The Cleveland Indians have four picks in the first evening
of the draft, but none of them higher than 29 and they selected a player with a strong pedigree when they tabbed Noah Naylor, a catcher from Canada, who is the brother of former first rounder of the Marlins (now with the Padres) Josh Naylor.
The high schooler hits left-handed and is said to be a good athlete that some think could eventually be a third baseman with others believing that he could become a catcher over the long term.
Naylor needs to grow into his body a bit to develop power but is thought to have a plus hit tool and I like his arm, although he will have to work on his defense.
Entering this draft, some thought Naylor could be the first high school catcher selected (he turned out to be the second)
and the Indians likely had a player fall to them that you would not have had them getting in most mock drafts.
Naylor does have a commitment to Texas A&M and the Indians will have to deal with that in order to
sign him, but most observers think that Naylor is more likely to sign than not.
Noah Naylor would be more valuable as a catcher than a third baseman and I'm sure that Cleveland will give him a chance to stick behind the plate, but if he hits very well, he might be headed for third base to save the beating that catchers always receive.
At this stage of the draft, I think that the Indians did reasonably well even with the risk of high school backstops.
The Pittsburgh Pirates surprised me a little bit with the selection of South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty with their first rounder in the tenth overall pick.
Swaggerty hit .296 with 13 homers for the Jaguars of the Sun Belt Conference with nine steals.
I have to be honest and I haven't followed the draft prospects as much this season as I have in the past. but this pick seems like a cash savings that might see Pittsburgh roll that money into a tougher sign in a later round.
The lefthanded-hitting Swaggerty was compared to Darin Erstad by the MLB Network commentators, but I wonder about that- Erstad was much more of a contact hitter than Swaggerty seems to be and Swaggerty's steal totals dropped from 20 to 18 to 9 at South Alabama along with his other numbers.
I asked Joe Werner for his thoughts on Travis Swaggerty and here they are as follows: " Swaggerty is a very SABR-friendly hitter with a fantastic eye and good bat to ball skills.
I'm not sure that he projects anything more than 12 to 15 homers though-He's a very safe pick though"
Swaggerty does project to be able to stay in center though and that's a plus, but from my limited (and I'll admit very limited) looks at Swaggerty, I have a comparison and it's not as good of a comparison as Darin Erstad.
That is one of a past Indians first-rounder Tyler Naquin.
Naquin didn't hit for a great average or produce nearly enough power to start for the Tribe and has been constantly on the Columbus shuttle between AAA and the majors.
Naquin was also considered to be a safe pick and in my opinion, small market teams need to gamble on superstar potential not on safe college outfielders without a high ceiling.
I'm not completely disappointed with the pick, but I'm not especially thrilled either as to me, the Pirates reached a bit with Travis Swaggerty, but I'm open-minded enough to see if Pittsburgh is planning to spend more later in the draft or if they truly think Travis Swaggerty was the tenth best player in the draft before I make a final decision...
The San Francisco Giants haven't picked in the top five since 2008 when they drafted Buster Posey out of Florida State and they haven't picked second since 1985 with Will Clark from Mississippi State.
I'd say those worked out pretty well and the Giants hope to have hit another homer with the second pick of this draft with the selection of Georgia Tech catcher Joey Bart.
Bart hit .359 with 16 homers for the Yellow Jackets along with receiving raves for his defensive work.
Now keep in mind that while .359 is a good average, it is not quite the same as a similar number in the big leagues and the 16 homers does show legitimate power, I still always wonder about power when it comes to college players with the lack of experience with the wooden bat.
Bart was considered the best catcher in the draft and doesn't appear to be one of those catchers that wind up playing elsewhere.
Bart's considered a sure thing by many, but I remember guys like Mike Zunino coming out of college as sure things only to disappoint at the major league level.
I asked Joe Werner of the Prospect Digest for his thoughts on Bart: "I'm worried about his swing and miss tendencies. There's more Matt Wieters and Zack Collins in him than people realize.
Now, that's still very valuable, but I don't think he lives up to the hype-at least offensively".
I understand why the Giants swung high for Bart as, by the time that Bart could be ready for AT&T Park, Buster Posey should be ready to move to first base and the Giants always will need to develop their own power bats as AT&T Park is not an appealing park for free agent power hitters.
I'm fine with the pick and it has the potential to plug in the catcher position for a long time when Bart arrives.
I'm a little more concerned than some because often times, college hitters are as good as they are going to be and there isn't always a ton of upside.
However, even if the floor for Bart is Matt Wieters (Who also attended Georgia Tech), the Giants would be very happy adding Joey Bart.
I thought the Cleveland Cavaliers might come out flat after their controversial overtime loss in game one to the Golden State Warriors and at times, they did.
However, for the most part, they did not, but it still was not enough to overcome the powerful offense of Golden State as the Warriors won game two 122-103 in Oakland.
LeBron James led Cleveland with 29 points and Kevin Love added 22 more to lead the Cavaliers, who stayed reasonably close until the middle of the fourth quarter.
Games three and four are must-wins for Cleveland as they return home with a chance to even the series.
Swashbucklings
1) Big dog in the room- the officiating again was abysmal.
It's been so bad that the fans of other teams and PLAYERS on other teams are complaining.
I'm generally not a person that blames losses on the referees and if you have read a lot of my work here, I think that you'll find that to be the case, but last night was awful as well.
2) The NBA has a major credibility problem and I don't think they are seeing it.
Either their officials are corrupt or just terrible and either way, there is an issue to be dealt with.
I think they are just crummy referees, but the NBA is the one league that once employed a corrupt referee and they should take even the fact that people are considering this possibility to be a huge problem in perception.
3) Kevin Loce did score 22 points and George Hill played well, but Cleveland received next to nothing from J.R. Smith and the highest scoring bench player was Jeff Green with just six points.
Going to need far more than that from the supporting cast to win the two games in Cleveland.
4) The Cleveland defense was terrible.
I expect the stars for Golden State to play well, what I don't expect is Javale McGee to score 12 points on 6 for 6 shooting with it seeming to have all six shots combine to be six feet away!
Not to mention allowing 15 three-pointers.
5) Cleveland has to shake things up.
J.R. Smith needs to sit and just toss some players out there and see if they can catch some lightning.
Jordan Clarkson hasn't shot well, Rodney Hood seldom moves after his faux pas' earlier in the playoffs, but he knows Golden State well or even Cedi Osman, but try something other than J.R.Smith!!!
6) I think Cleveland wins game three.
Not sure about game four, but I think the home crowd, an inspired LBJ, and referees that will have heard for almost a week (since game one) how badly they have performed/favored the Warriors and will subconsciously attempt to "even the score" will result in a big effort Wednesday night.
If they cannot win under those conditions, they are likely headed toward a sweep.
The Cleveland Browns looked to be a surprising name listed as an entry in the Mychal Kendricks derby after the former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker was released as a casualty of the salary cap that most successful franchises have to deal with.
Yes, the Browns likely would come up with the best financial offer as most unsuccessful franchises have the largest amount of salary cap space to deal with, but the other teams scheduled to visit with Kendricks (Oakland and Minnesota) had the edge with personal issues (Kendricks played his college football at Cal and brother Eric plays for the Vikings) and winning (Vikings in NFC title game last season, Raiders were a playoff team two years ago and added Jon Gruden as their new coach), so the Browns could have (and were) looked at as a dark horse candidate only.
No matter the reasons, Kendricks made his mind up and to my surprise is headed to Cleveland to become a Brown as he agreed to a one year contract valued at three and a half million dollars.
Kendricks bolsters what on paper appears to be a solid linebacking group with Jamie Collins returning from injury, Joe Schobert, and Christian Kirksey in the Browns 4-3 alignment.
Kendricks rebounded last season after two seasons (2015 and 16) that saw coordinator changes and lessened playing time, to notch 51 solo tackles and two sacks last season with the Eagles.
I think there may a return to Kendricks early form in Philadelphia in the offering when he was a second-year player with 86 solo tackles, four sacks and three interceptions in his stat line
His range and ability to run down runners seems to be an excellent fit in the Gregg Williams defensive schemes and he can play inside or outside, although he is better outside in the 4-3 preferred by Williams.
Something else to keep an eye on is perhaps another move could be coming with Jamie Collins.
Collins, after all, is highly paid, coming off an injury, hasn't been a playmaker in Cleveland and was a Sashi Brown import not one of John Dorsey's acquisitions.
Kendricks along with the three linebackers would make an imposing quartet at the position, but playing the 4-3, they will have to be rotated and could the Browns decide that Collins isn't worth the cost with the arrival of Kendricks?
Worth wondering about at least.
Considering that the cost was reasonable and for only a one year contract, this could be an excellent addition for the Browns
I've been listening to a CFL podcast of late and was able to reconnect with an old friend, Joe Pritchard, who is one of the hosts of the podcast.
Joe and his fellow hosts have reignited my CFL interest and I'm having to re-learn the league's rosters again, but I'm having fun doing just that.
I was a pretty big CFL fan in the early 80's when we first had cable available and ESPN showed a lot of CFL games.
Somewhere in the archives, I still have a booklet that ESPN sent out upon request that explained the rules and a little history on each team.
During that period, I mainly rooted for the Ottawa Rough Riders, even though they were terrible because they had J.C. Watts as their quarterback (remember my Oklahoma fandom in the Barry Switzer days?) ,but I also rooted for a team in the same division as well- the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and when Watts retired, I rooted more for the Ti-Cats.
I've always spoken well of the league to others and tried to make a few fans by recommending its high-octane and fast-paced game.
ESPN gave up the CFL rights in the US and the rights through the years shuffled between several networks and currently is back with ESPN, who streams a lot of the games and shows a fair amount on the "over the air" stations until the fall and the college season begins,but my peak CFL interest was the middle 90's and early 2000's with this thing called the internet and a device long forgotten-WebTV.
WebTV was our first entry on the WWW and one of the neat things was discovering Usenet, which was a message board on about every topic you could dream of including the CFL and hosted chat rooms on tons of topics as well.
Those chat rooms most notably here are remembered by the lovely Cherie meeting what turned out to be her best friend, Christine in a homeschooling chat room in what Cherie says was the ONLY time she ever entered a chat room!
I didn't use the chat often, but I did spend lots of time on Usenet discussing the CFL and actually listening to the audio of live CFL games.
This was after the Baltimore franchise had moved to Montreal to become the "new" Alouettes after the CFL's American expansion, I had watched a lot of those games and was very knowledgeable about the league and wanted to "talk" with other fans.
I was arguably more of a CFL fan than an NFL fan then as Baltimore had stolen the Browns and then had no further use for their CFL Stallions and passionately rooted for the Tiger-Cats.
I was a Doug Flutie fan as almost everyone was, but I liked other passers as well such as Damon Allen, Tracy Ham and my favorite of all- Matt Dunigan.
I was happy when Dunigan joined Hamilton following his season with the defunct Birmingham Barracudas, but alas Dunigan would play just a few games with the Ti-Cats with his career ending due to concussion issues and just one football card in a Hamilton uniform,
Dunigan was a quarterback before his time with a strong arm, but at 5'11, Dunigan didn't even have an NFL opportunity.
Had he played today, he would have at least been drafted and given a chance and he might have been an NFL starter in today's game.
Hamilton became even more fun to follow in 1998 and 1999 under new head coach Ron Lancaster as they split a pair of Grey Cups with Calgary.
CFL veteran Danny McManus manned the quarterback position with hard running back Ronald Williams combining with receivers Darren Flutie and Mike Morreale to pace a strong offense, but the defense was the best part for me with rush end (basically the CFL's version of a 3-4 outside linebacker that rushes the passer) Joe Montford along with CFL veteran linebackers Calvin Tiggle and Lamar McGriggs with a punishing hitter in Canadian safety Rob Hitchcock to lead the defense to two Eastern titles.
Somewhere in the archives, I have an official 2000 Grey Cup Football from those teams and I should dig it out sometime.
The CFL football is a little different than the NFL ball, a little thicker around the middle makes it a stubbier looking ball that you really cannot tell unless it is side by side with another football.
Another Ti-Cat that I liked was electric wideout Earl Winfield, who I remembered at first from his college days at North Carolina and even though Winfield wasn't part of the Grey Cup title teams (Winfield retired a few years before), he still was my favorite player from the era of the 80's.
Winfield was one of those players that you didn't want to take your eyes off because when he touched the football, he had the potential to take it to the (larger) end zone.
I was able to meet Earl (Now a CFL Hall of Famer) a few years back when Winfield and I appeared on a local radio show and what a class gentleman he is!
I took a picture with Earl, had him sign some cards and a Hamilton mini helmet and it ranked right up at the top with the famous people that I've been able to meet.
The Tiger-Cats have a new stadium now and I still haven't kicked the habit of calling their home Ivor Wynne (the name of the old park), so it'll be a little different as I start to watch more CFL, but there will be quite a few players that I'll be familiar with and it won't take me long to get back to speed.
There is one more thing that I love about the CFL and that is the better than average chance of getting some snow football during the postseason.
And with only one of the league nine facilities being indoors after Toronto's recent return to the great outdoors, even the championship game has a reasonable chance of inclement weather.
I remember quite a few snow classics during my years watching the CFL.
1993's Western Final with Edmonton upsetting Doug Flutie and Calgary, 1994 with BC on a miracle run to the championship (BC won two road games and then the Grey Cup over the top three teams in the league by a total of five points) in pulling a massive upset again over Calgary and Flutie with a touchdown on the last play of the game that ranks as the best CFL game I've ever watched and 1996's Grey Cup at Ivor Wynne with Flutie and Toronto holding off Edmonton in the snow daddy of them all for me, to just name a few.
Snow football is just so much fun to watch and the CFL allows you to see many battles in the white stuff!
Hope you enjoyed some of my CFL memories, I have a CFL Forgotten Superstars entry planned in the future and maybe even something else perhaps as well, if time permits.
Back later with game two of the Cavaliers and the Warriors-hopefully some real referees show up for this one!
The Cleveland Cavaliers couldn't have asked for much more than they received from themselves in game one at the usually raucous Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Cleveland gained even more than usual from LeBron James with 51 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Kevin Love added 21 and with under forty seconds to go, the Cavaliers held a two-point lead and possession of the basketball and looked to be in position for a stunning upset.
The usually inept NBA referees stepped in and changed the perception after a consultation, which set a parade of events together cost Cleveland victory and could weaken them in game two.
First, LeBron James forced Kevin Durant into a charging foul that the referees looked and changed the call into a blocking call on James.
This allowed Durant to hit two free throws to tie the game and that was a huge swing in momentum towards the home team in an awful call that saw the arbiters reason that James was "not in a legal guarding position" outside the restricted zone.
Most observers not in Warrior blue felt otherwise and thereafter the game was scarred with controversy.
Following a James layup and a Stephen Curry score and free throw, Golden State led by one with Cleveland holding the ball for the potential last shot of the game.
James drilled a pass toward the basket and a cutting George Hill for the layup and lead.
A beaten Klay Thompson had no choice but to grab Hill and put him on the line with just under five seconds to play.
Hill nailed the first free throw to tie the game but came up painfully short on the second shot, which would have given Cleveland the lead.
However, J.R.Smith had slid under Kevin Durant for the rebound and had a chance for the putback, which likely would have meant victory.
It would not have been a sure thing as Smith would have to have laid the ball in over the taller Durant, but there was an opportunity for sure.
Instead, Smith "took the ball back" almost like in a bizarre scene out of a half-court pickup game, ate the time away and the Cavaliers chance for a win escaped like air from a balloon as the game headed to overtime.
Usually, in these situations going into overtime, it plays out like this-the underdog is fatigued by the effort and the better team pulls away and that's exactly what happened as Golden State took the 124-114 win.
In a game that that could have been remembered for so much more, it'll be remembered for awful officiating, unwarranted replays and an addle-minded decision by J.R.Smith.
Swashbucklings
1) Just cannot get past the decision to look at the block/charge call.
James was clearly outside the area that he is required to be in to use a replay review to begin with and then to change the call based on James movement (He held position) might have been changed in a game before, but I've never seen it and to pick this time???
2) And to top that off, the play not only shouldn't have been changed but not even reviewed because to activate a review-James must be in the restricted area and he clearly was not.
3) LeBron James became the first player to score over 50 points in the NBA Finals and lose.
James did all of this with one eye, after being poked in the first quarter by noted clean defender Draymond Green.
4) J.R. Smith's simply head-thumping decision to run out the clock is just beyond words to write about.
However, Smith has made a career of these types of plays and considering how he has played this season, why was I not surprised.
It's too bad though because just getting the offensive rebound was a hustle play and was quickly forgotten after his "Webber" like mistake.
5) Don't forget another Smith mistake at the end of the first half, where Smith ridiculously left Stephen Curry alone by going for a steal at mid-court.
Curry then calmly drained an uncontested thirty footer to tie the game at the half.
Awful.
6) I'm generally not an officiating whiner, but this game was bad.
When Steve Kerr AND Draymond Green both are quoted as "We caught a break"-that tells you all you need to know.
7) The end of the game scuffle between Tristan Thompson and Draymond Green needs to be forgotten about by the league for both players.
Considering how the game was called, frustration is inevitable and after watching, the league needs to pass on suspensions.
8) This game wasn't just lost, it was given away by officials and players.
On one hand, I am hopeful that the Cavaliers have proven that they can play with the Warriors.
On the other, game two might be ugly as it's going to be tough to bounce back from a crusher like this Sunday night..
