An amateur’s propourri – of sorts – in sports

As we slowly begin (hopefully) to drag ourselves out of winter, let’s peruse the professional sports world …

First, I can’t be more excited at the Guardians’ recent signing of Josh Bell. Sure, it’s only a two-year deal, and Bell can opt out of the second year if he chooses, but I’m okay with that. Why?

It goes deeper than that. It indicates to me that the Dolans have bought into last year’s success and are trying to fill some gaps to hopefully allow this club to proceed to the next level this year, a radical change in philosophy for them.

Additionally, Bell is only 30 (although, yes, an “old guy” on the Guardians roster) and he can be that middle-of-the-order protection for Jose Ramirez the team so desperately needs. We have a very talented group of young players, and the Dolans very easily could have waited to see if someone younger (and cheaper) could step in and do the job, but they opted not to roll the dice and instead spent the money on Bell … now!

Finally, I think the Dolans are acknowledging the fluid dynamics of baseball today. They have watched the proverbial “window of opportunity” close sooner than expected on previous good, young Indians teams in the recent past, which does not exactly endorse their typical “no need to rush into anything” approach (especially when it comes to spending).

Sure, I’d like to have Bell for 3 or 4 years guaranteed, but I’ll take Bell for the year. Besides, length of contract holds no guarantees. Look at it this way: Jimmy Haslam has essentially been on a long-term contract since he bought the Browns in 2012. How’s that working out so far?

Speaking of Jimmy and Dee, geez, you can’t turn your back on them for a minute, can you?

They have acquired a 25% share in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, which have a reported $3.5 billion valuation (U.S. currency, not Monopoly money). I guess it makes sense now that they’ve turned the Browns into a well-oiled machine; a perennial Super Bowl contender. Yep, it makes all the sense in the world. Besides, if they used the same valuation formula they used on Deshaun Watson, they probably overpaid the Bucks something like 2.5 times their actual value. My guess is that Jimmy was attracted to the Milwaukee franchise because he likes anything that has to do with bucks, right?

And as far as you poor Milwaukee Bucks season ticket holders are concerned; I have one piece of advice for you: Run! Run like the wind! Your days of winning basketball are over. Once Jimmy and Dee decide to tweak things up a bit, you’ll be on the bottom looking up. Just ask any Browns fan. We feel so bad for you.

Oh, and it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Jimmy and Dee want a new playpen for their football team – at taxpayer expense! Don’t let them extort a new stadium out of you Cleveland (or “we’ll have no choice but to relocate to another city.”)

Let them relocate. At this point, I’d rather start over again with another expansion team. How could you tell the difference?