The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rangers score twice in fifth to back starter Metz
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If the Cavaliers don’t start showing some improvement in the final stretch of the season, could it cost Koby Altman his job? Plus, Jeff Schudel weighs in on Troy Hill and Mitchell Trubisky.
Koby Altman might be in his last season as the team’s general manager if the Cavaliers don’t show marked improvement between now and the end of regular season, according to a report by Sam Amico of FortyEightminutes.com.
Altman was promoted from assistant general manager to GM on July 24, 2017. The Cavs lost to the Warriors in five games in the NBA Finals in June 2018, in his first season on the job.
LeBron James left in free agency to sign with the Lakers after the 2018 Finals. Since then, the Cavs finished19-63 in 2019 and 19-46 in 2020 under Altman. They are currently 17-31, 13th in the NBA East, heading into their game in Miami April
3.
“Sources have indicated that general manager Koby Altman could very well be on the hot seat,” Amico wrote on March
30. “While team owner Dan Gilbert isn’t viewing this season as “playoffs-orbust,” the Cavs do need to show competitiveness, determination and all the other buzzwords that indicate steps in a promising direction.”
The return of Kevin Love from a calf injury and Matthew Dellavedova from a concussion and an appendectomy makes the Cavaliers better, but it will take time to build up their minutes. Another setback for Love if he pushes too hard could end his season.
One way or another, the Cavs and Altman completely botched the Kevin Porter Jr. situation. The Cavs traded four secondround picks and cash considerations to the Pistons for the draft rights to Porter, who was selected by Milwaukee with the 30th pick in the 2019 draft.
Porter averaged 10 points in 50 games as a Cavs rookie. But he was deemed a bad fit for the team culture before the start of the current season and traded to Houston in January for a secondround pick. He didn’t start playing with the Rockets until March 11, but he has averaged 15.9 points a game through 10 games.
The decision to not play Andre Drummond after Feb. 12 defies logic, too. That plan certainly did not make the Cavaliers better. Drummond was bought out on March 26 — one day after the trade deadline — and now plays for the Lakers.
• The fact the Cavaliers are in contention for a play-in spot at 14 games under .500 is absurd, in my opinion, yet such is the case in the NBA East. They are three games behind 10th-place Chicago (19-27). The teams that finish ninth and 10th in each conference meet in a onegame playoff. The winner of that game meets the
loser of a game between the teams that finish seventh and eighth for the eighth slot in the playoffs.
Homecoming for Hill
The Browns’ newest cornerback Troy Hill, born in Youngstown and raised there until he was 15 years old, chose in part to sign with the Browns so he could be near his family after five years with the Rams.
“It’s an exciting process for me, and I’m enjoying it,” Hill said recently on Zoom. “Just growing up, knowing what Ohio football is, how much they cherish Ohio football, the fanbase in Cleveland and everything that comes along with it, I’m excited to be out here. It kind of reminds me of being a kid again and playing ball as a kid.”
Hill, 29, said he grew up a Broncos fan despite being halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. He is old enough to remember Cleveland was without pro football from 1996-98.
Hill grew up in a poor, tough part of Youngstown. He moved to Los Angeles when he was 15.
“It’s easy to become a product of your environment,” Hill said. “At the same time, it built a foundation for me to be tough and to be able handle different things. I have nothing but respect for the city, and I love being from there because like I say, it gave me a foundation and a mindset to where I know I came from this, I know I can make it anywhere.”
Hill will likely be the slot cornerback for the Browns with Denzel Ward on the left side and Greedy Williams on the right side.
Hill signed a four-year, $24 million contract with the Browns. He wants to use some of that money to give youth in Youngtown a better opportunity than he had growing up.
“I really wanted to open up a school out there — maybe like an all-boy or all-girl (school),” he said. “I haven’t really put it all together, but I wanted to open up a charter school and give back to the community as much as possible. I feel like I can do a lot
of help out there to bring this community back up.”
• Jay Skurski, who covers the Bills for the Buffalo News, gave the Bills an Aminus for signing Mitchell Trubisky with this explanation:
“Trubisky is better than Matt Barkley (the backup for Bills starter Josh Allen last season). For anyone wondering why the Bills signed the former No. 2 overall pick to serve as Allen’s new backup, that’s the reason. If the Bills were to lose Allen for a chunk of time, Trubisky gives the team a better chance of staying afloat than Barkley would. Again, that alone makes it a good move. It’s also not a huge financial commitment.
“The one element worth questioning is how Trubisky will work with Allen away from the field. Barkley was a big part of the culture in the locker room and a great sounding board for Allen at practice and on the sideline. That’s a potential loss if Trubisky can’t (or won’t) provide the same.”
Trubisky, former Mentor High School star, signed with the Bills for one year and $2.5 million. He was drafted second overall by the Bears in 2017.
The Bauers option
The simple explanation for why the Indians chose Jake Bauers over Bobby Bradley to play first base is Bauers is out of options. The Indians would not be able to send him to Columbus without exposing him to waivers. But more than that went into the decision, Indians president Chris Antonetti said.
“We don’t have a great sense necessarily from other teams, but there’s been interest in Jake from other teams in the past and our expectation was that if we did designate him for assignment or place him on waivers that he’d no longer be in the organization, and that was a consideration,” Antonetti said. “But the entirety of the decision wasn’t just based on Jake’s option status. We do believe that Jake has always been a very young player at every level.
“There have been some indicators we think gives him a chance to be successful. We’re hoping he’s going to take advantage of the opportunity that’s in front of him and allow this to be the start of the productive major league career for him.”
Bauers is 25. He was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in December 2018 for infielder Yandy Diaz and pitcher Cole Sulser. He played in 119 games for the Indians in 2019 and batted .226 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI.
Bauers got his first start of the season on April 3 against Tigers righthander Julio Teheran. He said he tried not to focus on how his spring training battle with Bradley was a winner-take-all proposition.
“I tried to put the focus more on what I needed to do to get ready for the season to show up in a bigleague game,” he said on March 31. “I think I made good progress on that. Overall I was happy with my work and the consistency I put in in the weight room.
“Coming into opening day, I couldn’t feel better physically or mentally in the clubhouse with my teammates. I feel like I’m in a really good spot. I feel that the team as a whole is in a really good spot. We’re all excited to get it going.”
Bradley is a phone call away if Bauers falters.
I didn’t know that
... until I read my Snapple bottle cap.
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated . ... You can tickle other people, but it is impossible to tickle yourself . ... An average cumulus cloud weighs more than 70 adult TRexes . ... One is the only number with letters in reverse alphabetical order. ... Australia has 10,685 beaches. You could visit a different beach every day for more than 29 years . ... You are always looking at your nose. Your brain just chooses to ignore it.