long contract is their insurance against injury or a poor season. Before I go off on a tangent here, I guess the bottom line of any discussion about contracts is risk. Some team's can afford to take on more risk (read: years and money) and gain a competitive advantage when recruiting free agents. As long as some nutty GM thinks believes its worth rolling the dice on a potential stud pitcher, players will keep seeking them out. Fortunately these contracts do not have as much of a precedent as some agents would like you to believe; not yet anyway.

As far as Sabathia is concerned, I think he should take a long, hard look at the contracts Carlos Zambrano (5 years plus option, $91 mil) and Jake Peavy (4 years plus option, $14.5 mil) signed recently. Peavy's contract is a true hometown discount and I wouldn't expect Shapiro to low-ball C.C. with that kind of salary. Zambrano's may be close to Cleveland's ceiling for Sabathia. It's important to remember that Zambrano was in his walk year when he signed the contract mid-season and expressed interest in staying with Chicago.

If Cleveland offers Sabathia Zambrano's deal and he turns it down?

Trade him.

If it were up to me, I'd give Sabathia a deadline before Spring Training to get this extension done. If he truly wants to stay in Cleveland, he'll make some concessions (like Zambrano and Peavy did) to stay here, be it a little less money or one less guaranteed year. He'll get paid, no doubt about that, but if he wants to play games with this and wait until the last minute where the Tribe may get nothing in return if/when he walks then I'd ship him out for a cost-controlled replacement, like Phil Hughes, in a heartbeat.

Cleveland does have other options to take Sabathia's place, but once you start bringing Adam Miller and Fausto Carmona into the "ace" discussion, the future becomes a bit hazy. Miller has yet to throw a pitch in the Majors and has had a few injuries slow down his development already. Carmona may very well develop into an ace, but I doubt Shapiro and Wedge would want to place the burden of anchoring the rotation on either young pitcher just yet.

Coach Brown Gets a Raise

The Cavs inked head coach Mike Brown to a two year contract extension through the 2010-2011 season. Official numbers haven't been released yet, but according to Brian Windhorst, Brown will see his current $2 million salary jump to $4 million in addition to the two extra years being tacked onto his old contract.

I've always been a fan of Brown's defense-first philosophy and think he's done a great job keeping the team together this season despite all the contract B.S. and injuries. Brown's track record has been outstanding: two straight 50-win seasons, four playoff series wins in two appearances, and a franchise best .592 win percentage since 2005.

I was a little concerned Brown may take the fall if things turned ugly following the team's championship run last season. Apparently the Cavs' Front Office got something right this year as they reward Brown's solid work thus far.

In the meantime, Cleveland has won 8 of their last 10 games, including road wins in Dallas, New Orleans, Toronto, and San Antonio.

The Browns

Head Coach Romeo Crennel and starting QB Derek Anderson are in line for new contracts this off-season. No specifics have been released while preliminary negotiations take place. I don't have much of an opinion on Crennel, but I am glad to see a head coach for the Browns finally pan out. If the Front Office and players have faith in Crennel, then that's good enough for me. Stability often gets overlooked in pro sports, but the extension is a good move to take pressure off the coaching staff and their players.

Re-upping Anderson makes perfect sense to me, although I'm sure a lot of fans are itching to get those Brady Quinn jerseys out in the open. The success of Anderson last season allows the Browns to take a slow approach to breaking in Quinn and may leave them with a tough decision depending on how 2008 plays out. Look for either Quinn or Anderson to get shipped out of town by the end of next season. For now, the Browns can afford to bide their time and evaluate their options at QB.

Bringing back first-year offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski didn't make a big splash, but could prove to be just as important as Crennel's contract. Chudzinski maximized his resources in Anderson, Edwards, and Lewis and molded Cleveland into an elite offensive unit. It would have been a shame to see him leave for Baltimore's head coaching vacancy after just one year of running his offensive juggernaut. Cleveland was smart to get Chudzinski's extension wrapped up quick because Baltimore had been knocking on the door.

The Browns are also exploring an extension for running back Jamal Lewis and his 1,304 rushing yards this season.

Finally...

Just in case you missed out on Tony Lastoria's Top 50 Prospects list for the Tribe, check out the link here. If you're like me and have always wanted to learn more about the Tribe's farm system, this is a great place to start. It's really an impressive piece of work and deserves all the praise it's received around the blog-o-sphere.

Congress Reviews Mitchell Report; Cavs Hit .500

I don't suppose anyone out there wants to talk about hockey?

No?

Well, it was worth a shot. Like most of you, I'm getting pretty desperate for some baseball news, but there are a few noteworthy items this week:

On Baseball and Congress

The day after George Mitchell speaks to Congress on his well-publicized investigation into steroid use in baseball, some of the named players will get their turn. The House Oversight Committee has invited several witnesses associated with the Mitchell Report to testify at a January 16 hearing on Capitol Hill. Day one features former Senator Mitchell, Commissioner Bud Selig, and Players Union leader Donald Fehr. Day two should include testimony from Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, former Clemens trainer Brian McNamee, and former Mets clubhouse attendent Kirk Radomski. Each invitee is expected to show up, with Clemens viewing the hearing as the best opportunity to clear his name.

I'm not expecting any major revelations from Radomski or Pettitte this time around. I think Mitchell did his homework as far as the originally published information is concerned and their stories shouldn't be changing. The thing I'm most interested in is how Clemens' testimony holds up to McNamee's under oath. Clemens has vehemently denied any steroid use and claims his former personal trainer injected him with legal supplements like vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine (enough with the puns on this one, please). On the other hand McNamee seems to be sticking with what he originally told Mitchell: Clemens took steroids and HGH between 1998 and 2001.

Somebody's got to be lying here. No one in the media knows what was discussed between Clemens and McNamee in a recent phone conversation, but my guess is they were trying to get their story straight before the hearing so one of them doesn't end up accused of perjury. Clemens could not make his view any clearer at this point. He's going to maintain his innocence right up to the hearing. The evidence and my gut tells me Clemens is lying through his teeth, but logic says he can't possibly be that stupid. He just got done calling McNamee's claims, one of the pillars of Mitchell's evidence section, "totally false" on national television. McNamee has remained fairly quiet in the meantime, suggesting he has no intention of changing his story at this point.

I'm of the opinion that Congress should find something better to do than investigate baseball, but hopefully the whole "under oath" deal will finally close the book on this Clemens mess. The hearings will also give some official credence to the occasionally shaky Radomski testimony. These hearings can't be any worse than watching Mark McGuire cry (probably one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed in baseball) and Sammy Sosa duck behind an invisible language barrier. Sheesh, just get it over with.

On the Cavs

The Cavs have won 7 of their last 10 games to even their record at 17-17. The Cavs have one of the ugliest winning streaks around; it's amazing that they continue to win games. Their latest game came against Toronto on the road Sunday. On a night where Toronto shot 49% and led by 13 going into the final quarter, Cleveland came all the way back and won. So much for that defensive resurgence I was hyping up in my last post; this game was won on offense.

Instead of rolling over against a tough team, LeBron James went nuts. As in 24 points in the fourth quarter (a franchise record) nuts. Toronto's Jamario Moon "knew it was going to be a long quarter" once James got going late in the game. James finished with 39 points, 11 boards, and 8 assists. Larry Hughes rounded out the scoring with 14 points, while Drew Gooden finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

I say the Cavs have an ugly winning streak because they really had no right winning some of these games. Against Atlanta, James scored 32 points in the second half. The Kings should have been pushovers with three starters injured, but Cleveland needed a last minute surge to knock them off. Sunday was just another rerun of Bron-Bron's Variety Hour. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that Cleveland has made it to .500 (that tells you how low my expectations are), but it would be unrealistic to expect LeBron to keep up this kind of pace. Maybe James' play will inspire the rest of the team to step their game up.

On a random note, Larry Hughes started at guard against Toronto, but ended up with nine less minutes than Gibson. It'll be interesting to see if Coach Brown continues to give Gibson more of Hughes' minutes.

Finally...

Good luck to Ohio State as they compete in the BCS National Championship game against LSU on Monday. A lot of the OSU players were around for the loss to Florida in the last championship, so you can bet these guys will be fired up. Go Buckeyes!

Cavs Look to Defense for Help

The Cavaliers may be struggling, but at least they know where their faults lie. Coach Brown’s approach last season focused on defense and turned out to be the Cavs’ calling card en-route to a second 50 win season. The Cavs’ seemed to have forgotten what made them so tough to beat though, slipping to the middle of the pack in many defensive categories. In Saturday's Plain Dealer, Brown admitted his coaching strategy had changed going into the preseason:

I came into training camp talking offense. I felt we understood defense and that we had the technical stuff down and we just needed to be more efficient offensively.

Through 31 games, Cleveland is just 14-17, sharing the 9th spot in the East with Philly. With all the discussion on the Cavs’ neglected defense, I expected their stats to be in decline. Rebounds, blocks, and steals are all about the same, but the bottom-line is how many points are surrendered. Cleveland is giving up 6.3 more points per game while teams are shooting 46% against them. Cleveland’s stats from ’07-’08 are average compared to the rest of the league. Below are Cleveland’s defensive stats from the last two seasons:

Year Games Win Pct. Opp. PPG Opp. FG% RPG BPG TO SPG '06-'07 82 .610 92.9 44.7 43.5 4.3 13.7 7.6 '07-'08 31 .452 99.2 46.0 43.5 4.4 15.1 7.3

That’s a huge difference on defense and has a lot to do with the Cavs poor season so far.

Cleveland has shown encouraging signs on defense lately. In their last five games, the Cavs have gone 3-2 (don’t nitpick, that’s above .500) and held the opposition to 90 points or less in four of those games. They’ve been turning the ball over less and played solid defense against the Mavericks and the surging Lakers. It’s a small sample size, but still counts as a step in the right direction for a team that seems to have lost its identity. Below are the Cavs’ defensive results from their last five games:

Opponent Result Opp. Pts Opp. FG% TO Differential* L.A. W 90 45 +3 Golden State L 105 52.1 +5 Miami W 82 43.1 +5 Dallas W 81 36.5 +1 New Orleans L 86 41.9 -5

*(Opp. - Cle)

Cleveland isn’t quite in a groove yet (see their ugly loss to New Orleans), but they are playing some of their best defense of the season and getting positive results. According to Coach Brown:

It's encouraging to see us win the right way. I've emphasized that end of the floor [defense] more and the guys have embraced it. I've done this with more drills in practice and showing more clips of us defending the right way and not the right way. The guys [now] understand what we have to do.

Hopefully the renewed approach will help smooth over those 2-point nights from Larry Hughes and diffuse any big runs from the other team with LeBron on the bench. The offense may have its warts, but that’s all the more reason to emphasize stout defensive play.

Another contributor to the Cavs' upswing is health. When was the last time Cleveland’s personnel were healthy and accounted for this season? Between the early holdouts, depleted bench, and LeBron’s finger, Cleveland’s projected starting five has not had a ton of opportunities to play together. The bench is still among the NBA’s worst, but fortunately for the Cavs all their key players are coming together as a team now.

On the Browns

This was a rough way to end the season. Brown’s fans essentially got burned twice as they suffered through last week’s game against the Bungles and Sunday’s debacle in Indy. The Colts had every right to blow their final game; it had no impact on them, win or lose. The worst part is that Tennessee was horrible against the Colt’s reserve corps. I bet Indy could have won handily if they had two or three more series with their starting offense in. If Dungy had put Manning back in and he got injured it would have been incredibly bad for Dungy (where else can you get this type of hard-hitting analysis?). So despite the big middle finger Tony Dungy gave Cleveland as he benched Peyton Manning early in the game, you can’t truly fault him. Cleveland missed their boat in Cincy when they coughed up a completely winnable game. Simple as that.

The Brown’s deserved to be in the playoffs, but I think they’ll have a better chance to go deep into the playoffs with the experience they picked up this season. Just as long as Pittsburgh gets destroyed by Jacksonville, it won’t feel so bad.

On the other hand, Cleveland had a great season. Edwards and Anderson emerged as stars, Jamal Lewis resurrected his career in orange and brown, no one got fired (except Frye), Chudzinski had an outstanding first year as offensive coordinator, the O-line is finally fixed, and a downtrodden franchise finally earned back some of the respect it used to command. Just to put it in perspective:

2006: 4-12

2007: 10-6

I always feel a bit awkward talking about the Browns, since I haven’t been a diehard like most of the fans, but I think the fans have plenty to be proud of this year. I’m still not used to all the positive coverage the national media outlets have been sending Cleveland’s way, so apparently they’ve been turning some heads. This season is just a building block too; these guys are only going to get better as the talent matures. When was the last time fans could truly look forward to football season without that feeling of dread in the back of their minds? Just wait ‘til next year…

Varejao Still on Vacation; Shannon Out in '08

What exactly is going on with the Cavs right now? First, they make no significant free agent signings and no trades. To be honest, I was busy watching the Tribe’s playoff run to monitor the NBA free agent market too closely, but I don’t think the Cavs necessarily failed in the acquisition department. Granted, I have no idea how close they came to getting Garnett (rumor alert), but who did people expect Ferry to go out and get? Mike Bibby? Wow, another aging, over the hill, guard. No, thanks. My beef is how the team’s two restricted free agents were handled.

Again, it’s tough to tell who’s been more unreasonable: Ferry or the players (or the agents). Fortunately Pavlovic is coming back, but not before missing two games. Pavlovic is said to have received a 3 year deal around $4 million per year.

Varejao still seems to think he’s worth a heck of a lot more than he really is. I’m not sure who’s done the bulk of the negotiating on behalf of Varejao to this point, but they should be fired. Varejao is pretty good at what he does, but there are very few teams where he would be starting. Whether Varejao is asking for too much or the Cavs are offering too little is difficult to decipher. Cleveland certainly wants to bring Varejao back, so it’s probably safe to say they’re offering him fair market value. The issue seems to be Varejao’s unrealistic expectation of what his market value really is.

Pavlovic played twice as many minutes per game than Varejao last season and seems to have a higher developmental ceiling. Varejao is valuable to the team from a depth perspective, given his versatility and rebounding ability, but he is not a critical piece of the puzzle for the long-term. Since Gooden and Ilgauskas are still with the team, it doesn’t seem like Varejao will see a significant increase in minutes either. So why is a role player rumored to be demanding a king’s ransom? Hopefully, details of these negotiations will be released soon after a deal is reached. The Plain Dealer reports that little progress has been made in negotiations.

The Cavs are looking pretty ragged already and the season’s just started. The roster has not been at full strength because of injuries and holdouts. Eric Snow has a left knee tear dating back to early October; he won’t be back for at least another week. Donyell Marshall will miss several games with a wrist injury. Forward Cedric Simmons has been battling an ankle injury, but may be called on to play now that Marshall is out. Varejao has apparently lost his mind. I suppose the good news is, the team can only get better from here on out.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Cavs locker room is a little tense right now. My concern is a combination of discontent and injuries will put the Cavs in a funk, followed by a drop in the standings. Cleveland lost to Phoenix on Sunday and faces Golden State, Utah, the Clippers, Sacramento, and Denver on their six game road trip. You would hope the Cavs could handle the likes of Sacramento and LA, but there’s something about those West Coast swings that always seem give Cleveland trouble.

On Shannon Brown

I wasn’t too thrilled about this move. Cleveland has never had a real chance to evaluate Brown in the NBA, since a serious leg injury derailed his rookie season for 2006-2007. Now, with a grand total of 6 minutes playing time in his sophomore season, Cleveland has announced they won’t be exercising his third year option. The Cavs must have seen something good in Brown to draft him, so why the sudden turn around?

Brian Windhorst provided a scouting report of Brown on his blog:

Brown did not play well in summer league in my opinion, even though his scoring stats looked good. He scored a bunch of points in the preseason but did not handle the ball well, shoot the ball well or make good decisions.

Isn’t that like judging a baseball player on his Spring Training performance?

In addition to his poor showing in the preseason, Cleveland had until midnight, October 31 to make a decision on Brown’s third year option. I understand the timing of it, but I’m curious if the decision was discussed with Brown beforehand. I doubt carrying that kind of uncertainty into the season is going to do Brown’s game any favors. Cleveland may look to use Brown as trade bait, but wouldn’t he have been more attractive if he didn’t become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end?

This move would make some sense if Cleveland had a replacement lined up, but I haven’t heard any rumors on player movement. I suppose Cedric Simmons would qualify, but he hasn’t proven anything either and could easily be a non-factor. Not only did Cleveland waste a valuable draft pick, but they never gave him the proper time to mature. Brown may not be a perfect fit on the roster right now, but what makes Ferry so positive he won’t improve? Drafting a player is a long term investment, not a movie rental; you don’t get your money back if you make a poor choice. Plus, it’s not like the Cavs are in a position to be releasing players this season; not after failing to acquire any outside talent.

Even if Brown makes positive strides this season, he’ll likely feel snubbed by Ferry and walk. If Brown does leave, the Cavaliers will have made two draft picks in two years and retained only one in Daniel Gibson.

Don’t Look Now…

…but here come the Browns. No really, stop laughing. Your Cleveland Browns are 5-3 after beating Seattle 33-30 in overtime on Sunday. How about that? If Baltimore beats Pittsburgh on Monday, all three teams will sit with 5 wins going into Week 10. Even I’m a little excited about that, and I’m not even a big football fan. Actually, I’m more of a cautious (i.e. fair-weather) Browns’ fan, as it took a long time for me to come back to the team even after the despised Butch Davis skipped town.

The way the team has been drafting and acquiring players the last couple years piqued my interest though and I’m very pleased to see the team doing well again. The Browns are 2-1 in their division and 2-2 against teams with a winning record. Are the Browns truly contenders this season? I think so, but their next game against Pitt will go a long way in measuring their progress. Cleveland has built a three game win streak and a fourth may propel them into the playoff hunt. You never know…

Cleveland News and Notes

News Flash: Antwan Jamison is Pretty Good

The Cavaliers won a close one in D.C. to go up 3-0 in their first round playoff series. The last two games really shouldn't have been as close as they were, score-wise. Game 2 was decided by 7 points, while Game 3 ended with a 6 point lead. The third game was about as ugly as it could be without resulting in a loss. The Cavs blew a 17 point lead in the third quarter before finally getting back on track in the fourth.

A performance like this should make Cleveland fans nervous because this Wizards team is far from a playoff contender. Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler (Washington's 1st and 3rd best players, respectively) have been sitting injured on the bench the whole series and this is the best effort the Cavs can put up? The only reassuring thought I can draw from the Cavs play as of late is that it is essentially a reflection of the regular season, where they tended to play down to the level of poor teams but doing just enough to win. On the flip side, the Cavs would elevate their game in the same way against the top teams.

Coach Brown needs to do a better job of keeping his team focused, especially with a big lead. It's difficult to pinpoint the source of the problem, but it's happened enough to provide some drama in the first round this year.

Cleveland is very fortunate Miami is on its way out of the playoffs, given the nightmares they've been causing Coach Brown the last few weeks. It's time for the Cavs to act like the 2nd seed and play a complete game; Detroit and Chicago will be far less forgiving.

Charlie Frye Unemployed

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.

I’ve been trying my best to ignore the Browns this off-season, but what they did in the draft this year defied expectations.

I’m stoked that they drafted offensive tackle Joe Thomas with the third pick. The offensive line was one of the team’s worst elements last year, contributing to an inconsistent running game and a constantly scrambling and injured QB corps. Plugging Thomas in with free-agent acquisition Eric Steinbach will vastly improve the O-line. Center LeCharles Bentley is a long-shot to return healthy this year, but will be available for what could be a formidable offensive line in 2008. Thomas was far from the sexy pick, but was the best fit for Cleveland and will make an immediate impact.

I’m still on the fence about the Brady Quinn acquisition (it’s a pretty lonely fence too). With so many gaping holes on the depth chart, I figured quarterback was not going to be a concern going into this year’s draft; drafting yet another QB would be a luxury, not a necessity. Which is why I was somewhat surprised when Phil Savage, the GM, traded up to snag Quinn with the 22^nd pick.

Quinn essentially displaces Charlie Frye at QB next year, despite the bogus claims that there will be any competition between the two young players. Frye has a slight edge on Quinn in experience, but Romeo Crennel is very high on Quinn, since his ear has been tuned to good friend Charlie Weis this off-season.

I truly pity Frye, who was never given a chance to succeed in Cleveland with a leaky O-line, inexperienced receivers, a weak running game, and a coaching staff in a constant state of flux. Cleveland QBs were sacked 54 times in 2006, trailing only Detroit and Oakland. Despite this, Frye had the fifth highest pass completion percentage in the league at 64.3%. One of Frye’s greatest strengths was his ability to direct the offense and analyze plays; an ability he was never able to truly utilize due to the poor opportunities afforded him by the offensive line.

I’m obviously a big Frye supporter and the fact that analysts keep emphasizing Quinn’s Ohio roots and have christened him the face of the franchise already rubs salt in the wound. Many seem to have forgotten that Frye also hails from Ohio as a life-long Browns fan and played for Akron University. Frankly, I’m weary of Quinn’s ego and how he will react to his initial challenges and failures.

Quinn may be the superior quarterback, but my main concern is how he will handle the constant pressure he’ll face in the pocket. The line has been significantly upgraded to accommodate him, but I still wonder how Quinn’s development will differ in Cleveland as opposed to a more established team. Quinn will need a lot of help to succeed in his rookie year. Hopefully the coaching staff and fans are more patient with their latest quarterback.