Written by Brian McPeek

---

I’m not going to do this. I don't care how strong the fan-centric gravitational pull of Carlos Carrasco and Justin Masterson’s recent performances was. As Eddie Murphy famously stated in ‘Beverly Hills Cop’, “I’m not falling for the old banana in the tailpipe trick”  that maybe Masterson can keep his 6'6" and 250lbs all heading the same way on every delivery and that Carrasco may be developing as a legitimate major league pitcher and innings-eater right in front of our eyes. Good God people, did you see Masterson living and thriving down in the strike zone all night on Saturday night until he went above and beyond 100 pitches?

Did you see him ring up nine strikeouts and completely dominate the Mariners lineup (even if it is a Quadruple-A lineup)? Those have been two awfully impressive starts this year for Masterson thus far and for Carrasco as well, really, but for the 2nd inning last Saturday against Chicago.

No. You're not going to make me do it. I’m too old and too smart to fall for this early season success (well, I’m too old anyway).

I'm not getting excited about a 12-3 Friday night offensive explosion followed up by a 2-1 ‘take-advantage-of-every-slice-of-light-Milton Bradley-gives-you’ pitcher’s duel Saturday night.

Good Lord, I expected them to win Sunday. I expected the Indians to sweep the Mariners Sunday and they did so in a boring, old 6-4 win. It's getting dangerous now.

No!! I refuse to get sucked in and hope that the ball Travis Hafner nearly hit into Puget Sound on Friday night was as much a hopeful glance ahead at what a healthy Pronk can bring as it was a look back at what he once was.

I'm not falling for Michael Brantley maybe being a solid (not spectacular) top of the order guy and CF and for Fausto Carmona having more games like he did this past Thursday afternoon in sweeping the Red Sox than he did against the paler hose of the White Sox in the season opener.

I refuse to believe that Orlando Cabrera was anything other than a bargain-basement free agent acquisition and another in a long line of such pieces acquired solely to keep young guys like Cord Phelps and Jason Kipnis buried in the minor leagues. He can’t be a veteran presence in the middle of the infield who’s come through with clutch hits in the first week and a half and who’s stabilized a much more fundamentally sound infield, can he?

Is it possible that Chris Perez has as much presence on the mound in the 9^th inning as he does on Twitter? Is Tony Sipp going to keep carving through the 8^th inning like he’s out there getting loose in a bullpen session?

No..no..no..no.

I’m not letting a week or better color my expectations. I’m not going to let myself believe that the Indians are playing excellent baseball and are winning games with pitching and defense and by executing in the finer things. I’m not going to let myself wonder what this team might look like when Shin-Soo Choo shows up after an icy start and if/when Grady Sizemore and Joe Smith get healthy enough to contribute to the roster.

No. I’d rather dwell each day on the fact that the payroll is low and that the ballpark was empty in late March and early April. It’s easier to write that story and it’s healthier than getting sucked in only to take another kick to the junk when things inevitably go bad.

I feel better not going onto the limb that’s been glued and taped back together too many times. It doesn’t matter if scouts and experts tell me the farm system is healthy and that it’s loaded with capable major league players who will likely contribute to major league rosters in the near future.

I know many are waiting for the other shoe to drop with the Indians. A big part of me expects it as well. But if you’ve read this column for any length of time you know there’s not much rationalizing going on. It comes from a fan’s perspective, good and bad, and it’s an off the cuff look at week to week happenings. That’s what colors the words and the thoughts expressed on the page.

So yes, after a week in which I watched young pitchers perform brilliantly and a team win games by brutalizing an opponent as well as squeezing in the only run of the game, well, there will be plenty of time to lament another lost summer of baseball on the north coast if and when that anvil does drop on my head.

But for one week, based on what I watched and what I saw from this ball club, yeah, I’m going to enjoy it while others on these pages and elsewhere look for the dark clouds hanging over their heads.

That was one tremendous week. And if you’re not happy unless you’re miserable then it must have sucked to be you. Thursday, Friday and Saturday saw a 1-0 series-sweeping win on a suicide squeeze over the most annoying team and fan base on earth, a 12-3 pounding built on a textbook big inning of base hits capped off by a face-punching bomb from Hafner and then another 2-1 win Saturday night that was built on taking advantage of every opportunity the team was handed.

If you can’t recognize it then you’re too far gone for me to care about. But worry not. There will likely be worse weeks where there are fewer wins and those kids walk on your lawn again. You have that to look forward to.

I Have No Clue

This is what happens when you tie yourself up in a research and reading-based knot. We are closer to the NFL draft than at any point in the last few months where I’ve speculated on just who the Browns will take with the 6^th pick in that draft.

And I'm even more at a loss to speculate what the Browns will do or who they'll take.

I’m pretty damn sure it will not be a quarterback. I’ll make that call here and now. And I’m pretty sure there’s no way in the world you can pass up on a guy like Patrick Peterson, the freakishly athletic and gifted LSU cornerback, if he is still on the board at #6 because he’s quite simply (in my opinion) the biggest immediate difference-maker in the draft and potentially it’s best player when you look back 10 years from now.

I know the Browns went CB last season at #7 but honestly, if they could fall into Peterson and have ¾ of their secondary set at near Pro-Bowl levels for the next decade I think they do it in a heartbeat. Another selling point to Peterson is he’ll probably give you four or five years of Pro Bowl-caliber play at CB before he moves to safety and gives you that same quality of play.

If Peterson is gone that’s where it gets blurry. Any number of quality defensive linemen will be available as will two very talented wide receivers in AJ Green and Julio Jones. Von Miller, the linebacker we discussed here months ago, may also still be on the board.

That’s why I have no clue what the Browns will do.

Bottom line is I don’t think they know either right now and I believe they’re fine with that. Regardless of what happens they’ll get an impact player at a position of need or they’ll have the opportunity to potentially field calls on trading down as some teams look to fill a specific need with a specific player, especially given those teams who might be on a Super Bowl bubble can’t fill those specific needs in free agency due to the lockout. Plenty of people minimize the possibility of dealing down but the fact is that there’s a lockout and going up to get a specific guy should not be glossed over.

Teams in the middle of the round or later might also have a player they feel they need to have because of his potential or because he’s a QB but I feel the top-tiered teams, those with a legit chance at winning it all, will likely be the teams that come calling on the Browns or others who are closer to the top of the draft. They really don’t have many other options with the uncertain status of free agency.

If teams do come calling for the Browns top pick then Cleveland needs to come out of the deal with a much bigger haul than they got for trading down with the Jets a couple years back. Keep in mind that only picks (and not players) can be dealt this year (again because of the CBA situation) and keep in mind that picks this year at the top of the draft will have far greater value than in years past because any resolution to the labor situation will almost surely include a rookie wage scale and slotting system.

#6 this year (and every pick actually) will be cheaper and therefore have more value because the talent level is still high. The Browns would need to exact a heavy toll from anyone that seeks to move up including that team’s 1^st pick this season, a second rounder this season and at least a 1^st rounder next year.

From the Browns perspective, if Peterson is gone and they think they can get an impact DL or WR late in the first round while collecting more picks in a top heavy draft, they’ll jump at the chance. The front office knows it’ll be a couple of drafts before the talent level is where it needs to be and without free agency more picks will mean more holes filled with guys that can operate in both a new offense and new defense.

The incentive to move down is there for Cleveland if their desired impact player is not available at #6. Whether or not the opportunity to move down is there remains to be seen but I think there’s a better than average chance they get tempting offers.

You Don’t Say

There was a day when I would not miss what Terry Pluto had to say via his columns. That’s still true, but for a decidedly different reason: it’s funny at times.

Terry was the best there was for many years at the Plain Dealer and then the Akron Beacon Journal. When he came back to Cleveland a few years ago there was much rejoicing and hoping that Pluto would lift the sinking ship that the PD had become.

Unfortunately Terry came back here much like Kenny Lofton did to the Indians back in 2007. While still decent and at times valuable he just didn't appear to be the same guy that had left. I’m saying it almost seems to me Pluto has gotten somewhat lazy. Not in how much he produces but in the quality he produces.

His use of the +/- hockey stat in his Sunday column to support just how valuable Baron Davis is to the Cavs was one such example. One need not use a crummy basketball metric to show Davis makes guys on the floor with him better. It’s clear without use of stats. That said  any point guard with experience would make this Cavs team better than a raw kid like Ramon Sessions made them.

What the stats can't cite is that Davis has long been considered a cancer in the clubhouse when he wasn’t happy, that he’s not exactly keen on staying in shape and that he’s not likely to be on the floor more than 60 times a season at this point. We’ll see how it goes, but it would have been fine to opine just how much a veteran presence has meant. The use of a crappy hockey stat was just lazy and something to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I could tell you all the Indians were winning at a .780 clip since acquiring Chad Durbin and Justin Germano too. It's just not indicative of the whole story in my amateur opinion.

Just seems one of my all-time favorites has a lost a few miles off the fastball and now has the emery board in his pocket and the Vaseline under the bill of his hat.

I do still read though. I have to admit to that. For no other reason than Pluto occasionally still flashes signs of what made him the very best.

Congratulations!

I just learned that Charles Schwab came out of nowhere to win The Masters. Well done mate. It’s nice to see you take home the jacket after decades of sponsoring the tournament. All your advertising and hard work must have paid off if you’re secure enough to now play in the tournaments you used to support.

And people wonder why it’s critical that Tiger Woods get back to playing winning golf. The sport needs a hero or a villain to anchor it in the hearts and minds of television viewers. I was pulling for Jason Day to tell you the truth. His wife looked the hottest.

Follow me on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/Peeker643