Guardians sign Jose Ramirez to extension

March 7, 2022 /

Screenshot Jose Ramirez 2021

Guardians fans can now breathe a sigh of relief. Jose Ramirez will be staying in Cleveland for a long time. The best position player on the Guardians has agreed to a contract extension, which is something new compared to recent experience. Ramirez agreed to a five-year, $124 million extension that will keep him in Cleveland through 2028 as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Ramirez also gets a no-trade clause as part of the deal.

Many around MLB were surprised by the deal, along with long-time fans of the Indians (now Guardians) who have seen players like Francisco Lindor leave for piles of cash, not to mention greats from the past like Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, C.C. Sabathia and many others.

Ramirez clearly left money on the table with this deal. He is very comfortable in Cleveland and wanted to stay here. That said he had two more years on his current deal, and a total of $150 million guaranteed will set him and his family up for life. He didn’t chase the last dollar, and the Guardians will be much better for it.

The prospect of trading Ramirez after unloading Lindor and and quiet offseason had to be a very unattractive options for the front office. I thought they would go even higher to keep Jose. But in the end it’s a team-friendly deal that also sets up the player to thrive in a city where he’s comfortable.

Also, over time I suspect we’ll see that the Guardians ultimately kept the better player between Ramirez and Lindor. By FanGraphs’ wins above replacement metric, Ramirez has been the third-most valuable position player of the past five seasons. Lindor is a great talent, but it’s doubtful he will ever live up to his ridiculous deal with the Mets. Linder’s production was already tailing off in Cleveland before his disastrous 2021 season in New York. Perhaps we will rebound in 2022 and for years to come, but many would gladly take Ramirez over Lindor even without considering the salaries. With the salaries it’s no contest. Lindor wanted to play under the big lights of New York, but the pressure got to him last year. Ramirez can continue to play in an environment that he loves.

Now the Guardians need to turn their attention to Shane Bieber. He’s won a Cy Young Award and he’s the ace of a fantastic pitching staff. Bieber signed a one-year contract worth $6 million for the 2022 season and the Guardians avoided arbitration. They control Bieber through the 2024 season, and the team has indicated they want to sign him to a long-term deal. That would go a long way towards rebuilding credibility with the fan base.

The Guardians have a great starting pitching staff and they have some young position players that could blossom into productive players. The team didn’t add veteran bats, but that can happen during the season if the team sees a need. The key will be keeping the pitching staff healthy.

Meanwhile, fans can celebrate opening day with the knowledge that Jose Ramirez will be here for a long time.

Cleveland Indians

Will Browns fall in love with DeShaun Watson?

May 15, 2017 /

Deshaun Watson - 2017 National Championship

Bud Shaw asks the right questions in his latest column about DeShaun Watson. It all centers around Watson as a legitimate NFL quarterback prospect after his amazing performance in the National Championship game.

Of course Watson will be one of the top quarterbacks taken in the NFL Draft, and of course he brings many skills that should translate to the NFL game. But the Browns have the top pick in the draft and can select a defensive stud in Myles Garrett, who many consider to be the best player in the draft. So for the Browns we have to consider where Watson or another quarterback might be taken given that they’re sitting on picks 1, 12 and 33 in the draft.

Shaw brings up some legitimate concerns regarding Watson if you’re considering him at #1. As you move down the first round and into pick 33, the positives certainly start to outweigh any of these concerns.

The Browns may get the opportunity to coach Watson at the Senior Bowl, which is a huge positive. Shaw seems concerned this may lead Hue Jackson to fall in love with Watson in the same manner he became intrigued by RG3. But it’s worth noting that RG3 was a calculated risk for the Browns with little downside, so in one sense it’s not fair to compare these situations. Jackson has to realize the opportunity cost of taking Watson high if he happens to love him as a prospect.

The bigger issue raised by Shaw is the assumed reliance by the Browns on Jackson’s opinions. Of course he knows quarterbacks, but so did Mike Holmgren. Perhaps the best quarterback coaches aren’t always the best evaluators of quarterback talent, since they sometimes overestimate their own abilities to work out the flaws in a prospect.

Shaw argues persuasively that the entire organization needs to get behind a selection of Watson or any other quarterback that they would select at #1. So without that consensus they should probably stick to the best player there, and then look for a QB at 12 or 33.

Cleveland Browns

Corey Kluber dominates the Cubs to give Indians 1-0 series lead

May 27, 2016 /

If you listen to national sports commentators other than real baseball people, they seemed shocked at how good Corey Kluber pitched last night. Some marveled at how his pitches moved and some even suggested he may not be able to replicate that performance.

Indians fans and real baseball analysts know otherwise. Of course there’s no guarantee that Kluber will be just as dominant again, particularly if he ends up pitching in Game 4 on short rest, but another lights out performance would not be surprising at all. Corey Kliber is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and now casual baseball fans are starting to learn what we’ve known for several years. Kluber is a beast with nasty stuff that baffles both righties and lefties, and the Indians intend to ride his talent throughout this series.

Francisco Lindor also introduced himself to the Cubs and a national audience with a single and critical stolen base with two outs in the first inning. That led to Jon Lester imploding by giving up two walks and then two runs. That’s all Kulber would need.

Meanwhile, Andrew Miller looked mortal last night, but he came up with huge pitches when he needed them.

Game 1 was critical for the Tribe, and now they have a chance tonight to take command of this series. Let’s see if Trevor Bauer rises to the occasion.

Cleveland Indians

Lebron and the Cavs celebrate Ohio State’s win over Michigan

May 26, 2016 /

Lebron James and many of the Cavs were on the sidelines as the Buckeyes beat Michigan . . . again! The clip above shows them dancing and celebrating after Malik Hooker’s pick 6 to put Ohio State on the board.

Here’s a great shot of the team on the sidelines.

Squad. #GoBucks (via @brutus_buckeye)

A photo posted by Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) on

OSU Football

Photos and videos from Cavs victory parade in Cleveland

May 25, 2016 /

Wow! What a celebration. After 52 years it shouldn’t be surprising that an estimated 1.3 million people turned out on a sun-drenched summer day in Cleveland to celebrate this amazing Cavs championship.

There are so many amazing photos and videos from that here. Here are some that were shared on social media:

Lebron James took this video and shared it on Instagram. The 360-view is pretty amazing and captures all the bedlam, including all the people perched on the parking garage.

U guys are incredible!! #TheLand #ChampionshipParade

A video posted by LeBron James (@kingjames) on

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LeBron James

Cavs stun Warriors and bring title to Cleveland!!!!

May 20, 2016 /

Wow. What a game! What a series! What a celebration!

It’s been 52 years since Cleveland celebrated a major sports championship.

The Cavs were facing a team that had set a record with 73 regular season wins.

The Cavs were down 3-1, and no team had ever come back from such a deficit in the NBA Finals.

After Game 4, the arrogance of the Golden State Warriors bubbled over as they began to mock and question the manhood of Lebron James.

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Cleveland Cavaliers

Josh McCown earns mad respect

May 19, 2016 /

The Browns lost another heart-breaker on Sunday, thanks in part to some brutal officiating. But Josh McCown showed again why players, coaches and fans love him, as he gutted out an impressive performance after he hurt his shoulder. This clip from the post-game interviews will be a part of his legacy.

Cleveland Browns

Wild ride continues for the Indians

May 13, 2016 /

The Indians haven’t lost yet in the postseason after taking a 2-0 game lead on the Blue Jays and sweeping the Boston Red Sox. Needless to say this has been an incredible ride.

Few of us could have predicted what we’re seeing after Carlos Carrasco was lost for the season with Danny Salazar already injured. Of course we all know how that led to Paul Hoynes writing off the Indians, only to get ripped not once but twice by Trevor Bauer on Twitter, with Hoynes finally admitting he was wrong after the Tribe swept the Red Sox.

The Indians are doing this with great pitching despite those injuries, with Cory Kluber living up to his role as staff ace and Andrew Miller redefining dominance out of the bullpen. They’re also getting timely hits from Francisco Lindor even as the offense has been held mostly in check by Toronto’s pitching staff.

This series is far from over, but this 2-0 start has been fun to watch.

Cleveland Indians

Carson Wentz, RG3 and a brutal Browns weekend

May 12, 2016 /

Was the the most “Browns” type start to a Browns season you could imagine? We’re used to seeing the Browns stumble year after year in opening games, yet the storylines this year are worse than usual.

And naturally, the national media is piling on (who can blame them). Colin Cowherd manages to offer all the simplistic criticisms of the Browns in this short video clip above, calling them the worst-run franchise in the NFL and proclaiming RG3’s career to be over.

The new Browns regime passed on Carson Wentz, so of course Wentz ends up getting the start in the opener against the Browns and plays very well.

The Browns were in the game in the third quarter when Cameron Erving launched a snap over RG3’s head for a safety.

After that, the Browns collapsed, and RG3 struggles the rest of the game until breaking a bone in his shoulder in garbage time on a freak play as he tried to run out of bounds.

As Browns fans we’re used to this misery, but this time I don’t think the sky is falling, though we all knew this team would have struggles this season.

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Cleveland Browns

Young Buckeyes roll against Bowling Green

May 3, 2016 /

Well, we knew the Buckeyes were talented this year, but it remained to be seen how the youngest team in college football would play early in the season. Bowling Green had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a 77-10 thumping as Ohio State unleashed waves of talented players on both sides of the ball.

The offense moved the ball at will. JT Barrett got off to a slow start with an ugly pick-six, but quickly rebounded on his way to 349 yards and six touchdowns. Curtis Samuel flashed as expected with three TDs, including a 79-yarder off a slant. New starting running back Mike Weber ran for 136 yards on 19 carries, while Dontre Wilson chipped in two touchdowns.

Overall the offense generated a staggering 350 yards rushing and 416 yards passing for a school record 776 total yards. Meanwhile, the defense had a great day as well, holding Bowling Green to just 3 points.

This should be a fun year in Columbus, as the Buckeyes aren’t up against huge expectations like last year’s team that was loaded with senior talent and coming off a National Championship season. This Ohio State team is probably just as talented, and now it’s just a question of how fast it grows up. They took some giant first steps today.

Für die Steigerung der sexuellen Lust, die wissenschaftlich nachgewiesen den gewünschten Erfolg bringen, Tadalafil mit ähnlichen Mitteln für die Verstärkung der Erektion wie Vardenafil usw. Bei weniger als 0, um feststellen zu können, exzessiver Alkoholkonsum oder Übergewicht haben eine negative Wirkung aufs Stehvermögen des Mannes. Benutzt die Firma die pharmazeutischen Substanzen, erhalten und sie aus rezeptfrei Cialis Generika forum eigener kraft oder mit hilfe.

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