Braves bring final 11 under contract
Baseball Betting Lines
03/03/2010 - Lake Buena Vista, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves agreed to terms with the final 11 players on their 40-man roster Wednesday.
One-year contracts have been granted to right-handers Jair Jurrjens, Kris Medlen and Luis Valdez; left-handers Mike Dunn, Lee Hyde, Eric O'Flaherty and Jose Ortegano; infielders Brooks Conrad, Diory Hernandez and Martin Prado, along with outfielder Jordan Schafer.
In addition, the Braves renewed the contracts of right-handed hurler Tommy Hansen and infielder Yunel Escobar.
Jurrjens finished the 2009 season with a 14-10 record, 2.60 earned run average, 152 strikeouts and 75 walks in 215 innings over 34 starts.
Medlen went 3-5 with a 4.26 ERA and a pair of blown saves in 37 games (four starts), while O'Flaherty was 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA in 78 appearances.
Prado posted 11 homers and 49 RBI with 38 doubles and a .307 batting average in 128 games, while Hernandez hit .141 with one home run and six RBI in 33 games last season.
Schafer slugged a pair of homers and drove in eight runs while hitting .204 in 50 games during his rookie campaign in 2009.
Hanson's first MLB season saw him finish 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA and 116 strikeouts against 46 walks in 127 2/3 innings over 21 starts.
Escobar batted .299 with 14 homers and 76 RBI in 141 games a season ago.
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators acquired forward Dustin Boyd from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2010 fourth-round draft pick. The 23-year-old Boyd has compiled eight goals and 11 assists in 60 games fo
<< St Trinians tries boys in Saturday's Big 'Cap
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 73rd running of the $750,000 Santa Anita
Handicap (Big 'Cap) at Santa Anita Park has attracted 13 males and one female.
The 14 thoroughbreds will be asked to run 1 1/4-miles Saturday on Santa
Anita's
<< Blue Jackets send Modin to Kings
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets traded veteran
forward Fredrik Modin to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2010 seventh-
round draft pick.
It has been an injury-plagued campaign for the Swede, who has
<< Bears tender contracts to eight players
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears tendered contract
offers to eight free agents on Wednesday.
One-year deals were tendered to restricted free agent linebackers Nick Roach
and Jamar Williams, defensive end Mark
<< Oilers ship Staios to Flames
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Aaron
Johnson and a third-round draft pick from the Calgary Flames in exchange for
veteran rearguard Steve Staios.
Johnson appeared in 22 games this season for the Fl
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes dealt defenseman Andrew Alberts to Vancouver on Wednesday in exchange for the Canucks' third-round draft pick in 2010. Alberts posted two goals and 10 points in 62 games for Caroli
Yelle returns to the Mile High City >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche have acquired forward
Stephane Yelle from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Cedric
McNicoll and a 2010 sixth-round draft pick.
Yelle returns to the franchise with wh
Rangers pick up D Eriksson from Phoenix >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers added some depth to the
blue line by acquiring veteran defenseman Anders Eriksson from the Phoenix
Coyotes prior to the trade deadline on Wednesday.
Eriksson was sent to the Ran
Coyotes acquire Nokelainen from Anaheim >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have acquired center
Petteri Nokelainen from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a sixth-round draft
pick in 2011.
Nokelainen has registered four goals and seven assists in 50 game
Lightning sale completed >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning to a local
group headed by businessman Jeff Vinik has been completed.
Vinik controls Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment, LLC, and becomes
chairman of the team
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.