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.
Everyone is talking about the Tribe attendance- “But really, when it comes to the Tribe and attendance, not much surprises me. The Indians, even with the 30-15 start last year, finished with the seventh-lowest attendance mark in the Majors, were dead last in 2010, were fifth-lowest in 2009 and were 22nd out of 30 a year after reaching the ALCS.
This is what’s called a trend, and it’s part of the package here in a town that’s endured declining population and economic downturn and really doesn’t have baseball on the brain. It should surprise absolutely nobody that the city that ranked first nationally in TV ratings for the NFL Draft is the same city that ranks 30 out of 30 in MLB attendance, because this is a Browns town, through and through, and the once-in-a-lifetime Indians sellout streak of the 1990s was the product of a combination of unique factors (no Browns, strong economy, new ballpark, great team, downtown renaissance, etc.) that will never combine again.” [Castrovince/MLB.com]
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Breaking down Ubaldo’s mechanics. A must read for Tribe fans. With video. “Since his average fastball velocity was similar but the arm actions were so different on the 91 and 95 mph fastballs, it’s clear that the real problem is consistency in his delivery. Ubaldo’s main problem is still the early hand break (with secondary thought to how he uses the front shoulder and glove arm), and while it’s encouraging to see fastballs touch 95 mph, his arm action isn’t yet as efficient or athletic as it was when he was in Colorado. The closer he gets to optimizing his arm action and remaining consistent with it, the better results you’ll see with not only his fastball velocity, but his overall command and control. [Boddy/Hardball Times]
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Interesting. Look at the chart in this piece and tell me the Cavs weren’t wise trading Sessions for another 1st rounder- “If you read this far through my dis-jointed 2011 draft follow-up; I’m impressed. Now you get to see the somewhat arbitrary table where I rank the top 49 players from this year’s class. Enjoy!! Hopefully this endeavor has greatly improved my and your “draft expert”-ing. The table includes Minutes, PER, Win Shares per 48 minutes, and adjusted plus / minus (with standard deviation). If the player did not play enough minutes to qualify for adjusted plus / minus, I included their unadjusted impact on their team’s 100 possession efficiency.” [Hetrick/Cavs the Blog]
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“The Browns in 2012 used their first three picks on offensive players for the first time since 2009 when they took center Alex Mack in the first round and wide receivers Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi in the second round. Prior to 2009, the last time they went back-to-back-to-back on offense was 1985 when all seven draft picks played offense led by running back Greg Allen in the first round. That same year they drafted wide receivers Fred Banks, Reggie Langhorne and Shane Swanson, guards Greg Krerowicz and Larry Williams plus tight end Travis Tucker.” [The OBR]
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“I think the Cavaliers would re-sign him for sure if the contract came in around $4 million over a guaranteed period of three years too. This is me speculating here, because again, my source did not tell me anything about the life of the hypothetical contract offer. To further speculate though, there’s no way the Cavaliers would go as far as committing to Gee for as many as five seasons I wouldn’t think, nor would I really think they should make that long-term of a committment either. I kinda doubt anyone else would go five years too for whatever that’s worth, but four years guaranteed is probably what Gee will be looking for. I’d imagine teams will counter with three years guaranteed, and a club option for the fourth. I’m not sure the Cavaliers should go any further than matching a deal like that too. Four years guaranteed might be too many, and probably unnecessary. ” [Bowers/Stepien Rules]
