Pirates beat Jones in arbitration; avoid hearing with McGehee
Baseball Betting Lines
02/16/2012 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates won their salary arbitration case with first baseman Garrett Jones and avoided a hearing with newly-acquired third baseman Casey McGehee.
Jones will earn a salary of $2.25 million for 2012 instead of the $2.5 million he had requested. It's a hefty raise from the $455,000 he was paid in 2011, when he hit .243 with 16 homers and 58 runs batted in.
The 30-year-old Illinois native has spent the last three seasons with the Pirates after appearing in 31 games for Minnesota in 2007. He slugged 21 homers in each of his first two seasons in Pittsburgh and has 60 career home runs with 193 RBI and a .254 batting average.
Terms of McGehee's deal were not disclosed, but he had asked for $2.725 million through arbitration and the Pirates had offered $2.35 million.
McGehee was acquired from Milwaukee earlier this offseason in a deal that sent pitcher Jose Veras to the Brewers. He became expendable in Milwaukee when the Brewers signed former Pirate Aramis Ramirez as a free agent.
After a pair of promising seasons, including a 23-homer, 104-RBI campaign in 2010, McGehee hit just .223 with 13 home runs and 67 RBI in 155 games last year. He also batted .301 in 2009, his first season with the Brewers.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers seem to be on cruise control in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but the last few weeks have been anything but a smooth ride for the struggling Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago will try
<< Bulls and Celtics clash in the Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls resume a six-
game homestand tonight aiming for a measure of revenge over the Boston
Celtics.
The Celtics snapped a five-game winning streak by the Bulls in Beantown,
95-91, this
<< Pacers aim to continue dominance over Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly struggling Indiana Pacers will attempt to
right the ship Thursday when they shoot for a 10th consecutive win over the
New Jersey Nets.
Early in the season the Pacers, who are kicking off a three-game homestand
<< Clippers invade Rip City to take on Blazers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers invade
Rip City on Thursday to take on a Portland Trail Blazers team that expects to
be without All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge for a second consecutive night.
The Clips returne
<< Bulldogs and Broncos battle in WCC affair
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Desperate to put an end to a 13-game slide,
the Santa Clara Broncos have the unenviable task of entertaining 24th-ranked
Gonzaga in West Coast Conference action at the Leavey Center tonight.
Santa Clara, wh
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will try to rebound from just their third regulation loss of 2012 when they host the New York Islanders tonight at Scottrade Center. St. Louis has gone 13-3-2 since the start of January and one of the f
Leino, Sabres visit Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Philadelphia Flyers hope the return of Ilya
Bryzgalov can help them avoid their sixth loss in seven games, as they get set
to host the Buffalo Sabres in tonight's clash at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers are
Sliding Wild welcome Jets to St. Paul >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Wild and Jets squared off, Minnesota was
at the top of the NHL standings. Things have certainly changed since.
Minnesota hopes to avoid a sixth straight defeat and falling further back in
the playoff race
Sharks continue trek with test in Tampa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After splitting the first two tests of an epic nine-game
road trip, the San Jose Sharks will travel to the Sunshine State for tonight's
battle against the Lightning at Tampa Times Forum.
Thanks to a tennis tournament curre
Flames battle Stars in Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flames have been racking up points so far in February
and their latest convincing victory has them within a point of a playoff spot.
Calgary puts a six-game point streak on the line this evening against the
Dallas Star
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Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.