Tick Tock...

We're now less than a week from the NFL's lame duck draft and the Browns' intentions are pretty clear.

First off, understand that Marcel Dareus (DE, Alabama) will be gone.  Von Miller (LB, Texas A&M) will be gone.  Each of them has at least two teams in the top five targeting him.  Neither will be available to the Brownies.  That leaves the Browns with three possibilities with the number six pick, assuming that they don't trade down like a pack of blood belching vagines.

Here are the scenarios --

(1) If AJ Green (WR, Georgia) is on the board when the Browns turn comes (and he will be if the Bengals understand that they have no one to throw to him, but hey they're the Bengals), they will draft him.  Period.  Regardless of any argument that can be made for taking the best available player, Green is the best prospect at the team's biggest position of need.  Read that as -- they have no true #2 receiver, let alone a #1.  Green is also as close as it comes to a sure thing (think Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson).  He has great size, great hands and great speed.  What more could a team ask for?  In fact, earlier today, Mel Kiper stated that, if he were in charge making the Panthers' #1 overall selection, he would take Green.  Done and done.

Should the Bengals indeed choose AJ Green with #4 pick, the situation becomes somewhat murkier


(2) Let's assume that AJ Green and Patrick Peterson (CB, LSU) are both gone, which is entirely possible.  In this circumstance, the Brown take Julio Jones (WR, Alabama).  Look back on a comparison between Green and Jones, here.  Wideout is still the Brownies most glaring hole and Jones is a solid top 10 pick with unreal metrics.  He just needs to become more consistent in, y'know, catching the ball.

(3) If Green is gone and Peterson is not, I honestly don't know what the Browns will do.  The case for Jones is strong, but Peterson is described by some as a once in a lifetime talent.

I would take Jones because I don't buy the best available argument.  Even if you have two shutdown corners, you're not going to win if you cannot keep the defense honest and away from utterly destroying Peyton Hillis.  Also, many cite Petersons' return skills as a significant factor in his draft stock.  Has everyone forgotten that the NFL moved kickoffs up?  Additionally, we already have an A+ return man.  Despite the fact that Josh Cribbs makes a much deeper impact on kick returns, we're sound in all facets of the return game.

Jones is also my best guess as to what the Browns would do if put into this position.  Mike Holmgren and Pat Shurmur are both offensive minds and they will not be able to pass on a weapon like Julio.

The Browns will not select Robert Quinn (DE, North Carolina).  I recognize the need for a pass rush, but the absence of any real wide receiver trumps it like a whole pack of spades (the suit, dummies).  Quinn simply has too many character questions and is too damn raw.

Just my 2 cents.  The draft commences at 8p, Thursday, 04.28.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe A.K.A. Clip Joint Washout

Cheers.

Suicide Squeeze - Worst #1 Ever ('92 Upper Deck)

Happy Earth Day!

Mother Earth: First Milf from Izabella Miko

How do we save the planet?  Make green sexy!  Yea-eah!

9 Spot For the Clip Joint

Nine times.  Nine.  Times.  Chad Huffman pushed a run across nine times.  Huffman (.261) socked three homers and amassed nine runs batted in as the Clippers battered the Bats 19-3.  I have no desire to discuss the Indians, so I'm going to give you the full run down.

The crisp evening began with quiet a bit of anticipation.  One of the treats of minor league baseball is when a bonafide major leaguer comes through on a rehab assignment.  Such was the case tonight.  Louisville sent once and future Cincinnati Red Johnny Cueto to the hill.  Cueto's first rehab start had been brief yet successful.  This evening, not so much.  Johnny managed to retire five batters before getting yanked.  Unfortunately for the young righty, Columbus pounded him for 8 runs on 9 hits in that time.  Three of the runs were later determined to be unearned.  Still, the Clips' lineup crushed Cueto to the tune of .692.  Wait, .692 what?  That was their freakin' batting average off of Johnny tonight.  Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.  Following the game, the scrub hid in a shuttle bus, refusing to even acknowledge his fans, as Dontrelle Willis signed for everyone in sight and even posed for a few pictures.  I hope Cueto's arm falls off.

The Clippers' offense was so productive that I could tell you about all nine hitters.  Each player had at least one hit.  Eight reached base at least twice.  Seven scored at least one run and six drove in one or more.  The aforementioned Huffman also cracked four hits and scored five runs.  Travis Buck, making his debut for Columbus, got a hit in each of his first four ABs, doubling twice and driving in three.  Lonnie Chisenhall (.222) rapped two hits, scored four and collected an RBI.  Cord Phelps (.333) was just 1-for-2, but scored three times because he drew four walks.  Jordan Brown (.250) doubled, homered and walked.  And on.  And on.

Let us not neglect a quality start from Zach McAllister.  The 6'6", 240lb right hander, acquired in last year's Austin Kearns deal, won this third straight start to begin the season.  Zach went six allowing 2 earned on seven hits, striking out a pair and walking nary a soul.  McAllister (4.76 ERA) began the year as the #4 starter in the Columbus rotation.  This is a guy with big league make-up who is buried in the ridiculous pitching depth that the Indians' organization possesses.  This is a good thing.

Oh and Jess Todd gave up Louisville's third run.  He did pitch two innings to lower his ERA to 12.15.  Night and day, the man's performance between pre and regular season.  The difference must be in his head.

The Clippers wrap up a four game set with Louisville tomorrow.  If the rotation holds, David Huff should get the start.  The game is at 7:05p.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Nick Hagadone extended his scoreless streak to 10.2 innings by tossing two more clean frames in a 6-3 Akron win over Reading.  Hagadone allowed a hit and a walk and fanned four.  Opponents are hitting .162 off of him this season.  Jordan Henry remained absent from the Akron lineup.

Steven Wright, who had previously advanced as far as AAA as a conventional pitcher, tonight made his first pro start as a knuckleballer for Lake County.  Wright lasted 4 innings and allowed just one hit.  He walked three, K'ed 1 and allowed two runs, one of which was earned.  If Wright can harness the power of the knuckler he could distinguish himself as quite the unique prospect within the organization.

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 04.22.11 - Amanda Crew

 And they say I don't dig on the girl next door.

A Quest Called Tribe

The Tribe wasted a gem tonight.  Props to Josh Tomlin.  Boos to Chris Perez.  Maybe the offense could score more than 2 runs.  There's nothing else to say and I don't want talk about.  Watch the "highlights" and move on.

Cheers.

P.S.  Thank goodness that Carlos Santana did not injure himself on this play.

I Always Thought That It Would Be Manny

Word now is that the cup is in about 10 separate pieces.

Suicide Squeeze - Eye Of the Cardinal ('92 Upper Deck)

A Quest Called Tribe

I think I hear a chicken.  Luke Hochevar sure did.  Perfect for the first five innings, Hochevar pulled his best Jeremy Sowers impression and imploded in the sixth.  After retiring 31 straight over two starts, the former #1 overall pick balked twice among five 6th inning hits (we can add balking in a run from third to list of baseball plays that I have seen for the first time this season), helping the Tribe to score four runs and take a lead that they would not relinquish.

Justin Masterson (4-0, 1.71 ERA) didn't bring his A game either.  Battling for command all night, Masterson walked two in the first and gave up three hits, but escaped allowing just two runs.  Justin continued to gut it out through six innings, eventually walking five and striking out 3, but did not allow another run.  His ability to compete despite the absence of the pinpoint control that showed in his first three starts is the most telling of anything the big righty has accomplished this season.  Assuming that the erraticness is not a regression, it is tremendous to know that Bat Masterson can keep the Indians in the game even when he has an off night.

The lineup produced up and down tonight, so I'm going to give my gold star to my boy Jack Hannahan.  Hannahan (.240) stroked a two run double in the 7th that provided key insurance as Tony Sipp decided to forget how to get people out in the 9th.  Jack is 7-for-12 with both of his home runs off of left handers this season.  He's as confused as the rest of us, but I'll take it.  After the production tonight, the Tribe features seven players with 9 RBI or more.  That's what I call a team effort.

Also, Vinnie Pestano is nasty.

Coming off of another quality start we need to put Jeanmar Gomez's performance last night into better perspective.  Let us compare to a man with whom he was in direct competition with during spring camp.  Through three starts (all wins), Josh Tomlin has surrendered six runs and 15 hits in just shy of 20 innings.  Yesterday, Gomez gave up nine hits and four runs in four innings.  Jaysus.  Tomlin refined a cutter during the off-season that some credit with his success thus far.  To reiterate, this is the sort of repertoire addition that Gomez would need to be successful at the MLB level.

Lastly, let's talk about defense.  Everyone has their favorite defensive statistic and I an no different.  My stat du jour is called Total Defense, abbreviated Rtot by BaseballRefernce.com (explanation here).  Basically the metric compiles data to estimate the average fielder at each position and then compares each individual thereto.  The value can be positive or negative depending on whether the defense is above or below average.  Thus, the league average is always zero.  Given all of that, just understand that big positive numbers are good, big negative numbers are bad, and numbers close to zero are average.  The Indians' total defense in 2011 is 24.  The number itself is irrelevant, but the fact that it is nearly double their closest competition (the Brewers at 13), speaks to the stellar level of play that Tribe has exhibited while in the field.

Despite the glowing review above, opponents are now 8-for-8 in stolen bases against the Indians.  After Tuesday night's five swipe explosion from the Royals, it is high time for Sandy Alomar to give the young guns some serious direction.  It is unacceptable to give the bad guys extra runners in scoring position, especially since the rest of this team is so darn productive.

Cheers.