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Blue Jays trying to fill hole left by Halladay

Baseball Betting Lines

02/20/2010 -

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) -For the first time in years, the Toronto Blue Jays are reporting to spring training wondering who will anchor the starting rotation.

Fearful of losing him to free agency, Toronto traded Roy Halladay to Philadelphia in perhaps the biggest move of the offseason.

Now, the team is looking at Ricky Romero and Shaun Marcum to take over the No. 1 spot in the starting rotation. Also in the mix is reliver-turned-starter Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, Marc Rzepczynski, Dustin McGowan, Brian Tallett, Scott Richmond, Dana Eveland and David Purcey.

Talk about a wide open competition.

``With Roy Halladay it was kind of fun last season,'' Blue Jays pitching coach Bruce Walton said. ``We took for granted that we pretty much had a day off when he started. We knew Doc was going to get us back on track if we had a two-game skid, or keep that three-game streak alive.''

Halladay was 17-10 with a 2.39 ERA last year, including a major league-leading nine complete games.

Halladay didn't want to return unless he thought the Blue Jays, 75-87 last season, would be serious contenders. With little chance of re-signing after this season, Toronto sent him to the Phillies, who gave Halladay a three-year, $60 million extension on top of the $15.75 million he'll get this year.

The likely front-runners to replace him are Romero, who was 13-9 as a rookie last year, and Marcum, who went 12-13 in 2007-08 before right-shoulder surgery benched him last season.

Purcey, Richmond, Cecil, Rzepczynski and Brad Mills each have fewer than three years in the majors - or roughly what Halladay had combined.

``We've got a bunch of guys with quality arms,'' Walton said. ``We're just lacking experience. Experience is what you look for in a No. 1.

``We've got a bunch of guys fighting to be No. 1 right now,'' Walton added. ``It'll all play out, but I'm not going into spring training trying to find a No. 1. It's not hugely important who's No. 1 or who's No. 2 or No. 3. I'm just going to find the best five I can find.''

Whoever is throwing in the rotation or out of the bullpen, John Buck will probably catch them most of the time. Buck signed a one-year, $2 million contract in December.

On Friday, Toronto signed Jose Molina to a one-year, $400,000 deal. The 10-year veteran has two World Series rings, with the Yankees last year and the Angels in 2002, and will press Buck for playing time while serving as a strong defensive backup.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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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:

  • Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
    OR
  • Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

  • There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.

    The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:

    Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots

    Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.

    For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

    Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

  • Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
    OR
  • Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

    Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

    Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21

    The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.

    Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.

    Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).

    Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.

    And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.

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