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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 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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