The Cavs Fourth of July fireworks are just smashing...

In the land of Deron Williams and Dwight Howard discussions, the Cleveland Cavaliers have their own big fish, ready to put in the frying pan. That's right folks the Cleveland Cavaliers have landed...Luke Harangody.

Harangody, a forward out of Notre Dame, has played parts of two seasons with the Boston Celtics and our very own Cavs.

Harangody was a second round pick by the Celtics prior to the 2010 season after averaging nearly 20 points and ten boards a game for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. His extreme talent led the Celtics to not only snag him with a premium second round pick, but they then dealt him to the Cavs for a 2013 second round pick...and included Semih Erden as well.

I'm a Cavs fan, afterall

Kyrie Irving leads the Cavs (photo: GQ)

So as I reopen B3 as an all-purpose, Cleveland Sports thread once again, I can't help but reenter the fray discussing my good friend LeBron James. For those of you that live in a hole, LeBron James has long since taken his talents to South Beach, and after last night's game, has made it to the NBA finals for two complete seasons.

My journey as an NBA fan has gone in a bit of a different direction than LeBron's hunt for "not one...not two...not three...not four...not five...not six...not seven...". Last season, while still supporting the Cavaliers, my NBA journey leaned towards the "I'm a fan of every team that beats the Heat." While the public outside of Cleveland (and inside as well) that kept telling me that I shouldn't be mad at LeBron for leaving the Cavs, I didn't, and I don't really have any explanation better than that.  I would have been pissed off had he left in any fashion. My thoughts on what I think about the decision are secondary, to be honest, since that has already played out, and I'm far beyond that at this point...well...to some extent I am.

The Cavs journey in 2011 took them through a season which we would all like to forget, but they went to the draft lottery after that horrid season and brought back with them the first round pick and the fourth round pick. The first pick turned into point guard Kyrie Irving, and the fourth pick turned into power forward Tristan Thompson. Irving was a given, and Thompson more of a gamble.

Before we could find out just how good these players might be, the NBA, the owners and the player's union took center stage, as a lockout became reality, and basketball became secondary. There really weren't any good sides to all of this, except for fans like myself, who was still in a land of discontent. Still, my focus went from hating a player and a team, to curiosity at the new players coming to Cleveland.

Kyrie Irving turned out to be a dynamic point guard, averaging 18.5 point a game, 5.4 assists per game, and 3.7 rebounds per game. He shot 40% from three-point land, shot 47% overall from the field, and was everything the Cavs wanted. He won the rookie of the year honors.

Tristan Thompson turned into the project that many thought he'd be. Overall, he averaged 8.2 points per game and 6 1/2 boards, and even added a block per game to go along with it. Not bad stats for a rookie at all. His numbers got even better, as he managed 10.4 points per game, with 7 1/2 boards and six double-doubles. So the Cavs began building a good foundation.

They'll add to that foundation this year with the fourth and 24th picks in this year's draft, as well as two high second rounders. Things are good for Cleveland.

Outside of Cleveland, a funny thing happened through the season, as well, and I suppose that's the point of all this. I stopped caring about the Heat and LeBron James. Well, I'm still pissed, and there's a small hope that they'll never win a title, but I don't look for their stat-lines anymore. An even funnier thing happened during the playoffs as Oklahoma City emerged as the team to beat...I started hoping for a Miami/Oklahoma City showdown. As a fan, it's an intriguing match-up, and there really hasn't been much of that over the years.

Last night, the Heat closed out the Celtics in seven. LeBron was unstoppable through much of the playoffs, and willed his team to the finals. There really wasn't much difference between what LeBron did for the Heat, and what he did for the Cavs. Wade has become a secondary guy there, and Bosh didn't even really play. Still, when the "Idiot 3" click, they are tough to beat. Now, they go up against James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City. It's the two best teams, with Big 3's of their own, playing for the title.

Should be an interesting watch as an NBA fan...

...as long as the Thunder win the title...

I mean, c'mon, I wanted the series, but it doesn't mean I've completely changed...

Cavs acquire Antawn Jamison

I know this is a Tribe blog, but as a former Cleveland sports blogger, I'd be remissed if I didn't mention, even in passing, the trade that tonight brought Antawn Jamison to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The three-team trade had the Cleveland Cavaliers sending fan favorite Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the 2010 first-round draft pick and the rights to Slovenian forward Emir Preldzic to the Wizards. The Los Angeles Clippers sent the Cavs point guard Sebastian Telfair and the Wizards forward Al Thornton. The Clippers get former Cav Drew Gooden from the Wizards.

This really is a win-win for the Cavaliers. In acquiring an all-star in Jamison, the Cavs didn't have to give up future all-star J.J. Hickson. Hickson will now be learning under one of the best forwards in the game in Jameson. Hickson, who would be a junior this year at NC State had he stayed in college, nullifies the loss of the 2010 first round pick, which likely will be late anyways. Should the Cavs need to get into the first round, they'll likely be able to do it.

Top this off with a likely scenario that has Ilgauskas buying out his contract, waiting thirty days, and re-signing with the Cavs, and you have what turns out to be a late first-round pick for Jamison and Sebastian Telfair. Telfair is out with a groin injury (I know, sounds painful to me too), but is a pure point guard, and will see playing time with the Cavs.

I'm not convinced the Cavaliers are done. With teams desperate to dump payroll and the deadline looming, the Cavs could make another move. There is the potential that a sign-and-trade for Wally Sczerbiak could bring the Cavs a shooting guard.

Yes, the Cavaliers are going to back the luxury tax, and it will cost them...but owner Dan Gilbert gets that bringing a title to Cleveland may mean making a little less money. The Indians could have used this lesson two years ago.

The move also makes LeBron's decision fairly interesting. Is there another team in the league willing to make the moves that Cavs have over the past two years to get to the finals? The easy answer is no. If LeBron wants to win a title, there isn't a team better prepared to give it to him.

Congrats to the Cavaliers, for finally doing whatever it takes to win a title. Win or lose, they aren't leaving a thing on the table, and you absolutely have to respect that.

Congrats to the Cavaliers for getting the job done.

Sipp saves the day in Indians win over Twins

Have I mentioned how big a fan of Tony Sipp I am?  For those that were doubters before today, something tells me that the Tony Sipp bandwagon is going to get a bit bigger on Monday.

Tony Sipp relieved Jensen Lewis in the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, and proceeded to save the day.  Aaron Laffey had started the game off with six solid innings of shutout baseball.  Up to the seventh, he had only given up three hits, and three walks, to go along with four strike outs.  It wasn't his best performance, but it certainly followed suit with his previous starts in 2009.  After getting the first out in the seventh, two singles and a walk loaded the bases and ended his day.  He was still up 4-0, but responsible for the runners. 

Jensen Lewis relieved, and continued his rubber-band act. promptly gave up a single scoring two of the three inherited runners.  He then made matters worse by walking the next batter to reload the bases, and end his day.  This seems to be typical Lewis.  One day, he's the guy who looked like a closer late last season.  The next day, he's Tom Mastny.

Enter Tony Sipp.

Sipp inherited a bases-loaded jam and was facing the daunting task of going up against arguably the Twins best hitter, Justin Morneau.  Yeah, I know, without Joe Mauer, there's really no arguing the point.  Sipp promptly struck out Morneau on four pitches, blowing a fastball by the Twins slugger on a 1-2 count. 

The next batter was Jason Kubel, who had two home runs yesterday for the Twins in their 7-1 victory over the Tribe.  Sipp used six pitches on Kubel before striking him out with a pitch that he had obviously taken something off of.  As Tony Lastoria, head honcho at Indians Prospect Insider and scribe to theclevelandfan.com, has said in the past,

"He is still developing a changeup and has a good feel for it, and even
though he just started throwing it when he came into the organization
the Indians feel it may end up being his best pitch."

If that last pitch was a changeup, it appears as though Tony's comments are something straight from Kreskin.

I know it's early, and only Sipp's second appearance, but boy was it electrifying.  I would have to imagine that it's going to be the talk of the rags tomorrow.  If it's not, it should be.

Rafael Betancourt had his best outing of the young year, throwing an extremely efficient perfect eighth inning.    He needed 10 pitches, nine of which were strikes, to get through the inning.  Two of the outs were fly balls, but he still did the job he struggled mightily with last season.  Hopefully it's a pattern, and not the exception.

Kerry Wood got save #4 today.  I can't say that it was a calm ninth inning though.  He allowed the first two runners on, before a double play and strike out ended the inning, and the game.  It's funny how a 97 MPH fastball can calm your nerves with two men on and the winning run at the plate, in the ninth inning.  Let's just say that it's better than an 85 MPH fastball, like we've seen in the past.

Here's a quick thought:  If none of our starters can ever get through the seventh inning, how many relievers are we going to burn through before the end of the season?  Just something to think about, because we are closing in on May with what, two starts through the seventh, and one that took 120-ish pitches by Cliff Lee?  I read somewhere that Carl Pavano is doing just what he's supposed to be doing.  Well, if we needed a guy to go five-six inning a game, why didn't we just re-sign Paul Byrd?  It's beyond me why we don't just give in and give the ball to guys like David Huff.  He's ready...

The Indians avoid a sweep, and lose another series.  When is May anyways...

Back to the Cavaliers, who are handling the Pistons 51-42 at the half.  Let's just get this game over with.  Lebron has 17, and Mo Williams has 16.  The Cavs D have held Gollum (Tayshaun Prince) , the Whiner (Rasheed Wallace) and the Phanton of the Opera (Rip Hamilton) to four points total.  That's playing some D.  Here's to the potential of a sweep, and on their court to boot.  Nothing would be sweeter.

Tomorrow, the Indians will become important again.  There are only two teams that put the Indians in the category of worthy to mention on any major sports network, and tomorrow they face off against one of them.  The Red Sox roll into town, with the Indians facing Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny and Tim Lester.  We roll out Cliff Lee, Anthony Reyes and Fausto Carmona.

Yeah, I'll be closing my eyes and holding on as well. 

The Sunday Drive with the trading of Cliff Lee, the return of Jake Westbrook and the Cavs

Just in case you live under a rock, 'Trade Cliff Lee' rumors have begun circulating once again, thanks to an article by CBSsports.com.  This isn't anything new in the Indians community, since we have been talking about this very thing for the better part of the past two seasons.  Now, the perfect storm is in the air.

1. The Indians are 6-12 so far this year, in a division that many had predicted them to win.  They may still, but you know what a record like 6-12 can do to a franchise frantic to win.  You either start shaking things up, or start shutting things down.


2. Cliff Lee is struggling, leading many to say that he's far from a #1 starter.  He certainly will command #1 starter money when he becomes a free agent.  That's not until the end of next season, by the way.  That said, the "TCL" crew is saying that management doesn't want him at a hefty price, so sayanara.


3.  There isn't much to talk about with this team, because they have seemed to disappear.  Not only are they losing, but they are horrifically boring to watch.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm okay with boring...when you're winning.

Just to lay this to rest, the Indians aren't getting set to trade Lee.  Now, if a team threw a package of players similar to the CC Sabathia deal at the Indians, then the rumor becomes reality.

Why dealing Cliff Lee has been on my mind for two years,
Would I deal Lee if I were Mark Shapiro?  Yeah, it's true
that I've been a supporter of dealing the lefty for the past two
seasons, including during and after his Cy Young award year.  That
said, dealing him now would be a major PR mistake for the Indians, if
the rumors proved to be true.  The Indians starters are absolutely
horrid thus far.  Fausto Carmona barely resembles his 2007-self, and
seems to fight with every pitch.  Anthony Reyes scares the hell out of
me.  I keep picturing Dave Dravecky, or that House episode that had the
pitcher who's arm literally flew off during a pitch.  I'm a fan of
Reyes, but it's a bit like a train wreck.  Carl Pavano is a waste of
money, even if he made the league minimum.  He may have a moment or two
where you think it's all going to be fine, then you open your eyes, and
realize he hasn't been good since the Red Sox were still fighting the
curse, and that year was really his only good year.  Aaron Laffey is
the lone bright spot, but I've never been on the Laffey bandwagon. 
That he's the only current starter that has my attention says a lot
about this rotation.



So dealing Lee leaves the Indians with what for starters?  Is Laffey
then the #1?  Is Fausto Carmona moved to #1?  Is that the smart move
with him hovering on either breaking down, or breaking away?  Would the
Indians get a #1 for Lee?  Why would a team do that, if they need a
starter?  In other words, dealing Lee right now is vastly different
than dealing Sabathia.



First off, there isn't a Lee behind Lee, as their was behind Sabathia. 
Second off, Lee is scheduled to make only $9 million next season.  It
would make more sense to ride it out a bit longer.  Of course, the only
negative is that Lee won't have the season he had last year, and will
certainly command less on the market next year, than this year.



Still, that's not a reason to give up on the season yet.



So, no, I wouldn't deal him, and I actually thought I was going to say yes when I pondered this post.



I'm actually beginning to think that Jake Westbrook is the cog that may make or break the Indians season.  According to Terry Pluto, Westbrook is planning on throwing his first simulated game on May 12th.  If all goes well, he'll follow that up with three or four minor league starts.

If Westbrook does come back, and can somehow manage to be even a close facsimile of the guy that we saw at the beginning of last season, then the starters could right themselves.  Lee would remain the #1, Westbrook would be the #2, Carmona would be #3, Laffey would be #4, and either Reyes or Huff would be #5.  Personally, I could care a less about the #'s, but am okay with five of those six guys.  The only problem is that this rotation really reminds me of the Orel Hershiser, Dennis Martinez, Charles Nagy-led rotations of the 90's, that had a bunch of solid, middle-of-the-order guys, but no take charge guy.  I hate things that are cyclical.

I'm still not ready to give Westbrook the green light in June though (as though I had a say in it).  In all seriousness, how many pitchers rush back from something like Tommy John, and blew out their arms, or had major setbacks.  Why come back in June, if you can be even more healthy in July.  We also all know that getting your velocity back after the TJ surgery can take nearly two years.  We'll see, but it does always worry me when I hear that a pitcher is ahead of schedule with this surgery.

Props have to go out to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  I've heard some grumbling about how the Cavs haven't slammed the Pistons in games #2 and #3.  Trust me, they have.  This team is pretty special.  Will they win the title?  That's up to the basketball gods, not me.  I do like the attitude the team brings behind LeBron.  They are going to be tough to beat.  Make sure you check out Amar and his crew over at Cavalier Attitude for playoff coverage.  Back in the day, I used to write over there, and they really do a tremendous job covering the best team in the NBA.

95,722 showed up for tOSU's spring game today, breaking Nick Saban's record last season in his first springer for Alabama.  Terrelle Pryor threw two 40+ TD passes in the game.  Football...already? 

This weeks SoG award for Tribe blog of the week goes out to Tony Lastoria and his crew over at Indians Prospect Insider.  For those that aren't familiar with Tony's past work, I began following his work at The Cleveland Fan, writing a weekly column entitled 'Minor League Happenings."  He then took his work a step further by opening up a blog based soley on the Indians' Minor League system.  What I thought might be a site updated a couple of times a week, it turned out to be updated daily, an more often than not, multiple times.

TL's work isn't heresay either.  Nearly every post is 'from the source,' and nine times out of ten, dead on.  This isn't a site that begs, borrows and steals from other websites.  Tony is outsourcing the writing as well, and has acquired a solid staff of writers that continue to provide multiple daily postings.

Tony also puts out a yearly Top 100 Prospects book that you can purchase, and posts updating scouting reports on nearly every Tribe prospect worth a hill of beans.  It's not only the cream of the crop as far as minor league sites go for the Indians, but is likely one of the best, IF NOT THE best minor league site in the entire league.  Check it out for yourself, if you haven't already.

Have a fantastic final week of April, and don't forget to check the rearviewmirror for the Indians offense.  It's way back there with their defense...somewhere.

Oh, and is it me, or do you feel like trading down. 

Laffey, the longball and the double play leads Tribe over Royals

Aaron Laffey provided the Indians with their best start of the season, as the Cleveland Indians held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 8-7 at Progressive Field.  The Indians moved to 5-9 on the season with the win.

Laffey's start wasn't all peaches and cream, although he did pitch well in only allowing one run through seven innings.  He did get some fielding help with five straight innings with a double play, including a seventh-inning dp with the bases loaded that allowed the Indians to keep their 6-1 lead.  Laffey was really in command of his sinker and slider, and trusted his pitches enough to induce nine ground ball outs, to go along with three K's.

Laffey was called up on April 15th after Scott Lewis was sent to the DL with a strained forearm, and has arguably become the most effective Tribe starter.  Laffey's ERA has dropped to 2.19, and opponants are only hitting a paltry .238 off the young lefty.  His start was the first by a Tribe starter to last until the end of the seventh inning.  Unfortunately, the bullpen did everything it could to blow the lead.  More on that in a minute...

Cleveland's bullpen nearly blows it, and the offense flexes, after the jump...


Rafael Perez didn't get sent down to the minors, since Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro insist that he's earned the right to figure things out in the majors.  Huh?  What?  When did they start this policy?  Isn't this the team that sends it's pitchers on a nightly bunji-jump, from AAA to the bigs?  Management has decided that Perez will be taken out of key eight-inning, lefty situations that he has excelled at since making the club two-years ago. 

Joe Smith faced three batters, and managed to give up two hits and a walk, and ended up giving up three runs, although only one scored with him on the mound.  Masa Kobayashi would relieve him, would face two batters, giving up two hits and a run.  Neither retired a batter.  Jensen Lewis would save the day.  He gave up a sac fly, which made the score 6-5 Cleveland, before forcing Miguel Olivo to, you guessed it, ground into another double play.  The six double plays tied a record for the Indians.

Kerry Wood would add to the bullpen issues, but I'll get to that in a second...in the meantime...

The Indians offense continued it's onslaught tonight, led by the fifth home-runs by both Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez.  Sizemore's homer broke a 2-1 game wide open in the fourth inning.  Ben Francisco and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a couple of one-out singles, before Sizemore launched his Earl Weaver special over the wall in right field to give the Indians their 6-1 lead.

After the bullpen imploded, VMart came through in the eighth, blasting a two-run shot that gave the Indians an 8-5 cushion, that it would turn out to need.

This Indians' offense is potent, and patient, which can be deadly to opposing teams' pitching staff.  They have the penchant for big innings, and can really hit teams with a knockout quickly.  This should keep them in most games, even with a poor pitching staff.  The Indians will likely ride this offense, until the arms work themselves out.  If they don't, it could be a long season.

Kerry Wood did his best to impersonate Joe Borowski.  There's a major flaw with this line of thinking:  Wood throws a bit harder.  Wood's fastball's averaged 96 MPH, and his last pitch, a strike, was 97.  This isn't JoeBlo, even though Wood allowed a Dave DeJesus two-run jack, that left the Indians with only a one-lead.  Wood would settle down, and get a strike-out, his second, to end the inning.  Sure, it would have been nice to see him retire three guys on nine pitches, but he still looked essentially in command, and there really wasn't a time when I didn't think he was going to get that last guy out.  Wood recorded his second save.

Cleveland got another good start from a starting pitcher.  Perhaps this is a trend...I'll leave it at that.  The Indians are now 5-9 and 1-0 in this nine-game homestand.  Brian Bannister was recalled from AAA to face off against the Indians and Cliff Lee.  Hopefully Lee can return to full form against Bannister, who has been nothing but spectacular against the Indians.  Bannister has rolled out a 3-1 lifetime record against Cleveland, with a stellar 1.91 ERA against the team.  He's 2-0 against the Indians in Cleveland.  He's pitched well in AAA, having gone nine scoreless innings preceding his call-up.  It could be an interesting game.

The Cavaliers played like garbage in the second half of their game tonight, but still managed to beat the Pistons by eight points.  I suppose it has to be tough to get up against an opponent like the Pistons, who are, quite honestly, as done a team as you can be in the playoffs.  Watching the Pistons is almost painful.  I can't wait to brush this former great team aside, so we can have games worth watching.