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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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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?" A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook. In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small. "Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets." But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?" Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year. This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here. Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions. In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries. No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning. And that's all any bettor can ask for. To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting. "They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over." Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.) According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26. As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines). Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday. Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind. *UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007 New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results. "We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games." While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season." About MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Master Card needs. |
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