Cavs fans have been focusing on a group of players that includes Harrison Barnes, Bradley Beal, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Thomas Robinson as possibilities for the Cavs when they pick at No. 4 in tonight's NBA Draft.

But Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowksi's has a new contender: Syracuse guard Dion Waiters.

According to Wojnarowski:

The Cavaliers haven’t been able to get Waiters to visit Cleveland for a workout and meeting with officials, but it hasn’t extinguished management’s ever-evolving fascination with choosing Waiters at No. 4 – especially if the Cavaliers are unable to secure Florida guard Bradley Beal.

Cleveland has intensified its background checks on Waiters, and sources in direct contact with Cavs officials believe Waiters would be the franchise's choice over Kansas’ Thomas Robinson should the Charlotte Bobcats select Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at No. 2, and the Washington Wizards take Beal at No. 3.

Because Waiters, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, had a promise later in the lottery, he stopped making visits to teams highest in the lottery. Nevertheless, Cleveland still believes it has strong intelligence on Waiters, an explosive scoring guard the Cavs can pair with Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving. Cleveland still has a strong desire to move to No. 2 to get Beal, but has resisted Charlotte’s attempts to attach Tyrus Thomas to a trade. Thomas has three years and $26 million left on his contract and has become unproductive and largely uncaring as a pro.

According to his draft profile on NBA.com:

Waiters has been projected as a mid first-round pick, no small accomplishment given the fact he’s had to prove what he can do by coming off the bench for two seasons. He’s got NBA-level scoring ability and has continued to improve his defense. Though Syracuse played a zone, Waiters was a key because of his length and strength.

You have wonder how much of this is legitimate and how much is the Cavs putting up a smokescreen to try and get the Bobcats to make a deal that is more in the Cavs favor.

Omar Vizquel, speaking with NESN in Boston, told reporters that he will call it quits following the 2012 season to pursue other opportunities. The 45-year-old Vizquel has 13 singles in 58 at bats this season for the Toronto Blue Jays, serving as the team's utility infielder. He is currently the oldest player in Major League Baseball, with Jamie Moyer playing for Toronto's AAA team, the Las Vegas 51s. Vizquel has played 24 seasons in the bigs and will fall short of the 3,000-hit mark by around 100 or so.

Vizquel said about life after retirement: "I've enjoyed this game a lot, but I think it's time to pursue a new career as a coach or manager, and hopefully I'll get that opportunity in the future."

Much will be made about Vizquel's chances at being a Hall of Famer when he hangs up the spikes. He's likely to be in the all-time top 40 in hits and he's just 19 hits behind Babe Ruth for his career. He's also an 11-time Gold Glove award winner at shortstop.

Vizquel was acquired by the Indians in one of the franchise's best trades. On December 20, 1993, Vizquel was traded from Seattle to Cleveland in exchange for Felix Fermin, Reggie Jefferson, and cash considerations. Amazingly, it was the only time Vizquel was traded in his 24-year career, though he has played for six different teams.

This must be the official Retirement Day of Cleveland Sports.  Shortly after Omar Vizquel announced his impending retirement, former Cavalier great Anthony Parker announced his.  To be fair, it was an unofficial retirement in January when he shot 34.7% in fifteen games in the month of January. 

Parker was signed as a free agent on July 13, 2009.  Parker was brought in to add length to the perimeter and to match up better with the Orlando Magic.  In his first season with the Cavs, the 34 year old scored 7.3 PPG in 81 games.  He was a consistent presence at the shooting guard position during the period when Delonte West had his biggest personal struggles.  Parker signed with the Cavs to presumably come off the bench and he found himself starting all but one game. 

Things took a turn for the worse in his second season with the Cavs.  The departure of LeBron James and age caught up to the veteran and he shot 39.9% from the floor.  Parker was a free agent after the 2010-2011 season ane general manager Chris Grant made it a priority to re-sign the veteran to a one year deal.  In his last year with the Cavs, Parker rebounded on his shooting percentage and scored 7.2 PPG on 43.3%. 

Anthony Parker will retire with a career average of 9.1 PPG.  He played 494 regular season games in the NBA.  Parker was drafted 21st overall by the New Jersey Nets in 1997.  He played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Quad City Thunder of the CBA, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Lottomatica Roma, Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers.  Parker was a three time Euroleague champion and a 2 time Euroleague MVP. 

Anthony Parker made his announcement in an email.  "I wanted to make that decision after the season and make sure that is what I wanted to do.  I'm at peace with it and excited for whatever the future has for me," said Parker.

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A committee of college presidents has agreed to a new college football playoff format , a 4-team playoff to begin after the 2014 regular season. Here's the meat of it:

 No. 1 will play No. 4, and No. 2 will play No. 3 on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The sites of those games will rotate among the four current BCS bowls - Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar - and two more to be determined.

The winners will advance to the championship on the first Monday in January that is six or more days after the last semifinal. The first championship Monday is set for Jan. 12, 2015.

The site of the title game will move around the way the Super Bowl does, with cities bidding for the right to host.

The teams will be selected by a committee, similar to the way the NCAA basketball tournament field is set. The men's tournament has 68 teams, and 37 at-large bids.

The football committee will have a much tougher task, trying to whittle the field down to four. Among the factors the committee will consider is won-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and whether a team is a conference champion. This season, 125 schools will play at the highest level of college football.

Edit:  Must read Dan Wetzel

If there is one decision that Jared Sullinger would probably like to take a mulligan on, it would be to not declare the draft in 2011.  Sullinger was a consistent high pick in every single mock draft and he chose to stay in Columbus presumably because of the looming lockout and to work on his game under Thad Matta.  Instead of being a high pick with one year under his belt, Sullinger's stock is falling quicker than the shares in Facebook.

According to Andy Katz of ESPN, Sullinger's career hit a new low when he was not invited to attend the draft.  Invitations are typically given to players who are likely to be selected in the top 15.  The cause for concern over Sullinger is the medical red flag that he received in connection with his back.  Sullinger suffered from back spasms for part of the Buckeyes' season.

Being drafted high is almost always better than slipping past the lottery, but this could be a blessing in disguise for the ex-OSU power forward.  He could slip to a team that is a playoff contender instead of ending up in a place with shoddy management and coaching.  The biggest factor in this turning out well for him is health.  Where he ends up is a moot point if his back is as bad as people think and it affects his ability to play in the NBA.

It is highly unlikely that the Cavs will draft Sullinger.  There simply is not a lot of smoke in regards to the prospect of Sullinger being selected by the Cavs.  In addition, he does not fill a position of need for Cleveland since they currently have Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao on the roster. 

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The Atlanta Hawks have hired former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry to be the team's president of basketball operations according to a report in The Atlanta Journal Constitution The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Ferry agreed to a "multi-year" deal according to the newspaper, and will succeed current general manager Rick Sund, whose contract expires on July 1. Sund, the Hawks' general manager since 2008, has been working on Thursday’s NBA Draft but Ferry presumably will take over those responsibilities. Sund has expressed an interest in remaining with the Hawks as an adviser, the report said.

“My family and I are thrilled to join the Hawks organization and Atlanta community,” Ferry said in a statement. “There were many components that made this the right fit for me but clearly my confidence in the ownership group and their dedication to building a championship-caliber franchise was most important. They are committed to building with the right people and investing in critical areas for development; both essential elements if we want to create sustained success."

Ferry was most recently vice president of basketball operations for San Antonio and before that he was Cavs general manager from 2005 to 200. During that time he signed Larry Hughes, Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall as free agents, and traded for Antawn Jamison, Shaquille O'Neil  and Mo Williams, among other moves, as he worked to build a roster abound LeBron James.

No word on whether the Hawks saw that as a positive or a negative when making the decision to hire Ferry.

With rumors circulating that the Boston Red Sox could be ready to trade third base man Kevin Youkilis "at any time," some Cleveland Indians fans are getting excited that the Tribe might make a move.

The excitement seems to center around two factors: that Youkilis bats from the right side and he's not Johnny Damon. And while Damon is most likely not the answer in left field, bringing Youkils on board isn't going to help the team either.

Consider these stats for the month of June:

• Damon is hitting .273 with two home runs, eight RBI and an .815 OPS in 44 at bats
• Youkilis is hitting .174 with no home runs, one RBI and a .557 OPS in 46 at bats

How is that an upgrade?

Even with Damon's horrible start to the season, the numbers for the two players are still similar:

• Damon is at .206 with three home runs, 13 RBI and a .621 OPS
• Youkalis is at .225 with four home runs, 13 RBI and a .670 OPS

And while it's not exactly a treat watching Damon play left field every night, Youkalis is not a Gold Glove by any means.

So why would the Indians want to acquire a right-handed version of a player they already have on the roster? Remember, just because you have heard of a player doesn't mean they are still any good. For all the production that Youkilis would give them, the Indians may as well just bring Matt LaPorta back up from Columbus.

Let the White Sox or some other team take a gamble on Youkalis, this is one move the Indians don't need to make.

The Kent State Golden Flashes returned home after a trip nobody thought was possible. For a cold weather MAC team to play baseball in Omaha in June. The Flashes showed the country they were no fluke, sending the top seed Florida Gators home packing Monday. And they returned to campus with a hero's welcome waiting for them.

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Indians prospects Francisco Lindor and Jesus Aguilar were named to the World Team for the 2012 MLB Futures Game in Kansas City today. The Futures Game will be held on Sunday, July 8th at 5pm and air on ESPN2. The Futures Game has become my favorite part of all-star weekend, far surpassing the actual MLB All-Star game itself. The players try hard, all of them consider it an honor to be there, and it's an opportuinity for me to get a great look at some great players that I've only been able to read about in the past. I've seen both Lindor and Aguilar in action of course, but getting a chance to see Dylan Bundy, Jurickson Profar, Billy Hamilton, Wil Meyers and others is a rare treat that should be taken advantage of by any baseball fan. 

Lindor of course was the Indians 1st round pick last year and has been playing an outstanding shortstop for the low-A Lake County Captains. He's been playing gold glove defense while hitting a solid .285/.369/.410 with 4 HR, 23 RBI and 14 SB. Most impressively, he's doing it as an 18-year old playing against competition that's generally 2-3 years older than he is. Lindor was my #1 prospect in the Indians organization this offseason, and barring an unforseen catastrophe will garner the same honor come the spring of 2013.

Aguilar, who I refer to as Big, Bad Jesus Aguilar for his imposing stature at the plate, has been the high-A Carolina Mudcats first baseman this season. He's hitting .295/.378/.469 with 6 HR and 30 RBI. The AVG and OBP lead the Mudcats, and his SLG and OPS are 2nd on the team to Jeremie Tice. His OPS is actually 9th in the entire Carolina League, which helps show just how difficult that league is on hitters. Aguilar was my #15 prospect in the organization this offseason, and if he can maintain those numbers for all of 2012, he'll take a nice leap forward next year. 

In what is becoming a somewhat rare treat, I completely agree with the MLB selections of both Lindor and Aguilar. If I got to pick the players that the Indians get to send to KC, those are the two players I would have chosen. Lindor is one of the top prospects in all of baseball, and Aguilar has impressive raw power that he'll enjoy showing off in BP and hopefully in the game as well. They're exciting players, and will do a great job showcasing the Indians organization to fans around the world on television. For example, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus was in attendance for the Midwest League All-Star game and got to see Lindor play there. Here's what he had to say about the young SS:

"Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor remains a joy to watch. He went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and stolen base on Tuesday, but again, it's his defense that makes him stand out. He began an inning-ending double play on one of those groundballs where you think to yourself, “that's maybe a double play in the big leagues, but almost never in the Midwest League.” He has great instincts, great hands and great actions."

He's already one of my favorite players in the organization, and he's yet to play a game above low-A. If you haven't had the chance to see Lindor or Aguilar play yet, do yourself a favor and set up your DVR for the game and enjoy some quality baseball on all-star weekend. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets took defenseman Ryan Murray with the second overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Murray was the highest-ranked defensemen in the draft and the #2 ranked North American skater by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau. The consensus opinion on Murray is that he has good passing skills and is a phenomenal skater, but was ranked where he was because of his NHL-readiness and mature size. Murray has the potential to be a shutdown defensemen for the Blue Jackets and there's a decent chance that he starts the season in Columbus for the upcoming 2012-13 campaign.

There had been some speculation about the Blue Jackets trading out of the second spot if Murray was selected first by the Edmonton Oilers, but things fell as they were expected to. As far as other speculation, the Blue Jackets are not expected to trade Rick Nash until July, after the teams who lose out on free agent Zach Parise need to explore other possibilities.

In other news, the Jackets traded for goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky before the draft began. The Jackets gave up a second-round and fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft and a fourth rounder in the 2013 draft.