Joe Haden Signs 5 Year Deal with Browns
July 31, 2010Tribe Snaps Losing Streak & Good Riddance to Kerry Wood
August 1, 2010While 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
Face of Cleveland sports: “Josh Cribbs, the new king of Cleveland, declines the title, but would be cast in the role…He is, perhaps most of all, the anti-LeBron James. Cribbs is the dynamic player who was absolutely tremendous throughout the past season, never quitting or coming close to it, always giving his all. He said he wanted to stay here, although his contract did not reflect his value to the team. When that was rectified, he not only stayed, but gave the dejected city a hug.” [Bill Livingston/Plain Dealer]
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Give thanks for avoiding Bradford: “In other words – some 50 million dollars later – now do you see why I was so terrified that the Browns were trying to trade up in order to draft Bradford? Can you only imagine the following scenario? 1. Bradford – a college spread offense quarterback with some serious injury concerns – would now be the centerpiece of the Browns at a price tag that would be the salary cap equivalent of 4-6 quality players? 2. We do still remember Tim Couch, right? That college spread QB with the shoulder issues? Just checking. 3. Beyond the financial cost, consider that the Browns would have given up anywhere from 2-4 draft picks to land Bradford in April…And doesn’t the Colt McCoy pick look relatively harmless now?” [DK/Cleveland Reboot]
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Unnecessary signage: “Because LeBron has no idea how anyone feels in Ohio and its Matthew Palumbo and the rest of the marketing whizzes at Omada who are the ones who know exactly where LeBron stands in his home state. Hey, I know at least one guy in Ohio who disagrees. Maybe Matt Bellamy could trade his nine LeBron Heat jerseys for the cash to put up a billboard of his own across the street? No word from Newsnet 5 as to whether Palumbo will let his children back in his house if they ever decide to move away from Akron. Anyway, the best thing about this by far is the big old Hinckley Buzzard perched atop the billboard, like there’s no better place to feast on the corpses of basic respect, goodwill, good sense and whatever else has been killed in the LeBacle.” [Cleveland Frowns]
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Firesale over: “The Indians and the fans can largely view the July trading season as a success based purely off of who the team was able to move, and while we will all surely miss Jake Westbrook, Austin Kearns and Jhonny Peralta the Indians will most likely be better off now that those players are playing elsewhere. One thing that alarms me is that while the team was proactive in seeking moves, the Tribe front office was not able to make tremendously beneficial moves as they appear now. The Yankees were the big trading partner as they worked out deals with the Indians for both Austin Kearns and Kerry Wood. Both of these moves leave the Indians with question marks as they are for the un-popular player to be named later – or cash. Mark Shapiro has always been a fan of PTBNL deals as it gives him and the scouts a chance to learn more about who they could potentially receive. So only time will tell what these two trades really can provide for the team.” [Zach/Lake Erie Soldiers]
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Scouting our new prospects: “Cleveland gets pitching prospect Corey Kluber from the Padres. Kluber lacks a big upside but has a chance to be a solid back-end starter. Kluber took a big step forward this year in command and control and has a legitimate swing-and-miss pitch in his slider to go with a solid-average fastball. At worst, he should be an above-average reliever who can miss a lot of bats and work in the seventh or eighth inning. He doesn’t have an average third pitch to get lefties out, but the Indians need starters and they should give him at least another year to try to figure it out after he made progress in other areas in 2010.” [Keith Law/ESPN-subscription only]
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Notes from Browns day 1 evening session: “Saturday morning got off to a rather eventful start, but as is sometimes the case early in training camp, the team doesn’t go all out for both practice sessions. That was the case during the Cleveland Browns’ evening session of camp, but there are still a couple of nuggets to pass along…After making headlines for his big hit on fullback Peyton Hillis in the morning session, LB D’Qwell Jackson made them again in the evening session by picking off Delhomme. The interception came at the line of scrimmage, and was reportedly Delhomme’s only interception of the entire day.” [Chris Pokorny/Dawgs by Nature]
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Cleveland the guinea pigs?: “The NBA’s version of the franchise tag is the Larry Bird exception, which allows teams to re-sign their own stars for an extra year (six vs. five) and with bigger raises (10.5 percent vs. 8 percent) than rival teams. That, combined with the league’s strenuous restrictions on free agency in the first several years of players’ careers, resulted in James staying in Cleveland for seven years –- enough loyalty for one guy to show one city, some would argue. But here’s how the franchise tag would have worked if the Cavs had it at their disposal when James became a free agent. Under NFL guidelines, Cleveland would’ve been able to designate James with the franchise tag at some point before the free-agent negotiating period began July 1. There would’ve been a deadline -– let’s say, for the sake of argument, July 15 –- by which the team would’ve been able to continue negotiating a long-term deal with him. James would have had the choice of signing a long-term deal or a one-year deal at one of the highest salaries in the league. If he went that route, he’d become a free agent again next summer, when his franchise tag could be renewed.” [Ken Berger/CBS Sports]
(Photo: John Kuntz/Plain Dealer)
2 Comments
My god his arms look big in this picture
Ya….he must work out.