Rusty but an Ace in waiting.I’ve been in Goodyear Arizona since Saturday and will be here the rest of the week. Here are some early observations from my first couple of days.
Trevor Bauer: Here is a young man who is trying hard but will certainly be ticketed back to the minor leagues. The concern here is, despite changes in his delivery and approach, he has made no real progress with respect to commanding his fastball. It still appears to me that his arm drags behind his body when he is trying to throw at maximum velocity. The result of this is a fastball the consistently tails high to the hitters and it is quite easy for them to avoid swinging. There is still hope for him eventually but his lack of progress is certainly concerning.
Vinnie Pestano: I still have hope for Vinnie. He seems to have made progress with respect to his command especially of his off speed pitches. He is commanding his fastball fairly well but still has work to do there. His overall velocity is approaching where he needs to be but it is not there yet. He topped out at 92 mph and was able to throw consistently between 89 and 90. There is still a chance that he could be ready and look like the Vinnie of old by the start of the season. His off speed pitches were really nasty yesterday.
Danny Salazar: He looked rusty but otherwise was throwing very well. I am still encouraged by his overall potential and I believe he should be a solid starter for the Tribe this year. He has work to do in spring training to catch up, but I think that will be possible by about the fifth to seventh game of the season.
Nick Hagadone: I see no progress whatsoever. I really do not see any logical way that he makes the team out of spring training and will only be depth going forward. The overall outlook for Nick is still not very encouraging.
Josh Tomlin: He looks good and ready to compete for his spot on the team. I saw nothing in his delivery or in his command that would suggest he could not be ready by the start of the season. He is certainly a viable candidate for the fifth starter, but at the very least they will try to find a place for him somewhere. He looks good.
CC Lee: It is very easy to see why the Indians like this kid. He seems to have a good presence on the mound and commands his pitches fairly well. He still needs to work on his fastball command but his overall outlook is promising. I like him and see a future for him down the road. And down the road maybe as soon as this year.
I have many more players to report on, but I wanted to cover some of the pitching today. There’ll be much more down the road as we proceed through spring training.
Cavs will benefit from Hawes varied skillset For those Cavs fans who want to go a bit past the surface of any move the Cavs make, and I know there are many, you had better start listening carefully to our new GM. If you only go out and read press articles and national sports media pundits, you will get a very narrow view of any moves the Cavs make. I have found that to be especially true since the reaction to Grant being fired and the reaction to the latest Cavs trade. The views out there are very narrow and sometimes shallow. Right now, I only get reasonable depth from Jason Lloyd who has definitely gone below the surface to give us a feel for what has gone on behind the scenes. I don’t mean this article to be about the press. And I don’t mean this article to contrast myself against bloggers who are very different from the press and always go into more depth. That is part of the beauty of bloggers. But I do want to carry the theme I began with my last blog about Dan Gilbert making the exact right move by firing Grant. I also took a little heat because that was kind of long and I was too detailed with my explanations. I will correct that here.
The logic outside is that the Cavs are taking pot shots in the dark to try and make the playoffs this year because Dan Gilbert wants it that way. Then it follows in their logic that these moves have no positive long term effects and definite long term negatives because we are trading a bunch of second round picks and losing assets for expiring contracts. Further, some would say that by not “tanking” for the fourth straight year, the Cavs are missing a golden opportunity in a decent draft to get back in the high lottery. While all of these views have some merit, I believe they are over simplistic views of the depth behind the Cavs management’s thinking. I am personally very impressed. They have finally used assets to learn more about the current team that has underperformed terribly this year (and probably the past two years). This will be invaluable going forward and cannot be underestimated.
The neatest thing about all of this is that David Griffin has laid it all out there for you to see and, frankly, the rest of the league if they are paying attention. Grant was always so darned guarded that he rarely gave us even a peak at their real thinking. He may have been just as secret with his own players and that is a tragic mistake if true. Now Griffin is not spewing detailed strategy but is telling the truth in small tidbits. The rest of this blog is simply decoding those tidbits as it relates to this exact trade and the Cavs acquisition philosophy. All of this came from Griffin’s press conference.
The Hawes trade:
1) Hawes is a rare 7 footer that can stretch the floor effectively. Not even close to a perfect player (defense ugh) but only 25.
2) The Cavs have had no one over the past three years that can actually stretch the floor as a big. Most successful teams have a “stretch” big man.
3) With our team composition, we are losing valuable offensive opportunities because we allow teams to clog the paint and reduce the impact of our dynamic penetrators Kyrie and Dion.
4) Because of our team composition we are losing opportunities for our cutting, open floor type players like Deng, Miles, and even TT.
5) By adding Hawes they now have a chance to learn first hand if adding a stretch big and spacing the floor better improves the effectiveness of our dynamic drive and kick potential.
6) You don’t need to ask now whether or not they want to consider keeping Hawes because that will become apparent when you see what effect he has on our whole team going forward. If not much, bye bye. If fantastic improvement, stay, stay. If some measurable improvement, look for another one if you want.
7) Second round picks, despite the new CBA, are still just second round picks and should be used to acquire assets that can potentially advance your team.
8) No mention was made of what players we gave up so you can translate that easily…. nothing.
The Cavs philosophy:
1) We want to get better and making the playoffs might signify that but neither the Deng or the Hawes moves were intended to reach a playoffs or bust mandate that has been widely speculated because of Gilbert’s early expectations.
2) Both the Deng and Hawes acquisitions were actually to add a quality piece that has been missing from the Cavs for every year since LeBron left… A real small forward and a real stretch big (sorry Antwan Jamison… your shooting was not that good.)
3) The Cavs made a conscious decision to get assets that had been clearly missing over those years to see if they could elevate the Cavs awful play. When Deng worked out so poorly because his slashing game was negated by our bigs (except Andy), we added a stretch big.
4) By testing the way they did with quality expiring contracts, they have not really impacted the substantial cap flexibility we had worked so hard to gain. Still leaving the door open to sign one or both players again depending on their contributions on the court. Or simply letting them go knowing they had to fill that void with someone else soon.
5) In fact, if you add it up, we probably have gained a little cap flexibility (but not much)
6) Griffin talked to Deng and several Cavs players today before the moves were announced. He is trying to be more open and transparent and it is obvious. Grant never stated he talked to any player before a trade was made or immediately after (unless they were in the trade).
7) This team could not afford to draft 4 rookies next year by using three second round picks. So by keeping the best two and divesting the others, they have done little to hurt the team. If you think we could have moved up into the first round with those this year, I don’t think so.
GO CAVS !!!!! Here’s hoping this addition will work out. If for no other reason then seeing how the current team will respond with proper pieces, it was worth the cost.
The Cavs are probably red hot on the phone The beauty of this blog is that I have absolutely NO inside information and no sources and no special powers. But I probably know as much about what the Cavs are doing right now and going to do as anyone else on the web. So, after reading extensively and analyzing the analysts, I believe as many that the Cavs are trying desperately to move the first pick in this draft probably for a veteran and a pick(s) either in 2013 or more likely 2014. All Cavs fans must realize that this is a monumental task and not likely to be a successful exercise. No one wants to give away 2014 picks and even 2013 picks are not moving as easily as some might have thought.
One thing that does concern me is the Cavs apparent efforts to even move up higher to get Karasev. I think he is a real project because of his lack of athleticism and his poor defensive mobility. Think we would be making a big mistake if we try so hard to get him that we mess up this draft and future drafts. Or trade ANY of our core players doing it. So I disagree strongly with that strategy because I see Karasev as a role player as a spot up shooter and good offensive threat because he is also a good passer. But a HUGE defensive liability and we just can not afford that at the 3 position in the NBA. He will never be a starter in the NBA in my view. If we were doing this to get Clay Thompson in past drafts, then I would have been fine with it. And I advocated that but Cavs really couldn’t pull it off for obvious reasons.
As I said in my Len and McLemore posts, I am actually confident the Cavs can select the right player with pick number one. There is no consensus but the Cavs do their homework. So if we take Len or McLemore or Noel or Oladepo or Porter etc.; I am OK with it. However, be aware that, if we take Noel who has the best analytic ratings and upside, he might be picked to be traded.
I will not be able to post easily tonight but I will be on twitter as @Kirklob or @Cwins_jim. I still can’t get traction on my CWins handle so I have kept @Kirklob for the time being.
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