MLB betting for the Washington Nationals has never been greater as Monday and Tuesday night showed two dominant reasons for why fans should start betting on this team. On Monday night, with the first overall pick in the 2010 MLB entry draft the Nationals took 17 year old outfield phenom Bryce Harper. Then last night, the Nationals top pitching prospect and 2009 first overall pick Stephen Strasburg made his debut in the big leagues. Strasburg and Harper have both been hyped up by the baseball experts as having the biggest ceilings in professional sports. As a result, Nationals fans betting on the team to dominate the NL East for years to come have plenty to be optimistic about.

In his debut last night against basement dweller the Pittsburgh Pirates Strasburg picked up the win in a five to two victory, logging seven strong innings of four hit ball while striking out a career high 14 batters. Let me repeat, last night June 8^th 2010 was Strasburg’s MLB debut and he struck out a career high 14 batters. There are pitchers pitching in the league for the last five years who have yet to fan 14 batters in a single game, and Strasburg did it in his debut. The way Strasburg pitched, one would not have known that he was making his debut as he appeared as confident as the league’s greatest pitchers, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee to name a few. If Strasburg can continue to be as dominant this season as he was in his debut, no one should be surprised, if he wins the 2010 CY Young.

Conversely, Bryce Harper, the Nationals 2010 pick, is the much needed outfield bat the club has not seen since its days in Montreal. Harper has been described by experts as the Lebron James of baseball, and while we have yet to see if Harper has James’s swagger, we do know that he has the talent to live up to the comparison. In an all star game home run derby last year, Harper hit a home run which was over 500 feet. Furthermore, Harper is only 17 and switched schools specifically to play with wooden bats instead of Metal so he would feel the same as a big league hitter.

If both Harper and Strasburg can reach their potentials and avoid injuries, the Nationals will have perhaps the brightest future of all the teams in Major League Baseball. The team has yet to win a World Series, but with Strasburg presently on the team and Harper waiting in the wings, a championship can be seen in the not so distant future.

MLB betting and fantasy players alike don’t know what to do with David Ortiz, the aging Boston slugger who is coming off one of his best months in recent memory.  So when it comes to your fantasy team, do you hold onto “Big Papi”, or trade while the value is high?

In April, Ortiz had a .143 average with a single homer and four RBIs, and like last year, many were wondering if the big slugger was done.  Ortiz exploded on the media, manager Terry Francona, and for all of May, he exploded on the opposition.  Ortiz went deep 10 times with 27 RBIs in the month of May, and he also hit .363 at the plate.  That has sparked a comeback by the Red Sox, who struggled through the first month of the season.

Over the last three years, Ortiz has been generally a slow starter, but he picks up the pace in June.  This year, he started a month early and the Red Sox are hoping that he can continue to keep this trend up.  From 2007 to 2009, Ortiz hit .264 with 39 homers and 142 RBIs in 796 games before the All-Star break.  In 710 games after the All-Star break during those three years, Ortiz knocked out 47 homers with 163 RBIs and a .297 average.

We would hang onto Ortiz for at least another month to see if his upward ascent is for real, and we think it is.  We think Ortiz has one more huge year left in him before he hangs them up, and that will be huge for Boston’s betting odds.

It’s getting close to the time where we start looking at NCAA point spreads once again - no, not college football betting as we are still a ways away from football and NFL betting tips - we are referring to the NCAA World Series.

It’s once again that time to embrace the ping and if you haven’t watched the college baseball world series before, you are definitely missing out on one of the best events you can bet on in the sportsbook.

The Florida Gators are expected to make a run at this year’s title, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone. The Gators are perennially a sports juggernaut - mostly in college football - but the are expected to be a contender in the NCAA World Series as well.

They won the regular season SEC championship with a record of 22-8. The surprise Gators squad that went to the finals back in 2005 only had 20 wins, so the expectations have climbed significantly for this squad.

Keep an eye on this squad as they are much deeper than in year’s past. They have plenty of good pitching and as we all know, pitching gets you wins in baseball. Don’t be surprised if it’s this team from Florida - and not Miami or Florida State - that makes a big splash in the college world series.

“If at first you don’t succeed try again” For the Tampa Bay Rays this phrase has never been truer. Through the first decade of existence, the Rays were the laughingstock of not only the American League East, but the entire league. Suddenly in 2008, out of nowhere, the Rays turned their fortunes around, getting off to a strong start and finishing as the American League Champions by season’s end, as they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Regardless of the outcome of 2008, the season would go down as a success for the team, as 2008 not only was one of their winning seasons, but they almost won the World Series too. In the two years since their Cinderella season, the Rays have become one of the best teams in baseball. Further fans have gone from betting against the Rays, to betting for them.

This season, could end up as the team’s best as they have accumulated a record of 32 wins and 13 losses thus far. Also, the average age on the team is an astonishing 26. The team’s backbone has been its starting pitching staff. Each pitcher has the goal of throwing a complete game, and if that falters, the bullpen is strong enough to maintain the lead and eventual victory. Starting pitcher and top prospect David Price, leads the league with a 1.30 ERA, even though, he is the number four starter in the rotation. As seen with the average age on the team, the majority of the roster came from the Rays farm system, proving that being bad for years can have its benefits. Similar to other AL East teams, the Rays offense has a lot of depth at each position, led by the power of first and third basemen Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, the Rays continue to lead the league in stolen bases with outfielders Carl Crawford and BJ Upton leading the charge on the base path’s. Given how strong of a start the Rays have gotten off too, it appears that they will soon claim their title as the best team in baseball, while assuring their Cinderella story comes to fruition.

The next two weeks of baseball should decide the fate of the Boston Red Sox.  With that, MLB betting may become a tad bit easier when dealing with Boston. Over the weekend, they dropped two of three from the New York Yankees and fell even further from first.  They sit in fourth place in the very competitive AL East, five and a half games back of first place Tampa Bay, five back of New York, and a game and half behind Toronto.  Many baseball analysts predicted both Tampa and New York to win upwards of 90 games, and possibly even 100 this year, making Boston’s position ever more dire.

Starting Friday, they play series against Detroit, the Yankees, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and finally Tampa Bay. These games are all against tough clubs, and will go a long way into deciding the future of the Sox.

If the Red Sox fail to gain any ground in the next couple weeks, look for them to shut the season down.  It would be wise for them to give up on making the playoffs and begin rebuilding so that they are ready for 2011.  It is a depressing thought for many fans, but perhaps the wisest of decisions.  If this is the path they choose, be very careful when picking the Red Sox to win. Take advantage, however, of name recognition.  That is, to those who don’t follow closely, the Red Sox many continually be a winning pick, but those who know will really they lack the talent despite being favourites.  With sports betting, teams like the Yankees and Red Sox will often be favourites based in part due to their name.

Watch the Red Sox closely in the nextmonth and don’t be surprised at some drastic changes. When these occur, take advantage of early betting lines and pick against the struggling Boston club.

Minnesota Twins Vs Chicago White Sox

On the strength of a five run fifth inning the Chicago White Sox managed to beat the Central leading Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in what was the first of a two game betting mini- series at Target Field.

Coming into this series eight games out of first Chicago got some encouraging news on this night when their shortstop Alexei Ramirez and catcher A.J. Pierzynski got key run scoring hits. What makes this so encouraging is the fact that Ramirez came into the game hitting .174 in his last 23 at bats. Meanwhile Pierzynski came in hitting only .167 in his last 12 at bats. If the White Sox are to have a chance on Wednesday then they need these two to remain hot, just like the triple crown contender in the upcoming Preakness Betting Race.

The White Sox who have won two out of three will have a big challenge on Wednesday when they face Twins veteran Carl Pavano who was a hard luck loser in a 2-0 decision against the Baltimore Orioles in his last start on on May 7. Pavano who is 3-3 with a 3.43 ERA this season has always had success against Chicago. In his career he has registered an impressive 2.91 ERA against the Sox. During his last two starts batters have averaged only .228 against Pavano.

Chicago who have been inconsistent, for MLB Picks handicappers, this season has an impressive offence that is now just starting to get on track. Their leadoff hitter Juan Pierre had three hits against Minnesota on Tuesday and is hitting .400 in his last 10 at bats. Outfielder/DH Andruw Jones is off to a solid start with 9 homeruns and 17 RBIs. Their best hitter first baseman Paul Konerko has been cold in hitting only .167 in his last 18 at bats.

The main reason why I’m picking Minnesota in this game isn’t just because of Pavano and his past track record against Chciago but also do to catcher Joe Mauer returning on Tuesday to the line up. Last year’s American League MVP registered three hits in four at bats on Tuesday and is reportedly one hundred percent healthy. Overall the Twins line up is just as dangerous if not more then the White Sox and that’s saying something. Minnesota has such weapons as first baseman Justin Morneau hitting 348 and Orlando Hudson who has registered a .364 average in his past 11 at bats.

Designated hitter Jim Thome who signed last winter as a free agent has also  provided some potent power to the line up. This 39 year-old has hit five homeruns and 15 RBIs in limited playing time.

Despite the explosive offence of these two teams Wednesday, sports picks experts, predict a low scoring game. The White Sox will be sending John Danks to the mound and so far this season he has been lights out with a 3-1 record and a 1.98 ERA. His only loss came in his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays when he surrendered two runs and racked up seven strikeouts in what was a tough luck 2-0 loss.

Besides for Pavano’s impressive 2.91 career ERA against Chicago and the Twins batting line up another reason why I’m picking Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon is because simply in baseball it seems like when one team wins the first of a two game series the other team comes out a little hungrier for that second game. In sports there is that pride of not wanting to be swept.

Yankees fans waited nine years between championships.

In 2009, the pinstriped posse finally delivered, returning to the top of the MLB mountain.

The Bronx bullies beat up on Minnesota and Anaheim in the American League playoffs, before handling the Philadelphia Phillies for their record 27^th World Series title. After years of criticism for a massive payroll, New York’s players finally played at or above expectations. It’s scary to think that a 103-win season and World Series championship roster may have improved in the off-season.

But according to MLB odds that’s exactly what the Yankees have done.

New York added one of the six pitchers to throw 900 innings and 900 strikeouts in each of the past five seasons when general manager Brian Cashman traded for Javier Vasquez in December.

C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are two of the other five pitchers on that list.

The Yankees then added Curtis Granderson to solidify their outfield and add a left-handed hitter to its order.

In the American League, The Angels lost key contributors in John Lackey, Chone Figgins, and Vladimir Guerrero. The Red Sox may have the deepest rotation in the big leagues, there are questions on offense after losing Jason Bay to the Mets.

Last year’s NL champion Philadelphia Phillies added ace Roy Halliday to a deep pitching staff and explosive offense, but also lost last year’s ace Cliff Lee.

The Yankees have improved the team that won the World Series, while their main challengers have done little to get better.

That is why New York will repeat as champions this season.

The NFL Championship is nearing, and the Super Bowl line is still open but when the game ends, so too does football for many months to come. However, with the ending of one season, another will begin.

Major League Baseball starts spring training in under two months, and there have been many key moves made in the off season.

The two biggest moves in the offseason have involved two of the best pitchers in the game. Roy Halladay left the dome in Toronto to become the new ace of the NL Pennant winners Philadelphia Phillies. He takes up the spot of Cliff Lee, who heads to Safe Co field in Seattle.

The deal was as impactful on the league as it was bizarre. Until we see what happens with Halladay, it appears the Phillies have simply traded one ace that has proven great in Philadelphia, for another ace that have proven great in Toronto.

In the end, though, it may be Halladay that comes out with better numbers. The efficient veteran has endured years with low run support on the Blue Jays while facing the likes of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox on a consistent basis. The move to the NL will benefit greatly a man who often already allows only one or two runs a game. Putting him in a league with a weak eighth batter and a pitcher hitting ninth, and Halladay should be one of the top pitchers. He has always pitched economically, and on occasion Halladay would receive the rare complete game loss. Having seen what Lee did last year moving from the AL to an NL team that can hit, Halladay will thrive.

Lee meanwhile is more of a question mark. The move to the AL from the NL for pitchers has produced varied results the last few years. The Park certainly favous Lee, and he becomes part of a rotation that has a solid number two and three starters. It will be a tough division, however, as the Mariners look to move past the Rangers and the Angels. Another piece of information to consider: Seattle consistently travels the most in the league compared to any other team.

Baseball can be tricky, but it’s never too early to check out some MLB betting tips. Whenever you can, pick Halladay to win, to shutout, and to go nine innings. Lee, however, may be less certain.

All of the headlines nowadays seem to relate to the 2010 Super Bowl odds but there was one specific story that caught everyone’s attention on radar:

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum files for record $13 million arbitration.

Bodog sportsbook (Bodog reviews) has already posted a betting line as to whether he will or will not receive this money and for now, it doesn’t look like he’s going to get it.

Lincecum is still a very young player and if he was a free agent, it would be fair for him to command at least $13 million – if not more – as part of a long term deal.

But Lincecum is eligible for arbitration, which means that he’s not free to sign wherever he wants and he’s forced to stick it out with the Giants.

This could be one of the biggest richest contracts in MLB history awarded in arbitration – especially since the Giants are already offering $8 million.

If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, expect the arbitrator to take a good look at what the Philadelphia Phillies paid Ryan Howard in a similar record-setting salary.

Expect Lincecum to get more than the $10 million than Howard got as Lincecum is a back-to-back Cy Young winner.

Our latest report on MLB free agency dives deeper into the ocean of available players. We’ve looked at the big names and the boom/bust types. Who are the sleepers that could quietly push a team toward glory at bargain prices?

Joel Pineiro, starting pitcher

Talk around expert circles suggests that Pineiro is seeking $7-$8 million per season. Considering that the likes of Jeff Suppan and Carlos Silva make $11-$12 million, Pineiro could be a massive steal. He transformed himself into a groundball pitcher and flourished, walking only 27 hitters in 214 innings as he posted the highest groundball rate among starting pitchers in the majors. That type of approach is one that translates to all ballparks. Someone should go after the reinvented hurler and reap the rewards.

Kiko Calero, relief pitcher

He’s far from a household name but he could absolutely help a contending team in a setup role. Calero posted fantastic numbers last season – 1.95 ERA, .180 opponents average and 69 strikeouts in 60 innings. He has a fantastic slider and could be a nice find if he can avoid his injury troubles.

Adam LaRoche, first baseman

You can do a lot worse than LaRoche and his nice, long swing. The lanky first baseman plays solid defense and always mashes the ball in the second half – he hit .325 with 12 homers and 40 RBI in his last 57 games. If only he could put it together for a whole season.

Troy Glaus, third baseman

Steroid rumors or not, Glaus is a big guy with legit home run power. If he’s willing to swallow his pride and become a DH, he could hit another 25 homers with a solid on-base percentage.

Marco Scutaro, shortstop

Was he a fluke last year or did he simply excel when finally given a chance to start? Either way, Scutaro can be an asset. He gets on base, plays solid defense and has a tiny bit of pop. He can also play at least three positions. Think of him as a (very) poor man’s Chone Figgins.