Assuming there is a season, of course...

Week 1 - Sunday, Sept 11 (1 pm) - Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2 - Sunday, Sept 18 (1 pm) - at Indianapolis Colts

Week 3 - Sunday, Sept 25 (1 pm) - Miami Dolphins

Week 4 - Sunday, Oct. 2 (1 pm) - Tennessee Titans

Week 5 - BYE

Week 6 - Sunday, Oct. 16 (4:05 pm) - at Oakland Raiders

Week 7 - Sunday, Oct. 23 (1 pm) - Seattle Seahawks

Week 8 - Sunday, Oct. 30 (4:15 pm) - at San Francisco 49'ers

Week 9 - Sunday, Nov. 6 (1 pm) - at Houston Texans

Week 10 - Sunday, Nov. 13 (1 pm) - St. Louis Rams

Week 11 - Sunday, Nov. 20 (1 pm) - Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 12 - Sunday, Nov. 27 (1 pm) - at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 13 - Sunday, Dec. 4 (1 pm) - Baltimore Ravens

Week 14 - Thursday, Dec. 8 (8:20 pm) - at Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL Network)

Week 15 - Sunday, Dec. 18 (4:15 pm) - at Arizona Cardinals

Week 16 - Saturday, Dec. 24 (1 pm) - at Baltimore Ravens

Week 17 - Sunday, Jan. 1 (1 pm) - Pittsburgh Steelers (or at Cleveland Steelers, depending on how you look at it)

Around the Farm is back after a little travel-related hiatus. I was in Cleveland this past weekend watching the Indians sweep the Orioles, then took in a game at beautiful Huntington Park on Monday morning before driving back to the DC-area yesterday.  So after about a thousand miles of driving (literaly, look it up), $250 or so in gas and 17+ hrs in the car later, I have to ask myself: was it worth it?  Was it worth driving all the way to Cleveland to watch the first-place Indians sweep the Orioles? Was it worth it to go and sit in the social suite with Pauly C, Peek and Adam Burke on a sunny/rainy/sunny/rainy Saturday? Was it worth it to drink some Elliot Ness on tap? Was it worth it to finally get to see Huntington Park, one of the best venues in all of minor league baseball?

Yeah, it was definitely worth it.  And I'll be doing it again and again throughout the summer.  I'll see you at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, or at Local Heroes before/afterwards.

With that public service announcement out of the way, let's get back to business and take a look Around the Farm. As always, the positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's games:

• Scott Barnes, SP-COL: 5 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 5 BB. So-so AAA debut for Barnes, who was called up to replace Jenmar Gomez. He limited the damage, but the 5 walks are of concern. Let's hope it was nerves and he's better the next time out for the Clippers.
• Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 1-2, 2B, 2 BB. Phelps snapped out of an 0-11 skid with a double, one of just 5 hits for the Clippers yesterday in a 4-2 loss.
• Brett Brach, SP-AKR: W (1-0), 6 IP, 2 H, 4 K, BB. Brach had an impressive AA debut filling in for Barnes, allowing just 3 baserunners and no runs. He'll likely be headed back to Kinston after the spot start, but the Akron coaching staff will remember this outing down the road.
• Bryan Price, RP-AKR: 2 IP, 2 K, BB. Price rebounded after a disasterous outing to put up zeroes on the scoreboard, facing just 7 batters in the process.
• John Drennen, RF-AKR: 1-4, HR (3), RBI, R, K. Drennen is now hitting .324/.444/.676 on the year with 3 HR and 8 RBI
• Matt Lawson, 3B-AKR: 3-4, 2 CS. Lawson has hit in 3 of his last 4 games (5-13) to raise his average to .292.
• Drew Pomeranz, SP-KIN: 4 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 5 K, 3 BB.  You see!  He's not a machine! He's a man!! Pomeranz was merely mortal yesterday, giving up his first earned runs of the season and allowing three walks. He now has 22 K in 15 IP, and an ERA of 1.80
• Preston Guilmet, RP-KIN: IP, 3 K. Following the lead of "Mr. K" Corey Burns, Guilmet struck out the side in order in the 9th for the K-Tribe. 
• Justin Toole, 2B-KIN: 4-5, 4 RBI, SB. Toole is off to a hot start for the K-Tribe, as he's hitting .435 (10-23) with 3 SB on the young season.
• Adam Abraham, 3B-KIN: 2-5, 2B, R, K. Abraham has been the most consistent hitter in the Kinston lineup this year, and boasts an impressive .314/.432/.629 line so far in 2011.
• Roberto Perez, C-KIN: 1-2, 2 BB, R. The defensive superstar is hitting just .200 for Kinston, but does have a .351 OBP. He has a good approach at the plate, he just needs to work on making more consistent contact.
• Bo Greenwell, LF-KIN: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, R, SB, CS. Greenwell did a little of everything for Kinston at the plate and on the bases yesterday. He's traditionally a hot starter, and is having another solid April with a .297 average.

Whatever you’re doing right now is not as important as what you should be doing. Something dark, evil and heinous is taking place at this very moment -- and you have the opportunity to stop it from ever happening.

What is this horrible, horrible thing, you ask?

Peyton Hillis is paired against Michael Vick in the annual “Madden Voting”, a process that determines which NFL player will grace the cover of Madden’s video football game.

Why is this a bad thing, you ask?

Dang you’re annoying with all your questions. It’s a bad thing because of the curse, of course. “The Madden Curse” is a very real thing that turns NFL stars into targets of bad karma.

Eddie George was an unstoppable fireball of ill-intentions on the football field before he graced the cover of Madden’s football game. The next year, and for the remainder of his career, George never averaged over 3.3 yards per carry.

Daunte Culpepper won the honors the year before George. He had led the Vikings to the playoffs after an incredible season, but the following year, he threw 23 interceptions and set an NFL record for fumbles.

Marshall Faulk appeared on the 2003 cover, and following that year, he never recorded a 1,000 yard rushing season while also succumbing to reoccurring knee injuries.

Fast forwarding a little, Brett Favre appeared on the ‘09 cover and then randomly started sending pictures of his genitalia to female reporters shortly after.

What does it all mean? It means that if you don’t go and start voting for Michael Vick to be Madden’s new curse carrier, our insane, bone-crushing running back will inherit this misfortune. Hillis will not get 1,200 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns next year. He’s more likely to be eaten by a shark in the middle of an Arizona desert. I don’t care if that didn’t make sense. Something awful will happen and we can’t afford that. I’ve seen too many episodes of Depressing Cleveland Sports to allow this to happen.

Do it. Go vote for Vick. Here’s the link. I just voted for Vick. Then I opened an “incognito browser” in Google Chrome and voted for Vick again. Then I told my receptionist her car was on fire, and when she ran out to the parking lot to check, I used her computer to vote for Vick as well.

Do everything you can. Do it for Cleveland. Vote for Vick.

Who saw this coming?

Tribe has won the season series with the Royals seven straight years. Royals coming off a 3-2 loss to the Mariners yesterday, but took the first three of the series. Alex Gordon looks like he's finally starting to live up to the hype he got as one of baseball's top prospects a couple years ago. He and Billy Butler have given the Royals two solid young bats in the middle of that lineup and they've gotten hot starts from guys like Wilson Betemit and Jeff Francouer. KC leads the AL in batting average, runs, and OBP and are second in stolen bases with 19.

Like the Indians, the Royals are also hitting well with RISP, have gotten better than expected starting pitching, and their bullpen has been outstanding. They have five guys in their bullpen I've never heard of with ERA's < 2.25, and Soria is not one of em.

Let's keep it rolling Tribe. This is really fun ...

Tonight, 8:10 PM - Carlos Carrasco (1-1, 5.03) vs Kyle Davies (1-1, 9.00)
Tomorrow, 8:10 PM - Jeanmar Gomez (0-0, 0.00) vs Bruce Chen (2-0, 2.37)
Wedns, 8:10 PM - Justin Masterson (3-0, 1.33) vs Luke Hochevar (2-1, 4.21)
Thurs, 8:10 PM - Josh Tomlin (3-0, 2.75) vs Sean O'Sullivan (1-1, 5.00)

The Indians announced this morning that CF Grady Sizemore has been activated off the disabled list and will bat leadoff today in the series finale against Baltimore. To make room for Sizemore on the active roster P Mitch Talbot was placed on the disabled list with a right elbow strain. Talbot is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

Sizemore hasn't played since last May after injuring himself on a slide into 2nd base and undergoing microfracture surgery. Michael Brantley had been leading off and playing CF for the Indians and will likely switch to LF with Sizemore back. Brantley has started the 2011 season by hitting .302 in 53 at-bats with an OBP of .367

Around the Farm takes a quick look at how some of the prospects throughout the Indians system performed in yesterday’s games. As always, the positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s games.

Some outstanding pitching performances in the system yesterday, as the three affiliates who were in action combined to go 4-0. Columbus swept a doubleheader yesterday without getting too much offense, Akron won in a shutout and Lake County got a strong start from a 2010 draft pick to propel them to victory.

Jeanmar Gomez, SP-COL: W (2-0), 7 IP, 8 H, 7 K, BB.

Gomez threw a “complete game” shutout for the Clips in game one of the doubleheader yesterday. One of the candidates for the 5^th spot in the Cleveland rotation this spring, Gomez would be one of the first guys the big club turns to in case of injury or ineffectiveness.  I’m contractually obligated to tell you that Gomez “scattered” 8 hits over his seven innings pitched. He allowed baserunners in each of the first six innings yesterday, but was able to pitch effectively with runners on base and limit the damage.  The strikeouts certainly helped, as did 2 GIDPs and an unsuccessful attempt on the part of Scott Sizemore to steal home.

Scott Barnes, SP-AKR: W (1-0), 7 IP, 2 H, 10 K.

Barnes was simply dominant last night, and the big lefty now has 17 K in 11 IP on the season for Akron. He’s repeating AA, but is still just 23 years old. He had a bumpy 2010 campaign for the Aeros, but his peripheral #’s were solid, and he had an outstanding season in the elite Arizona Fall League this past offseason.  A few more outings like this, and Barnes will be in line for a move down I-71 to Columbus.

• Zach Putnam, RP-COL: S (2), 2 IP, H, K. Putnam with his 2^nd straight 2-inning save, as he came into a 4-3 game and allowed just the lone baserunner to lock down the doubleheader sweep for the Clippers.
• Chad Huffman, LF-COL: 2-4, 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, SB. Huffman had a pretty good spring, but his 2-4 effort yesterday raised his average to .095 on the season for Columbus.
• Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 1-4, K. Phelps still hitting a blistering .414/.485/.724 on the year.
• Grady Sizemore, CF-COL: 1-3, HR (1), RBI, R, 2 K. The homer is nice to see; the two strikeouts, especially against a RHP who’s not much of a prospect, not so much.
•  Chun Chen, C-AKR: 1-4, R, 2 K. Not a huge day, but the best day of any catcher in the system.
• Kyle Blair, SP-LCC: 4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 7 K, 2 BB. Blair was better yesterday than in his first start, as he limited the walks and missed some bats.
• J.D. Reichenbach, RP-LCC: W (1-0), 4 IP, 2 H, 4 K. The UDFA out of Elon came in after Blair and completely shut down the Dayton offense to earn the W.
• Jason Smit, RF, LCC: 2-3, HR (1), 3 RBI, R, K. Smit is battling Cord Phemps for the title of hottest start in the system, position player division.  He’s hitting a robust .483/.571/.759, and appears to finally be healthy.
• Nick Bartolone, SS, LCC: 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 R, SB. Bartolone’s first hits since the opener, and the speedy SS stole his first professional base.

Cleveland Browns General Manager Tom Heckert made some interesting comments regarding the 2011 NFL draft in a conference call yesterday afternoon.

"(Our draft board) is pretty much set," Heckert said. "There are obviously some tweaks. We're not exactly sure who we're going to take with the first pick. It all depends on what happens in front of us.”

The Browns have the sixth pick in this year’s draft, which is a great spot to be in if Cleveland is planning on drafting a defensive lineman. With Marcell Dareus, Nick Fairley, De’Quan Bowers and Robert Quinn on the board, the Browns would almost assuredly land one of these great prospects.

But if Heckert, Holmgren and the coaching staff want a wide receiver, particularly A.J Green, they might be two spots behind where they need to be.

It’s rumored that the Cincinnati Bengals will ignore their need for a quarterback with the fourth overall pick and select Green instead. If that’s the case, Cleveland management would have to put together a package for one of the teams selecting ahead of them and “trade up” the draft order. This is all assuming the Browns want Green that badly. But Heckert established that as a possibility (again, assuming that he’s talking about Green) during the conference call yesterday, "Right now, we're just going through different scenarios. If we trade up, who do we trade up for?”

Heckert also talked about the possibility of “trading down”, which could happen if the guy they really wanted was taken by the time their sixth selection rolls around. If they do that, the Browns could gain a valuable second or third round pick in a trade.

All of this is conjecture of course, which is probably annoying to read. Browns fans want to read another mock draft probably about as much as I want to see the Black Eyed Peas preform anything live, ever again. But this has become an annual event -- the two months leading up to the draft forces more Mel Kiper and Todd McShay into our lives than we should ever, ever be forced to have. This will all be over in two weeks. Then we can get back to writing about the inevitable lockout.

Around the Farm takes a quick look at how some of the prospects throughout the Indians system performed in yesterday’s games. As always, the positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s games.

Yesterday was a better day in the system, as the farm teams went 2-1 with some outstanding individual performances. The best individual performance actually came in the lone loss, as Drew Pomeranz “earned” a no-decision despite throwing a gem. 

Cory Burns, RP-AKR: S (4), IP, R (0 ER), 2 H, 3 K

OK, now this is just getting ridiculous.  Burns has appeared in four games this season.  He has thrown four innings.  He has four saves.  He’s allowed four baserunners.  The fours end there though, because Burns has walked ZERO batters and struck out ELEVEN. I’m bad at math, but I think he’s struck out 11 of the 12 outs he has recorded so far this year, and has an 11/0 K/BB ratio.  Burns was almost human last night, allowing a pair of hits (both singles). But if there were such a thing as an unearned hit, both of those would have been as they came with 2 outs and after an error on a routine grounder by SS Juan Diaz.

Drew Pomeranz, SP-KIN: 5 2/3 IP, R (0 ER), H, 8 K, 2 BB

Pomeranz had his second straight dominant start yesterday, and the only hit he allowed was to the final batter that he faced on the day.  Pomz now has 17 K in 11 IP, his first 11 IP as a professional.  Expect Pomz to be on the Alex White plan; pitch in Kinston for the first month or two of the season, then move up to Akron and finish out the year there. He’s likely on an innings limit of around 150, so when he does get moved up to the Aeros, make sure you get out and see him early.  This kid is the real deal.  He still needs to continue to develop and refine his changeup in order to be an effective pitcher at the big league level, but he’s showing that his 93-96 MPH fastball and 12-6 spike curve are enough to make hitters in the lower levels of the minors look foolish.

Mike Rayl, SP-LCC: W (2-0), 6 IP, H, 6 K, 2 BB.

It was a good day for the pitchers in the system yesterday. Rayl has an even 11 K in his 11 IP this season for the Captains, and has yet to allow a run. He’s allowed a total of 2 hits. The 6’5” lefty was a 15^th round draft pick in 2009 and put up a 2.81 ERA for short season Mahoning Valley last year. He throws a low-90’s fastball, a curveball and changeup. He’s got a good chance to stick in the rotation in the long term, and still should fill out his frame and add a couple of MPH on his fastball. 

• Joe Gardner, SP-AKR: W (2-0), 5 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K, 4 BB. Gardner with his typical 7-1 GO/FO ratio, but an atypical 2/4 K/BB ratio.  It’s early, but Gardner has 8 BB in 11 IP. We’ve all see pitchers with dominant sinkers lose their ability to command the pitch in the past; hopefully Gardner gets back on track in his next start.
• Nick Hagadone, RP-AKR: 2 IP, H, 3 K. That’s now 6 IP without a walk or an earned run for the big lefty. He’s struck out 6 and allowed just two hits.  Could be in Columbus quickly at this rate.
• Jason Donald, 3B-AKR: 2-4, R, SB. Solid rehab appearance for Donald who is working his way back from a wrist injury.
• Matt McBride, 1B-AKR: 3-3, 2B, RBI, BB, R. McBride reached base on all four plate appearances, and is hitting .296 for the Aeros on the season.
• John Drennen, RF-AKR: 2-3, HR (1), RBI, BB, R, K. Drennen with his 1^st bomb of the season, and has his average up to .250.
• Adam Abraham, 3B-KIN: 1-3, HR (3), RBI, R, K. Abraham now with HR in three games in a row for the K-Tribe. He had the only extra base hit, run scored and RBI for Kinston yesterday in their 2-1 loss.
• Gio Urshela, 3B-LCC: 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R. For a prospect known more for his glove, Urshela sure is putting up an impressive line with the bat. He’s now at .393/.469/.500 and has hit in 6 of the Captains 7 games this year.
• Jesus Aguilar, 1B-LCC: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R. Just another day in the office for BBJA. He doesn’t turn 21 until June, and is a sleeper prospect with as much raw power as any corner infielder in the organization.
• Alex Lavisky, C-LCC: 2-5, R, 3 K. Well, his BIABP was 1.000. Lavisky came back with a multi-hit effort after a much-needed day off, but still struck out three times. He now has 10 K in 24 professional AB.  

It's still unknown whether the NFL can resolve its current labor dispute before the 2011 season starts, but that’s not stopping the schedule makers from doing their jobs. Cleveland’s four preseason opponents were announced yesterday afternoon, creating the first “Browns related news” that doesn’t involve the words mock, draft, prospects, or Mel Kiper’s hair in months.

The Cleveland Browns will play the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears this preseason. The matchups and venues have been set -- only the exact date and time are to be determined.

The Browns will host the reigning Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers at some point between August 11 and 15. The following week (between the 18th and the 22nd), the Browns will stay home to play the Detroit Lions. Cleveland will then hit the road to play Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles between August 25 and 29. The Browns will wrap up their preseason schedule at Soldier Field against Da Bears on either September 1 or September 2.

Around the Farm takes a quick look at how some of the prospects throughout the Indians system performed in yesterday’s games. As always, the positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s games.

It was a lousy day from top to bottom in the Cleveland system yesterday.  In addition to the Indians running into the buzzsaw known as Dan Haren, Columbus dropped a pair to Louisville, Akron was held to 4 hits in a 2-0 loss, Kinston gave up a run in the 9^th to lose a 1-run game and Lake County dropped a 2-1 decision to Dayton.  Just have to hit the reset button, forget about it and go back out there and get ‘em today.

Tyler Holt, CF-KIN: 3-3, BB, R, 3 SB.  Big night for the young OF out of Florida State, who reached base all four times he came to the plate, and added three bags as well. Holt was a 10th round pick out of Florida State last year, and got some exposure to pro ball for the Captains down the stretch and in the playoffs. He’s a good defender with plus speed, and is a smart guy who plays above his tools. He’s holding his own in the Carolina League so far, putting up a .385/.529/.462 line on the young season, with 4 BB and 4 K. He profiles as a true leadoff hitter with a little pop, and will be a guy to keep an eye on in 2011. 

• David Huff, SP-COL: 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, K, 3 BB. Huff only actually let one runner score when he was in the game, but left the bases loaded in the 8^th for Jensen Lewis, who promptly allowed all three runners to score, tying the game and blowing the save. Huff didn’t pitch badly, but the lack of strikeouts in AAA is of concern.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B-COL: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, R. Big day for Chiz in the doubleheader against Louisville, as he brought his average all the way up to .292
• Cord Phelps, DH-COL: 3-8, R, 2 K. Phelps staying hot despite a hitless 1^st game of the doubleheader. Has hit in every game but one so far this season for the Clips.
• Kelvin De La Cruz, SP-AKR: 5 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 5 K, 3 BB.  Solid start for KDLC, striking out a batter per inning and not allowing an earned run.  Too many walks though, and too many pitches resulting in him getting lifted after just 5 innings.
• C.C. Lee, RP-AKR: 2 IP, 2 H. Lee bounced back from a disastrous first outing to throw two quiet innings yesterday.
• Chun Chen, C-AKR: 1-4, 1B. We’ve gone entirely too long without talking about a catcher. In addition to recording one of Akron’s four hits, Chen also threw out 1 of 3 baserunners stealing 2^nd.
•  Marty Popham, RP-KIN: 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 6 K. Not typically a big strikeout guy, Popham rebounded from a poor appearance on Friday to give the K-Tribe offense a chance to get back into the game with 3 1/3 strong innings.
• Adam Abraham, 3B-KIN: 1-3, HR (2), 2 RBI, BB, R. HR in back-to-back games for Abraham, who has a 1.357 OPS for the season.
• Bo Greenwell, LF-KIN: 2-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, R. Greenwell is starting the season hot, much like he did last year for Lake County.  He’s hitting a robust .368 and has a pair of stolen bases. 
• Michael Goodnight, SP-LCC: L, 5 IP, ER, 2 H, 5 K, 2 BB. Second straight good outing for Goodnight, who only allowed three balls to be hit in the air in his 5 IP. He’s now 1-1 on the season, and has given up just one ER in 10 IP.
• Jason Smit, RF-LCC: 2-4, 2B, RBI, K. Smit is still hitting over .500 for the Captains, and is now 12-19 on the season.