Dog Days of Summer

I haven't written a lot about the Browns and Indians latley, but here is an update.

Indians

-The Indians traded closer Kerry Wood, OF Austin Kearns to the Yankees for cash considerations and prospects, then dealt SP Jake Westbrook along with cash to the Cardinals for minor-league pitcher Corey Kluber. Kluber comes from the San Diego Padres farm system and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. Kluber was 6-6 with a 3.45ERA in AA San Antonio. Its obvious the Indians are now going to let the kids play as they have traded away the heavy contracts of Kerry Wood and Jake Westbook. I think its a good idea because the Indians can get rid of some salary, and see what they have waiting in the wings. Giving starts to guys like Jeanmar Gomez and Josh Tomlin makes more sense than giving them to Jake Westbrook, especially when you know Westbrook is gone after this year and the season is lost.

-The trade of Jhonny Peralta was one that Tribe fans had longed for. Peralta reminds me of former Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic. He had a lot of talent, but just didn't push himself enough to do get better. He seemed content hitting .250 with 24 HR a year, when he could have batted .285 and 30 HR a year. He did just enough to get by. The Indians picked up P Giovanni Soto, who is only 19 years old. He was 6-6 with a 2.61 ERA in Single A West Michigan. In his first start in Mahoning Valley, he went 5 innings, gave up 1 hit, 1 earned run, and 7 strike outs.

-Going forward, I think the Indians can be competitive in 2 years. They need to first figure out who is going to fill in the rotation. Past Fausto Carmona, the Indians need to get themselves 4 solid starters. Justin Masterson looks like a promising #3, Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez have looked good in the limited starts they had, Mitch Talbot was doing ok until he got hurt. Also, the Indians have stockpiled many young pitchers with Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, and Nick Hagadone waiting in the wings. Secondly, the Indians have to figure out who is going to play 2B and 3B. Lonnie Chisenhall (.276 11 HR 51 RBI in AA) and Jared Goedert (.296 17 HR 37 RBI in AAA) are seen as their heir apparents at third base. Goedert will probably be a September call-up, especially after the Peralta trade. Luis Valbuena is not going to cut it with a .164 average at 2B and Jayson Nix seems more like on the bench than starting at 2B. Jason Donald came in the Cliff Lee trade, and he has been solid but an upgrade must be made.

-Our outfield seems set for the future with Trevor Crowe, Michael Brantley, Sin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore all in the fold, with Nick Welgarz coming in the future. Carlos Santana looks like a stud at C, Matt LaPorta is improving after coming back from the minors at 1B, Asdrubal Cabrera is a great fielder and solid hitter at SS. The bullpen seems to be coming along with Chris Perez filling in the closers role (12 saves 2.18 ERA this year), along with Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, Frank Herrmann, and Joe Smith pitching much better. First round pick Alex White was projected to be the closer of the future but he has been starting at Class AA Akron (6-4, 1.49 ERA 57K in 78 innings).

-As I have said before, the Dolan's inability to spend a lot of money has hurt the Indians, but they did give out big contracts. The problem is they gave out big ones to the wrong players (Kerry Wood, Travis Hafner, Jhonny Peralta). Grady has been hurt for the past two years and Fausto did not pitch well last year. Had the Indians spent this money on retaining Victor Martinez or Cliff Lee, we would be a much more competitive team. The team does not have a lot of high salaries left on the books, so the Indians should identify the best talent going forward, then do the best to lock them up long term. This way we won't have to go with the "lightning in the bottle" theory, where we hope 4-5 guys on the team all have career years together, only too falter the next year. From 1995 to 1999 the Indians had consistent contributors in Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Brian Giles, Paul Shuey, Orel Hershieser, Charles Nagy, Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar Jr., David Justice, and Robbie Alomar. This is what the Indians need, a steady stream of players who can contribue consistently over a 4-5 year period.

Browns

-Browns 1st round pick Joe Haden signed his contract yesterday and practiced for the first time today. He is practicing with the 2nd team defense and is projected to be a backup to Sheldon Brown and Eric Wright. He will probably see time at nickleback. His deal calls for $50 million over 5 years, with $26 million guaranteed. Mike Lombardi of SI reported that Haden looked slow in OTA's. At the combine he ran a 4.57 40 time, but this was due to a back injury. At the Florida Pro Day he ran a much better 4.43 40 time. I think Haden is going to be just fine.

-Montario Hardesty twisted his knee and is out for a month. This should give Jerome Harrison the inside track to becoming the starter at RB. I think even if Harrison wins the job, Hardesty will slowly ease his way into getting some carries. With the Browns running the ball more this year, I can see Harrison getting 14-16 carries a game, with Hardesty getting 18-20. As the season goes along and the weather gets worse, I think Hardesty will see more time because he is more of a bruising back who can play in the cold weather and get the tough yards. Harrison has dealt with injury issues in the past and I doubt he can last the whole season, carrying the full load in the back field.

-I am very interested in seeing who the starters will be at S. I think Abe Elam and TJ Ward will end up starting. Elam did not do well last year and Ward is the teams 2nd round pick from the Draft. Ward is seen as a hard hitter who can stop the run, but is not good in coverage. Since their return in 1999, the Browns on average have ranked 27th against the run, and they were 27th last year. They need guys who can stop backs at the line of scrimmage. Mike Adams is suited as a backup and 5th round pick Larry Asante is seen more a special teamer. This will probably be the weakest part of the defense going into the season.

-I don't expect big things from QB Jake Delhomme. I just hope he can run the offense, not turn the ball over, and make key passes. We won't be a pass happy offense, so I don't want him throwing the ball 35 times. He was not good last year and he has to provide stability in the offense. Also, don't expect Colt McCoy to play this year, he is better off holding the clipboard and learning from Delhomme and Holmgren (who is known for developing QB's).

-I get the sense that the team is cautiously optimistic this year. We finally have some stability in the front office with team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert. The players are getting used to Eric Mangini's no nonsense style of coaching as their have been less problems this year. Gone is Josh Cribbs complaining about a contract, gone are players running laps for missed snaps, gone are players being fined $1,700 for not paying for a bottle of water. The players seem to be buying into the culture, and it was evident in the last four games last year as the Browns were playing for nothing but beat the Steelers and Jaguars (both teams who had a lot more talent than the Browns). I will write my Browns preview in my next blog.

Thanks for reading guys. Go Cleveland!

-Raz