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.
Grading the Cavaliers’ trade of Ramon Sessions: “I was on the fence about their move of Sessions, because I’m so high on him. Yes, he was expiring and would be leaving. Yes, they only had 20-some-odd games left with him. But couldn’t they get better value than terrible contracts with another year left on them and a 25-plus pick? Then I thought more about it, and saw that the Cavs also got the right to swap their Heat pick obtained in the LeBron James sign-and-trade in 2013 with the Lakers’ pick, which could be substantially worse if the Lakers don’t improve considerably on their older core.
The Cavs now could have four first-round picks in 2012 and more picks in the future. They can package to move up or for a player. If yoiu’re rebuilding, this is the way to go. Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, and picks on picks on picks.
It’s a big-picture plan, and a good one.” [Eye On Basketball/Matt Moore]
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Trying to round out the Tribe’s bullpen:”Indians manager Manny Acta has said all spring that there are two bullpen jobs open. And even on March 16, there are still six names in the mix.Frank Herrmann, Nick Hagadone, Dan Wheeler, Chris Ray, Jeremy Accardo and Robinson Tejeda all have a chance to join the Tribe’s relief corps, but so far it’s been tough to tell whether two have separated themselves from the pack.
Hagadone and Accardo have the best numbers of the lot. Hagadone pitched a scoreless inning in Friday’s game against the Angels and has a 1.50 ERA in six innings over five outings. Accardo has an ERA of 1.80 and four strikeouts in five innings. And even though Herrmann (7.50 ERA), Wheeler (18.00 ERA), Ray (14.40 ERA) and Tejeda (9.00 ERA with a calf injury) have struggled, according to the statistics, Acta doesn’t seem to be putting too much stock in the numbers yet.” [Doug Miller/MLB.com]
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Taking a look at Fangraphs Positional Power Rankings: “Where does this leave us? Taking the average ranking (with the starting rotation being weighted five times more than other positions and DH getting a half weight), Cleveland comes out at No. 13.5—indicating that the Indians are a slightly above-average team. That’s probably about right for an expected value, but don’t forget that this team has quite a bit of upside. A lot of these rankings could end up looking quite conservative in a few months.” [Lewie Pollis/Wahoo's On First]
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Ohio State will need to step it up today to move on to next weekend: “You can’t expect a college team to play well every night, but to hear multiple Buckeyes admit they more or less mailed in an NCAA tournament game was disarming. We have seen the potential, know the way they can play, on a number of occasions, but there are only five chances left, maximum, for the Buckeyes to find themselves again.
The first of those comes Saturday against a Gonzaga team that flew cross-country and put an old-fashioned beating on West Virginia, “out-toughing” the Mountaineers at their own game.” [Andy Glockner/SI.com]
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Where we’re headed: “In the end, reality intervened – or perhaps was trumped by the delusional behavior of Daniel Snyder – as it’s worth remembering that Griffin is still an untested college spread quarterback who will need significant time to develop at the NFL level.
Still, just the mere idea of the normally staid Browns being involved in such a high stakes chase offered some genuine offseason excitement. Now, as free agency is set to begin, such a feeling will likely wane. However, the entire Griffin escapade has also revealed much about the Browns’ future plans.” [Dave Kolonich/The OBR]
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Best of Luck! “Crennel apparently is interested in another one of his former first-round picks in Cleveland. Quarterback Brady Quinn will visit the Chiefs, according to Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com. Crennel and the Browns drafted Quinn after trading back into round one five years ago. Quinn later was traded to the Broncos, and he has played only sporadically during his NFL career.” [Florio/PFT]
