Not happy about this one. Home win streak is over at 6.

Home against the T-Wolves tonight. The 20 pt home avg margin of victory is on the line, baby. This is a quality team, with a legitimate superstar in Kevin Garnett. If they play defense like they did on Thanksgiving, the Cavs are gonna get beat.

The Beacon-Journal is reporting that the Indians are serious about landing Brian Giles:

Even so, the Tribe appears willing to pay Giles $30 million for three years to play right field. Giles, of course, spent the formative seasons of his career in Cleveland, before going off to Pittsburgh and then to San Diego, where he says he would like to stay. But he already has turned down $25.5 from the Padres, who offered a three-year deal.

They also want closer B.J Ryan, but ESPN is reporting that Ryan will agree to a huge 5-year deal with Toronto. Meanwhile, Kevin Millwood is probably out of their price range as well.

Shapiro has done a great job with the financial constraints imposed on him by the Dolans, but with a big new TV contract in the works, let’s see if they step up this year.

If the Browns win against the Vikings tomorrow, I’m gonna declare this season a success. (Even though I argue in the previous post that it may be the last game they win until January.) They’ll sit at 5-6, they’ll have looked competitive, they will have established themselves as a running team, and they will have delivered a solid defense. They can lose out, and still have met the rather low expectations set for them.

And the future looks bright for the first time in a long time. Depending on 2 things – how well Kellen Winslow comes back from injury next year, and how well Charlie Frye develops – the Browns offense next year could be incredibly potent. The defense looks very solid, and will likely benefit from a college draft that appears thick with defensive stars. (please let AJ Hawk fall to mid first round…please….) For once, it kinda feels good to be a Browns fan.

Now watch, they’ll go and stink up the place tomorrow.

So when the Browns beat the Vikings tomorrow, and go to 5-6, there’ll be a flurry of, “hey, we’re still in this thing!” Hold your horses, folks. You know what it’s time for….to the schedulemobile!!!

Sunday against the Vikings will probably be the last game the Browns win until 2006. After Sunday, the Browns play at home against Jacksonville (that’s a loss), at Cincy (loss), at Oakland (loss – Browns almost never win these West Coast games), home against Pittsburgh (hate to say it…loss)….that puts them at 5-10, going into the final game on January 1 at home against Baltimore…a game I think we win.

That means a 6-10 season, which meets expectations.

For once, I think the Browns are on the way up meeting a team on the way down.

Sunday in Minnesota, Dilfer will face the NFL’s 28th ranked defense, one that’s 25th against the pass and 21st against the run.

Droughns should have a very good day, which means the QB rotation thingy might actually not matter.

…is apparently all over the NFL.

The three certain changes this weekend will raise to 33 the number of swaps at the quarterback position in the 11 weeks since the season opener. That’s an average of three changes per week, and from the data that ESPN.com was able to research the past few days, represents an all-time high for this point in any season since the NFL adopted the 16-game schedule in 1978…Yeah, it’s been that crazy so far in 2005, and there are still six weekends on the schedule, and plenty more time for coaches to shuffle their quarterback depth charts.

When you think about it, the Browns QB position the last 30 years has really been more chaotic than not. We had two sure starters in that period, Sipe and Kosar, but the rest have been a litany of no hopers, dashed high expectations, re-treads, short term fixes, and utter disasters.

Great minds think alike. So do mine and Kellen Winslow’s…

“It’s frustrating knowing what you could be doing out there, but it will come,” said Winslow. “Next season, when we have Antonio Bryant, Braylon, myself, Reuben Droughns, what are they going to do? They’re going to have to double somebody, and somebody else is going to kill them. It’s going to be a lethal attack.”

He forgot Charlie Frye. Don’t forget Charlie Frye. I’m tellin’ ya, folks, this is gonna be some kind of offense next year, if everyone stays healthy.

Speaking of which, I really hope we some of Frye in Minnesota Sunday. Let’s see him on the road. This is a good team to have him face on the road. Gut feeling, baby!

The Cavs blowout loss to Indiana last night looked a lot like their blowout loss to San Antonio. On the road, against a top tier team, which shut the Cavs down with defense. That loss was freshman year, first semester, Playoffs 101. This was freshman year, second semester, Playoffs 102.

They simply were never in the game. The first quarter the Pacers jumped all over a Cavs team that appeared to have had the same perfect combination of Thanksgiving turkey and wine that put Jerry Seinfels’s girlfriend to sleep so that he and George & Elaine could come over and play with the Easy Bake Oven. It’s as if they really did not want to play a baskebtall game, and instead roll over on the couch, put on the football game, and doze off.

Lesson #1 was delivered directly to Lebron…defense. Ron Artest shut him down early and often. Lesson #2? When that happens to Lebron (which it will), Larry Hughes needs to step up. That did not occur. Result…Cavs get throttled. Good news is, we’re 9-3, with a home game coming up.

The Chicago White Sox, fresh off a World Series championship, have acquired Jim Thome from the Phillies in exchange for fan favorite Aaron Rowand and minor-league left-handers Daniel Haigwood and Giovany Gonzalez, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2004. The trade is not official but both teams have confirmed it. It will require the commissioner’s approval because the White Sox will receive a whopping $22 million in cash to help defray Thome’s $46 million contract over the next three seasons.

Thome is 35 years old and missed most of last season with injuries, but the White Sox believe that the move protects them if free agent Paul Konerko leaves and gives them a much-needed left-handed power bat if Konerko returns.

This is a huge gamble for the White Sox. If Thome is healthy and they resign Konerko, their lineup will be improved dramatically. They also mitigated their risk by reducing the salary burden. Three years for $24 million is not outrageous, even for a slugger who might be breaking down. They have a window of opportunity with their pitching,so it makes sense to try to improve the offense and have a backup plan in case Konerko leaves.

Phil Rogers has the following take:

As much as Rowand’s approach is respected and as much as everyone enjoyed being around him for parts of the last five seasons, especially during the World Series season in 2005, it’s Thome who is on the short list of baseball’s difference-making hitters in the last decade.

He was David Ortiz back when Ortiz was floundering with the Minnesota Twins. He’s almost_not quite_a left-handed version of Manny Ramirez without the headaches.

Another way of putting it: He has resembled the 2000 MVP version of Jason Giambi more often than not the last decade.

Rogers makes a good point – Thome has been a clutch hitter. But he’s overstating the point by comparing Thome to Ortiz and Manny. Just look at their RBI numbers. Thome has NEVER been an RBI machine like Ortiz and Ramirez. For every dramatic home run, there are numerous instances where Thome fails to drive in runs. He’s always swinging for the fences. Thome will sometimes hit the dramatic home run, but great hitters like Ramirez will also hit the singles and doubles in key situations as well.

Nevertheless, the trade will probably be judged based on Thome’s ability to overcome his injuries. The White Sox gave up a big part of their future with this trade.