On the Johnny Damon Signing…
April 12, 2012The Damon/Sizemore/Brantley Conundrum
April 13, 2012While 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.
“Dwelling on Damon (who played on 16 games in the outfield last season) misses the bigger point: that the Indians have been looking for a left fielder for seven years. The opening day starter last season was . . . Austin Kearns. Before that, it was the David Dellucci/Jason Michaels duo. Ben Francisco opened in left in 2009. The last real left fielder they had was Coco Crisp in 2004-05.
Fixating on left field ignores what’s happening in center, where Michael Brantley has opened the season 1-of-17. He does have four walks. But no one will accuse Brantley of hitting the ball hard, or resembling the lead-off hitter this team desperately needs.” [Pluto/Cleveland.com]
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“While Damon’s numbers were respectable in Tampa, the Rays decided not to re-sign him this past offseason. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a team in the majors that chose to offer him a deal, and Damon headed into the 2012 season without attending spring training. Instead, Damon passed his time working out, and apparently playing some soccer, where he was when he began texting the news that he was set to sign with the Indians.
The issues with Damon and most major league teams were quite simple. At this stage of his career, he’s a DH who can’t really play much in the field anymore, and at 38, has decidedly declining skills. Yeah, I know, just what most Indians fans wanted to hear.” [Jim/Indians Prospect Insider]
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Ok, but who is a better ‘value’ at #4?– “When examining the combination of the franchise-level of importance of the 4th overall pick, the availability of other good running backs, the lack of extreme difference in talent between the top running backs in the league and other good ones, and the short length of careers for running backs, I can only determine that drafting Trent Richardson is not worth it. If there are people out there who believe Richardson is an all-time talent who is just tremendously better than other prospects in this draft, I can see why they would want us to take him. But the lack of value at the fourth spot in the draft cannot be debated.” [Dawgs by Nature]
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“If Joe Philbin and Mike Sherman believe Tannehill is the player they need and believe he can develop into a franchise QB, they will do what they can to acquire him. However, the Dolphins are far from the only team interested in selecting him. The most likely competition for Tannehill is the Cleveland Browns at No. 4 overall. That means to assure themselves of selecting Tannehill, the Dolphins would need to move up to the No. 3 pick in a trade with the Vikings. In my mind, this is a trade you must make if you’re the Dolphins. There is no reason to gamble and hope that he falls to No. 8. With the new CBA, Tannehill’s position as a QB and his contract wouldn’t be an impediment to moving up to No. 3 to select him. And even if the Browns do pass on Tannehill at No. 4, there’s no guarantee a team such as Kansas City won’t trade up to take him.
With the Dolphins owning a plethora of reasons to trade up, does their potential trade partner — the Vikings — have an incentive to make a deal? In short, yes they do. Minnesota has a clear-cut need at left tackle, and at the top of the draft there are two such prospects who could fill that void: Matt Kalil of USC and Riley Reiff of Iowa. Given the current draft order, it’s likely the Vikings will be able to get at least one of them with the Dolphins’ No. 8 pick.” [Polian/ESPN Insider]
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So, I don’t know if Browns fans should really watch this or not. This kid is just impressive. Dang. [Gruden’s QB camp RGIII/Espn]
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Finally, the invention of the football helmet. Kind of. [kottke.org]
6 Comments
Ha, ha, nice headline!
We should really encourage Miami to switch picks with us. Not only will we get extra picks and either Khalil, Blackmon, Floyd, Richardson, or Claiborne, we give them the opportunity to throw away their pick by taking a guy who’s not worth it.
Unless, of course, they then double-cross us and don’t take Tannehill. Then we’re shafted.
Love the intrigue.
I saw that Gruden QB camp with Griffin. He was impressive, and won me over with that more than anything I saw on the field last year. His maturity and grasp of the game are indeed impressive. I still have doubts about his “all-pro franchise” potential in the NFL, but I did have serious twinges of regret – until I remembered what the Redskins paid for him, which I still think was too high and simply untenable for the Browns. Too bad. Too bad.
By the way, I love these Gruden camps in general. I know they’re somewhat “fluffy,” but they are far more informative and enlightening than 1,000 “draft expert” opinions. I wish he could do these with every top player – not just QBs. I’d watch like it’s my job. Speaking of which, I better do my job.
Adding Damon is actually pretty inconsequential. We need the other guys in the lineup to hit. Kotchman has to hit. Brantley has to hit. Choo has to hit. Santana has to hit. Getting on base is key, but if we can’t drive those runs in then it’s just about worthless. One guy, no matter who he is, won’t correct that problem… or at least not anybody who is currently available.
Bingo Pat.
Agree with this entirely. I’d add that he’s being brought in to take over for the guy who’s tied for the team-lead in on base percentage. I’m not against the pickup–in fact I like it–but it’s obviously no panacea.
More of my thoughts on this this afternoon…
I hope this is not the year that the tribe scores always seems to lose whether it is 2-1 of 8-6. Some years it seems like even when they score some runs, they still sometimes find ways to lose.