Goodbye to Hot Rod Williams

It seems like I've been doing too many of these lately,but another player has passed as former Cavalier John "Hot Rod" Williams passed away at the age of 53.
Williams passed away from complications of prostate cancer.
I just heard a few days ago that Hot Rod wasn't doing well,but the passing still came as a shock,considering that it hadn't even escaped the inbox yet.

I felt a special affinity for the players of those late 80's-early 90's Cavaliers.
I became a Cavalier fan with the players of the Miracle of Richfield years,but the Cavaliers were mostly awful in my youth,which covered the Ted Stepien owned years and with the exception of one crazy year,Cleveland usually was not in the playoffs and rarely even had exciting players.
Other than World B.Free and Mike Mitchell,those lean years were pretty dreary for Cavalier fans until that bunch all came in in the same year-Hot Rod,Mark Price,Ron Harper and Brad Daugherty.
Larry Nance was added later and those players were the core of the team that might have won a title,if not for the misfortune of battling Michael Jordan.
Those Cavaliers tended to play Jordan's Bulls evenly,until general manager Wayne Embry got mad at a pre-knee injury Ron Harper and traded him for Danny Ferry.
When the dynamic Harper left,the Cavaliers lacked anyone to really make Jordan work on the defensive end,saving his legs a bit and that might have made the small difference in those tight games.

Hot Rod wasn't part of the 1986 draft class with Harper,Daugherty and Price,he was drafted in the second round of the 1985 draft from Tulane even though he was clearly a first round talent.
I first heard of Williams as part of a one man team in the old Metro conference battling Louisville and Memphis State.
I was a big Tiger fan and Williams battles against Keith Lee allowed a undermanned Tulane team to hang tough against more talented teams.
Williams was caught in the Tulane point shaving scandal and wasn't allowed to play in the NBA until that was cleared up.
Cleveland signed Williams to a personal services contract to allow Williams to pay the bills while the court case went forward.
When Williams was acquitted of the charges,he was allowed to join the Cavaliers for the 86-87 season and the rebuilding began.

Hot Rod Williams was the type of player that successful teams need-a versatile player that could score,block shots and rebound,but didn't need to be the focal point of the offense.
Able to run the floor and having the ability to play and just as importantly defend any position in the frontcourt,Williams would have started on many teams,but was unselfish enough to come off the bench.
When the game was on the line,Williams was on the floor,which was far more important than starting.

Those Cavaliers were filled with good players and nice guys and some thought it was that the Cavaliers were too nice to get by the Bulls.
I often wonder if I'd trade that group of guys for an NBA title back then and of course I'd have to consider it,but I'm not sure if I would.
That team and those guys deserved it,but being good people are more than a little more important.

Rest well, Hot Rod....

Boxing Challenge

This is a little late being posted as I was working on the Hot Rod Williams piece.
I lead R.L Malpica 145-140...

Vacant WBO Jr.Featherweight title.12 rds
Nonito Donaire vs Cesar Juarez
R.L;Donaire KO 3
TRS:Donaire KO 8

Lightweights.10 rds
Felix Verdejo vs Josenilson Dos Santos
R.L:Verdejo KO 8
TRS:Verdejo KO 4

Jr.Welterweights.12 rds
Omar Figueroa vs Antonio DeMarco
R.L:DeMarco unanimous decision
TRS:Figueroa unanimous decision

Heavyweights.12 rds
Chris Arreola vs Travis Kaufman
R.L:Kaufman KO 8
TRS:Arreola split decision

Heavyweights.12 rds
Anthony Joshua vs Diillan Whyte
R.L.Joshua KO 1
TRS;Joshua KO 2

Cruiserweights 12 rds
Roy Jones vs Enzo Maccarinelli
R.L:Jones KO 9
TRS:Jones unanimous decision

Minor Points-Rule 5

A minor point,which basically is cleaning out the inbox with a minor league baseball slant.

Before I begin,I'd like to say I wish that I could have delivered the promised podcast on each of the last two nights,but those were two of the craziest work nights that I have ever had and I came home pretty tired from the road office.
If possible,I'll be doing one before the weekend starts with a few special notes and lots of thoughts from baseball's winter meeting along with some thoughts on the final four in college football....

The rule 5 draft was this morning and none of the three teams we discuss here made a selection in the highest phase (Major),however,all three would select players in the AAA draft.
All three teams would lose a pitcher in the big league portion,so that's interesting.
Please keep in mind in the AAA and AA portions of the draft there are no regulations as in the major draft-In those two,the team writes the check and the player is theirs-no takebacks!

As I said,none of the three made selections in the first two draft portions,but the Indians did lose one as the San Diego Padres grabbed righthander Josh Martin off the Cleveland unprotected list.
The 6'5 Martin was dominant as an Akron Rubber Duck last season in 44 appearances (80 strikeouts in 67 innings with a 2.27 ERA),but at 26 by months end,good,but not great stuff and blocked by several similar prospects in the Cleveland system,this looks like a good move for Martin.

The Indians did select someone in the AAA portion in Brian Moran,a former North Carolina Tar Heel from the Mariners.
Moran was once a major league selection in the rule 5 draft,but was returned after an injury forced Tommy John surgery.
Moran returned last season with 30 innings at AA Jackson and appeared to be especially tough against lefthanders.
Cleveland should start him at AAA Columbus and see what he has to offer as the Indians do lack strength on the portside of the bullpen with Kyle Crockett being (for now) the only player that seems to be a lock.

The Pirates took one player in the AAA portion and lost one in the major draft.
The loss wasn't a huge one as former Hagerstown Suns pitcher Deolis Guerra was taken by the Angels.
Guerra recently re-signed with the Pirates as a minor league free agent and was looked at as most likely to be depth at AAA Indianapolis or a possible callup in case of injury.
Guerra was a huge prospect here when the Suns were affiliated with the Mets and was part of the Johan Santana trade with the Twins and Mets,but never seemed to fully grow into his body (6'5 plus) to develop the expected velocity.
The odd thing about this is that the Angels could have just signed Guerra as minor league free agent stock,but by taking him in the draft,they are forced to keep him in the majors all year or offer him back to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates tabbed a light hitting shortstop in 22 year old Alfredo Reyes from the Mets.
Reyes has been a pro for five years,but other than a brief cameo last season in high A,has never played higher than the New York/Penn league and didn't hit well there.
I look for Reyes to likely start at low A West Virginia and looks to be more of an organizational soldier than a true prospect....

The Giants lost Joe Biagini in the major portion to the Toronto Blue Jays and lost outfielder Devin Harris to the Diamondbacks in the AAA round.
Biagini looked to be an organizational soldier entering the 2015 season in his first test at AA with Richmond before a breakout season as a Squirrel with a 2.42 ERA.
Biagini looks to be more of a 5th starter/long reliever than a middle of the rotation guy because he just doesn't miss bats (5.8 strikeouts per nine innings).
I saw Biagini start four times last season (seemed like every time that I saw Richmond,he was starting) and he's a guy that uses his fastball and curve well,throws strikes (34 walks) and avoids the bad pitch.
His ceiling is a 4th or 5th starter,but he could be the type of player that can help out a major league team....

Devin Harris is basically a AA hired gun at this stage of his career as he turns 28 in June and has never played at the AAA level,
Harris likely fits in as organizational outfield depth for Arizona....

The Giants will likely use righthanded pitcher Wilson Santos as organizational depth as well,although Santos does have nice numbers last season at the Padres affiliate at short-season Tri-City before getting lit up at low A Fort Wayne.
At 24,I wouldn't see Santos as any more than low system fodder.

Two names jumped out at me from the AAA draft in Zack Cox and David Freitas.
A former first round pick and top prospect third baseman for the Cardinals before being traded to the Marlins,Zack Cox never seemed to hit his stride in AAA and has spent most of the 2015 season with AA Jacksonville.
Cox was taken by the Nationals and could be at either AA Harrisburg as a hired gun or AAA Syracuse depending on the Nationals needs.
I have plenty of cards of Cox that need to be signed,so I'm rooting for a Harrisburg assignment.

David Freitas has become one of those traveling catchers mitts that have value moving around the minors and he was selected by the Cubs,who must have a high A or AA need behind the plate.
The former Hagerstown Sun was looked at as a potential prospect by some (not me) after a solid 2011 in the Hub City (.288,13,73 ),but ever since has been a below average bat....

I plan on another minor points post soon where we discuss rumors on franchise moves and possibilities...

Pittsburgh trades Neil Walker for Jon Niese

The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first major move of the off-season as the Pirates traded long time second baseman Neil Walker to the New York Mets for lefthanded pitcher Jon Niese.

Niese,a former Hagerstown Sun, went 9-10 with an ERA slightly above four and is a nice fit in the back of the Pittsburgh rotation after being the odd man out with the Mets,who have an abundance of young power arms to start.

In Pittsburgh,where the Pirates have two openings among their starters after the retirement of A.J. Burnett and the loss of J.A.Happ to free agency,Niese slots in nicely in the middle to back of the rotation.
The lefty isn't overpowering (113 SO's in 176 innings),but he is durable and at worst,will be able to be an inning eater as a Pirate.
Niese is under contract for 2016 (9 million) and has team options (10 and 11 million) for the following two seasons,so the Pirates could conceivably have Niese for three years,if they desire and if the production is of value.

The loss of Neil Walker is yet another reason on how the cost of doing business in small markets tends to make teams constantly cull the herd,no matter the reason and no matter the popularity.
Walker hit .269 with 16 homers last season,but was likely to get a raise from his eight million salary with arbitration more than not as the end result before he hit free agency.
With Walker being 30 now,signing him to a long term deal did not make sense for the Pirates and moving him now enables the Bucs in getting the best possible value in Niese for the return.
Walker was the backup choice for the Mets after the team failed in getting their top identified target in free agency as Ben Zobrist signed with the Cubs and allows their best second base prospect Dilson Herrera (also obtained from the Pirates) an additional year to mature at AAA Las Vegas.
The Pirates will likely (barring no further moves) move Josh Harrison to second and hope that Jung Ko Kang is healthy enough to start the season at third.
I suppose Alen Hanson and Max Moroff have chances to win the job,but Hanson was just average at AAA Indianapolis last year and Moroff had a nice year at AA Altoona,but has yet to test International League waters,let alone the bigs...

Neil Walker had a special spot with Pirate fans because of his Pittsburgh background,but it was more than just that.
Neil Walker was drafted in the Dave Littlefield years and his selection followed by Andrew McCutchen in the next draft were about all that Littlefield did right,so fans that waited for Walker and McCutchen to wind their way through the system and hopefully turn things around developed a special bond with them.
Neil Walker took a little longer than normal as he was drafted as a catcher,spent a few years behind the plate,moved to third,but after the drafting of Pedro Alvarez,wasn't needed as the eventual third baseman and then worked hard to become a decent enough second baseman and most of that transition was done at the major league level.

This one hurts a little,but the team addressed a need and in a business that comes down to making the best out of what you have to spend,the Pirates made a prudent decision.
Less than popular with the fans perhaps,but smart and prudent......

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for an overdue cleaning of the inbox and hopefully I'll be knocking out a podcast tonight to go with this...

The Hardball Times talks about a forgotten player (doesn't someone do a series along those lines?) that had one of the best seasons that you've likely not known about.
Diamond Jim Gentile was a powerhitting first baseman that spent most of the 50's blocked in the Dodgers organization by Gil Hodges and looked to possibly be one of those 4A players that you hear about from time to time.
Gentile's 1961 (.302,46 HR and 141 RBI) was the apex of a pretty strong five year run in Baltimore that was followed by two mediocre seasons and then sent Gentile to Japan.
Interesting article....

The Ashland Eagles were eliminated from the Division II playoffs after an undefeated regular season and I didn't get around to posting this soon,but the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote about the Eagles head man Lee Owens.
Owens was the former head coach at Akron and spent time on the Ohio State coaching staff in the John Cooper years.
Despite the disappointing ending,quite a season for Ashland football....

Our buddy Big Don sends us this article from CBS Sports on the lost dawgs in Cleveland and discusses lots of things going back to the move of the team to Baltimore and people that it affected to this day.
The most interesting part was the guy that collects and restores stadium seats.
I've always wanted a Municipal Stadium and Richfield Coliseum seat and I can see a room in my house just like the one this fellow is pictured in!!!

Kevin Jones backs up our prediction for the Browns (3-13) with a look in Cleveland Scene magazine in which he asserts the Browns were set up to fail by their horrible 2014 draft..
People tell me that I'm naturally pessimistic on the Browns and they may often be true,but I looked at this teams schedule and roster and it didn't take much to pick 4-12 or worse...

In just at the gun,Tyson Fury was stripped of his IBF heavyweight title that he won from Wladimir Klitschko for taking the Klitschko rematch rather than number one contender Vylacheslav Glazkov.
Glazkov is a dubious contender anyway as he won a decision over Steve Cunningham to earn the slot that I thought Cunningham clearly deserved.
Glazkov will fight for the vacant belt vs Charles Martin,who fights for Al Haymon and his PBC,so who promotes that fight will be interesting.
Martin was scheduled to fight this Saturday against former Olympian Dominic Breazeale on a PBC card on NBC,but has pulled out in order to take the title shot vs Glazkov....

Giants sign Jeff Samardzija

The San Francisco Giants continued their usual trend by finished in the place or show position in signing free agents when they missed on Zach Greinke,who spurned both the Giants and the rival Dodgers to sign in Arizona to join the Diamondbacks.

However,the Giants came up with an addition to the rotation in righthander Jeff Samardzija to complement Madison Bumgarner and hopefully bulk up things around their ace.
Samardzija wasn't cheap at five years and ninety millions (18.2 million per in case your calculator isn't close) and his less than stellar season with the White Sox lasts season causes me some concern-I mean besides needing to consistently spell Samardzija on here!

Samardzija was so bad that he posted an ERA of just under five (3rd highest in the AL pitchers with enough innings to qualify),he lost 13 games for the fourth season in a row (although take that with a chili pepper flake) and his strikeouts per nine innings dipped by a full digit.
However,the White Sox were one of the worst fielding teams in the league and a smaller ballpark and sometimes,pitchers are just suited to certain leagues.
Samardzija's numbers with the Cubs were excellent and his half year in the AL with Oakland was excellent in the Oakland Coliseum.

The Oakland Coliseum with all of its foul ground is known as a pitchers park and so is AT&T Park in San Francisco with a vast outfield and deep power alleys.
Combine that with the tutelage of Dave Righetti,who has done miracles with lesser talents than Samardzija,the solid stuff of the righthander and the lack of an history with arm/shoulder issues makes me think that this is a gamble worth taking.
I'm a little leery of the length of the contract,but that's the price of playing poker in baseball today.
Other than the numbers from 2015 and the fifth year,I think this is a gamble worth taking.
Am I certain this is a good signing?
No,but I suspect it'll be an OK one....

I'll be covering any further Giants moves at the winter meetings as well as any by the Pirates and Indians.....

Bengals embarrass Browns 37-3

The Cleveland Browns set a new low on Sunday as they were battered into their worst loss ever to the Cincinnati Bengals 37-3 in Cleveland.
Other than Travis Coons and his 47 yard field goal at the end of the first half,there were no highlights of note.
The now 2-10 Browns host San Francisco next week...

Brownie Bits

1) With the Tennessee win,the Browns now have the worst record in the league and as of now-the top pick in 2016.
There is your highlight of the day.

2) The Browns never crossed into the Bengals red zone all day and inside the 30 just twice.
Unreal...

3) I didn't think Austin Davis was that bad.
I mean he wasn't great (230 yds,1 Int),but he wasn't the reason for this beating.
Those reasons go way beyond Davis and his performance.

4) The fact that Davis was down to two healthy receivers by the games end (Brian Hartline and recently promoted Darius Jennings) gave the Browns and Davis even fewer playmakers than the normally inept team usually has,
The questionable decision of Mike Pettine to deactivate both Dwayne Bowe and Terrelle Pryor left the Browns vulnerable to injury and of course being the Browns-they got them as Travis Benjamin and Marlon Moore each were driven from the game...

5) Add in that the offensive line gave Davis very little time to throw and you had the makings of a rout.
Davis was only sacked three times,but he was harassed and hammered on almost every one of his 41 dropbacks.
The lowlight here was..

6) First round pick Cameron Erving being thrown aside by Geno Atkins like Ken Patera throwing the tire in old World's Strongest Man action wasn't the only bad thing from Erving.
Erving was benched and replaced by waiver wire pickup Austin Pasztor-he was that bad.
I realize Erving's best position is center and we'll see what he can do there next year when Alex Mack leaves,but for now,Erving looks to be yet another Ray Farmer wasted draft pick.


7) I don't think Danny Shelton has been terrible this season,but it did make me wonder why the noted run stuffer was absent from the field on a fourth and one in the first quarter.
Naturally,Andy Dalton went right at that spot for the first down and later would see a huge gap in the line and walk into the endzone for a score....

8) Another 144 yards yards allowed on the ground and Andy Dalton had time to throw all day other than one sack by Paul Kruger and Barkevious Mingo.
Complete domination on the line of scrimmage by the Bengals..

9) A.J. Green generally torched Tramon Williams on the day,which included a score,but Williams did track Green after a long gain which showed moxie and on the score,Williams was supposed to receive help from the safety-who was nowhere to be found.

10) This game was just brutal to watch and the feelings among Browns fans now is about as low as it can be.
Other than maybe this week's game against San Francisco,the final four games are likely to be just as ugly to watch.
I'm fine with that.
The Browns are never bad enough to gain the type of talent that changes teams.
Usually they are just mediocre-for once being the pits could possibly pay off....