And we're off!

Spring training games begin today at 1:05 PM Eastern, with the Tribe going up against the Astros. Radio coverage on the station formerly known as WWWE or Gameday Audio for those out of market. Jeff Harris will start on the mound for the Tribe, in place of Jake Westbrook, who was scheduled to start but is being held out with a "sore right arm."

Big Day in Cleveland Sports

Yesterday was a big day in Cleveland sports, as all three major franchises made transactions.

The big news was the trade that reshaped the Cavaliers, who traded their spare parts and overpaid veterans for two other teams' spare parts and overpaid veterans. The Cavs gave up Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, Shannon Brown, Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak (to be henceforth referred to as Wally, or Wally Eyechart), plus a 2009 second round draft pick (Chicago's).

In doing so, the Cavs take on enough salary to have luxury tax implications this year, but also take on players with complementary skills to LeBron James and that should fit in well with what Mike Brown wants to do with the team (ie, play tough defense and let LeBron do his thing). Let's break this down player by player, starting with the new hires:

• Ben Wallace: if motivated, a key enforcer down low with tough defense - we probably won't be able to truly measure his impact until the playoffs. With Chicago - big contract, not much performance. With Cavs? Who knows? The Cavs are gambling that a change of scenery will inspire him.
  
• Wally Eyechart: 3-point shooter, defensive liability. All he has to do to help this team is spot up on the 3-point line and wait for the kickout. His presence should open up more room for LeBron to do his thing.
• Delonte West: combo guard with more point guard skills and better outside shooting ability than Larry Hughes. Should be able to provide a perimeter threat as well as the ability to distribute the ball and provide another late game ballhandler other than LBJ.
• Joe Smith: solid veteran forward having a good season.
  

What they lost:

• Larry Hughes: slasher who was miscast as a point guard. Solid perimeter defender. In hindsight, he was never a good fit for the Cavs because he is more of a slasher than an outside shooter and point guard. He was starting to make some progress offensively in the last few weeks. Often hurt and cast as a villain by fans upset with his inability to play up to his contract and tendency to get hurt. Genuinely seems like a good guy and will likely perform better in Chicago assuming he can stay healthy.
• Drew Gooden: when he's good, he can be very good. When it's not his night, you might as well sit him early. Excellent offensive skillset - defensive skillset questionable. Should do well in Chicago with former KU running-mate Kirk Hinrich to set him up.
• Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown: Projects with some potential upside
  
• Ira Newble: solid perimeter defender, occasional offensive skills. Defense will be missed.
• Donyell Marshall: streaky shooter capable who has run hot and cold throughout his career. With the Cavs, mostly cold.

The question now is how well the Cavs can integrate the new team with the holdovers. How good of a coach is Mike Brown? We're about to find out.

The Browns have resigned Jamal Lewis, apparently to a 3-year deal, believed to be worth $17 million. Good for the Browns, and good for Lewis, who genuinely seems to like playing for the Browns and being in Cleveland.

The Indians signed Jason Tyner to a minor league contract, without an invitation to the major league camp. Even with the glut of fourth outfielders in the big league camp, it seems that Buffalo will need outfielders, too. What does it say about Jason Tyner that no team wanted to give him as much as a non-roster invitation to their big league camp?

Longtime PD portswriter, Chuck Heaton, dies at age 90

Longtime Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter, Chuck Heaton, succumbed to complications arising from pneumonia at age 90.

You may have seen his daughter, actress Patricia Heaton, on a TV show or two. Bob Dolgan wrote a fine obituary.

Chuck Heaton was most known for covering the Browns in the early days, but he also covered the Indians extensively over the years, and retired from writing with BBWAA Card #1, indicating the longest tenure of active members when he retired in 1993.

Pitchers and Catchers Report, But How Long Will CC Stay?

First, the good news. Pitchers and catchers report to Winter Haven today.

Now, the bad news: C. C. Sabathia has released a statement via his official website saying, in essence, that he has ceased negotiations with the Cleveland Indians on a contract extension.

This move makes it overwhelmingly likely that Sabathia will not be an Indian beyond the 2008 season. Some other team, desperate for pitching, will go well beyond what Cleveland is willing to offer Sabathia in both cash and years. If Sabathia were willing to give the Tribe a hometown discount, he would have done it already.

The Indians now have a hard choice:

• Option A - go for it all this year and ride one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, knowing that at the end of the year, he will leave and all you will get will be draft picks.
  
• Option B - trade one of the best pitchers in the major leagues for lots of prospects to a big market team that can afford to sign him , knowing that if you do this, there is the possibility that doing so potentially closes the window of opportunity for this year and alienates the fans, who will likely be showing up at the ballpark again this year after last year's exciting postseason.

Not much of a choice, is it? It seems clear that the Indians have chosen Option A. Their window to win it all is now, and they've finally won back the fans who deserted the team after their terribly underperforming 2006 season. If they do win it all, then it will be easier to justify publicly letting Sabathia go, as Tribe fans will be giddy and hungover with glee. If they don't win, however, and cannot resign Sabathia, then all we'll be hearing, once again, is how cheap Dolan is, while CC likely puts on pinstripes and plays for the FEDBU.

Even Option B looks bad - let's look at the teams who can afford Sabathia: FEDBU, FEDBU-lite, the Angels of the OC, the Dodgers, and the Mets. The Mets are out - they ponied up for Santana. The Angels have the prospects to make a trade and the money to sign Sabathia, but have made it clear in the last couple years that they're not trading prospects. The Dodgers have prospects and money, but the NL West is wide open, and it looks like they're going to try to win with the pitching they have. Both the FEDBU and FEDBU-lite have the prospects and the money, but with the Indians having their window as this year, what incentive do they have to trade their best pitcher, during their window of opportunity year, to teams that might slam that window shut in the postseason? Can you imagine what it would be like in Cleveland if the Tribe trades Sabathia to either one of these teams, and then Sabathia pitches the clinching game in a postseason series that knocks the Tribe out of postseason? If CC is set on filing for free agency, he has even less value as a rental than Santana did, as Santana was very clear that he would likely sign an extension with the right team.

Bottom line - unless the Indians win the World Series this year, they are screwed. When CC walks, they lose fickle fan support, Dolan's reputation for being cheap gets unfairly renewed, and their ability to compete takes a major hit with their loss of an ace.

It's hard to be an Indians fan today, even with pitchers and catchers reporting. The pressure to win now just increased dramatically.

Larry Hughes - Beta Unit?

Larry Hughes scored 40 points for the Cavs last night against the Magic. He must have been kidnapped by Centauri to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada and replaced by a beta unit that was not programmed properly.

One of these things is not like the others..

Sammy Hagar? Seriously? Didn't he used to RAWK?

Thoughts on Super Bowl XLII

I know I primarily cover baseball, but I am also a fan of the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Crew, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ohio State football and basketball, so I reserve the right to weigh in on some other sports occasionally.

I have to admit that I was conflicted going into the game on who to root for. Really, for the most part, both cities (Boston and New York) and their fan bases are pretty much insufferable, especially for those of us here in "Flyover Territory." Do I root for the Patriots, the bullies of the NFL with their cheating head coach and their tendency to run the score up mercilessly on weaker teams? Or, do I put aside my dislike for Eli Manning and New York fans in general and root for the plucky underdog Giants?

Before I go further, I must declare that I believe Eli Manning to be a Punk. A special kind of Punk, to be precise - a Punk who believes himself bigger than the game. It's a class of Punkitude that lumps him in a group that includes John Elway, JD Drew and Kobe Bryant. You are a punk if, coming out of high school or college, you refuse to play for the team who drafted you because you feel that they are not deserving of your talents:

• Elway played baseball (not very well, I might add), in order to avoid having to play for the Colts.
• Drew refused to sign with the Phillies, instead playing in one of the independent leagues.
• Bryant, well, as a 17-year-old high schooler (high schooler!) declared that his game was so huge that he would only sign with a team from New York or Los Angeles, and to prove his point, held out and forced the Charlotte Hornets to trade him to the Lakers.

Manning, as is well known, refused to play for San Diego, the team which picked him, and pretty much forced them to trade him to New York. This has led me to seriously question his judgment - you're a 21-year-old kid, and you don't want to be the toast of San Diego, make millions of dollars and live year-round where the weather is great and you can party on the beach in the offseason and hand the ball off to LaDainian Tomlinson? You'd rather face the New York media every day? Dude?

So, Manning is a Punk who believes himself bigger than the game. It's hard for me to root for teams led by Punks. And, really, who doesn't want to see the annoying loudmouths from the '72 Dolphins silenced? So, going into the game, I bit the bullet and started the game rooting for the New England Patriots to make history, but not very hard.

As the Giants continued to keep Brady and The Incredible Hulk of Sulk (Randy Moss) in check, forcing him to make bad decision after bad decision, I started to believe that the Giants could actually do it. More importantly, I began to want them to do it. And when Tyree made that amazing catch, I knew that it was over - the Giants were going to be this year's Team O'Destiny.

Despite my personal dislike for Manning's Punkitude, I have to admit that I'm feeling okay with watching the Patriots fall hard, simply because it takes Boston sports and their insufferable fans down a notch. Really, the only people who don't like watching a bully get what's coming to him are the bully and his mother.

And, really what could be more indicative of the Patriots' true colors than Bill Belicheat (see picture below) leaving the sidelines with time left on the clock?

And, in an exclusive scoop, I got a picture of the New England offensive line after the game:

I have to admit to some schadenfreude in watching the New England Patriots fan express their post-game sorrow and pain. Hey, guys and gals, you don't know pain and sorrow and despair. Try being a Cleveland fan for any length of time. I've got a quarter for you to call someone who cares.

And, I have to admit, I'm happy for my Uncle Marc in Hartford, Connecticut, who is a lifelong Giants fan and has been on the waiting list for season tickets for 20 years, and still isn't very close to getting them.

Commercials: generally pretty disappointing. The clear winner was the FedEx commercial with the giant carrier pigeons.