AL Central: What lies ahead for Royals?

Baseball Betting Lines

05/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Now that the manager has been replaced and the Royals are settling back into their customary place toward the bottom of the American League Central standings, the next question is, where do they go from here?

Well, let's take a look at how things are shaping up, both in the short-term and long-term.

For new manager Ned Yost, the good news is that expectations can't get much lower, considering he took over a last-place team on May 13. To his credit, Kansas City has gone 5-2 since Yost began filling out the lineup cards.

The team has a bona fide ace in Zack Greinke, who has established himself as one of the game's best. He is also establishing himself as maybe the most wasted talent in the majors. Greinke boasts a 2.72 ERA, however the bullpen has managed to squander the lead in four of his nine starts on the year. That, quite simply, is amazing.

Along those same lines, the Royals have Joakim Soria, one of the game's premier closers. Like Greinke, the team hasn't quite taken full advantages of his services considering its record (17-25).

Surely, those two names will be floated around at the trade deadline because, let's face it, what's the point in having a top-notch closer if you're only using him once or twice a week? Similarly, what's the point in having a Cy Young pitcher if you're not able to score runs behind him.

Then again, Soria is signed pretty cheap -- he'll make $3 million this season and $4 million next season, with the team holding options from 2012-14 -- and Greinke is locked up through 2012. Both players are in their mid-20s, but how old will they be by the time the Royals are truly ready to contend? Does it make more sense to get value for them now and dive wholeheartedly into this rebuilding thing? At some point, those are questions general manager Dayton Moore will have to consider.

But enough of the gloom and dreary. Let's look at some other guys Moore hopes will be wearing Royals' blue for years to come.

In an interview with the team's website this week, general manager Dayton Moore said the focus is obviously to keep an eye on the future.

"We're going to continue to do what we've been doing with regards to developing players in the farm system," Moore said. "We've got a few players doing well in Triple-A, which is an upgrade from last year. Our Double-A team is doing very well. And we've got to continue to focus on developing quality pitchers that impact our Major League team, and position players as well."

First baseman Billy Butler (.337) continues to hit everything in his path. Second baseman Mike Aviles (.375) is equally hot.

Yost understands that he needs to evaluate the young guys -- first baseman Kila Ka'aihue, second baseman Chris Getz, center fielder Mitch Maier and catcher Brayan Pena, to name a few. Yost also knows first-rounders Mike Moustakas ('07, third base), Eric Hosmer ('08, first base) and Aaron Crow ('08, pitcher) will eventually be worked into the mix. Also making their way up the organization's pipeline are outfielder Derrick Robinson, catcher Wil Myers and pitchers Mike Montgomery and Blaine Hardy.

Understandably, Royals fans have grown weary of the constant eye to the future. But in order to take that step forward, the evaluation process must start now.

YOUNG TIGERS PAYING DIVIDENDS

The influence of the Detroit Tigers' rookies extends beyond mohawk haircuts, and more importantly, to the field.

Recent callup Casper Wells became the latest to join the party during Wednesday's 5-1 win at Oakland as the young outfielder went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI in only his second big league start. Second baseman Danny Worth has gone 4-for-10 in three games since being called up last week.

Center fielder Austin Jackson was with the club to start the year. Jackson, the AL Rookie of the Month for April, is hitting .329 and leads the team with six stolen bases.

Then there is rookie left fielder Brennan Boesch, who is hitting a ridiculous .354 in 22 games this season. His .987 OPS ranks second on the team behind only Miguel Cabrera (1.030), who leads the majors with 38 RBI. Boesch registered an RBI in 12 of his first 19 games, the first time a Tiger had done that since 1920, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"I think the rookies have made a good impression," manager Jim Leyland said on the team's website. "Veteran players like good players. They like good, young players who got talent that can help them win."

TWINS LOOKING TO REGROUP FOLLOWING POOR ROAD TRIP

The Minnesota Twins would be well-advised not to delve too deeply in their just-concluded seven-game road trip against AL East foes New York, Toronto and Boston.

They entered the trip with a 2 1/2-game lead in the AL Central and eager to see how they measured up against other top contenders in the league. Over the last two seasons, the Twins have gone just 2-17 in those three cities.

Having gone 2-5 during their latest trip, let's just say the jury is still out.

"Two-and-five is not a great road trip," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It was a tough road trip, we knew that going into it -- facing good pitching, good hitting teams. We battled through it. We had our chances in a few more of them. But overall, not a great trip. We did not swing the bats as well as we're capable of and we didn't pitch as good."

That 2 1/2-game cushion has now vanished, as Minnesota enters the weekend tied with Detroit (24-17) for first place. Most alarmingly, starting pitcher Francisco Liriano, who was so dominant in April (3-0, 0.93), is now 1-3 with a 6.08 ERA in four starts. Being that it's still only May, it's not time to start panicking just yet.

The Twins kick off a nine-game homestand beginning with Milwaukee tonight, and they'll get another crack at the Yankees during a three-game set next week.

WHITE SOX G.M. TO TEAM: RELAX

The message earlier this week from Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams to his team was simple: pay attention to details and fundamentals, but also lighten up and have some fun.

Sensing some frustration and uncertainty in the wake of the team's 16-22 start, Williams called an impromptu 25-minute meeting prior to Wednesday's game against the Angels. Rather than flip over tables and demand accountability, the tone was much more light-hearted as Williams told the players to allow themselves to have a little fun. He even went as far as to nix early trade concerns, though he acknowledged that other GMs have called.

"I told them, 'Wait a second, we usually make these calls, you're calling me?'" Williams said. "'No it doesn't work that way.' So they've been told, 'Thank you, but no thank you.' That's the end of it. We still expect to win."

Manager Ozzie Guillen, not surprisingly, has a different take on team meetings.

"Good teams win games, bad teams have meetings," Guillen told local reporters on Wednesday. "We've already had two."

CLEVELAND'S LINEUP SHUFFLING DUE TO INJURIES

Cleveland Indians' leadoff man Asdrubal Cabrera (fractured left forearm) is likely out until August while No. 2 hitter Grady Sizemore (left knee contusion) is hoping to return from the disabled list in June. That is, if Sizemore doesn't need surgery on his balky knee.

With Cleveland (15-24) already in last place in the AL Central, manager Manny Acta is in the unenviable position of playing mix-and-match with the top of his lineup.

"It's tough, it's very tough," Acta said. "I don't think anybody anticipated losing two of our best players here. But everybody has their problems. Nobody said it would be easy."

Recent call up Trevor Crowe is expected to hold down the leadoff spot for the foreseeable future, while Mark Grudzielanek is likely to bat second whenever he is in the lineup at second base. Jason Donald was called up on Tuesday to fill Cabrera's roster spot. Donald was penciled into the No. 2 spot in Thursday's lineup, though Acta said he would be moved down in the order.

"We don't want to put too much pressure on these kids," Acta told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "We want to see if they can get something going, but we also have to understand those are two important spots in the lineup and you need some production out of them."

Boxig Baseball Betting News

<< Nats release Taveras
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals released Willy Taveras on Friday, six days after designating the outfielder for assignment. Washington signed the 28-year-old to a minor-league deal prior to the season. Tavera

<< Breeders' Cup ultimate goal for Mine That Bird
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Now that Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in his barn, the veteran horseman needs to map out a way to get the gelding to the 2010 Breeder

<< World Cup 2010 Preview: Lowered expectations for Nigeria
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No African nation has ever reached the semifinals of the World Cup, but if you were to rewind time about 15 years, Nigeria would be the odds on favorite to do it. With players like Sunday Oliseh, Vi

<< It is time to bring Strasburg to DC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Of all the surprises through the first month-and-a-half of the major league season, nothing may be more shocking than the fact that the Washington Nationals are .500 heading into this weekend's slate of interleague play.

<< NYRA notifies employees of pending closures
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Friday that it has notified its employees of the pending end of racing operations and track closings on Wednesday, June 9. The NYRA operates Belmont Park, S

Toronto ready to defend BMO against New England >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC returns to BMO Field on Saturday and actually has a road result to build on as it looks to remain perfect at home. Toronto split its first six matches this season, winning all three at home and losin

Verdasco, Gasquet to meet in Nice final >>
Nice, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spanish slugger Fernando Verdasco and heavy French favorite Richard Gasquet will clash in Saturday's title match at the inaugural clay-court Nice Open, a final French Open tune- up.

Sharapova lands in Strasbourg finale >>
Strasbourg, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova and German Kristina Barrois will be Saturday's combatants in the final at the $220,000 Strasbourg International, a final clay-court French Open tu

World Cup 2010 Preview: Serbia could surprise >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic are rivals during the English Premier League season, but once the duo unites on Serbia's national team, they anchor one of the mos

Sixers make it official with Collins >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers named Doug Collins as the team's next head coach on Friday after agreeing to terms on a contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report from the Philadelphia Daily News

Online Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Credit Card Sports Betting: Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Tired of credit card deposit hassles? Then this is the place for you! MySportsbook boasts the best rate of acceptance for credit card deposits in the whole sports betting industry! They give you an instant 10% bonus for doing so as well, where as many other online bookies do not award a bonus for credit card transactioned deposits.

Welcome to MySportsbook.com the biggest and best sportsbook on the web! If you need a sportsbook accepting US credit cards for deposits you've come to the right place because they are the best.

Are you the type that needs lots of wager offerings? Then keep reading! MySportsbook is one of the best at offering everything gambling related that you can think of! Their sportsbook has all the current football and basketball odds as well as auto racing, horse racing, boxing and hard to find sports as well. Their casino boasts tons of different options as well such as blackjack, video poker, slots and virtual games such as hi-lo and virtual horse derby.

Reasons to Play There: A little tip for you all.. This is a sportsbook promotions that has a tremendous volume of players. They also offer an online poker room. Many of these sports bettors hop over to the poker room once the days games are over. Many of these sports bettors are just that and NOT good poker players. In summary, often times you'll be able to get into some lower limit games with some very ripe fish in the late evening hours resulting in some very easy pickin's and nice wins.

Speaking of poker, they offer satellite tournaments where you can win a free seat to the World Series of Poker! Be sure to check out their cycle, no hitter and slaughter rule refunds too! Open an account today by clicking here!

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.