My post a couple of days ago I talked about building offenses and the type of players teams build around. I got a couple of e-mails, saying that I forgot about pitching.

I guess I didn't make my thoughts clear enough. I don't think pitching gives a team its identity very often, really only the recent Atlanta Braves got their identity from pitching, and there were 3 Hall of Famers there.

Yes, pitching is important and probably more important than offense, but I think teams get their identity from their starting eight and bench and how the front office builds the team.

I wrote that the Twins and Angels are gritty "baseball" players. Steal, bunt, play defense, play hit-and-run baseball. The Indians are powerful strikeout kings who don't field well much like the Yankees. I didn't say a team can't win the way the Indians are playing the game; I just think it is an expensive way to play.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz has an interesting story about LeBron James and what he has meant to the University of Akron basketball program. One paragraph caught my attention and it had nothing to do with LeBron.

Dambrot is entering his fifth season as head coach after serving as an assistant for three seasons under Dan Hipsher. Scheduling became a bit easier within the past year, when the administration gave him $160,000 to buy three guaranteed games, something that a number of MAC teams can't afford. Teams at this level usually have to do only home-and-home series and can't afford to buy a team for a home game without a return.

That money could be a big benefit for UA.

The other interesting note is that Darius Miles is trying to come back from microfracture surgery. Should the Cavs be interested?

It is interesting to see how teams build their offenses in the AL, and how much success they have.

With the Twins, you get a player who is a "baseball" player … down and dirty. The positives in these type of players are they don't put up flashy numbers and that means they don't cost a lot. But so far for the Twins it has meant little success in the postseason.

With the Red Sox, you get a player who works the count and who can play defense. If you look at Youkilis and Pedoria and Ellsbury, they play the game the same way. They are tough. Obviously with two titles in four years this has been successful.

With the Indians, you get a player who puts up monster offensive numbers but who strikes out a lot and who struggles with a glove on their hand. See all of the recent offensive prospects, and by the way, Matt LaPorta fits right in here. It is what Travis Hafner was when the Tribe got him from the Rangers. It is who Michael Aubrey is, who Andy Marte is, who Lonnie Chisenhall is. Now obviously this formula came within a game of the World Series last season. But it is also expensive to keep together. See Hafner contract.

The Yankees, Tigers, White Sox seem to have bought much of their offense.

The A's focus more on pitching and let the offense take care of itself.

The Angels are another team that is like the Red Sox.

What does this all mean? I don't think it is set in stone, but it seems to me the teams with the most success get offensive players who get on base, run the bases well, don't strike out a ton and play defense. See Angels, Red Sox and the White Sox team from a few years ago.

What do you think the average fan is looking for in Olympic coverage, beyond the gazillion hours of coverage that NBC is going to provide?

We are going to keep you up to date on how our local athletes, besides LeBron James, are doing in Beijing.

Is there anything else you would like to see on Ohio.com or in the Beacon Journal to help you navigate your way through the 16 days of competition in August.

Spent some time on the Internet looking at mock drafts and other scouting services and came away with one thought: This NBA Draft is awful.

If the Cavs can find help in this draft, then kudos to GM Danny Ferry and his scouts.

A breakout box that I put together for Thursday's paper shows that seven experts all think that the Cavs will take a different player.

My guess is a center or forward rather than another shooting guard. So I will say Roy Hibbert of Georgetown and Kosta Koufos if he gets past the Golden State Warriors.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks are the two best teams in baseball.

Go figure?

The Indians and Detroit Tigers are fighting to see who can catch the Seattle Mariners as the biggest disappointments of the year.

Go figure?

Victor Martinez has no home runs; Carlos Quentin (who?) leads the AL in home runs.

Go figure?

SI's cover last week called it Bizarro Baseball.

What does this all mean? Well before Bizarro world, it would mean that one of these odd situations would hold on while the rest would fade.

I think it is just talent. The Rays and D'backs have been stockpiling talent for a few years.

Eventually talent wins. And this just might be the year.

Stewart Mandel of SI.com ranks his Top 25 after spring football. Ohio State fans will be happy.

It is easy to see the problems with the Indians' offense.

1. Too many strikeouts.
2. Not enough speed.

Those are the type of problems that coaching can't completely fix. Sure, you can preach patience and teach smarter base running, but in the end, these are woes that manager Eric Wedge can't fix with a wave of a wand.

No, these are problems sitting on GM Mark Shapiro's desk.

So what do we know:
1. Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko are not going anywhere. But they are really the only hitters who can net a quick fix in return.
2. Travis Hafner is nearly untradeable, unless you take prospects back. His contract and ridiculous batting average are an anchor on this franchise.
3. Casey Blake, David Dellucci, Jason Michaels can be traded, but they will not bring back the tools to fix the team.
4. Asdrubal Cabrera might have just had a hot September and is what he is. A decent hitting middle infielder.
5. No one seems to be waiting in the wings in the high minors to fix the offense, unlike last season.

What about the pitching:
1. C.C. Sabathia could net a return to fix the offense, but would his loss put too much pressure on a young pitching staff? I think this only happens if the Indians are out of it by the end of July, and the Tribe won't be out of it by then because the division looks to be weaker than most thought entering the season.
2. The young guys, Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers and Adam Miller, are very tradeable and could net a good return. But Shapiro does trade these type of players.

Where does this leave Shapiro?

Can he make a trade that helps the Indians in the short term? So far in his career, he has avoided these type of trades.

Trading Sabathia in May or June, seems to me to be the only trade that can work in the short term and long term. Anything else is a long-term deal, unless you add a chunk of cash to the payroll. Again something Shapiro has not done.

Standing pat nearly worked last season, can it work again? I doubt it.

– The Cavs and Wizards continue their war of words; good thing for the Cavs, the Wizards have shown little bite on the court.

– The Browns received passing grades from most sites around the sporting world for their draft.

– Kyle Busch nearly wrecked like he usually has at Talladega, but he kept his car clean enough to end his day in Victory Lane. If continues his hot runs, folks at Joe Gibbs Racing will be asking, "Tony, who?"

– The Indians seem to be rounding into shape, thanks to slow starts throughout the division. C.C. definitely is rounding into form, too bad he ran into the Yankees ace Sunday.

– We are continuing are move into the Internet waters more each day. We are attempting to add more standings items to the teams pages and video from our reporters. The first one of note is Marla Ridenour's take on the NFL Draft. You can find that here.

– Patrick McManamon's blog is back, offering a lot of insight into the area pro teams. He has been with the Cavs since the playoffs began; take a look here.

I know I made fun of ESPN and the NFL Network for all the hype around the NFL Draft, but I do get it.

In fact, I remember when the draft was on a Tuesday and started at 8 a.m. I also remember staying home from school to see whom the Steelers would take. In fact, I recall the Rod Woodson draft in particular. He was supposed to be a top five pick but was dropping throughout the morning. I had read a lot about him in the Sporting News, when the Sporting News was an awesome magazine.

Any way, I just knew he was supposed to be a great player and athlete. If I remember right, he was the best hurdler in the Big Ten while at Purdue.

But he drops and drops and eventually the Steelers landed him at No. 10. Woodson was a key to the early years of the Bill Cowher era.

Woodson will be in the Hall of Fame soon, and that is why we all watch the draft. Will our team land a Hall of Famer?