Written by Brian McPeek

---

Do you realize what kind of monumental roll the April Indians have to be on to knock the Browns draft off the top page of The Weekend Wrap? It’s an “18-8 best-record-in-baseball, 12 in a row at home” kind of roll that’s required and that’s exactly what that roster full of ‘Joos Dats’ and ‘Willy Everpanouts’ has done. In fact, after Sunday their winning percentage in May is even better than their winning percentage in April and the leave a 13-game home winning streak in the rear view as they head out west (again) to face the A’s and the Angels (again).

But I have draft thoughts for you too in ‘The Wrap’.

Hotter than a McDonald’s Apple Pie

Everyone with half a head full of brain matter knows that, outside of the Japan, the hottest thing in creation is a McDonald’s apple pie. Those little apple-flavored briquettes can take rust off a fender and will turn the inside of your mouth to something that looks like bacon grease and clay.

But the Indians might be hotter than even those little pie-bombs right now.

After last Sunday’s choke and puke in Minnesota you know you were ready to settle in for the Tribe baseball you’ve come to expect the past couple years. The early season run was nice but all was coming back into focus after the Twins took two of the three from the Indians last weekend. And we all had an extra day on Monday to convince ourselves that the carriage was again a pumpkin because the Indians didn’t play that night.

But a funny thing happened on the way to despair: Kansas City came to Progressive Field and got ball-batted by the Indians.

The Indians outscored the Royals by a cumulative 24-8 Tuesday through Thursday of last week and put the Royals out of the misery that the Rangers had put them into the previous three games.

But the weekend series against Detroit was different. This was a hotly contested three game series that came down to the last pitch each night. The Indians got a huge walk-off grand slam HR from Carlos Santana on Friday night, beat the Tigers in 13 innings on Saturday night despite watching 17 Tribe hitters strike out and then they came from down a run in the 8^th inning on Sunday to regain the lead and hold on for their SIXTH SERIES SWEEP of the SEASON.

They’re truly winning in every conceivable way and getting help from every conceivable spot on the roster. If it’s not Jack Hannahan turning in a gold-glove caliber bare hand play one minute it’s Michael Brantley hitting his first HR of the season to tie the Tigers at 2-2 on late in Saturday night’s game. The Tribe continues to get excellent starting pitching and excellent production from the bullpen. Innings that used to mushroom from a one or two run stanza to a five run punch in the face aren’t getting away from Tribe pitchers.

The bottom line is baseball is as much fun as a Miami Heat injury right now and this club is giving itself a little wiggle room for when the time comes that not everything is going so well. They have a five game lead over the Royals, 7.5 games over Detroit and 9.5 game leads over the struggling Twins and White Sox. I don’t expect the bloom to stay on the Hannahan rose all season any more than I expect Vinnie Pestano to summon memories of Goose Gossage from my past, but they’re making this a very interesting and enjoyable season thus far.

People apparently are starting to take notice because 8,000+ walked up and bought seats Saturday night. What might be most impressive, and what might have brought a good number of those 8,000 people out Saturday, is that the Indians clearly believe they have a shot. Not in the clubhouse, that’s not what I mean. The guys there CLEARLY believe they have a chance. But the guys in the front office do too. You can tell because they didn’t take the time to recall David Huff from Columbus when they needed a starter after Carlos Carrasco hit the DL.

Nope. They know what they have in Huff and they aren’t in all that big a hurry to see it again. Instead they called up a kid they drafted less than two years ago and whose free agency clock is now alive and ticking. Alex White came up to pitch Saturday and he looked like a kid who was perfectly comfortable throwing strikes to Major League hitters. He caught on the chin a couple times but only for two solo shots. He was effective enough and had enough command to not get bit a big inning and he gave the Tribe 6 strong before giving way to a bullpen that added 7 scoreless behind him.

That they brought up White is a great sign for the club and the fans. It says that if they feel it’s warranted that they’re willing to sacrifice some control to take this team to the next level.

It’s nice to see White here and here’s hoping he never goes back to the minor leagues, but at some point someone will put up big numbers on the kid. Just like at some point this team is going to lose 4 in a row. It’s just bound to happen. But the Indians seem capable of bouncing back and I haven’t seen that characteristic in years. Bad innings led to bad games which led to bad weeks and bad months the past couple years but not thus far with the 2011 version.

Even better? There’s still more help down on the farm. If Chad Durbin continues to lob softballs to American League hitters Chad Durbin’s ass will be let go or, ahem, bruised/hurt enough to disable for a few weeks to get straight. Nick Hagadone is just biding his time in AA Akron. The big left hander with the 96+ fastball hasn’t been touched this season and I think there’s an excellent chance he never sees Columbus if the Indians need an arm any time soon. Behind Hagadone is Drew Pomeranz blowing guys away in Kinston and who could very well be on the Alex White career arc if not reach the bigs earlier.

Maybe it won’t last. But I’m no longer betting on that and regardless of whether it does or not I’m thrilled to see the front office not only collecting front line talent, but bringing it to Cleveland when it’s a matter of it being the right thing to do competitively as opposed to financially. That gets a huge “Hell Yeah” from me.

What The….?

I don’t know much more than anyone else about Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard and Greg Little but I do know they played the following positions respectively in college: DL, DE, WR.

From being a season ticket holder of the Cleveland Browns for 10 years I know the following in terms of what positions the Browns are in dire need of help: All of them except QB, P and K.

Looking at the first three draft picks again I am therefore thrilled to death with those picks. Actually, from Jason Askew’s fine ‘Feeling a Draft’ series and from actually doing some research of my own, I love what the Browns did. They picked a mountain of a mean man in the first round after trading down when their home run hitters were gone. That’s excellent draft management and it was better when you consider they treated the Atlanta Falcons like a stupid step child in getting 2 firsts, a  2^nd and 2 4^th round picks to allow the Falcons to bet it all on Julio Jones.

It’s even better when you stop to understand that delusions of playoff grandeur are impossible until you’re not the weak sister in your own division. Phil Taylor is an anchor in the middle of the defensive line who will team with Ahtyba Rubin to occupy, manhandle and maul opposing offensive lines to not only make plays for themselves but also allow the linebackers to make plenty more. We talk sometimes about ‘force multipliers’, guys who are good themselves but elevate others with their presence. Taylor has the potential to be that force multiplier for the Browns defensive front seven.

And while Taylor is clogging up the field for guys trying to run in the middle of it and while he’s also scratching and clawing and trying to collapse the passing pocket, Sheard is going to be either be bulling his way to the quarterback from his likely RDE position or flying around that edge to hopefully give the Browns the pass rush they so sorely need.

Love the first two picks because we’ve heard Tom Heckert talk about the core of his teams being the DL, the DEs and the CBs and he’s stayed true to that thus far. He clearly has a plan and a philosophy and he’s very clearly following it and doing so with Mike Holmgren’s blessing.

And I’ve been all over Greg Little for 6-8 weeks now. He was the unheralded UNC suspendee in the group under Butch Davis that lost last season for taking gifts from agents. He’s also a guy who’s only played one season as a WR after going to Carolina as a running back. But damn if he’s not fun to watch. I know highlights are highlights and dude has some holes in his game and maybe his life but watch this video and tell me a kid that big, fast, physical and strong isn’t going to make friends fast in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Pay close attention to the 3minute mark of that video and tell me Little doesn’t have a bit of a red ass in regard to his blocking. One of the reasons I loved Julio Jones as a prospect is because of that ‘force multiplier’ deal. A guy like Jones makes you better in the receiving corps, the running game and makes your QB better by proxy. Little looks to be as physical as Jones and then some.

A couple months ago I said in that thread that I thought Little would be a very good mid to late round pick if the Browns were going to address other positions earlier. Well, he wasn’t going to get by many teams with his blend of speed, size and physicality. The kid has been given a blank check to get his life straight here in a town where he’ll be beloved if he’s simply better than Chansi Stuckey this season.

So I watch the draft unfold and I love where the Browns and Heckert are going. You can almost pick positions with them and sometimes even players. I understood the philosophy for rounds 1 and 2 and was fine with the trade back to 21 from 27 despite the price because I’m all about evening the field with big guys on the line like they utilize in Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Then comes Saturday and I swear to God a drunken monkey replaced Heckert on some dare or game show because the name Jordan Cameron pops up on my phone screen as the Browns first pick in Round 4, the 102^nd pick overall.

I almost shat myself.

Now, there’s plenty to be said about the kid. He’s big, strong, fast, etc. Kind of like a million other draft prospects. But this is bothersome when you’re talking about one of the top 100 picks (or so):

Naturally separates because of combo of size, speed and athletic ability. But is extremely raw as a route runner. Needs to be more physical and aggressive. Needs to learn to dictate his routes. Takes too long getting in and out of breaks. Appears hesitant at times and inexperience really shows in this area of his game.

Blechh… Plenty of capable players out there and you take a project TE? When you have a few good years of Watson still left and Moore is viable when healthy? In the deepest DL drat ever and when you can find OL prospects right in this very neighborhood.

This is a pick I was disgusted with when I saw. Not because Cameron may not become a fine player, but because it flew in the face of the philosophy that Heckert typically employs.

And to follow it up with Owen Marecic, the two way FB/LB (if you watched this past year’s Orange Bowl you surely know that given the announcer said it 612 times). Fine. That means Lawrence Vickers should pick up his door prize and forward his mail. I’m fine with that. But seriously, it strikes me as odd that these were value picks in terms of them not being available a round or two later. Marecic is probably the safest bet of all the players drafted to stick and be here five years from now due to the nature of his position (and he will be a fullback here). He’ll also be a fan favorite here because he likes to blow things up like a demolitions expert and because, admit it, he could give NFL fans the rarest of all things; an all white backfield when he lines up ahead of Peyton Hillis on a 3^rd and 1 or 2^nd and goal.

Just not sure a 4^th round pick (and to be fair it was a pick from the Falcons late in the 4^th round that you could probably bunch in with the 5^th rounders) was necessary to get him here.

As for Buster Skrine in the 5^th round? Meh…he’s a fast little midget with average college coverage skills. Maybe he can catch on returning some punts and kicks but for my money he’s even money to even make the club if the Browns re-sign Eric Wright.

Jason Pinkston was a late 5^th round OL prospect from Pitt who apparently isn’t too keen on the weight room and working out and 7^th rounder Eric Hagg is a safety from Nebraska who is more the ball hawking type than the anvil-in-the-pocket type of hard-hitting safety. Both are likely practice field fodder and apparently Hagg fills the ‘Safety from Nebraska’ late round pick criteria that Heckert instituted in Cleveland with Larry Asante last year.

Like I said, I don’t which if any of these guys will be ballers, Pro Bowlers or busts. I do know that they caught my attention Thursday and Friday because they followed their philosophy and played it straight up.

Saturday was a soup sandwich.

All of that means in five years we’ll probably have a Pro Bowl TE and FB here on the north coast while we wonder whatever happened to Greg Little.