Company

Cleveland Cavaliers (50-15) vs
Philadelphia 76ers (23-41)
Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, March 12, 2010 7:00 PM EST
FSOH/WTAM

First and foremost, my apologies to any and all of you hoping for an Andrew novella in preview to this game. A lot of times when you go to a pinch hitter late in a game, you have to talk yourself into thinking a part-time .260 hitting can come through in the clutch. Buckle up.

For me, the biggest issue with respect to this game is: will LeBron James be playing, and if so, how many minutes? It’s no secret there’s a far more important (at least in terms of Kenny Smith’s perceptions) game coming on Sunday when the Celtics come calling at the Q. So, for me, the biggest key to tonight’s game is: can LeBron get some minutes to knock some rust off, and can he (and the rest of the team) stay healthy?

I know I know. Spring Training games mean NOTHING. But watching your Cleveland Indians start the spring with a 5-0-1 record has to at least give you a little cause for optimism, doesn’t it? Consider last year when the Tribe Spring Training record was 5-15 and the pitching staff took turns with the gas can and flame thrower.

This is a fun time of year for Browns fans.  This is the time when we get to improve (hopefully) and start to see the new regime start to mold the team in their images.   I get the sense from the conversations on Twitter that it is also a source of consternation for a lot of you.  It seems with every move the Browns make there is someone bemoaning every single move.  Whether it is someone holding onto the fact that the Browns never should have traded Kellen Winslow, or someone inexplicably terrified that Brady Quinn might not get another shot to be the Cleveland Browns’ starter.  So let’s take a trip down a road of lazy journalistic techniques and do some bullet points!

• First on Benjamin Watson.  I know we all miss Kellen Winslow sometimes.  Sometimes.  Getting rid of Winslow was the right move even though it was painful.  He wanted to be the top paid tight end in the league with ridiculous wear and tear on his knee.  That was a bad bet.  Benjamin Watson doesn’t have the top-end ability of Kellen Winslow.  Then again, Watson is a legitimate upgrade over all the tight ends currently on the roster.  As Scott said this morning, “A team that is in dire need of receiving options, Watson should instantly be featured in all pass-catching schemes.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news this morning, and the Browns quickly followed with a press release.

The Cleveland Browns today signed tight end Benjamin Watson to a multi-year contract as an unrestricted free agent from the New England Patriots, where he had spent each of his first six NFL seasons (2004-09).

Originally a first-round draft choice of the Patriots in 2004 (32^nd overall), the 6-3, 255-pound Watson has appeared in 71 regular season games in his career, including 47 starts.  During that time he has caught 167 passes for 2,102 yards and 20 touchdowns.  He also has played in nine playoff contests, starting seven of them, and tallied 19 receptions for 195 yards and three touchdowns.  He turned in his most productive season in 2006 when he hauled in 49 passes for 643 yards and three touchdowns.  He accounted for a career-high six touchdown catches the following year, when he totaled 36 receptions for 389 yards.

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com

Making the case for the recently retired Brian Giles: “In the end, we’re left wondering “what might have been” of Giles’ career. If he had been given a lineup spot rather than wallowing in Triple-A for three seasons, his career totals would be more noteworthy. Spending six years in PETCO Park probably cost him a few dozen home runs as well. As an afterthought on the mid-’90s Indians and later a star for several small-market, last-place Pirates teams during an explosive offensive era, Giles never received the national recognition that a great hitter and plus defensive outfielder deserves.” [Ben Jedlovec/Hardball Times]

The Cavaliers are now on day #3 without playing any games, and so as you can imagine the news cycle regarding the team is awfully slow. LeBron and Antawn are a little banged up, but expected to play. Shaq is recovering from his surgery. Z is waiting to rejoin the team. D-Block or Danny Green will be cut once that happens. That’s about it. Everything else is a bunch of conjecture and wishful thinking….the type of stuff we try to avoid on this site as much as possible.

So in looking for something to post this afternoon, I stumbled on this fascinating story. I initially saw the story posted as a tiny little AP blurb that pointed out that the man who gave the Cleveland Cavaliers their team name was about to honored in celebration of the team’s 40th anniversary. I had always known that the source of the team name was a fan competition which team founder whittled down to 5 finalists, and then the fans got to vote on which they liked the best. However, I never knew the depth of the story…..the life of the man who picked the name as well as the names of the other finalists. Thankfully, Bill Lubinger wrote an absolutely great article for the Plain Dealer about the entire history of the team name.

Remember this day, Indians fans. At least keep it stored in your back pocket for use on a tough day in the future. On this day, March 11, 2010, the Cleveland Indians are the only undefeated team in all of Spring Training. Take a good look at the standings there, and commit this to memory. It might be the only time this team feels this good.

Baseball Prospectus is famous for their PECOTA system of predictions projections regarding not only individual players, but also deciphering predicted projected run differential to figure out expected win total for the season. Of course they’re not perfect (otherwise we wouldn’t even have to watch the games), but they do a better-than-you-might-expect job of projecting where teams will finish. Then again, they’ve projected the Indians to contend in the Central each of the last 4 years and, uh, well, they’ve been flat wrong 3 of the 4 years. So you never really know, but for what it’s worth, they project the Indians to finish 80-82 this year.  

We continue our weekly numbers-based journey into the Cleveland Indians.  This week, Jon is switching up gears once again by changing the focus to fielding.  Do enjoy…

A few weeks back, we took an in-depth look at an advanced pitching statistic—FIP. If you’ll remember, much of the discussion was focused on separating the effects of a pitcher’s performance from the effects of luck and defense. Well, I can’t give you any great insights on luck (other than maybe BABIP), but maybe we can do some work on defense, and then see how the Indians’ current players measure up.

Let’s start as we typically do ‘round these parts, by looking at the traditional ways to evaluate defense. Luckily, there’s not a lot to talk about here. It basically boils down to errors and the related calculation of fielding percentage. Sounds simple.

Let’s see…

While the Browns continue to address other areas of the team, the one looming question mark continues to be revolving around who will be under center for the 2010 season and beyond.  The Browns recently traded for quarterback Seneca Wallace, but it is unknown what his role will be with the team at this stage.  Recently releasing Derek Anderson, the Browns do not appear done with their quarterback transactions.

Following yesterday’s rumor that the Browns may entertain trading quarterback Brady Quinn, the player has responded to the media by saying that he would welcome a move if the team is not sold on his abilities to be a starting quarterback. 

Antawn Jamison was forced to sit out the final minutes of Monday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs thanks to discomfort in his knee.  And after having a few days rest, the newly acquired power forward is upbeat about his chances to get back on the floor for tomorrow’s game in Philadelphia against the 76ers.

“It’s something that occurred earlier in the season,” Jamison said. “With proper treatment, it went away.”

Given Jamison’s age, the knee issue – especially if it is recurring - can  be concerning.  The Cavaliers will likely take the precautionary steps to ensure full recovery. 

Listed as a game-time decision for the game, Jamison will have to convince coach Mike Brown that he is 100 percent.  Brown recently faced the tough decision of keeping LeBron James inactive after the forward tweaked his ankle in last week’s game against the Detroit Pistons.  Brown had stated that James would have to do a lot of convincing to dress in the Spurs contest, something that obviously did not occur. 

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com

Not the best news to wake up to… “Indians minor league catcher Steven Lebron was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for the steroid Boldenone metabolite.

Lebron, a member of the Indians Dominican Summer League team, was signed in January. His contract was voided at no cost to the Indians.” [Paul Hoynes/Plain Dealer]

And, now that we have your attention…

Ok, enough Browns talk for the day. Lets wrap this day up with some Indians news, seeing as how the Tribe gets their regular season started in just a few weeks already. I’ve made no secret of my general disgust with major league baseball and the way they continuously foster a system of complete competitive imbalance, but I’m such a sucker for spring time. The 5 foot snow piles here in Columbus are beginning to finally melt away, we’ve had our first successive days in the 50s this week, and hope springs eternal.

As excited as I am for baseball season to start, I figured I’d finish things up today by looking around at some of the latest Indians news stories. 

Just as it is with NBA Trade Rumor season, so to is NFL Draft Rumor season one of those things you either like or loathe. I personally love everything about the NFL draft because to me it represents unlimited possibilities. There’s nothing but hope and ambition in the air when I read about prospects, mock drafts, etc.

In the latest mock draft by Pat Kirwan for NFL.com, he has our beloved Cleveland Browns taking Tennessee safety Eric Berry with the #7 pick. Seeing as how that’s the guy I have wanted since day one, this is obviously pleasantly exciting to see. But how does it compare to some other notable mock drafts? Let’s take a look around the web and see, shall we?

This has already been such a whirlwind and tumultuous offseason for the Cleveland Browns organization, and no position has faced more uncertainty than the QB. As the Browns were shopping for the man to take over the Czar role in Berea, questions arose about how each of the candidates would handle the QBs on the roster.

Once Holmgren was hired, the common initial perception was that Holmgren would remove head coach Eric Mangini and bring in a West Coast Offense guy. Well, that didn’t happen, and so Mangini was given the chance to prove himself this season. Again, there were initial thoughts then that Mangini would now let Brady Quinn finally be the announced starting QB in the off season, giving him a full year to prove himself. However, the trade for Seneca Wallace at least raised some doubts about who the starter would be. Throw in all the pageantry surrounding Derek Anderson’s release, and you have yourself a real life soap opera unfolding right before your eyes.

Depending on your perspective it either seems the Browns have been really active this off-season or not active enough. They have signed two players from outside the organization with Tony Pashos and Scott Fujita. They have made a deal with one of their own in Josh Cribbs. They have traded a second day pick from next year’s draft to bring in presumed backup or stop gap with Seneca Wallace. Now yesterday, they (finally) cut Derek Anderson. But how active should the Browns be in free agency?

I know a lot of us were dreaming about not only bringing back Jerome Harrison, but also signing someone like Thomas Jones to run the ball too. Jones is now gone to Kansas City without so much as a hint of a visit to Cleveland. It was a trade, not free agency, but Anquan Boldin has joined the Ravens to go along with their signing of Donte Stallworth. They could also potentially bring back an aging Mason to round out a receiving corps with a lot of potential compared to what the Browns have. The Steelers went out and re-signed their safety Ryan Clark while also welcoming Antwaan Randle-El back from Washington to play receiver. Then you consider that the Bengals are hosting Terrell Owens, amongst others. Through that looking glass, it would appear that the Browns are incredibly behind in the process.