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Jays face a major decision on BautistaBaseball Betting Lines07/27/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's safe to say Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos had no idea heading into this year that he would have to make an important mid-season decision involving Jose Bautista. With the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline just days away, Anthopoulos will be tempted by many teams to surrender his breakout star. Prior to this season, few would have pegged Bautista to be an All-Star and lead the majors in home runs. After taking Brad Bergesen of the Baltimore Orioles deep in Monday night's 9-5 victory, Bautista increased his major league-leading homer total to 28, and he also ranks in the top 10 in the American League in RBI (70), walks (56), slugging (.558) and OPS (.915). He's hitting just .245, but don't lump him into the category of a one- dimensional slugger. Bautista's arm is one of the game's best, not to mention that he's a good fielder at both third base and right field. His seven assists from right are tied with three others for the second-most in the majors, despite playing fewer games at the position than everyone else in the top 10. So why would the Blue Jays trade arguably their best player on the team when he doesn't become a free-agent until after the 2011 season? There are two ways this question can be answered. The first is obvious; if the Blue Jays get blown away with a trade proposal, likely centered on polished or high-ceiling prospects, then management will strongly consider making a deal. Bautista could help out a number of teams with his bat in the middle of the order, and his versatility at both third base and right field increase his stock even further. Secondly, Bautista, who is earning a modest $2.4 million this year, will be seeking a big pay raise in arbitration during the off-season. Depending on what direction the franchise chooses to go with respect to payroll, they may not feel inclined to offer Bautista a significant raise, one that could likely net him an extra $5 million on top of his current salary. The Jays cut payroll nearly $20 million this season, yet have been competitive throughout the entire year and have established important building blocks for the immediate future. The only real sense in trading Bautista would be if the Jays could receive multiple top-notch prospects from another organization in return for his services, which they won't for a number of reasons. No team is going to overpay for a 29-year-old enjoying a breakout year after being a career .239/.334/.424 hitter. That said, who made up the rule that players can't begin their prime at age 29? Bautista has always had the ability to hit the long ball, but not until this year has he finally been given the opportunity to go out and prove it. He doesn't have to worry about whether he will get at bats the next day after a bad game; he knows they'll be there, which is allowing him to continue to find his comfort zone at the plate. Bautista is better than his career averages indicate. He's just hitting his stride later in his career, and is capable of sustaining it for a couple of more seasons. The Jays can be good enough with him; they don't need to try to get good enough by trading him. If the organization is willing to bring payroll back up to last year's mark (roughly $80 million), the Jays can afford to pay Bautista's pay hike in arbitration and also explore a marquee free agent. While Anthopoulos continues building from within through the likes of the draft and trading for young prospects, he can also go after a prized possession on the market, because the team is strong enough to make a push soon. Don't fool yourselves, the Jays are not that many years off from competing to the point where a postseason appearance is realistic, if not expected. In all probability, the 2011 Jays opening day roster will include the likes of top prospects Kyle Drabek (SP), Brett Wallace (1B) and catcher J.P Arencibia, who are all having terrific seasons in the minor leagues. All three were All- Stars, and Arencibia is tied for the minor league-lead with 29 homers. If Bautista were to play right field for the Jays beyond this year, which he should based on his arm, the only real question mark the team would have for the future would come at third base. Providing Bautista is a piece moving forward, a Blue Jays lineup as early as next year could read like this: Arencibia (C), Wallace (1B), Aaron Hill (2B), Yunel Escobar (SS), Travis Snider (LF), Vernon Wells (CF), Bautista (RF) and Adam Lind (DH). That leaves the Jays with one hole coming at the hot corner, where Edwin Encarnacion is currently part of the mix, and Jarrett Hoffpauir (Triple-A Las Vegas) has also seen time at this year. That's a team any GM would love to have, regardless of whether your direct foes include the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. It's not like the talent begins and ends with the bats either, as the Jays currently have four extremely talented pitchers in Shaun Marcum, Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, and Drabek, the headliner of the Roy Halladay deal, in the minors. Drabek, Wallace and Arencibia could all provide some modest-to-large return immediately and although Snider has yet to flourish at the big league level, good things may come sooner than most expect. In a couple of years, the Jays could become the Rays, although they won't have to spend a decade in the basement to accomplish their goals.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTINGNCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking. No. 1 always seems to fit USC. Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent. Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory. Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3. "We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team." Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time. "Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team." The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points. "I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won." Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State. "There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?" USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll. "It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter." While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls. As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule. But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference. Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com. The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road. The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second. The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia. No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday. Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina. Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson. The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996. South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20. The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24. Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com |
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