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The Cleveland Indians may have not faired well in the bidding for Carlos Beltran, but they have not given up their pursuit of acquiring talent to help them in the hunt for the 2011 MLB Playoffs. Per FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Tribe front office is one of three teams considered to be in serious contention for Colorado’s Ubaldo Jiménez.

Sure, the Indians need a bat more than anything. And sure, Jiménez, the hard-throwing right-hander, is having a rather pedestrian 2011 campaign, sporting a record of 6-9 with an ERA 4.20. While these may not be glaring signs of a starting pitcher one would want to trade away pieces to acquire, there are several factors to consider:
- It was just one season ago that the then-26-year old started the All-Star game for the National League squad, finishing the season with 19 wins, an ERA just over two runs and a WHIP of 1.15.

- Jiménez is getting crushed in the confines of Colorado’s home stadium, Coors Field. At home, the hurler is getting torched to the tune of .310 batting average against to go with a 5.55 ERA and a WHIP of 1.67. When he’s pitching anywhere outside of Denver, Jiménez looks like he did all last season with ERA sitting at 2.83 and a WHIP of 0.99 with opposing hitters succeeding at a rate of .178. It’s worth noting that Cleveland is in fact not Denver.

- Also in Jiménez’ favor when one looks beyond the record and ERA, his strikeouts per nine innings number is in line with last season and his walks have dropped, improving his strikeout-to-walk ratio. Jiménez was extremely lucky last season with a BABiP of .271; this year’s numbers are more in line with the norm as he’s back near .300. The potentially best numbers of all? Jiménez’ home runs per nine innings outside of Coors Field: 0.15.

- Ubaldo’s contract is very team-friendly, earning him $2.8 million in 2011 and $4.2 million in 2012 with a $5.75 million club option for ’13. For a mid-market team like the Indians, the deal makes incredible sense assuming that the front office can also add a bat.

So, Tribe fans. Take it all for what it’s worth. Jiménez won’t help the Indians score runs, but he can certainly help an already solid pithing staff. Rosenthal also reports that the Indians continue to be in hot pursuit of a bat, but could be the best match for the Rockies if they’re willing to part with the “required” pieces. Feel free to sound off below.

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We don’t really talk soccer or futbol here much, but I happened to catch last night’s qualifier between the U.S. and El Salvador in an away match last night.  Like all games that the U.S. plays on the road, the environment is terrifying.  Think if you taught Oakland Raiders fans and the Dawg Pound how to coordinate cheers and had them both filling a stadium to root for the same team.  Now put them all in blue and have them screaming, chanting, throwing things, blowing whistles and sounding off police sirens.  That is what the U.S. faced last night in El Salvador.  Combine that with the historically well-known stories of blaring music, firecrackers, and pulled fire alarms at hotels where the U.S. team stays on road trips and you have yourself the daunting task of winning a soccer game.

To be fair, I don’t know if the U.S. had any of those excuses last night in their game against El Salvador.  I should hope that they do though, as the U.S. sleepwalked through the first three fourths of the game.  They seemed lethargic as their counterattacks fell flat and seemed toothless.  Meanwhile, El Salvador seemed to be playing at a different pace.  They were flying to the ball and clogging the midfield and counterattacking at every opportunity.  And it paid off.  They scored their first goal early in the game, and then in the 72nd minute they scored what seemed to be the icing on the cake for El Salvador.  They made the U.S. defense look silly as the left back gave up a run to the end line after getting juked out of his shorts.  A cross and a header later and the U.S. was down by two with about 17 minutes remaining plus or minus injury time.

But the U.S. caught a burst of energy.

I know it is a source of pride for a lot of Steelers fans that their smiling wide receiver Hines Ward blocks like a maniac.  I honestly wish Browns wide receivers cared about blocking downfield.  Still, it seems to me that a lot of Ward’s greatest hits are based on hunting for guys who aren’t looking and then attempting to de-brain them.  He lowered his helmet on Ed Reed, broke Keith Rivers’ jaw, blew up Bart Scott and achieved a $5000 fine for hitting Daven Holly in a helmet to helmet after Najeh Davenport was already down in a game against the Browns.  Holly went on to miss the next game with a concussion.

Amongst the four new safety proposals that the NFL has passed this year at the owners’ meetings, one seems like it is instituting what I am calling the “Hines Ward” rule.

While we have all been thinking hard about the Indians’ rotation this Spring, Fausto Carmona has been dealing.  The guy who my wife felt so sorry for as he failed as a closer in Boston, came back and became a respectable starter in 2007.  2008 he took a step back other than pounding Gary Sheffield’s face in.  Between injuries that he sustained and injuries that his catcher, Victor Martinez sustained, it was a rocky year for the youngster.  Fausto Carmona is looking to prove that his starting sophomore slump was just that as he opens the season as the Tribe’s #2 starter.

Yesterday, Carmona continued his impressive spring by shutting out the Chicago White Sox for five innings.  Carmona gave up two hits and escaped a shaky first inning where he walked two.  That first inning is where Carmona needs to be careful.  When Carmona comes out and pounds the strike zone he is usually ok.  When he is walking people, he gets himself into trouble.  Cliche, I know.

Chris Cooley is more heavily involved with Browns fans right now than anyone who is working in Berea.  Cooley came under fire from Browns fans in the know when he posted this on his blog.

Trade talk is a weird wake up at 6:30.  Obviously something was said between teams to cause this internet trading s*** storm.  I would be pissed if I got my a** shipped to Cleveland.  But seriously, when the internet is the first news I hear about something this big I would hope it to be speculation.

Now, while not the most obvious slight aimed at Cleveland, Cooley certainly left his statement open to interpretation that he doesn’t like Cleveland.  Being that Clevelanders are protective of their city and more importantly their NFL team, Cooley obviously got a lot of messages regarding this.

Do you guys remember eight years ago when David Patten played here?  I barely remember it, honestly.  Yesterday the Browns inked a 34-year old wide receiving insurance policy.  Patten spent the last two seasons in New Orleans, but in 2008 Patten only suited up five times for the Saints; he caught 11 passes last year before injuring his groin.  By the time he was healthy, his spot was no longer available due to the play of Lance Moore.

I am not sure why the Browns signed David Patten.  With all the other signings the Browns have made this off-season, I was able to come up with some semblance of a reason or strategy that the new front office might be trying to achieve.  Not so much on this David Patten signing.  While I am sure he has plenty to teach to other players, and I am sure he didn’t cost a lot of money, he really doesn’t upgrade the staff and presents an injury risk due to his advanced age.

For all those Jim Rome fans out there, it might be time to drop a “freaking” on Lebron James.  Lebron Freaking James has recorded his seventh player of the week award.  It is also his second in a row.  Does that sound like the league’s MVP to you?  It sure does to me.  The Cavaliers’ official website has the press release.

In four games during the week, James averaged a double-double with 30.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 block per game. James has now won the award 20 times in his career, including a career-best seven times this season, three times in 2007-08, twice in 2006-07, five times in 2005-06 and on three occasions during the 2004-05 campaign.

If the Browns can’t trade down, maybe they should just pass for a while and then pick later.  This is the conclusion that I am aiming to prove.  Now, I know that isn’t really the proper way to go about doing analysis.  Still, this is the burgeoning philosophy that has been forming in my brain for the last few years.  And it is a natural conclusion for a Browns fan.  Tim Couch, Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren are exhibits A-C.

Obviously it is easy to take the other side of the argument as well.  Joe Thomas was taken high in the first round and has been worth every penny of his top-five draft money.  But, unless you see another Joe Thomas surefire, slam dunk draft pick on the board, you are asking for trouble drafting that high because of the contract demands.  I would argue that there isn’t a surefire pick in this year’s draft.  There is no quarterback that I am dying to have.  There isn’t another offensive tackle that I am dying to have.  Maybe I am ignorant, but Orakpo and Curry don’t even blow my mind.  Crabtree is probably the closest thing to a sure thing from what I can see, and that seems too high to take a wide receiver, even for these receiving-challenged Browns.

Obviously, the real goal is to trade down, but what if that opportunity doesn’t present itself?  Should the Browns be unable to trade down, would it be worthwhile to just pass on the number five pick and wait a few picks and pick lower where the risk / reward ratio is a bit more balanced?