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AL West: Have the Rangers mortgaged their future?Baseball Betting Lines08/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since acquiring former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee a few weeks ago, the Texas Rangers have been quite busy on the trade front. The front office did not stop after acquiring Lee, as veterans Cristian Guzman, Bengie Molina and Jorge Cantu were also brought on board. Of all the trade deadline activity across the league, the Rangers came away as big winners. When they resume play Tuesday night in Seattle, they'll do so with a cushy eight-game lead in the American League West, and looking to widen the gap. Only time will tell if all of those additions end up yielding a long-awaited World Series title for Texas and its fan base. Now that the dust has cleared from a flurry of roster moves, let's take a look at what's left down on the farm for the Rangers. To land Cliff Lee, the organization had to part with first baseman Justin Smoak, the 11th overall selection of the 2008 draft, in addition to infielder Matt Lawson and right-handers Josh Lueke (1-1, 3.86, 2 SV) and Blake Beavan, who was the 17th overall pick in the '07 draft. Although Smoak has been slow to adjust to big league pitching, it took a while for the front office to come around to the idea of letting him go. Team executives also weighed heavily on including Beavan in the deal. Cantu was brought in to split time with Mitch Moreland at first base. To get him, the team parted with right-handers Omar Poveda and Evan Reed. With second baseman Ian Kinsler on the disabled list with a strained groin, Texas lured Guzman from the Washington Nationals for Double-A right-handers Ryan Tatusko (9-2, 2.97 ERA) and Tanner Roark (10-5, 4.20). A month ago, the Rangers traded reliever Chris Ray and minor league pitcher Michael Main to the San Francisco Giants for 36-year-old catcher Bengie Molina. And just this past Saturday, with the minor league cupboard running bare, fellow catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was shipped to Boston for right- handed prospect Roman Mendez, first baseman Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later and $350,000 in cash. That extra cash, according to general manager Jon Daniels, will be used to sign a few extra draft picks from June's First-Year Player Draft. "We like the players and the total package we're getting back," Daniels said. "We gave up a lot of good players and we felt we needed to do something to put something back in our system." After making a concerted effort to revitalize the farm system a few years ago, the Rangers have now sent a few of those prospects out of town in order to try and win now. Still, a few of the organization's most prized prospects remain, including Martin Perez and Tanner Scheppers, among others. If the Rangers eventually reach the Promised Land this year, losing so many prospects will be a bit easier to swallow. OAKLAND'S BAILEY NOT QUITE READY TO RETURN When Andrew Bailey strained a rib muscle last week, the A's closer had hoped to be ready for the start of Friday's series opener against the division- leading Rangers. However, manager Bob Geren said this week that Bailey's condition is improving, though he will likely not begin throwing until later in the week. If all goes well, he could still rejoin the team Saturday or Sunday. "He's reported feeling better, but he hasn't done much yet," Geren said on Monday. "He's not going to throw for at least a few more days and we'll go from there." Thanks to back-to-back complete game outings by starters Dallas Braden and Gio Gonzalez over the weekend, Oakland's bullpen is well rested. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Ben Sheets will have his elbow surgery next week in Dallas. It's the same flexor tendon operation that was performed in the winter of '09 and caused him to miss all of last season. The 32-year-old Sheets, who was signed to a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason, could wind up missing most or all of the 2011 season. He was 4-9 with a 4.53 ERA, marking his career-worst record and highest ERA since his rookie year in 2001. BOURJOS ERA BEGINS IN ANAHEIM After acquiring starter Dan Haren and infielder Alberto Calaspo last month, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are ready to add some more help from in- house. According to FanHouse, top prospect Peter Bourjos will join the team Tuesday night in Baltimore for the beginning of a three-game set with the Orioles. Manager Mike Scioscia has watched his team leave too many plays on the field, and too many runners on the basepaths. Last year, three Angels' regulars hit .300 or better, and another five hit at least .290. This year, Torii Hunter paces the lineup with a .285 average. "There are a lot of guys who are underperforming and it's something (hitting coach Mickey (Hatcher) has looked at closely to find some explanation," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Some guys just haven't gotten into their comfort level. We'll keep moving forward trying to evaluate this and try to find better options to improve ourselves and we'll continue to do that. There are definitely some guys (in the Minors) we're looking at to make us a better team." Bourjos caught fire at Triple-A Salt Lake in July, hitting .445 (53-for-119) and setting a Pacific Coast League record for hits in a month with 53. In 26 games, Bourjos compiled five triples, seven doubles, five home runs, 21 RBI, 35 runs scored and seven stolen bases. He also leads the PCL in putouts as a center fielder. The 23-year-old Bourjos is known for his speed on the basepaths and defensive prowess in center fielder. He is expected to man one of the corner outfield spots with the big club. STUMBLING MARINERS SEND SMOAK DOWN FOR MORE WORK For the Seattle Mariners (39-67), there has certainly been no addition by subtraction since the departure of ace pitcher Cliff Lee. Losers of seven straight, Seattle is starting to challenge Baltimore (32-73) for the worst record in the American League. Even Ichiro Suzuki has struggled, as he hit .246 in July to snap a streak of nine consecutive months in which he hit at least .300. Unfortunately for the M's, the hits keep coming. First baseman Justin Smoak, who was the linchpin to that Lee deal, was sent back to the minors over the weekend to rediscover his stroke at Triple-A Tacoma. Save for a recent 5-for-7 stretch with a couple of home runs in back-to-back games against the Angels, it has been a humbling process for Smoak to try and live up to the expectations set upon him. But in 63 at-bats with Seattle, he was hitting only .159 with five RBI. "You want to show everybody what you are capable of doing, and sometimes I feel I get caught up in that and end up trying to do too much instead of going out there, playing the game and having fun," Smoak said. "I probably never have worked harder than I have this year, You would think I'd be doing a lot better than what I am. I give myself credit for that, but maybe I've overdone it a little bit."
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College Football Betting Tips From a ProWhile the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly. Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules. The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers. What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by. These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end. College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well. Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football. Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play. Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration. I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key. Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season. It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage. As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital. Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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