Harper seems headed for our nation's capital

Baseball Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft gets underway on June 7th, with the Washington Nationals holding the top pick for the second straight year.

It is just the second time since the inception of the draft in 1965 that a team has had the No. 1 overall selection in consecutive years, as Tampa Bay chose David Price and Tim Beckham with the top picks in 2007-08.

Until the most recent basic agreement took effect in 2005, the top pick had alternated annually between the leagues.

Of course, Washington selected arguably the best pitching prospect ever in Steven Strasburg with the first selection last year. Strasburg, who is scheduled to make his big league debut the day after the start of this year's draft, could be joined soon by another phenom in 17-year-old slugging catcher Bryce Harper.

The consensus best player available in this year's draft, Harper has already graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and has been dubbed the "LeBron James of Baseball". As per agent Scott Boras' advice, Harper skipped his final two years of high school, received his GED and enrolled in a wood-bat junior college league to get him in the draft a year early.

Despite being just 17 years old, Harper starred for the College of Southern Nevada, hitting .442 with 29 home runs, 89 RBI, 88 runs scored, an .986 slugging percentage and a .524 on-base-percentage through 62 games.

Scouts differ on where he will play at the next level. Some say he is fine where he is behind the plate, while others feel he will either outgrow the position or that his bat will be too good to hold him back, with the thinking that a move to third base or right field could get him to the majors quicker.

Harper's legend grew last summer, when at the 2009 International Power Showcase at Tropicana Field, he hit the longest home run in the building's history at 502 feet, albeit with a metal bat.

Should he indeed go to the Nationals, Harper will be the first catcher selected with the first pick since Minnesota made reigning American League Most Valuable Player Joe Mauer the top overall selection in 2001.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have the second pick, followed by the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians. The Arizona Diamondbacks select sixth, with the New York Mets, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics completing the top 10.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hold three first-round picks (18, 29, 30) and will make five of the first 40 selections. The Texas Rangers, Astros and Tampa Bay Rays also hold multiple picks in round one.

As usual, pitching will dominate the first round, with prep right-hander Jameson Taillon and Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz both expected to go early on. Also, South Florida high schooler Manny Machado, who has drawn comparisons to Alex Rodriguez, is also expected to be gone in the top five.

Once again the draft will take place over three days. The first day will consist of the first 50 picks, including Round One and Compensation Round A. There will be five minutes between first-round picks and one minute between all other selections.

On Tuesday, June 8th, the Draft will resume in the second round at 12:00 p.m. (EDT) and will be tentatively scheduled to go through the 30th round. The draft will then conclude on Wednesday, June 9th, which is set to cover the 31st-50th rounds and will begin again at 12:00 p.m. (EDT).

The inaugural Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held in New York in 1965. The selection rotation is determined by the clubs' reverse order of their won-lost records at the close of the previous regular season, regardless of league.

There will be 50 rounds in the draft and it will finish after all 30 teams have passed on a selection or after the final selection in the 50th round, whichever comes first.

Former No. 1 overall selections include current major leaguers Ken Griffey, Jr. (1987), Chipper Jones (1990), Rodriguez (1993), Josh Hamilton (1999), Adrian Gonzalez (2000), Mauer (2001), and Price (2007).

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Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup

September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com.  The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans. 

Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to  name a  few.  Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR.  They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.

The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer.  Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your golf sportsbook needs.

Ryder Cup Odds

Europe
Tie
USA		 4-5
10-1
6-5


Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Phil Mickelson
Chris DiMarco
David Toms
Stewart Cink
Chad Campbell
Scott Verplank
Zach Johnson
Vaughan Taylor
JJ Henry
Brett Wetterich		 9-4
4-1
5-1
7-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
50-1


Ryder Cup Top European scorer
Sergio Garcia
Luke Donald
Padraig Harrington
Colin Montgomerie
Darren Clarke
David Howell
Lee Westwood
Paul Casey
Henrik Stenson
Jose Maria Olazabal
Paul McGinley
Robert Karlsson		 5-1
5-1
6-1
13-2
8-1
9-1
9-1
11-1
12-1
12-1
20-1
25-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com