Blue Jays ink Morrow to three-year deal

Baseball Betting Lines

01/24/2012 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays have signed pitcher Brandon Morrow to a three-year contract worth $20 million with a club option for 2015.

Morrow was 11-11 with a 4.27 earned run average and 203 strikeouts in a career-high 30 starts last season, his second in Toronto after being acquired from Seattle for pitcher Brandon League.

After bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen during three years with the Mariners, the Blue Jays made the right-hander a starter. He is 21-18 with a 4.62 ERA and 381 strikeouts over 325 2/3 innings with Toronto.

The new deal covers Morrow's last two years of salary arbitration and his first year of free agency. The Blue Jays now have their top two starters under contract, as Ricky Romero has a deal through 2015 with a club option for 2016.

Morrow, 27, was selected by Seattle with the fifth overall pick of the 2006 draft and owns a career mark of 29-30 with a 4.37 ERA in 187 games, including 71 starts.

Wwwjustformen Baseball Betting News


<< Blockbuster Nadal-Federer Aussie semi set for Friday
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 greats Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will do battle in the semifinals Friday at the 2012 Australian Open. The second-seeded Nadal snuck past seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in fo

<< Federer disposes of del Potro, reaches Aussie semis
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Roger Federer cruised past 11th-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open. Federer handled the Argentine 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a mere

<< Gay, Grizzlies rally to beat Warriors
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay scored 23 points and the Memphis Grizzlies erased an 18-point point deficit in the fourth quarter to extend their winning streak to seven with a 91-90 comeback victory over the Warriors. Memp

<< Oilers top Sharks in shootout
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taylor Hall scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. In the fourth round, Hall faked to the backhand and was able to lift the puck past Th

<< Kings chase Anderson, beat Senators
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Clifford had a goal and an assist while Jonathan Quick turned aside 27 shots to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. Jack Johnson, Trevor Lewis and Willie Mitchell

Murray State's moment in the spotlight >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky has always been a state shaped by its basketball. The wide fields serving as the outer boundaries to hardwood sandlots carved on God's ground, where games have been played dawn to dusk. It's n

Bryans reach Aussie semis >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The world No. 1 twin Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, were hard-fought doubles quarterfinal winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. The Bryans snuck past a sixth-seeded Polish team of Mariusz Fyr

Aztecs collide with Cowboys in MWC affair >>
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference collide in Laramie this evening, as the 13th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs take on the Wyoming Cowboys at Arena-Auditorium. Steve Fisher's Aztecs are sitting

Top-ranked Kentucky takes act on the road against Georgia >>
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back at the top of the national polls, the Kentucky Wildcats put an 11-game win streak on the line this evening, as they take on the Georgia Bulldogs in SEC action at Stegeman Coliseum. The Wildcats moved to 5-0

No.6 Bears battle Sooners in Norman >>
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Baylor Bears, who have lost two straight after a 17-0 start, try to get back to their winning ways tonight as they head to the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman for a Big 12 Conference clash with the Ok

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.