After announcing the hiring of former Mets VP of Player Development and Scouting Paul DePodesta this week, the Cleveland Browns have continued their outside-the-box approach to the offseason by bringing in All-Star pitcher Matt Harvey to replace Johnny Manziel as their starting quarterback. Harvey, a 26-year-old right hander, has thrown over 400 strikeouts in his three seasons as a starting MLB pitcher, and has never played football in a competitive setting, making him a “perfect fit” for the “new look” Cleveland Browns, according to DePodesta.
“When the Browns hired me, a baseball executive from the moneyball movement who was the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers during their second worst season since 1958, to oversea the overhaul of the Cleveland Browns as their Chief Strategy Officer, answerable only to the team president, I knew that they were willing to get their team on track. And having known Matt from his time with the Mets, I know that he’s a hungry young man who won’t let anything small like having never played football in his life stand in the way. After all, if I can come in after a career in baseball and randomly oversee a football team, why can’t Matt make a similar transition?”
DePodesta went on to say that he was strongly considering signing Prince Fielder as an offensive lineman, in order to keep Harvey “protected in the crease…wait, pocket? It’s a pocket in this sport, right?”
