May 19, 2013

While We’re Waiting… Tribe Payroll, Do the Cavs Need to Lose and a Right Handed Bat

January 19, 2012 by 7 Comments

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

Good long read on several topics relating to the Indians- “As of right now, the Indians have 10 contracts settled for the 2012 season. There is $50.31 million locked up in those deals ($54.31 million if Grady Sizemore hits on all his incentives). For the sake of projecting the payroll, let’s just use the median salaries in play for Cabrera ($4.475M) and Raffy Perez ($2M). Under that scenario, Cleveland would have $56.785M ($60.785 with Grady’s incentives) in the fold for 2012.

If we use the 2012 league minimum to project the final 13 spots ($6.24M at the very least), the Indians would project to be at $63.025M ($67.025M) for 2012. Obviously that’s before any more additions to the Major League roster (a first baseman, perhaps?) prior to Opening Day. Since some players will likely make more than the league minimum, that means the payroll will probably fall in the neighborhood of $70 million before any other signings.” [Bastian/MLB.com]

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“Conventional wisdom, at least the sports talk radio version, is that the team has to be VERY bad again, to get another top draft pick, and continue the long rebuilding process. They are spunky now, but darn them, these wins are costing us ping pong balls.

This is a twisted side effect of being a Cavs fan in a Browns world. The Browns have conditioned us to think that we are always several years away, and the day the tailgate grills burn most optimistically is in April. On draft day. I am sorry, but this is pathetic, and the Cavs don’t have to act this way. They are a .500 team through 12 games, and their longest road trip of the season is now in the rear view mirror. Are they an NBA title contender? No. Can they contend for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this year? The answer is decisively yes. Should they try to contend this year? Even more decisively, yes.” [Haganation]

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Brendan caught up with Monta Ellis after Tuesday’s game with the Warriors. He was impressed with Kyrie Irving- “I think Kyrie Irving is a great young point guard. He can score and pass, and he definitely has a great future ahead of him.” [Bowers/Stepien Rules]

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Tony Lastoria reports on a right-handed bat from within that might help the Indians a little as early as this year- “Now that [Thomas] Neal has had time to rest and recover from the hand injury last season, his right-handed bat and versatility in the outfield could really help the Indians at some point this season. As a right-handed hitter he brings something the Indians lack not only in Cleveland but through their minor league system. To break into the big leagues he is going to need to show he versatile in the outfield and fill a fourth outfield role.” [Tony/Indians Prospect Insider]

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“ESPN’s just one of the prominently featured supporters of SOPA, the law that has your favorite non-Deadspin sites going black today. The vague language of SOPA (and its associate PIPA) opens up a huge latitude for the government to shut down sites that link (even occasionally) to content that infringes upon copyright. One of those sites is Grantland, which regularly links to unlicensed clips on YouTube. Bill Simmons alone accounted for 98 possible SOPA-worthy violations, which could put Grantland.com—and ESPN.com—at serious risk of being seized by the government. The full list of potential violations is below.” [Burke/Deadspin]

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Filed Under: General
  • boomhauertjs

    Shocking that ESPN would be hypocritical about something…

  • Anonymous

    I would like to read what Haganational has to say about these “spunky” Cavaliers on Feb.9th.

  • Anonymous

    SOPA/PIPA were written very poorly and are rightly being tabled.  However, I don’t think ESPN is being hypocritical here.  They are not law, so writers currently do not need to abide by them.  If they want to compete with other sites, then they actually should do what they are doing.

    If they become law, then there should/will be a mandate to stop these practices.  Otherwise, I would imagine they cut ties to sites like Grantland.

  • Anonymous

    SOPA/PIPA were written very poorly and are rightly being tabled.  However, I don’t think ESPN is being hypocritical here.  They are not law, so writers currently do not need to abide by them.  If they want to compete with other sites, then they actually should do what they are doing.

    If they become law, then there should/will be a mandate to stop these practices.  Otherwise, I would imagine they cut ties to sites like Grantland.

  • Chucky Brown

    I too am appalled that everyone has succombed to the “Browns” way of thinking in terms of the CAVS

    screw the Browns

    The Cavs have a committed owner, a competent coach,direction, and young building blocks. They shouldnt even be mentioned in the same breath as the f’n clowns

    For every OKC there is a Twolves

    build a winning culture, Win, keep winning

  • Anonymous

    I think you misunderstand.  It’s not that anyone wants the actual team to try to lose on the court.  It’s that the mindset of the team needs to be focused on the future, not the present.

    Therefore, vet’s with injuries fully heal instead of getting rushed back, perhaps there’s a push to get some youngsters extra playing time even if they struggle at times.  And perhaps a trade with the future in mind for someone willing to overpay in the future for immediate results today.

    Here’s an example:

    Raptors get Anderson Varejao, Daquan Cook
    Thunder get Ramon Sessions
    Cavs get DeRozan, Reggie Jackson, Amir Johnson + Raptor’s lottery protected 1st rounder

    this trade would give the Cavs a few good young pieces to upgrade their overall talent for the future, but the loss of those veterans would hurt us this season.  the reason that alot of us fans think that’s okay is that it also gives us a higher chance at getting a better piece in the upcoming draft too (while also helping us in the future even if those odds are the same).

    it’s all about acquiring talent for the future because this team isn’t contending as-is.

  • Steve

    “Can they contend for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this year? The answer is decisively yes.”

    This answer is, decisively, incorrect. Unless of course by contending, you mean being able to make the playoffs. And more importantly, the writer doesnt ask “do they have the pieces to be a championship contender in the near future?” There is a reason he doesn’t ask that. He doesn’t want to hear the answer. They need to find a way to add more talent, and quite a bit of it actually, if they want to win rings, and not just be the Fratello-Cavaliers. Now, they can try to do this through Free Agency (oh wait, we’re in Cleveland, sorry) or trades (Varejao, and thats about it). Luckily, Paxson wasn’t able to trade away first round picks this far into the future, so we will be able to add some pieces every year, unfortunately, there is a pretty steep dropoff in value of NBA draft picks. Pick outside the top 5, and you’re happy to get a solid player. Pick outside the top 15, and you’re glad just to get a guy who will make your rotation.