NATIONAL LEAGUE

Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants)

It is impossible to start off a list of potential 2010 National League Cy Young winners without starting with the two-time defending Cy Young winner. Lincecum has youth on his side, enthusiasm and a breaking ball that makes hitters cry. You can add a 97 MPH fast ball to that, which makes his change up legendary, and you have one of the top pitchers in the National League.

Roy Halladay (Philadelphia Phillies)

Halladay is new to the National League, but he is hardly new to pitching in the major leagues. Halladay won the Cy Young in 2003 and is a six-time American League all-star. He has spent the last 11 seasons pitching to the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, so he should be able to adjust well to the National League. The Phillies could ride the arm of Halladay all the way to the World Series, and his arm is more than strong enough to get them there.

Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)

In basketball betting it is a good idea to recognize the talent that other players in the league respect. Last season Adam Wainwright was voted as the National League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher by the players in the National League. That is a pretty high compliment when the guys that have to face you all season vote you the best they have seen. Wainwright also won a Golden Glove award last season for his fielding from the mound. He won 19 games last season and already has two wins this year.

Pick: Roy Halladay

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Jon Lester (Boston Red Sox)

Jon Lester is not only a great pitcher he is a hero to many because of his battle with lymphoma in 2006. When he returned he re-established himself as one of the premier pitchers in baseball. Last season he won 15 games and even though he is having a rough start to 2010, Lester remains a top candidate for the Cy Young in the American League.

CC Sabathia (New York Yankees)

When you talk about MLB betting the Yankees starting rotation inevitably comes into the conversation. The ace of the Yankee staff is CC Sabathia, and his pedigree is impressive. He has won the Warren Spahn award as the best left-handed pitcher in baseball three times, he won the 2007 American League Cy Young and was the MVP of last year’s ALCS. Sabathia is consistent and powerful, and that makes him a top Cy Young candidate in any league.

Zack Greinke (Kansas City Royals)

How does a pitcher for the Royals win the Cy Young? Last season Zack Greinke answered that question with 16 wins and the best season of his career. Last season he finished with an ERA of 1.07, and so far in this young season he has picked up right where he left off with an ERA of 1.18.

Pick: Jon Lester

The Red Sox have struggled to a .500 record through eight games, and while hitting was the biggest concern heading in to the 2010 season, the line up has not been awful with the exception of Ortiz. Boston has scored the eighth most runs in the American League heading in to Thursday night’s action. With one of baseball’s deepest starting rotations, the Red Sox will be looking for a boost in their hitting order. Multiplied with last season’s early struggled, Ortiz has been put under the microscope by the MLB odds betting media attention, and this season Francona hasn’t hesitated to make a move.

Francona told the media that the decision to play Lowell was made without regard to Ortiz’s struggles at the plate, as the Red Sox manager noted that he is trying to keep his MLB betting line bench players sharp. Lowell’s only other start came last Saturday against the Kansas City Royals when he replaced Adrian Beltre at third base.

Ortiz had both a double and a walk in his last start on Wednesday, but also struck out twice to extend his streak to five games with at least two strikeouts. Ortiz leads the majors in strikeouts after eight games, and is batting just .154 with two runs batted in while failing to connect on a home run shot so far. Batting wasn’t an issue for the team in their 6-3 sports betting win over Minnesota, in which they recorded 10 hits.

The Red Sox will already be without another regular in the line up on Thursday, as outfielder Jacoby Ellisbury is scheduled to miss time with bruised ribs. The 26-year old was injured when he collided with third basemen Adrian Beltre on Sunday in Kansas City, and since he was experiencing soreness and trouble breathing in the following days, Francona made the decision to play it safe this early on in the season. Jeremy Hermida played in his fifth game of the season on Wednesday against the Twins, and exceeded expectations by hitting a three-run double to help the Red Sox to victory.

Ellisbury could return as soon as Saturday, but with Boston getting solid production from its bench players, Francona will not feel threatened to rush his starters back in to the line up.

If you’re talking pitching in the American League – serious pitching – you’re talking about Felix Hernandez. Hernandez has been my, and just about every sportsbook capper’s top-rated AL pitcher for quite some time now. Thus far, there’s no indicator that anything will change.

The Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez is the king. The former All-Star finished second for the AL Cy Young Award 2009, just behind Zack Greinke. Hernandez, still a very young player, will turn 24 this year, and many fans of sports betting indicated their faith in this being his year. Hernandez finished 19-5 with 217 strikeouts and a 2.49 ERA.

Jon Lester is perhaps the other most obvious pick, after having emerged from Boston as a leader of their club’s outstanding pitching staff. Lester struck out 200 batters for the first time in his career last season, and many are predicting this year will mark his first 20-win season. At just 26, he is still making improvements to his game, and could surprise many by taking the 2010 AL Cy Young Award.

Perhaps the only other player favored by some to take the crown is the previous year’s Cy Young winner, Zack Greinke. Owner of a 2.16 ERA, Greinke unfortunately does not have the solid supporting cast that other potential hopefuls do, however, the Kansas City pitcher was still tabbed in spite of a less than stellar 16-win season. Greinke cannot make up for the deficiencies of the rest of his ball club, however. Fans of online sports betting know that Kansas City’s abysmal defense means that Greinke will be fighting an uphill battle in his quest to make it two in a row. For those weary to pick Greinke because of his poor supporting cast, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers is an alternate pick.

Verlander can match Greinke in terms of overall stats, but has a much more solid team behind him. Fans of sports betting know that Verlander has to be concerned about Detroit’s run production, however. Verlander is easily a top five pitcher in the American League, but he’ll need help from his batters. Last year, the Tigers line up cost the pitching staff dearly. With the rumor mill working overtime with regard to front office happenings and personnel changes, it will be interesting to see if Detroit makes a move to shore up that deficiency, and provide Verlander the support he needs to be in contention. Confidence will also be an issue – after the Tigers fell apart last year, will the rest of the team have the mental fortitude to backup their potential star?

The sports book makers had the New York Yankees as the 3 to 1 favorites to repeat as world champions when the 2010 season started. That makes the Yankees the odds on favorites to win. The Red Sox were 13 to 2 favorites to win the World Series when the season started. The game was a battle of offense that the Red Sox eventually won 9-7. However the Yankees went on to take the next two games and win the opening series of the season from the Red Sox. Now the Yankees are 14 to 5 favorites and the Red Sox are 11 to 2. Obviously the sports betting experts saw something in the Red Sox they liked, even in the face of a losing series.

The next day opened up the schedule for the rest of the league, and there were very few surprises in the results.

NBA betting is sometimes based on a team’s performance for the past few seasons if that team has been together for a while. The same can be said for the Philadelphia Phillies. The current Phillies team, for the most part, has won a World Series together and they are 6 to 1 favorites to win the World Series this season. They opened up their season with their new pitching ace Roy Halladay and hammered the Washington Nationals 11-1. Good teams know how to beat the weak teams and that is what the Phillies showed on opening day.

New York Mets fans will be happy to hear that the Mets opened up the season with their pitching ace Johan Santana and promptly beat a good Florida Marlins team 7-1. The Mets lost to the Marlins in the second game of the series and exposed their weak rotation once you get past Santana. The Mets are 20 to 1 to win the World Series this season and the Marlins are 30 to 1. It is doubtful that either team will be competing for a pennant in September, but at least the Mets fans know that Santana can still toss the ball.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are 150 to 1 favorites to win the World Series, but on opening day they looked like world beaters. The Pirates clobbered the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-5 on opening day in front of an ecstatic home town crowd. The Dodgers are 9 to 1 favorites in the World Series odds and it is doubtful that the Pirates will have many chances to enjoy a win over the Dodgers like the one on opening day.

One of the more intriguing results of opening day was the game between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs that took place in Atlanta. The Braves have a lot of young talent to show off this season which dropped them to 12 to 1 favorites for the World Series. The Cubs have been advertising a turn around season, and they upgraded their talent enough to gain 14 to 1 World Series odds.

But the Braves won the first game of the series 16-5 and then took the second game 3-2. Are the Braves back in contention for the National League pennant? They probably will not challenge this season, but look for the Braves to compete in the coming years.

 An online sportsbook look back at the 2009 season will give insight into how the 2010 season will play out in the NL West. The Dodgers were the toast of MLB when the season started last year, but by the end of the season that were scraping with the Colorado Rockies for the division and barely won the regular season pennant.

Colorado Rockies (Odds to win division: 10/1)

NHL betting in the Denver, Colorado area has the Colorado Avalanche doing well in the upcoming NHL playoffs, and the city should be equally excited by their baseball team’s prospects for the coming year.

 The Rockies live by hitting home runs in the thin air of the Mile High City, and with power hitters like Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki the Rockies should have no problem putting up solid offensive numbers.

 On the mound the Rockies’ starting rotation is anchored by ace Ubaldo Jimenez and up-and-coming future ace Jorge de la Rosa. The only weak spot in the Rockies defense is their bullpen. They do not have a reliable closer and their long relievers gave up a lot of home runs last season. But if the Rockies can fix the bullpen then they should win the division.

Arizona Diamondbacks (Odds to win division: 35/1)

Why pick the Diamondbacks to finish second and possibly take the NL wild card? In the off-season the Diamondbacks strengthened their starting rotation by trading Max Scherzer to Detroit for Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennady.  Those two young starters have instantly made the Diamondbacks a stronger team and gave depth at the most important position in baseball.

 In the bullpen the Diamondbacks have veteran Chad Qualls, but the D’backs know that Qualls is not the guy for the regular season. Look for the team to hand the closing job to possibly someone like Clay Zavada by the time the season starts.

San Francisco Giants (Odds to win division: 15/1)

The Giants and the Diamondbacks will be fighting it out all season for that NL wild card, but in the end it will be the Giants lack of depth in the bullpen that will cost them. Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain are more than enough of a starting rotation to win a lot of games for the Giants. But with no real middle relief the same thing will happen in 2010 that happened in 2009; the Giants starters will get tired by the end of the season.

Los Angeles Dodgers (Odds to win division: 9/2)

Do not look for a repeat of 2009 from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The problems with the Dodgers were glaring when Manny Ramirez was out last season. Without Manny the team cannot generate offense. When the team cannot generate offense their weak starting pitching comes through and the Dodgers lose games.

 The Dodgers have no money to sign better pitching, and they have no money to bring in more power to help out Manny. Their bullpen is suspect and their defense is shaky. Their fast start last year was due to some young arms that were throwing heat and Manny driving in runs. Once the rest of the league figured out the arms, and Manny was suspended or hurt, the Dodgers were vulnerable.

San Diego Padres (Odds to win division: 100/1)

The odds for the Padres to win the division might as well be 1000/1 because they are not going to get anywhere close to the top this season. They are still rebuilding their pitching staff, and have very little power to put runs on the board.

St. Louis Cardinals (15 to 4 to win division)

It is almost impossible to pick against the Cardinals to win the NL Central in 2010. Even though the Cardinals lost some quality players such as Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus, they have depth in their farm system that can help to replace those players. The Cardinals did retain power-hitter Matt Holliday who had 109 RBIs in 2009 and a .313 average. The departure of Mark DeRosa leaves a hole at third base that the Cardinals may fill by bringing back Felipe Lopez. Third base may be the only defensive area the Cardinals will have problems. It is not out of the question that the Cardinals try some prospects at third base, and they may even be open to a trade if they can avoid giving up the core of their team.

The starting pitching in St. Louis is solid with Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter offering a one-two Cy Young punch. The bullpen is a bit suspect but the Cardinals may not be done upgrading talent in the pen.

Milwaukee Brewers (22 to 1 to win division)

When the Internet super casino betters look at the NL Central there are only two choices for who will finish second behind St. Louis; the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers.

While all of the March madness betting was going on the Brewers brought in new pitching coach Rick Peterson because it was pitching that did the Brewers in last season. The Brewer’s team ERA in 2009 was second to last, and the bullpen could not hold a game throughout the entire season. New additions like Randy Wolf to the starting rotation will improve the Brewer’s pitching, and with Prince Fielder leading the third most potent offense in the National League the Brewers could make trouble for the Cardinals.

Chicago Cubs (6 to 1 to win division)

Something always goes wrong for the Cubs. Whether it is Kerry Woods’ constantly injured arm or Sammy Sosa and his corked bats, it just seems that bad luck finds the Cubs.

On the mound the Cubs still have ace starter Carlos Zambrano to lead a strong rotation but closer Carlos Marmol is unproven. Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells make a strong trio with Zambrano in the starting rotation, but the Cubs lack a consistent fourth and fifth.

The Cubs have the power and speed to score runs, but they have question marks that could derail them.

Houston Astros (30 to 1 to win division)

The Astros made a real go at the pennant with Roger Clemens and Andy Petttte a few years ago, but since those days there has been trouble on the mound and very little power at the plate to compensate for the weak arms.

Players like Roy Oswalt and Carlos Lee will keep the Astros interesting in 2010, but they are far from being a contender.

Cincinnati Reds (40 to 1 to win division)

The Reds are at least trying. They added a lot of new talent last season from their farm system and brought in pitcher Aroldis Chapman to help the starting rotation. The Cuban-born pitcher got big money for joining the Reds and he will earn it, but it will not be enough to pull the Reds into contention.

Pittsburgh Pirates (75 to 1 to win division)

The Pirates have been re-building for years, and 2010 will be another season of untried rookies and second year players like Garrett Jones who came up from the minors to have a decent season. But the Pirates never seem to address their lack of power at the plate and their weak starting rotation. This season holds as much promise as last season for Pirate fans.

The price per head odds on the Yankees are so strong that not even the departure of Johnny Damon shifted anything. The Yankees have one of the strongest starting rotations in all of baseball anchored by C.C. Sabathia, and they have one of the best closers in the game in Mariano Rivera. You have to go a long way down the Yankee bullpen to find any weaknesses.

At the plate the Yankees’ only weakness is at DH where Nick Johnson currently sits. Look for the Yankees to pick up a big name to fill in that DH position before the season ends. Damon’s ability to get on base will not even be missed as the Yankees have a solid offensive lineup from top to bottom.

The Boston Red Sox are next up at +350 from the odds makers and some severe inconsistencies. When you look at the odds on NCAA basketball you will notice that the consistent teams are usually the favored teams. The Red Sox have a few glaring holes in their line up that will keep them from winning the AL pennant in 2010. David Ortiz is a shell of his former self and poses almost no threat at DH anymore. With Jason Bay gone there is no power in the line up to give Ortiz the chance to flex his muscles anyways.

The Sox had all kinds of problems with their pitching last year including closer Jonathan Papelbon and the oft-injured Daisuke “Dice-K” Matsuzaka. Red Sox Nation knows there are problems when a rotation that includes Josh Beckett and Jon Lester can be tagged as inconsistent. The real problem is with a bullpen that could not hold down leads and a closer that could not finish games.

Last year’s AL West champion Los Angeles Angels are +900 in the AL pennant race, and there is a good chance they will repeat in the West in 2010. But the Yankee pitching mowed down the Angel batters in the playoffs last season, and nowhere was the Angels lack of power depth more obvious than in their 10-1 loss to the Yankees in game 4 of the ALCS. The Angels will lean a lot on Torii Hunter for their power, and with John Lackey out of the starting rotation the Angels will not have enough to get past the Yankees.

The Texas Rangers are +1000 to win the AL pennant and while the Rangers will not win the pennant in 2010, they are still a team that baseball fans should keep a close eye on. The Rangers are young on the mound with a rotation that is still developing, and they have some much needed power at DH with Vlad Guerrro now on board.

Pick: New York Yankees

AL East

1.) New York Yankes
2.) Boston Red Sox
3.) Tampa Bay Rays
4.) Baltimore Orioles
5.) Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

1.) Chicago White Sox
2.) Minnesota Twins
3.) Detroit Tigers
4.) Kansas City Royals
5.) Cleveland Indians

AL West

1.) Texas Rangers
2.) Los Angeles Angels
3.) Seattle Mariners
4.) Oakland Athletics

National League

NL East

1.) Philadelphia Phillies
2.) Florida Marlins
3.) New York Mets
4.) Atlanta Braves
5.) Washington Nationals

NL Central

1.) Milwaukee Brewers
2.) St. Louis Cardinals
3.) Chicago Cubs
4.) Cincinnati Red
5.) Houston Astroes
6.) Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

1.) Arizona Diamond Backs
2.) Los Angeles Dodgers
3.) San Fransisco Giants
4.) Colorado Rockies
5.) San Diego Padres

Now that the March madness picks are out, people can begin to think about things after the tournament, like the MLB National League East. The March madness odds are a snap to figure out compared to trying to decipher who will win the East in the National League. Each year the season starts and each year the question about when the Mets will fall apart comes up. This year should be no different.

Philadelphia Phillies (-150 – Favored to win division)

When a team wins the pennant and plays in a World Series but loses, questions begin to pop up as to how the team can push themselves over the hump and win the big series. The Phillies asked those questions, and the answer was pitcher Roy Halladay. The lack of depth in the Phillies’ starting rotation shined in the World Series against the Yankees. This season, with all of the power in the line up coming back, the Phillies are once again favored to represent the National League in the World Series.

Atlanta Braves (+250)

The Braves are still searching for answers at the plate and on the mound. Veteran Derek Lowe looks to help anchor a starting rotation that needs to find some answers to be successful. Jair Jurrjens has come on strong and has posted good numbers the past two season, but the Braves’ starting rotation is one injury away from falling apart.

Chipper Jones enters his 17^th season as an Atlanta Brave and delivers the leadership and power that the Braves need. This is the last season for manager Bobby Cox and while the team may want to help their skipper go out on a winning note, they may not have much beyond Jones to help them do it.

Florida Marlins (+600)

Lost in the March madness betting is the fact that the Florida Marlins have a very good and young baseball team. They have a solid pitching rotation headed by Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco. The other youngsters on the mound are improving and should contribute this season.

On offense the Marlins have a cast of unknowns that produced some decent numbers in 2009 and have promise for 2010. The Marlins fell six games short of taking the division in 2009, but this year they will have to try and get past an improved Atlanta team and then leap-frog a championship team that has also improved. A tall task for a young team.

New York Mets (+600)

The Mets have a habit of starting strong and then fading away. It looks like 2010 will be no different. The only proven winner the Mets have in their starting pitching rotation is ace Johan Santana. After Santana, the sportsbook reviews do not find any pitcher with a sustained winning history. The Mets are counting on their scouting staff here to put up a winning rotation. The baseball world has seen what the Mets scouting staff has done in the past.

On the hitting side the Mets should have a roster that would make any team jealous. Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran can all hit the baseball and create offense. If the Mets are going to win in 2010 they will need to rely on offense, and their big names need to produce regularly.

Washington Nationals (+2500)

The Washington Redskins look to have a much improved 2010 season, and that is good news for Washington Nationals fans who should be pretty sick of losing baseball games by the time the NFL pre-season starts.