OK, do we know who’s playing on what team now? In the confusion of all these last-minute moves, one might think the Jim Thome trade is what will put Los Angeles over the hump, but the real pickup for the Dodgers was the underrated Jon Garland. Also, where the hell is Thome going to regularly play? If you think first base, good luck with that. So a pinch-hitter and a DH on the road if they make it to the series. Hope that’s not how Thome ends his career. Anyway…
In an interesting twist, the Dodgers travel to Arizona, where Garland will throw for his new team, against his old one. I’m sure there are no hard feelings, and Arizona isn’t much more than a spoiler at this point, but you gotta believe Garland will have the classic online sports betting 1,2 punch of showing up his old team and trying to get a W for his new one as strong motivating factors here. Garland’s record is not indicative of his talent (8-11), but his ERA just might be 4.2. He’s been just about around 4 his entire career, but he’s a workhorse who’s nearly unhittable when he’s hot. Consistency has always been his problem, but I still think the Angels are wishing they’d have held onto him. The D-Backs currently have Bill Buckner listed to start, and you’ll have to take my word when I tell you his numbers are atrocious. Still only 5 up in their own division, the Dodgers also are in a three-way race for home field advantage throughout the NL playoffs, so every win counts. Even as the road team, their hitting (and maybe even Thome!) should tee off against the weak pitching offering from Arizona. Dodgers -160, Arizona +140. I’d also bet the over if it’s at 13 or fewer runs.
Speaking of players moving around, the Rays unceremoniously dumped Scott Kazmir, which was a surprise. Looks like the White Sox aren’t the only ones throwing in the towel on 2009 (nice Peavy pickup guys, really, great job). I think I can officially call my “fluke” stance a successful prediction for these pretenders. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong next year, but likely not. Welcome back to mediocrity Tampa Bay. David Price pitches for them against a ridiculous Yankees squad (only a matter of time before they hit 100 wins). Price has a winning record, but only by a game, and his other numbers are just as blah as his team’s performance this year. The Yankees, at home, throw Gaudin, who’s 5-10 record really must be indicative of his performance this year, because it seems like the Yanks win every other game he doesn’t start. Probably doesn’t matter, though. The Rays know their done, and they’ll fade closer to .500 in the last month of the season. The Yanks should tear this one up. Yanks have baseball odds of -175, and the Rays +160. The risk/return isn’t really worth betting the Yanks unless you’re comfortable putting up some big bucks, but they shouldn’t have any problems winning this one.
