Today's edition of the Workout Roundup revolves around Bradley Beal.  If you follow me on Twitter, it is no secret that I've viewed Bradley Beal as the top realistic prospect for the Cavs in the draft.  Beal had a workout with the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday morning along with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.  The workout must have gone well, because Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld tweeted that the Cavaliers will draft Beal if he is available with the fourth pick.

Beal's combination ball-handling, ability to create his own shot and shooting is what has teams reportedly trying to trade into the top four.  On a side-note, these are the reasons that I am intrigued by Beal.  It brings back memories of when the Cavs had a starting lineup of Mo Williams, Delonte West and LeBron James in that great 2008-2009 sixty-six win team.  The offense was so much more fluid and better executed when the lineup had three guys who could handle the ball as opposed to Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic and LeBron James.  Then again, any lineup is better without Sasha Pavlovic.  

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The Ohio Supreme Court found unanimously Tuesday that Ohio State University had acted correctly in most cases in shielding certain records from the request by ESPN that they be made public. ESPN had sued the school when OSU repeatedly refused to produce the records sought by the network.

ESPN had requested all correspondence to and from Jim Tressel containing the word "Sarniak" from 2007 to the present. Ted Sarniak was the Jeannette, PA-based businessman, who was the confidant and friend of Terrelle Pryor, the OSU quarterback at the center of the memorabilia for cash scandal that ultimately resulted in Tressel's termination as OSU head coach. The court agreed with OSU's argument that  the university had a responsibility to maintain privacy under federal laws prohibiting disclosure of educational records without consent.

The university will be required by the court to produce certain other selected documents, but OSU officials consider the court's unanimous decision to be a major victory for the school. Marcus Hartman of BuckeyeSports.com has details here.

The university released a statement early Tuesday afternoon in response to the court's decision. It follows in its entirety:

“Ohio State appreciates the clarity given today by the Ohio Supreme Court affirming the university’s interpretation of federal student privacy laws.   Our student athletes are treated the same way as all of our 64,000 students, and we take seriously our obligation to protect the confidentiality of all of our students’ education records. At the same time, the university also takes seriously its obligation to provide public information in accordance with Ohio law. The university provided ESPN with thousands of pages of records during the course of our NCAA investigation, and as now affirmed by a unanimous court, it acted responsibly in responding to the many varied and broad public record requests it received.”

Phil Steele released his Top 200 rankings for 2013 football recruits, and nine Ohio State commitments are on the list. Michigan leads all schools with 14 commits on Steele's ranking, followed by Texas with 10, and Alabama and USC joining OSU with nine.

For Urban Meyer's Buckeyes, DL Joey Bosa (pictured) from Ft. Lauderdale, is the highest ranked OSU player at #18. Other Ohio State recruits are (#28) DB Cameron Burrows, (#29) WR/QB Jalin Marshall, (#30) CB Eli Woodard, (#95) OL Evan Lisle, (#97) TE Marcus Baugh, (#103) QB J.T. Barrett, (#148) DT Billy Price, and (#167) RB Ezekiel Elliott.

Michigan has 21 overall 2013 commitments so far, while Ohio State has only 11 commits to this point.

Juan Romero, LF-MVS: 2-4, 2 HR (2), 4 RBI, 2 R, K.

Well hello there. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers kicked off play in the short-season New York-Penn League last night with an 8-5 victory, and Romero appeared in his first game outside of the Arizona complex leagues. Romero celebrated his 19th birthday on Saturday, and he's the youngest player currently on the Scrappers roster. Romero isn't a big guy at 6'1", 175lbs, but he generates plus raw power from his wiry frame and should continue to add weight and strength as he matures. He has a plus arm and could develop at least an average hit tool, but like most youngsters out of the Dominican Republic he still needs to improve his pitch recognition and plate discipline. He's one of the more exciting players on the Scrappers roster this season, and it will be interesting to see what he can do against the recently-signed college pitching that populates the NYPL.

T.J. McFarland, SP-COL: 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 K, BB. McFarland with a nice bounceback start after giving up 10 ER his last time out. He left the game with a chance to win, but the bullpen gave up three runs and he ended up with a no-decision.

Matt LaPorta, 1B-COL: 2-4, HR (15), RBI, R, K. LaPorta is back where he belongs, hitting HR for the Clippers. This HR was on the road, where he's now hit just 3 of his 15 bombs on the season.

Brett Brach, SP-AKR: 6 IP, R (0 ER), H, 4 K, BB. Big Red with an outstanding start, giving up just an unearned run on one hit. Unfortuneatly for Brach and the Aeros, the bullpen let him down and they walked away with a loss in an early-morning contest yesterday.

Thomas Neal, LF-AKR: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R, K. Neal has hit in 8 of his last 9 games, but yesterday was his only multi-hit game out of those eight. He's been showing a little more pop of late, as he's hit 2 HR and 2 2B in his last 6 games. He's still slugging just .385 in 49 games for the Aeros.

Enosil Tejeda, RP-MVS: S (1), IP, K. The 22-year old Tejeda struck out an impressive 57 in just 34 IP for the Scrappers last year, and got off on a good foot yesterday with a clean save and a K. I think he's ready for the challenge of the Midwest League.

Luis Morel, RP-MVS: W (1-0), 2 1/3 IP, R (0 ER), 2 H, 2 K, BB. This was Morel's first appearance out of the complex leagues, and the 19-year old Dominican picked up the victory with two innings of effective relief.

Jose Ramirez, 2B-MVS: 2-5, 2B, R. Another 19-year old prospect in his first taste of short-season ball, Ramirez legged out a double as one of his two hits last night.

Ronny Rodriguez, SS-CAR: 8-12, 2 3B, 2B, 4 RBI, 6 R.

Outstanding weekend for Rodriguez, who has been having an up-and-down season with the bat so far for Carolina. Rodriguez is just 20 years old, having gone straight from signing as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic last year to low-A Lake County. Most international signings spend time in either the Dominican Summer League or at least the Arizona Summer League, but the Indians thought Rodriguez was advance enough to skip over both of those leagues AND the short-season New York-Penn League and go straight to full season ball. Rodriguez had a solid season for Lake County, and was bumped up to the high-A Carolina league this year where he opened the season as a 19-year old shortstop. Rodriguez turned 20 in April, and has really improved his defense this season. He's got all the tools to be an impact defender at short, but was inconsistent last year on the routine plays. He's been much better this year, and has still been making some spectacular plays that show off his outstanding throwing arm. In 18 games during June, Rodriguez is hitting an impressive .367/.400/.600 with 2 of his 5 HR and 11 RBI. If he can keep hitting anywhere close to that clip, he'll be one of the better shortstop prospects around, not just in the Indians organization.

Zach McAllister, SP-COL: W (5-2), 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 K, BB. He didn't miss many bats, but still a solid start for McAllister. He's given up more than 3 ER in just one of his 10 starts for AAA Columbus, and has a 2.98 ERA overall. He's struck out 49 and walked just 19 in 57 1/3 IP, and he's still just 24 years old. He may not be a future ace, but it's still looking like a pretty good return for a half-season of Austin Kearns.

David Huff, SP-COL: L (3-3), 3 IP, 8 ER, 12 H, 2 K. Huff has been particuarly bad of late, giving up 16 ER over 14 1/3 IP in his last 3 starts. His AAA ERA is up to 4.99 in 48 2/3 IP, and he's recorded just 33 K.

Scott Barnes, RP-COL: 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 K. Back down in the minors, Barnes struck out half of the batters he faced yesterday. Since being converted to a reliever back on May 3, Barnes has allowed just 3 ER in 13 2/3 IP, striking out 16 and walking 5. His stuff plays up in the shorter relief role, and his deceptive motion is especially difficult on hitters who only get to see him once per outing.

Eric Berger, RP-COL: 3 IP, H, 4 K, BB. This was Berger's 2nd relief appearance in a row after starting 6 games for the Clippers. As a reliever, he's thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out 7 and allowing just 2 baserunners.

Cody Allen, RP-COL: IP, K. Allen is working on a streak of 8 straight relief apperances with at least one K. He's not quite Vinnie Pestano just yet, but he's on his way.

Chris Ray, RP-COL: S (11), 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K. Ray worked in two of the four Clippers games this weekend, recording a save and striking out three. He's now recorded 7 straight scoreless appearances out of the Columbus bullpen.

Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 4-12, HR (7), 3 RBI, 4 BB, 3 R, SB. In his last 10 games, Phelps has gone for a .371/.452/.629 line with 2 HR, 6 RBI and 6 BB. More impressively, he's done so without striking out, a span of 35 at bats.

Russ Canzler, LF-COL: 6-12, 2 HR (6), 8 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R, K, CS. Huge weekend for Canzler, who's suddenly looking like the AAA MVP he was last season. In his last 10, he's hitting .355/.436/.710 with 3 HR and 14 RBI.

T.J. House, SP-AKR: L (4-2), 4 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 13 H, K, BB. He's only really had two bad starts this year, so House's poor outing this weekend only raised his AA ERA to 3.55. He'd given up 1 or fewer ER in his previous 5 starts, so this 7-run clunker can be excused and I'd expect it to be no more than a bump in the road.

Gio Soto, SP-AKR: L (5-3), 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 9 K, BB. Soto has been solid over his last 3 starts, allowing just 5 ER in 15 2/3 IP while striking out 16. His season ERA stands at 3.99, and he's recorded 67 K and allowed 23 BB in 70 IP for AA Akron.

Steven Wright, SP-AKR: L (5-4), 6 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 3 H, 7 K, BB. In his last 5 starts, Wright has thrown 27 innings, allowing just 5 ER while striking out 23. He's posted a 1.79 ERA for the Aeros this season, and he's up to 62 K and 32 BB in 70 1/3 IP. The knuckleballer seems to be getting a better feel for the pitch, and is probably ready to move up to AAA to see if the pitch can be effective there as well.

Preston Guilmet, RP-AKR: W (2-1), 2 IP, 3 H, 2 K. The former Arizona Wildcat appeared in two games for the Aeros this weekend, picking up a victory and striking out a pair. He's allowed just one earned run in his last 10 IP, recording 4 saves and a win.

Chun Chen, 1B-AKR: 4-13, 2 BB, R, 2 K. Chen's punchless season continues. His OPS is .828 and he has 20 doubles, but still just one home run in 2012. I'd hoped that the move to 1B and the reduced strain defensively would have helped Chen's power, but instead it has somehow made it dissapear.

Nick Weglarz, LF-AKR: 4-12, HR (8), 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 2 R, 2 K. Wegz has hit in 8 of his last 10, and has put up a line of .333/.500/.900 with 4 HR, 5 2B and 9 RBI in that span. His season OPS is up to .813, and he has a 1.200 OPS in 15 June games.

Shawn Armstrong, RP-CAR: L (0-3), 2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, K. For the season, Armstrong has a 1.59 ERA in 34 Carolina League innings, recording 31 K and walking 15. Those impressive numbers resulted in Armstrong being named to the Carolina League All-Star team, one of two Mudcats (Jeremie Tice) to earn that honor.

Tyler Sturdevant, RP-CAR: W (1-0), IP, K. Sturdevant has yet to allow a run in his 7 innings since coming off the DL. He's given up 2 hits, walked 2 and struck out three.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B-CAR: 5-12, HR (6), 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB, 5 R, K. Aguilar has hit in his last 4, going 7-16 with a HR and 3 2B. For the season, the big man is hitting .295/.378/.469 with 6 HR and 30 RBI.

Gio Urshela, 3B-CAR: 7-14, HR (2), 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, K. A great weekend for the slick-fielding 3B, who's riding a modest 7-game hitting streak for the Mudcats. It would be nice to see him walk more though, as he's worked just 9 free passes in 46 games this season.

Mason Radeke, RP-LCC: W (4-1), 5 IP, ER, 4 H, 4 K. Radeke gave up a solo HR, but not much other than that as he threw 5 effective innings to pick up a victory for the Captains. On the season, he's posted an even 3.00 ERA in 42 low-A innings, striking out 45 and walking just 10.

Francisco Lindor, SS-LCC: 4-10, 2 2B, BB, 4 R, K, CS. Solid weekend for Lindor, who pushes his season line to .285/.369/.410 with 4 HR and 23 RBI. I have to continually remind myself that this kid is just 18 years old.

Luigi Rodriguez, CF-LCC: 3-13, HR (4), 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 K. The 19-year old switch hitter is down to .276/.329/.398 after a hot start. He's a contact hitter with gap power, so really needs to cut down on the strikeouts as he's K'd 70 times in 60 games (254 AB).

Jordan Smith, RF-LCC: 3-12, 2B, RBI, BB, R, 2 K. The OF/3B from Divison II St. Cloud State is hitting a solid .294/.345/.444 with 3 HR and 27 RBI. He's got a smooth, line drive swing that doesn't generate a lot of backspin on the ball, so he may struggle to hit home runs unless he can really start to drive the ball more consistently.

Robel Garcia, 2B-LCC: 3-8, 2B, RBI. Garcia has hit in 3 straight and 4 of his last 5. After a really slow start to the season, he's worked his overall line up to .210/.298/.309 with 3 HR and 23 RBI.

Alex Lavisky, C-LCC: 1-8, HR (4), RBI, R, 4 K. Lavisky has been slumping of late, and is hitting just .184/.295/.289 in his last 10. Hopefully yesterday's HR can jump-start another hitting streak for the young catcher.

Much was made of the scheduled workout on Saturday between Bradley Beal and Harrison Barnes in front of Cavaliers executives.  As has been mentioned many times, it is uncommon for two top prospects to compete against each other in front of a team that has a high draft selection.  Little should be made of the workout being that Beal is a shooting guard and Barnes is a small forward, but there are rumblings that the Cavs brass walked away from that workout being more impressed with Bradley Beal.  

The draft is only in ten days.  The team should start getting an idea of what their draft board looks like sooner than later.  There have been reports that Harrison Barnes was definitely The Guy and a report from nine days later stating that Bradley Beal had "the edge" in the workout.  Not to be outdone, rumblings were rampant from today that the Cavs are intrigued by Andre Drummond and would consider taking him with their pick.  Joe Kotoch of ProBasketballDraft.com brought up the good point that Chris Grant has a long history of selecting players who have high athletic upside over the safe picks.  Chris Grant had a lot to do with the JJ Hickson, Christian Eyenga and Tristan Thompson selections.  Considering that two of those players did not pan out and are no longer with the team, one would hope that Grant would take a more conservative route.  

Andre Drummond is scheduled to work out in Cleveland later this week.  Little should be made of which players schedule workouts where because every single team with a high pick should be expected to do more than their fair share of their due diligence.  To have the fourth pick and not work out Andre Drummond, even if the odds of selecting him are slim, would not make sense.

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An iconic figure in both local broadcasting and Cleveland sports has passed away. Howie Chizek died of heart failure while flying to a Florida vacation Saturday.

Chizek’s day job- one he held for four decades- was as an arch-conservative talk-show host on WNIR in Akron, a polarizing predecessor to Rush Limbaugh who delighted in crossing swords with his liberal counterpart Joe Finan.  

For our purposes, he’s best remembered for his long-standing tenure as the PA announcer for the Cavaliers and Force. The sound of Chizek’s deep, booming voice (“Mark Price… for tha-REEEEE!” “Kaiiiii HAASKIVI!”), whether in person in a Coliseum seat or over the airwaves, was a part of our formative years rooting for our teams.

Jack Hannahan, 3B-LCC: 1-5, RBI, 3 K.

Hannahan finally got off the schnide in minor league play last night, collecting his first hit in 12 AB between AAA Columbus and low-A Lake County. He also struck out three times, bringing his total to 6. Striking out in half of your minor league at bats is less than encouraging, especially when four of those came in low-A play. Still, Hannahan is expected to be activated soon and will hopefully provide a shot in the arm to a suddenly struggling Indians offense. It will be interesting to see how manager Manny Acta, long a supporter of Hannahan, handles both Hannahan and Lonnie Chisenhall's playing time when Jack is re-activated.

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With the Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team in Omaha this weekend for the College World Series, the team is getting a lot of national attention.

The latest comes from Uni Watch, which took at look at the uniforms (naturally) at the eight teams playing for the championship.

The site called Kent’s cream-colored uniforms “gorgeous” and the “single best uniform” among the participants. Kent also received credit for its road throwback-style uniform.

While the bright yellow, gray and navy versions did not receive as high of a grade, it’s nice to see Kent receive as much national publicity as it can get.

The Golden Flashes, currently ranked No. 8 in the nation, have won 38 of their last 46 games, and went won their fourth straight Mid-American Conference title.

Kent State faces No. 6 Arkansas on Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner of that game faces the winner of the Florida and South Carolina game on Monday at 9 p.m.; while the losers play each other in an elimination game at 5 p.m.

The games are all televised by ESPN.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Although the NBA finals are knotted-up at 1 game a piece, the rumor mill is beginning to pick up steam for many teams who have gone fishing.  The Cavaliers are no exception to this considering that they are going to be significantly under the salary cap and because general manager Chris Grant has shown to be active so far in his tenure running the team.

According to a report from Fox Sports Ohio's Sam Amico, the Cavs are in the running to sign Jamal Crawford to a contract.  Crawford, who opted out of his 5.225 million dollar contract with the Portland Trailblazers is reportedly interested in signing with the Cavaliers, Heat, Clippers, Kings or Knicks.  The Cavs are in the market for a shooting guard after Anthony "Veteran Presence" Parker's contract ran out this past season.  Even if the Cavs draft Bradley Beal with the fourth overall pick, one can understand what the appeal is of bringing Jamal Crawford in to be a 6th man for the team.  Crawford's name is associated with 6th Man of the Year awards, big shots in the playoffs and his penchant for scoring.  However, he is 32 years old and his field goal percentage has dipped every year since 2009-2010.  Field goal percentages that dip with aging wing players should be a red flag.

Personally, I am lukewarm on Jamal Crawford being courted by the Cavs.  Cleveland is in dire need of talent, but he is getting up there in age.  Ultimately it would depend on what kind of contract he would sign for.  The length of the contract would be the biggest factor in judging it and not necessarily the dollar amount.  The last thing the Cavs need is a 35 year old wing player taking up a roster spot and shooting at a bad percentage.

Jamal Crawford was originally drafted by the Cavaliers 8th overall in the 2000 draft and was traded to the Bulls for Chris Mihm by GM Jim Paxson.  Sadly, this will not go down in history as the worst move Paxson ever made.

Nobody knows if this rumor has legs.  One would think that it would be prudent to try and sign a younger wing player who is under the radar than going after a guy on the downswing of his career.  Then again, Crawford is a guy who can really help the bench or even start. 

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