Category Archives: MLB

Best Sports Betting Information

Individuals wager on all major brandishing occasions everywhere throughout the world. A lot of cash is in question in games wagering, regardless of whether it is the Super Bowl or a soccer coordinate in England. Wagering on group activities is illegal in practically all conditions of the United States. Nevada is the main state to allow sports wagering.

Sports betting are with everything taken into account done at an amusements book. This is the place card sharks can put down bets on an arrangement of diversions rivalries. 888poker kokemuksia has transcended to for all intents and purposes all engaged and master entertainments. This joins sports, for instance, baseball, ball, soccer, hockey, horse hustling and boxing.

The sort of wagering fluctuates with each game. Rewards are compensated after the finale of the occasion. There are three one of a kind sorts of games wagering. In wagering “against the spread,” a speculator conjectures whether the favored group will win by a particular number of focuses or not. The spread is noteworthy lead given to a more fragile group that is assessed to lose by a specific number of focuses. A wager against the spread is recognized as 11-10 wagers. This suggests card sharks will win $10 in the event that they wager $11, making an aggregate of $21.

Betting “against shots” is an extraordinary sort of amusements bet and this is a straightforward bet, where a player figures the triumphant gathering. In addition, the bet may in like manner be put as “over-under.” When making an over-under bet, the bettor wagers that everything will go above or come up short concerning the specific complete communicated by the bookmaker.

Sports books set forward wagers at certain chances and states based on its personal preference, usually known as recommendation wagers. Card sharks surmise the score or the measure of touchdowns or strikes, in light of the sort of game. Spread wagers are the standard wagers to make. Spread wagers are much of the time alluded to as straight wagers for the reason that they include installment of even cash. Enjoying sports wagering can be confounding for many individuals, in perspective on the way that sports books have their own styles of wagering. History has demonstrated that wagering on games pretty much dependably brings about losing cash over the long haul.

Potential MLB MVP Candidates

Major League Baseball has been blessed boatloads of young, budding superstar position players in today’s game.

We don’t have enough time to list them all, but here are a handful: Mike Trout, Francisco Lindor, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Jose Ramirez, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr. … the list can go on and on. The MVP race in each league is the very definition of a heavyweight bout, and it gets tougher each year as more players throw their hat into the proverbial ring.

There are a number of things that must fall into place for the following six position players to find themselves in an MVP race by August and September. However, it could happen if they continue progressing, sustain their elite performance, or bounce back from a tough year.

Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies

I already mentioned him as an under-the-radar MVP candidate last week, so there was no way Hoskins would be left off the list. Already an offensive force for the Phillies, things continued getting better with regard to his 2019 outlook as the offseason progressed.

First, it was trading Carlos Santana away and signing Andrew McCutchen to a three-year deal. This not only opened Hoskins’ natural position back up, but it also filled the theoretical hole he’d leave in the outfield. I say theoretical because advanced defensive metrics pinned his efforts as less than stellar.

Philly has also swung two notable trades for Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto, further transforming manager Gabe Kapler’s lineup. Cutch, Segura, and Realmuto are projected to take the top three spots in the Phillies’ lineup, according to Roster Resource. Hoskins is currently sitting in the clean-up spot, as he surely will be salivating over plenty of RBI opportunities.

Oh, and this doesn’t take into account that if Manny Machado and Harper ever sign a new contract, there’s a good chance one of them will be heading to the City of Brotherly Love. Yes, the Phillies could muscle up their roster like steroids-universe, bringing some serious strength to their lineup and immediately becoming the team to beat in the NL East.

This all comes on the heels of him posting a 2.9 fWAR and 129 wRC+ with 34 home runs and 96 RBI during his first full season in the majors (660 plate appearances).

Carlos Correa, Houston Astros

Calling a former top overall pick in the MLB Draft a dark horse MVP candidate feels weird, but it does make sense in this instance. Despite a down year in which he accumulated 1.6 fWAR and a 101 wRC+ through 468 plate appearances, Carlos Correa is firmly on the radar of many with regard to the game’s best young shortstops.

The 24-year-old already has three seasons of 20-plus homers and two years of at least 5.0 fWAR under his belt, along with that 2017 World Series title. What’s most important for him moving forward is his health. After playing through back troubles last year, he’s declared himself totally healthy with 2019 coming into focus.

He qualifies as a dark horse MVP candidate because of the team he plays on — and more specifically, his teammates on the infield. Jose Altuve played through knee troubles last year, but still had a solid 2018 and is only a couple seasons removed from his own MVP campaign. And then there’s Alex Bregman, who legitimately broke out and shoved his way into the conversation last year thanks to a 7.6-fWAR performance.

This is as close to “under-the-radar” as Correa is probably going to get in his big-league career.

Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies

Speaking of young shortstops, Trevor Story had himself a tremendous bounce-back campaign in 2018 following a disappointing sophomore season. While he did rack up 24 homers and 82 RBI through 555 plate appearances in 2017, he did it with a .239/.308/.457 triple slash to go along with an 81 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR, and an alarming 34.4% strikeout rate.

Story basically set new single-season career highs in just about every offensive category in 2018 while taking a huge step forward in his development. The shortstop slashed .291/.348/.567 with 37 home runs, 27 stolen bases, and 108 RBI in 656 plate appearances, which culminated in a 127 wRC+ and 5.0 fWAR.

The most encouraging part of this performance was a drop in strikeout rate — that 34.4% clip dropped all the way down to 25.6% without sacrificing much in walk rate (8.8% in ’17, 7.2% in ’18). Story’s hard-hit rate settled in above 40.0% for the third straight year, but he was more aggressive on pitches in the strike zone (69.0% swing rate in ’17, 74.6% in ’18). That was accompanied by a career-low 11.4% swinging-strike rate and a career-high 87.2% contact rate on strikes.

As with any Rockies hitter, Coors Field will (rightly or wrongly, depending on who you ask) be a topic of discussion, as will the teammate to his right in Nolan Arenado. Story finished eighth in National League MVP voting last year, but Arenado has four straight top-10 finishes (three straight top-five finishes). With him in his penultimate year of team control — at least at the moment — he’ll be taking up a ton of the spotlight and headlines.

Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins

If this particular pick sounds familiar, it’s because Byron Buxton made this very same list prior to last season getting underway. Based off the -3 wRC+ he posted in just 94 big-league plate appearances, that selection didn’t age well, but I’m willing to give it another try.

The temptation is here because of the breakthrough Buxton experienced with the Twins in 2017. Despite a slow start, a hot second half pushed his offensive numbers up to respectable levels. Although that year finished with a season-long wRC+ of just 90, he also added 16 homers and 29 stolen bases en route to posting 3.5 fWAR.

That high wins-above-replacement number is largely because of the elite defense he brings to the table. Buxton has racked up just shy of 2,500 innings in center field since debuting in 2015, but he still ranks sixth at his position (among those with at least 2,000 innings) with 33 Defensive Runs Saved. Buxton’s ability to impact the game in multiple ways could help him shoot up fWAR leaderboards, if he’s healthy.

In an effort to become more durable, the outfielder added 21 pounds of muscle over the winter. We’ll see if there’s an impact on his style of play during spring training, but hopefully it means he takes the field almost every day throughout 2019.

Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati Reds

The Reds are fascinating based off the handful of win-now moves they’ve made this winter. Since they don’t have a legitimate option to play center field after non-tendering Billy Hamilton, top prospect Nick Senzel is going to get a look over the next month or so.

Why wouldn’t Cincy just leave one of their most valuable minor leaguers at his natural position of third base? Well, that’s because Eugenio Suarez is there, under contract until 2024, and has continually made strides in the batter’s box.

Check out the three-year progression Suarez has been on since 2016 (when he received his first full season’s worth of plate appearances):

Among third basemen who qualified for the batting title (20 total), Suarez’s wRC+ ranked sixth, along with having the fourth-most homers and the seventh-highest fWAR.

He also must be taking notes from teammate Joey Votto in a couple departments. The 2018 season was the second consecutive year in which his walk rate finished above 10.0%, but it was his batted-ball profile that took a huge leap. His soft-hit rate fell dramatically (20.7% in ’17 to 8.4% in ’18) while his hard-hit rate spiked (33.8% to 48.6%). He hit line drives, ground balls, and fly balls at the same consistency as 2017, but his infield-fly rate went from 11.0% (a career-worst mark) to 2.8% (a career-best mark).

At a position that’s stacked with young, elite talent, it’s easy for Suarez to be forgotten, but he did finish 18th in NL MVP voting in 2018, so it’s not as if nobody is noticing the current trajectory he’s on.

Matt Chapman, Oakland Athletics

Oakland’s surprising 97-65 record from last season wouldn’t have been possible without Matt Chapman leading the way. He posted 6.5 fWAR in his first full big-league season off the strength of above-average offensive production (.864 OPS, 137 wRC+, 24 homers, 68 RBI, 100 runs scored) and elite defense (29 DRS in 1,273.2 innings).

The two defenders who were closest to what Chapman did in the DRS department were Andrelton Simmons and Nick Ahmed, who both finished with 21. So, the gap between Chapman and second place (8 DRS) was as big as it was from second place to 13th place (Addison Russell, 13).

He did finish seventh in American League MVP voting in 2018, and he can thank a big second half for that happening. After posting a .776 OPS and 116 wRC+ through 330 first-half plate appearances, his final 286 trips to the plate resulted in a .961 OPS and 162 wRC+. That included more homers (14), RBI (39), and runs scored (52) following the All-Star Break despite fewer plate appearances (10, 29, and 48, respectively, in the first half).

Chapman has most certainly put himself on many radars thanks to his breakout campaign, but with a Junior Circuit full of talent — while also playing in the same division as Mike Trout — it’ll be tough for the A’s third baseman to come out as a frontrunner for this award.

How to Balance Sports and Studies as a Student

As the school chimes ring to begin another scholarly year and whistles abrasive to begin another games season, how does the understudy competitor figure out how to accomplish decent evaluations and hold ideal execution on the playing field?

With an accentuation on kids represents considerable authority in one game, all year, the worry of doing admirably in a game can without much of a stretch supersede the need to do well in school. In any case, this does not need to be the situation for understudy competitors. Factually, inquire about shows that adolescent who take an interest in games, regardless of whether the school or network sports, perform preferred scholastically over kids who don’t take an interest in games.

How do understudy competitors accomplish harmony among school and sports? By distinguishing efficient tips and procedures and by actualizing these systems, the understudy competitor can succeed scholastically, just as physically.

Get composed and remain sorted out: Utilize a major work area timetable for school and sports. Record every single due date for schoolwork, tasks, and papers. Record all games practices and recreations. Consistently return to your schedule and make adjustments. If you are facing incomplete homework issues, you can get in touch with some writing services like thanksforthehelp or paperdoers. You also can search your nearest one to get the best service.

Deal with your time: With contending requests set on your time, you should design your realized time plan. Realized occasions are educational time, diversion and practice time, and travel time to and from school, just as movement time to and from games practices and occasions. By hindering this known time on your logbook, you can decide your genuine homework time and study time.

Plan your week; don’t give your week a chance to design you. Take a gander at your date-book and note when you have extends due, tests planned, and practices and amusements planned. Plan how you will examine and when you will think about.

Utilize your ends of the week astutely: Utilize your end of the week as planning time for the week ahead. Begin homework for the forthcoming week. Peruse parts and take notes early. Utilize this opportunity to anticipate and get ready for ventures and papers that are expected.

Utilize your movement time to and from school, practices, and amusements admirably. Audit notes, read sections, study, or read books. Another tip – use book recordings while voyaging and read along.

Try not to tarry: Do assignments when they are given, as opposed to holding up until the latest possible time. Lack of common sense and holding up until the very late will result in missed practices or missed games. In case you missed your homework and you are thinking to have an expert who writes your assignment on behalf of you, you can search on the web. topassignmentexperts, essaywriter4U and a lot more are there available on the web who provide you best solution.

Try not to get behind: Regardless of whether this relates to homework, schoolwork, evaluations, or sports rehearses, it is less demanding to remain in front of schoolwork instead of to play get up to speed with grades, missed assignments, or missed donning occasions.

Exploit contemplate lobbies and free periods: Do homework, request help, ponder and stretch out beyond your work. At one school that my kids visited, there was no prerequisite for kids to do work in the study corridor. Kids were allowed to unwind, tune in to music (with earbuds), and content, with no desire that work would be finished. Think about what the youngsters did in the study corridor? They lose, tuned in to music, and message. No schoolwork was finished. While the understudies thought this was extraordinary, this is not a decent method to exploit the investigation lobbies and free periods that can enormously help understudy competitors in adjusting school work and sports exercises. You also can get some professional writing service like onlineassignmentwriting , bestonlineassignmenthelp or any other one. They can give your assignment on time.

Exploit school assets, for example, guides. Numerous games groups need their competitors to prevail in school and offer projects to support their competitors. On the off chance that your school or network offers these chances, take them.

Requests on our time never end: Our commitments and interests keep on viewing for our consideration and our time for the duration of our lives.

By presenting and executing efficient tips and systems right off the bat in an understudy competitor’s vocation, we – as guardians, mentors, and coaches – can help in the understudy competitor’s prosperity, not just in school and on the playing field, yet throughout everyday life.

Best Destinations around the world for your next Vacation

Taking out trice of time from your preoccupied schedules? Never let it go in vain, for vacations are meant to assuage the pain. We often look for the best vacation destinations but fail to arrive on a cessation that both your pocket and heart would agree upon. Confusing much? we understand your concern. Talking of international destinations, it really is, indeed, very perplex to come to judgments and look for the destinations that serve you a purpose with your mindset of spending limited or extravagantly, as and how you wish to.

Undoubtedly, America, South Africa and Europe, always top the lists of international tour destinations that one would look forward to visit. But adding to out painful awakening, one cannot opt into moving throughout these countries or continents. Here, we bring to you commendable options to visit, pertaining to the aforementioned places.

Scrutinizing and juggling amidst the best of both worlds under the head of this vacation plan, it has been really doughty to choose one from each- tougher than what one would preach.

The three places Prague, New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro will undoubtedly put you in wonderment of the beauty and richness of culture that they hold since times; history is evident.

1. Prague

The foremost recourse, Prague (Europe), is a pleasant to visit and lovely to live city. Famous substantially for its architecture and beer, Prague doesn’t upset any foodie ever. Prague is known for its specialty in Czech food- potato soup, traditional roast pork and fruit dumplings. OH! Already drooling over these. One must undoubtedly opt to try these when visiting the city of Prague in European continent. It is the capital and the largest city in Czech Republic- yet another reason to not miss visiting it. This, also being regarded as Europe’s one of the most charming, captivating and alluring cities, must not be overlooked if you are aiming for a vacation in Europe. You can drive to Prague via Limousine and make your vacations memorable.

2. New Orleans   

Located along the renowned river of Mississippi, known for its eternal beauty, the consolidated city of New Orleans is the best destination to vacation at if you aim for frolic, parties and rich culture. Be it round the clock Nightlife or high of the festive and embodiment of frolic spirits during the later winter carnival- this Louisiana city never fails to amaze even the most energetic souls coming over to it. This city in the Los Angeles (United States of America) blesses the visitors with plentiful live music clubs, Garden district to beautify your random strolls and National WWII museum for the historic nerds. A must visit place if nightlife is your craze.

3 .Rio de Jeneiro

Next, bringing in awe, comes the city of Rio de Janeiro, located in Brazil, this seaside city speaks of its own- high and true! Possessing immensely beautified white sandy beaches, soaring and high mountains with picturesque harbor, it is also referred to as the marvelous city. It has the second largest economy in Brazil; partially coming from the immense tourist attractions that it possesses effortlessly. Christ de Redeemer, the foremost attraction which comes in one’s mind while talking of this place, is an iconic piece of art in itself. Others that follow this serene location are the Corcovado (a set of beautifully and naturally sculpted landmark mountains which give a panorama studded view), the prainha beach, Maracana stadium and Copacabana.

Rio de Janeiro is unquestionably the best and most voted to be visited destination in Brazil.

We have seen the 3 best destinations around the world, where you can spend your Vacation and make it a lifetime memory.

Happy Vacation!

2019 Goals for the AL East

With the calendar now turned to 2019 and the NFL season almost behind us, it’s time to start looking forward to the return of baseball. Last season was phenomenal for the Boston Red Sox as they claimed their 4th World Series title since 2004. Heading into the season, the Sox are once again one of the favorites to come out of the American League and make it back to the World Series. Baseball betting futures have the Sox and Astros as the top AL teams, with the Dodgers and Braves having the best odds to win the NL. Fans looking to bet on baseball should make the most of their free bets and make a wager on one of these top teams to win the World Series. Or if you’re feeling really lucky, you can take the long odds and place a wager on the Baltimore Orioles.

Now it’s time to take a look at the AL East heading into the 2019 season. Here are the top goals for each of the division’s teams.

Boston Red Sox: Start Planning for the Future

It’s hard to be frustrated with anything for Red Sox fans at the moment. They’re still basking in the glory of Boston’s fourth World Series title this century, and the 2018 club’s dominant performance (108 regular season wins, 119 overall) has them in the conversation of the best teams ever assembled.

Looking forward to 2019 and beyond, though, Dave Dombrowski has his work cut out for him. The Red Sox led the league this past year with a payroll north of $227 million, and although money doesn’t appear to be a sensitive issue for the upcoming year, it’s going to be rather soon.

Boston’s current core is getting closer to free agency, and it’ll be tough to retain them all. Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts are set to hit the open market next winter, while Mookie Betts is under team control for just two more years.

They’ll need to consider just about anything depending on which players they’d like to keep, which is why Bogaerts, Rick Porcello, and Jackie Bradley Jr. all heard their names surface in trade rumors during the Winter Meetings.

Baltimore Orioles: Keep Completely Restructuring the Organization

This offseason should be a transformational one for the Orioles, and it has nothing to do with the players ultimately acquired.

Baltimore began the process of rebuilding the franchise by going on a midseason fire sale prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. It didn’t end there, though, as manager Buck Showalter and general manager Dan Duquette also lost their jobs when the regular season was complete.

Mike Elias is now in Duquette’s place and has found his next manager in former Chicago Cubs bench coach, Brandon Hyde. Since Elias wasn’t officially hired by Baltimore until the middle of November, it’ll be hard to make any significant changes to the on-field product heading into 2019. But what he will be doing is building the coaching staff around Hyde, along with bringing in other front-office executives.

If there’s anyone who knows what it takes to successfully rebuild an organization from the ground up, it’s Elias. He was with the Houston Astros from 2011-18, as they went through three straight seasons of 100-plus losses before becoming the team they are today. Elias brings a background in scouting and player development with him, something the Orioles badly need.

Toronto Blue Jays: Find Takers for Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez

The Blue Jays are kind of stuck in the middle. As we’ve already mentioned, the AL East is top heavy because of New York and Boston, and Tampa Bay has a real opportunity to make a run at the postseason themselves. Toronto had decent odds of making the playoffs prior to Opening Day last season, but it all went downhill from there.

Their 5.14 rotation ERA was the third-worst mark in baseball, and Stroman and Sanchez — two important pieces to the puzzle — contributed to that number. Neither hurler produced an ERA below 4.80 in 2018, and they combined for just 2.2 fWAR while tossing just 207.1 frames.

They both have had their names come through the trade rumor mill this winter, but dealing one or both now would be the epitome of selling low. Unless Toronto comes out of nowhere with a hot start, the front office’s hope should be seeing Stroman and Sanchez rebuild their value enough to become hot commodities at the trade deadline.

New York Yankees: Win The World Series

Rebuilding or not, this is the goal of every team for every season. But it’s a little bit different in the Bronx. I mean, these are the Yankees. If they don’t win the World Series, it feels like a supreme disappointment.

That disgust gets to another level when the Red Sox not only win the AL East title, but also manhandle them in the playoffs on their way to yet another championship. Nobody should blame Hank Steinbrenner for being “pissed off” about this.

Still, it’s worth noting that New York has an incredible core group of young players, a deep farm system, and money to spend. They’ve already fortified the rotation by re-signing J.A. Happ and trading for James Paxton, and now all the attention will be on whether or not they land Machado.

Major League Baseball – Things to Know to Follow the Game Properly

Baseball is now played across the globe. Coming to the rules and styles, you may find it being played in a myriad of variations by children, teens, and the elite professionals. The ultimate dream of any aspiring baseball player is to enter into the Major League Baseball (MLB). In this article, we will have a closer look into MLB on how it works, and you can watch the game and evaluate it at a professional level.

Two leagues

MLB consists of two major leagues as:

There are 15 teams in each league and three sub-divisions. The in-charge of the league is a commissioner elected by the holders of all 30 teams.

Each team in the leagues has a farm system. There are a series of minor teams with players of different stages of development. These minor series are the breeding ground of the MLB players. There are scouts present at the minor leagues to assess the talent of the players. They also evaluate the high school and college players as well as from Latin America and Asia.

MLB season

A regular MLB season consists of 162 games. Most of these matches are played within a given league. However, there are inter-league plays too. Inter-league plays have teams from American League playing against the teams of National League.

Wager Bop says that, at the early years of MLB, teams of each division used to play against teams of the same division in the other league. Back by 2002, MLB changed the format in which there was a rotation schedule for inter-league games played against a team of various divisions. However, there were exceptions too for the hometown rivalries. The divisional winners advance to the championship playoff along with the wild card entry team, which has the best record amongst non-division winners.

Viewing the game

Each team in MLB will have 25 players on the active roster. There are four on-field umpires for each MLB game. One is positioned behind the plate to call balls and strikes and one each at the first, second, and third base.

At the baseball stadium, the best location to view the match will be based on your personal preferences. For example, if you want to witness the chess game held between the pitcher and hitter, it is ideal to choose a seat directly behind the home plate, which also will give you an entire field view.

Player statistics

Player statistics basically focus on the points they accumulate during the season. Some key statistics are:

  • Batting average: The percentage of at-bats of a player resulting in base hits.
  • RBI (Runs Batted In): Total runs hitter gets from at-bats except the runs scored through fielding errors. The batter gets an RBI when he gets a hit, sacrifice bunt, infield out, sacrifice fly, or fielder’s choice which ends in runners scoring. Also, if a batter is walked, hit by a pitch, or gets interfered, batter receives an RBI.
  • Home run: Batter reaches to home safely with one swing of the bat. Most of the home runs are hit above the outfield fence but sometimes may get an inside-the-park home run too when batter hits a ball onto the field but still can round all bases safely without getting tagged out.

Another measure is OBP (on-base percentage) counting how often a batter reaches to his base, and the slugging average is the number of bases divided by the number of at-bats.

Author Bio: Sujain Thomas is a freelance content writer. He has written a unique and very interesting article on various categories and currently associated as a blogger with

https://www.wagerbop.com/

 

MLB Hot Stove Rumors

Even though the Red Sox have been crowned as World Series champs, it doesn’t mean that the action has stopped in Major League Baseball.  MLB’s hot stove season is starting to sizzle a bit.  The off-season moves that each team makes are important for baseball bettors to stay on top of.  Knowing the landscape of player movement can have a big impact on baseball wagers and their success.  Here are the MLB trade rumors currently swirling around.

Could Syndergaard Be On The Move?

Mets flamethrower Noah Syndergaard could finally be on his way out of New York.

Trade rumors were swirling last year, involving Syndergaard and the Padres, who showed interest in him. San Diego wasn’t willing to give up some of its young talent, though, and the deal fell through.

But the Padres’ interest has not waned, and they’re back at the negotiating table, apparently. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Friday that the Padres are looking to trade for Syndergaard, and that this year, they’re going to make a stronger push, so the deal may actually happen.

As far as who might be involved in the deal, the Mets need infielders that can hit, so that makes Fernando Tatis Jr. an attractive possibility. They could also look at acquiring a pitcher, such as Dinelson Lamet or Clayton Richard. If they’re looking for outfield depth, Franchy Cordero could be an option as well.

Injuries decimated the Mets last season, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to compete as a legitimate contender in 2019, so Syndergaard very well could be on the move in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

 

Yankees Look to Cut Ties with Sonny Gray

The trade for Sonny Gray was one of the Yankees’ worst moves in recent years, no matter how you slice it. Giving up young talent — including infielder Dustin Fowler — for a player that was abysmal in his home starts, and provided absolutely nothing in the playoffs (which was why the team made the move in the first place), was an absolute disaster.

It’s hard to put into words how bad Gray was in New York, considering he was fairly dominant in Oakland. He posted a 4.90 ERA, and really never had one comfortable outing where he cruised at Yankee Stadium during his tenure there.

As such, it was inevitable that he’d be moved during the offseason, and the team is wasting no time in looking to trade him, heading into MLB’s Winter Meetings. It’s possible that the Yankees could acquire two big-name pitchers — with Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and James Paxton all in the mix — in the near future, so they’re likely looking to deal Gray first, so they know what resources they have available.

Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Yankees have multiple offers on the table, and that they’re close to trading him.

The Reds are looking to make a splash for starting pitching this winter, so they could be in the mix. Also, the Athletics are apparently interested in bringing him back to Oakland.

This will be a “buy low” scenario, so maybe that’s why so many teams have reported interest.

 

Major League Baseball to Cash in from FOX’s Broadcast Rights

Televising sporting events is big business, as sports fans know all too well.

Fox Sports recently signed a five-year deal with the NFL for Thursday Night Football, worth over $3.3 billion (!), which is an exorbitant amount of money, especially considering that some of the games aren’t even all that competitive, and ratings reflect that.

Not only that, Fox is making sure it continues to have a strong hold on the MLB market as well, The network just renewed its contract with MLB, and its a significant increase from what it was previously playing. Fox Sports’ new seven-year deal cost $5.1 billion, according to a report from Eben Novy-Williams of the Sports Business Journal .

MLB also pulled off a streaming deal with DAZN.

https://twitter.com/novy_williams/status/1063099916774506498

It’ll take a lot of advertising revenue for Fox to turn a profit on that deal.

Can the Sox Pass the Verlander Test?

Where would the Houston Astros be without Justin Verlander leading the pitching staff? They’d probably still be pretty good, but not nearly as good as they have been since acquiring him just over a year ago.

Houston took a 1-0 series lead Saturday night in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park with their ace taking the reigns like usual. It wasn’t your typical dominant start from the right-hander — he did walk four hitters and recorded two wild pitches — but he allowed just two runs on two hits and six strikeouts in six innings.  The Astros were favored to win the game at Novibet Sports and other online sports books, and Verlander did not disappoint.

Thanks to his earlier days with the Detroit Tigers and now the last two Octobers with the Astros, Verlander has accumulated 24 appearances (23 starts) in postseason play, leading to 146.1 innings. That’s basically a season’s worth of work, and he’s taken advantage of all the opportunity by posting a 13-6 record with a 3.08 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 28.1% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate.

That’s not too shabby on the surface, but it gets more impressive when realizing the historical significance.

Justin Verlander’s first full year in Houston couldn’t have gone much better. His 2.52 ERA is the lowest it’s been since 2011 — you know, when he won the AL Cy Young and MVP award — while those strikeout and walk rates are both career-best marks. For someone with as impressive of a resume as Verlander, achieving those feats in his age-35 season is remarkable.

Is this mostly because he’s playing in an era with plenty of chances to register wins during the postseason? Well, yes, but this is also the seventh year of playoff baseball in his career.

Of those 13 career wins, though, six have come with Houston. While he’s only 2-1 in his last four postseason starts, Verlander has allowed just nine hits in 23.1 frames. This particular streak has him being mentioned in the same breath as Don Larsen, so that’s pretty cool.

As mentioned earlier, Saturday’s start was far from Verlander’s best work. He still found a way to limit base hits, which has been the theme of his playoff career.

It’s safe to say that Houston has gotten everything they were hoping from Verlander, and then some. Not only has he gone 21-9 with a 2.32 ERA and 0.87 WHIP through his first 248 regular-season innings, but he’s been as close to automatic as you can get when it counts the most.

About Matt Musico

Matt currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book about how to become a sports blogger.

The Red Sox Should Sit David Price

The Boston Red Sox escaped the division round after just four games, but the New York Yankees held on as long as they could in the closeout game. Craig Kimbrel was on the verge of blowing it, but they closed things down just when it was needed.  After Game 2, many fans at DraftKings SportsBook were ready to bet on New York to win the series, but the Red Sox came charging back with two dominant wins.

In the four games from the Red Sox, we saw three starting pitchers dominate and a bullpen that cannot be trusted. The Red Sox saw how vital it is to have a starting pitcher go deep, because of the massive drop off with their bullpen.

Right now, the Red Sox absolutely cannot trust David Price in that position. Especially if he is in a prominent spot in the rotation, there is the fear that he will do the kind of damage that can threaten the rotation for future games.

Fortunately, Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Rick Porcello made it clear that they can handle things. Price can still be a weapon out of the bullpen, where he has been valuable, but the trust as a starter no longest exists.

Depending on the situation, the Red Sox could sneak Price in a fourth spot, but it does not feel worth the risk at this point. If things derail with other pitchers, however, they may have to go back to him.

After that first series, the Red Sox finished with three starting pitchers they can trust, and they need to be the top of the rotation the rest of the way.

With them, the Red Sox do not need to rely on Price. It has been far too long since anyone trusted Price in the playoffs, and if he can give the bullpen a boost, that is likely to be his best possible impact.

Alex Cora will have some decisions to make, but it would be a surprise to see Price’s role unaltered, even if it was just one miserable start.

Keep in mind, while the Yankees had all the power, the Houston Astros have an offense that might be even more intimating, because of how many different ways they can do damage.

The Red Sox cannot afford to have a single performance like the one Price gave in game two against the Yankees, because the Astros also have top tier pitching behind that offense.

The Red Sox cannot afford to take risk with their rotation when you are facing a rotation as dominant as the Astros, and Price is the biggest risk on the roster right now.

It should be a fun series and you know it will be a difficult series, but it has become abundantly clear that the Red Sox no longer need Price in the starting rotation.

The Sox Need to Look Out for Gleyber Torres

At 48-22 heading into Wednesday’s action, the New York Yankees are easily one of baseball’s best teams. They’re also doing what many expected after acquiring Giancarlo Stanton over the winter. However, there’s no doubt they wouldn’t be where they currently are in the standings without the play of rookie second baseman, Gleyber Torres. In fact, online betting in Connecticut has been increasing since Torres came on the scene.  Fans from the southern part of the state love to bet on him and the Yankees, while fans up in northern “Sox Country” CT look to bet against them.

Among Yankees position players with at least 190 plate appearances, only Aaron Judge has a better wRC+ (157) than Torres (145). The 21-year-old has shown no signs of his age or inexperience en route to slashing .291/.346/.566 to start his MLB career.

Just about everything he’s done thus far has been impressive, but his 14 home runs is definitely at the top of the list. His latest bomb came on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, which just further solidified his place in franchise history.

Seeing your name next to legends like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle is a very, very good thing, you guys. We can’t even say he’s taken advantage of Yankee Stadium too much — he’s hit seven homers at home and seven on the road.

This power surge is even more interesting after taking a look at Torres’ minor-league career. In five seasons (370 games and 1,591 plate appearances) as a professional before getting called up, he hit a grand total of 24 home runs. It’s taken him just 192 plate appearances in the bigs to blast 14 dingers.

Logic says he’s due for regression at some point, but he’s doing everything right at the moment when looking at his batted-ball profile. Torres is combining a 42.3% hard-hit rate with a 42.1% fly-ball rate and 47.2% pull rate. Oh, and he’s throwing in a 27.0% line-drive rate for good measure.

This is clearly a recipe for success, and it’ll be fun to see if he can surpass his career minor-league home run total in less than one full big-league season. If nothing else, he’s setting himself up to have a legitimate shot at doing that in the second half.