Looking At Local Teams Heading Into ’26

Happy New Year to everyone and here’s hoping we will all be a little nicer to each other.

As we start 2026, we wonder what the sports year will hold for northeast Ohio with the three professional sports teams.

Looking at the Cavaliers, certainly there is some concern because last year’s regular season was so good with a 64-18 record, but a disappointing second round loss to Indiana in

the playoffs.

This year has been filled with injuries to key players, but still, something is different. It is true that Kenny Atkinson is doing some experimenting, but it can also be true the league has changed since Koby Altman put his team together with the emphasis being on Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

The NBA has gotten more long and more athletic and those teams seem to bother this group. With the Cavs over the second apron in terms of payroll, it will take a lot of creativity on Altman’s part to tweak the roster.

To the president of basketball operation’s credit, he did find a gem last year in Jaylon Tyson, who is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game playing the wing. If Atkinson hasn’t realized it yet, he is one of the Cavs’ best players.

The Cavaliers will probably make the playoffs this year barring injuries, but how much they can advance will depend on what tweaks Altman can make before the trade deadline.

The Cleveland Guardians have won back-to-back AL Central Division titles, but the latest came despite one of the worst offenses in the game. With spring training about six weeks away, the front office hasn’t addressed this problem, but we do think a move is coming.

The front office has talked about not wanting to block the development of some young prospects, but they need to have a “Plan B” in case those players don’t pan out.

What they should be doing is going into the season planning for Chase DeLauter and/or George Valera to have significant roles in 2026, but getting a couple of right-handed bats, proven hitters, to be improve the offense. And if the young players are as advertised, it will make for a group that can finish in the top half of the AL in runs scored.

And we wouldn’t mind getting another starting pitcher to add some depth.

One more wish. Increase the payroll to a level where they are on par with other smaller market teams like Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Cincinnati.

That shouldn’t be an issue.

That brings us to the Browns. So much of what will happen in ’26 depends on what happens after Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. They could (and should) be looking at a new GM and new coach, but based on what has been reported, we don’t think that will occur.

To think an NFL team, bring back a duo that has gone either 7-27 or 8-26 over the last two seasons seems ludicrous. Especially in their fifth and sixth years in charge.

And then you have the cloud of Deshaun Watson, who the Browns keep talking about to the media, hovering over the franchise. This is a team that has made three playoff appearances in the last 26 years and won just one post-season game.

Of course, keeping Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski would fall in line with the lack of accountability the Browns have had recently. And we are looking at you Bubba Ventrone.

On the other hand, we are thankful to witness the greatness of Jose Ramirez and Myles Garrett, two surefire Hall of Fame players, who play for our local teams. It would be nice for them to play for a title someday.

2026 will mark ten years since the Cavaliers won the NBA title. That’s not the 52 years we endured from 1964 to 2016, but when we started being aware of sports in 1965, it was just a year removed from the Browns’ title in ’64.

Ten years is long enough.

A Win To Irritate The Tanking Crowd

Well, the “tanking” faithful will not be happy about the Cleveland Browns’ 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but we don’t care. A win is a win and that’s always a good thing.

The Browns are now 4-12 on the season and if the season ended today (it ends next week of course), they would have the 7th or 8th pick in April’s selection process.

We saw a lot of comments about how the victory showed how Kevin Stefanski has not lost the locker room and used that as a reason to keep the head coach going forward.

That’s great and it is good the team hasn’t quit on their coach, but our criticism of Stefanski has nothing to do with whether or not he has the respect of the players, it’s his offense and that problem was on full display in the win.

The offense got off to a great start, a 41-yard drive leading to an Andre Szmyt field goal and an 86-yard drive capped off by a 28-yard TD pass from Shedeur Sanders to Harold Fannin. That’s 127 yards on the first two drives.

It’s also about half of the yardage gained by Cleveland for the entire game.

How many times does this happen? Frankly, it’s a common occurrence. The “scripted plays” generate solid drives, many times resulting in points. After that? They don’t seem to go back to what was working early nor are any adjustments or counter plays called to address what the opponents did to stop the offense.

For instance, when the Steelers put Alex Highsmith over Cam Robinson in the second half, where were plays rolling Sanders away from the constant pressure? They ran one and of course, Highsmith tracked the QB down from behind.

And they scored 13 points, making this the 25th time in the last two seasons where the Browns scored less than 20 points. This past week, 17 teams scored 20 or more points in the NFL.

Our other issue with Stefanski (and the entire organization for that matter) is this: 7-26, the team’s record over the last two seasons. Only three teams have done worse in the league over this span: New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans.

None of those teams’ coaches survived both seasons.

The defense was outstanding again on Sunday, holding the Steelers to 251 yards and amazingly Aaron Rodgers threw 39 times for just 168 yards. Myles Garrett alluded to it after the game, and several national analysts said it as well. Pittsburgh looked like they were more intent on keeping Garrett out of the record book that they were in scoring points.

Having Denzel Ward back helps quite a bit and we thought Tyson Campbell was excellent on the other side as well.

We did shake our heads when analyst Tony Romo quoted Stefanski as saying Raheem Sanders looked like a big old-time NFL running back. If the coach thinks that, why was Sanders inactive for most of the season.

Makes you think…

Next week, another disappointing season ends in Cincinnati with Garrett getting one more shot at the single season sack record. What will happen after the game is probably the bigger source of drama.

Is another house cleaning on the agenda for the Browns. By this time next week, we should know.

Loss To Knicks Leaves Us With Questions.

The book on the Cleveland Cavaliers is they lack size and toughness and that was on full display on Christmas against the New York Knicks.

The Cavs had a 17-point lead in the 4th quarter and watched one of their playoff nemeses from a few years ago, Mitchell Robinson dominate on the offensive glass, which allowed the Knicks to get back in the game and ultimately win it.

The good news for Cleveland is they played well after winning the two games prior at home against Charlotte and New Orleans, two also-rans, so maybe the malaise which was surrounding the team has passed.

Also, Evan Mobley returned to the lineup after a two-week absence due to a calf injury and earlier in the week, Sam Merrill came back, and his long-range marksmanship (shooting 43% from three) helps with floor spacing.

On Friday, long time NBA player and coach Sam MItchell, now an analyst on NBA Radio, said the Cavs are still a contender, but they lack size in the backcourt, and while they have height up front in Jarrett Allen and Mobley, they lack bulk.

Thank you Sam!

We have said this is has been a problem for four years now, and the front office hasn’t really done anything to address the situation. Sure, this year they signed Thomas Bryant, but when or if Allen and/or Mobley is out of the lineup, he’s the only big man they have.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin has been a find, but he’s not an interior player. He’s more of a perimeter defender and also has a slight build.

We like Kenny Atkinson, but felt he should have went back to Jaylon Tyson, who had a marvelous third quarter, 11 points when the Cavs outscored New York 38-24. Tyson started the fourth but left after four minutes and didn’t return.

In the fourth, the offense turned into the Donovan Mitchell show, as he took 11 of the Cavs’ 26 shots. The only other Cleveland player who took more than two shots in the quarter was Darius Garland, who hit one of his five attempts.

His main lineup down the stretch included those two with Mobley, Merrill, and Dean Wade. Merrill took just one shot in the fourth, the same as Wade, who to us is notorious for being afraid of missing shots, so he passes them up.

By default, it puts the offensive burden on the two guards.

Sam Mitchell also wondered about the idea of having Mobley shoots threes, feeling the best place for him to operate offensively would be at the elbow where he can be a “triple threat” guys. Mobley has improved from beyond the arc, but defenses aren’t going to chase him out there.

And that five who received the bulk of the minutes is basically a three-guard set, with a defensive minded wing defender in Wade, and Mobley, who isn’t a bulky presence near the basket.

It was just a curious coaching decision, and that doesn’t mean we want Atkinson replaced, we will see if he goes to the same group in a similar situation going forward. Tyson provides toughness and aggressiveness to the Cavs, something they need.

It was also a little curious that Lonzo Ball got just 13 minutes for the game. Ball is a good defender, but guilty of some questionable shot selection.

We are now past Christmas and isn’t that when the pundits say the season really begins. If so, the Cavaliers need to ramp it up, and worry less about being entertaining, and a little more about winning.

Adding Relief Arms – Good. Still No Bats? Bad

After the season ended, Cleveland Guardians’ skipper Steven Vogt spoke about how the team needed to reconstruct its bullpen for 2026. We are sure part of that is knowing Emmanuel Clase will never throw a pitch for the team again.

Also, in today’s game, you can never have enough bullpen arms, and frankly, the Guardians had available spots on their 40-man roster, so they weren’t losing productive players by adding to the relief corps.

So, the additions of Peyton Pallette, Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon, and Shawn Armstrong are fine. Sometimes, there is strength in numbers. Armstrong is a veteran, and has the biggest track record.

He probably had a career year last season with Texas with a 2.31 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 74 innings, but he has a lifetime ERA of 3.82 and more Ks than innings pitched over an 11-year career that began with Cleveland in 2015.

But if one or two of the other newcomers and another prospect from the farm system emerges, Vogt should have solid options at his disposal for the 2026 season.

Holderman was someone we looked at in 2024 when the Guards were marching to the AL Central Division title when he had a 3.16 ERA and 56 punchouts in 51.1 innings for Pittsburgh, but he had a terrible year in ’25 with an ERA over 7.00.

If he’s healthy, he’s a solid candidate to bounce back.

Brogdon, who will be 31 next season, has struggled since the 2023 season. He can strike people out, but has been vulnerable to the gopher ball recently, giving up 11 in 47 innings with the Angels last season.

While the bullpen has added depth, the hitting still hasn’t been addressed. Spring training is still two months away, so the front office still has time, but some bats that could have been useful have either come off the market or the rumors are the Guardians aren’t in play.

President Chris Antonetti has said the organization doesn’t want to block the progress of the club’s top prospects, but if the Guardians have designs on winning the Central Division for a third straight year, that cannot be the only plan.

Remember, the Guards had the third worst offense in baseball last season and the absolute worst in the American League. They simply cannot depend on players like Chase DeLauter, George Valera, and C.J. Kayfus, players who combined have less than 200 major league at bats.

What if none of them turn out to be good players? Before you think we are crazy, check most teams’ list of Top 10 Prospects from 4-5 years ago. Probably about half of those players don’t ever turn out to be solid MLB players.

So, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that none of the trio winds up being an everyday player, and for the record, we really like DeLauter, whose problem has been health more than anything else.

That’s why as a contending team; the front office has to plan for the worst-case scenario. And that’s why they have to get at least two proven hitters, in our opinion.

We are sure there will be plenty of disagreement here, but we would look at Luis Arraez as an option although the defensive positioning could be an issue.

The 28-year-old left-handed hitter had a down year last season, but that might make him very affordable. And he’s just a year away from a .346 on base percentage, and his career mark is .363.

We just imagine having Steven Kwan and Arraez at the top of the lineup hitting in front of Jose Ramirez. That ain’t bad.

As we said, there are still six weeks before spring training starts so there is still time. But Guardians’ fans would still like to see some offensive improvement.

Another Sunday, Another Browns Loss

Sometimes you watch the Cleveland Browns play, and it seems like the movie “Groundhog Day”, where every game seems to be the same. This one was a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Last Sunday’s game was kind of a microcosm of the recent tenure of Kevin Stefanski, at least on the offensive side, and to us, it seemed like a difference in coaching results.

The Browns got off to a great start on the first drive, moving the ball 65 yards for a touchdown. Unfortunately, those yards on the opening possession accounted for 22% (they gained 294 yards for the game) of the offensive output.

On the other side, the Bills spent the entire first half shredding the Browns’ defense taking a 20-10 lead at the half. However, Jim Schwartz did some different things and held the visitors to just three points in the second half.

To be fair, Schwartz has more talent at his disposal than Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

We thought we were going to get a holiday miracle with the special teams, but on the last play of the half, a bad snap thwarted a makable field goal attempt that could have made it a one score game going into the second half.

FYI, the Rams, a playoff team, fired their special teams’ coach after a loss on Thursday night. But Bubba Ventrone…

And by the way, what was Stefanski doing before the field goal. A face mask penalty gave Cleveland the ball on the Bills’ 30 with six seconds left. We thought the right move was just to kick, but they tried to run a play. The result was Shedeur Sanders taking the snap and throwing the ball out of bounds.

So why even do it?

The offense did have more diversity especially in the ground game, mixing in just jet sweeps, double reverses and quarterback scrambles to cobble together 160 yards, the most in a game this season.

With Quinshon Judkins getting hurt during the game, Raheem Sanders got an opportunity and gained 42 yards on 11 attempts, leading us to think why he’s been inactive for most of the season. The Browns could’ve used a better compliment to Judkins all season long, and even after Jerome Ford was put on IR, the team signed Travyeon Williams instead of giving Sanders a shot.

The Browns had a chance to win the game when they got the ball back with 5:02 left, and had a 4th and 2, but a Buffalo pass rusher basically threw T Cam Robinson aside and sacked Sanders.

We bring this up to remind everyone that Andrew Berry traded draft picks for both Robinson and KT Levenson, two of the worst tackles in the league. Oh, and he didn’t draft an offensive lineman in this past draft.

Somehow, Myles Garrett recorded a half sack, leaving him a sack shy of breaking the NFL record for one season. He needs one on Sunday at home against the Steelers, one, to do it at home, and also to eliminate any asterisk of having it done in a 17-game season.

Guess that’s the best reason to interrupt your holiday season to watch the Browns.

Altman Didn’t Adapt As The Game Did. Are Cavs Paying For That?

The fine line between patience and moving on is very delicate in professional sports, especially when a team is trying to come up from the bottom.

We remember the early days of the Cleveland Cavaliers. As an expansion team, they were terrible in their first year, going 15-67 after starting the season 1-27. The next year, they won 23 games, and in their third season, they added Lenny Wilkens and won 32.

They looked poised to make the jump to a .500 squad in the team’s fourth season. But after the third year, coach/GM Bill Fitch traded two then starters, John Johnson and Rick Roberson to get the second pick in the draft, and selected Jim Brewer.

They took a step back, falling to 29 victories, to take a leap forward to 40 wins and the following year went to the Eastern Conference finals.

To be fair, Fitch also added Jim Chones and other pieces in those two seasons, but the point is Fitch knew he needed to make a change to get the max out of his squad.

Fast forward to the current Cavs.

After being eliminated in the first round by the Knicks after Donovan Mitchell’s first year in town when the Cavs won 51 games, president of basketball operations Koby Altman has pretty much stood pat.

The next year was understandable, it was the team’s first year with Mitchell and you would hope for growth the following year. But in that series loss to New York, the wine and gold could not match the opponents’ physicality. That was obvious.

When the Cavaliers were bounced in the second round the following season, after needing seven games to win over a young Orlando team in the first round, the excuse was injuries to Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen.

Last season, with a new coach, Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland won 64 games, breezed through a round one series against Miami, before losing in five games to the eventual East champs, Indiana.

No changes to the four stars either drafted or acquired by Altman to form the foundation of the team.

And so here we are with this team, sitting at 15-14 after the 64 wins a year ago.

The NBA is always evolving, always changing. A few years ago, the league was dominated by quick guards who could shoot from long range. In 2020-21, the first of Nikola Jokic’s MVP wins, Curry, Chris Paul, and Damian Lillard all finished in the top ten of the vote.

The following season, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Curry, and Paul were top ten. In the past draft, of the top ten picks, six were guards who were over 6’6″.

Look at the Cavs’ two most recent losses to Chicago look how Josh Giddey at 6’7″ and a solid playmaker played. Rookie Kon Knueppel hurt them in last Sunday’s loss to Charlotte. He’s 6’6″.

Last year, the Cavs played at a high pace and shot the three ball remarkably well. This year, more teams are playing faster, taking the example of how the Pacers played in the playoffs a year ago when they got to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Miami and Chicago both play faster this season. Toronto is long and athletic, they’ve beaten the Cavs three times this season.

Yes, the Cavs have had a lot of injuries this season. But it is also true they need to adapt to the way teams are playing in the 2025-26 campaign.

Altman wanted to be patient, but he was stubborn in thinking the foundation of this roster didn’t need tweaking.

As in all sports, there is a thin line between patience and stubbornness.

Lack Of Size For Cavs Is Still An Issue

Over the past couple of years, we have written about the lack of size on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster. Outside of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, they have a plethora of smaller players for their positions.

We know about the backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, but Max Strus and Isaac Okoro were getting a lot of time at small forward, and both are 6’5″, undersized for that spot.

In the off-season, Koby Altman addressed this a bit, trading for 6’6″ guard Lonzo Ball, signing Larry Nance Jr. as a free agent and moving De’Andre Hunter (6’8″) into the starting lineup at small forward.

They also brought in Thomas Bryant to back up at center and he’s 6’9″, but he’s really taking the roster spot used on Tristan Thompson a year ago.

So they still really haven’t addressed adding size up front. The forerunner for the new style of play in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors teams from 2015-2018 were based around the outside shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and the versatility of Draymond Green.

They still had serviceable big men on the roster.

In 2015, their first title, they had Andrew Bogut, Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli, and David Lee, all of whom are 6’9″ and taller, and all were in the top 12 in terms of minutes. On their second title squad, they had added Kevin Durant (conservatively 6’11”), replaced Bogut with Zaza Pachulia (6’11”) and had Javale McGee (7’0″) with David West (6’9″).

Look at last year’s champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have the combination of Chet Holmgren (7’1″) and Isaiah Hartenstein (7’0″ and don’t get us started) and have two other 6’9″ players who got minutes in Jaylin Williams and Ousmane Dieng.

Since Allen and Mobley have missed a lot of time with injuries this season, the lack of size has reared its ugly head for Kenny Atkinson once again. In the loss to Charlotte on Sunday, the coach was using Dean Wade at center with the next two tallest players being Ball and Jaylin Tyson, both a 6’6″.

Wade is listed at 6’9″ but is used primarily for his ability to defend on the perimeter, not as a deterrent to opposing players driving to the basket.

In short (no pun intended) that’s a very small group on the floor, especially with the Hornets going with no one under 6’5″ for most of the quarter.

So, once again, the roster construction should be questioned. A few years ago, the emphasis seemed to be on smaller, quicker players who can shoot. But in the past couple of seasons, those players are getting bigger and just as quick.

It’s a constant evolution.

Basketball is a sport by its nature where size is important and having bigger players who can play a spot where they have a size advantage with the same skill set is always desirable.

Can the Cavaliers make any moves to get bigger as this season progresses? The salary cap and apron will make it very difficult, but there’s usually some way to get it done.

Even when everyone is healthy, this Cavs’ roster needs to get bigger.

Browns Appear Disinterested In Latest Debacle

Let’s start with the good stuff about the Browns lopsided 31-3 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Mainly because that will be quick.

The great Myles Garrett had 1.5 sacks to bring his season total to 21.5, one short of the all-time record for a single season, currently held by Michael Strahan and T. J. Watt. With the next two games at home, Garrett is set up to break the record in front of the home crowd, which frankly will be the highlight of this miserable season.

And Andre Szmyt kicked a 50-yard field goal in the cold, windy conditions. We know we wanted him to be cut after missing what would have been the game winning kick in the opener vs. Cincinnati, but he has been solid, making 18 for 21 overall and hitting four of five over 50 yards.

He’s looks like a keeper.

Now, for the rest of the mess.

The game started with a 52-yard kickoff return by Devin Duvernay. The special teams have reached comical status at this point. They are dreadful, but sure, Bubba Ventrone is a solid coach.

Apparently, QB Shedeur Sanders had the wrong wristband with the play sheet when the game started, which resulted in him being very confused by the plays being sent in. Probably because they weren’t on the sheet.

At halftime, the score was 14-0 in favor of the Bears and our thought at the time was it might have been the most uncompetitive 14-0 game ever. The Browns were never in this one.

After the Titans’ game (reminder Tennessee has won two games this season), many pundits wanted to give credit to coach Kevin Stefanski for the progress made by Sanders this season. And we agree he has made progress. He seems to be better in each game.

However, the loss to the Bears should remind everyone why the franchise should do a full cleaning of the front office and coaching staff (except for Jim Schwartz) after the season. This is a team devoid of so many things: talent, leadership, character, etc.

And that last comment should tell you that GM Andrew Berry has to go as well.

One other mark against Berry should be WR Jerry Jeudy, who did the seemingly impossible task of turning a touchdown into an interception when he let Sanders’ pass go through his hands, bounce off his chest and into the hands of DB Jaylon Jackson.

Sanders didn’t have a good day, completing 18 of 35 for 177 yards and had two other interceptions which were his fault. However, we would still like to see how he can play in a halfway decent offensive system.

We agree with Daryl Johnston, the analyst for the game that the QB has tunnel vision at times for fellow rookie Harold Fannin, who did catch seven passes for 48 yards. Our guess is he doesn’t have a lot of trust for anyone else out there.

That said, the two long passes to Isaiah Bond, one for 47 yards and the other for 42 yards, were beautiful throws.

And we are on record that if you can’t get newly named Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who we think is the best QB in the draft, then draft an offensive lineman and a wide receiver with the two first round picks and run it back with Sanders next season.

We also thought it was funny the telecast talked about the Bears’ commitment to improve the offensive line last off-season. The Browns, of course, said we’re good.

It’s a disaster.

Three more games in this torturing season remain. Hopefully, Browns’ fans will get to see Garrett break a record.

Cavs’ Current Style Is Not Conducive To A Title

There is something not right with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had five days off following a loss at home to something resembling the Golden State Warriors G-League team, watching plenty of film of their recent struggles, and had a players only meeting leading up to their contest last Friday against Washington.

And then they needed Donovan Mitchell to rescue them after falling behind by 15 points to the 3-19 Wizards and steal a victory. Mitchell scored 48 points, half of them in the fourth quarter.

Yes, the Cavs are now 15-11 on the year. And it is true many starters and rotation players have missed a lot of game with injuries. Jarrett Allen has missed 11, Darius Garland 16, Sam Merrill 14.

And now Evan Mobley will miss 2-4 weeks with a calf injury.

Yet, something is off with this group after going 64-18 last season and finishing with the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

The most logical thing to look at is shot selection. Cleveland leads the league in three point shot attempts, hoisting up 44.3 per game, which is 48% of their shots. Unfortunately, they are making just 34% of those long-range attempts, and that ranks 28th in the Association.

Last season, the Cavs were 4th in attempts, but were second in percentage, converting on 38.3%. It may not seem like a lot, but that 4% is huge. To put it in players’ terms, it’s the difference in shooting between Stephen Curry, perhaps the greatest long-range shooter ever, and Jalen Brunson, a great player, but not known for his long range shot.

We are sure Kenny Atkinson doesn’t want to tell players not to hoist threes, but right now, Garland is shooting just 27% from beyond the arc, and Lonzo Ball just 26% from out there. Maybe get a little closer until you get into rhythm?

We understand teams what to play with pace, but pace doesn’t come from firing the ball up the court and shooting a three with :18 on the shot clock. Generally, that doesn’t work out well.

Worse yet, Cleveland’s opponents are shooting 36.5% from three, so the advantage they enjoyed in shooting a year ago is gone.

For all the newer basketball fans who don’t think Allen is an effective player in today’s NBA, it looks like he might just be. Yes, Evan Mobley is a superb defender, but in watching Friday’s game, he’s guarding smaller players around 15 feet away.

That’s great, he has the ability at 6’11” to be able to go out and guard outside. However, without Allen, there is no one to protect the rim and rebound. The Cavaliers were 5th in rebounding a year ago and have fallen to 8th.

The defense on the perimeter has been a problem. Too many guards are getting to the basket against the Cavs and as noted before, without Allen around the basket, these are turning into a lot of easy baskets.

We are almost 1/3 of the way into this regular season and Christmas, when it is said the NBA season really starts is less than two weeks away.

We have said this before, we believe Atkinson is trying different combinations right now, so he is still experimenting. That understanding doesn’t mean it’s not tough to watch.

It should not be on Mitchell putting on a red cape and being Superman in order to beat one of the worst teams in the NBA.

With or without the missing players, the Cavs should be better than that. At least playing a winning brand of hoops.

Understand Seeing Prospects, But Guards Need A Proven Stick

The Cleveland Guardians are usually very tightlipped when it comes to talking about making changes to their roster, so when in an interview Chris Antonetti talked about balancing giving the current inexperienced players on the roster a shot with going out and bringing veteran players in, let’s hope that is just front office speak.

In 2025, the Guards ranked 28th in all of Major League Baseball in runs scored, 29th in OPS, on base percentage and slugging percentage. It really is kind of a miracle they made the playoffs with that bad of an offense.

Cleveland has some prospects that are on the cusp of helping the big-league team. We saw many of them in September and in the Wild Card Series. We are talking about guys like Chase DeLauter, George Valera, C.J. Kayfus, and Juan Brito has had some solid years in AAA and deserves a look.

However, outside of Kayfus, availability has been a big problem for those guys, and as we always say, the job of the front office should be to have a backup plan. What happens if those young players get hurt or aren’t ready to handle big league pitching?

We know what the alternative is for that, and quite frankly, it’s not pretty. Do the Guardians really feel like they can contend giving extensive at bats to players like Jhonkensy Noel (480 OPS in ’25), Nolan Jones (600 last year), or Johnathan Rodriguez (career 586 OPS)?

Again, we remind you with those guys and we can add in Daniel Schneemann’s 636 OPS and Gabriel Arias’ 638 figure, Steven Vogt’s squad had one of the worst offenses in the game.

That’s why the front office needs to add someone with a track record of offensive production. If DeLauter and one of the other prospects wind up being solid bats as rookies, then you have added depth and also you have the ability to protect them when they are in tough stretches at the plate, which most rookies go through.

In particular, the Guards could use a right-handed hitter with some pop and at least two hitters who can get on base. Arias led the team in homers by a right-handed hitter in 2025 with 11. As a comparison, their chief division rivals, the Tigers had four players that exceeded that total.

Of the four young players listed previously, Brito is a switch-hitter and the other three hit from the left side. Even if they all emerge, the Guards need a solid right-handed hitter.

As for getting on base, Jose Ramirez (of course) had a .360 OBP last season and the next highest was Steven Kwan at .330. The only other hitters over .300 were Kyle Manzardo (.313) and Carlos Santana, who was released in late August and is 39 years old.

That’s a lot of hitters making a lot of outs.

And we would prefer the organization to not take flyers on hitters who have declined over the past few seasons with the hope they can have a renaissance. That rarely works either.

The farm system has some depth, move some prospects to get a hitter who was productive last year. That’s what is needed.

We know there are a lot of people out there who put blind faith in anyone who has ever had a decent month or two in the minor leagues. We still go with the axiom that prospects are suspects until proven otherwise.