Dallas Round-Up | Rangers Running Away – Cowboys’ Rookie Grounded For Preseason

Online football betting players looking to wager on Dallas for the upcoming season will have received some bad news about the Cowboys’ star rookie, who could be behind the eight-ball heading into the regular season.  But we start in the major leagues, where the Texas Rangers are well on their way to the American League West crown.

Texas Rangers

If the Rangers were an NCAA football betting option, they would likely be Boise State, a team who is far ahead of anyone else in their conference.   The Rangers are coming off a tough week in which they faced two teams from their division on the road,  first dropping two of three in Los Angeles to the Angels, and they had split the first two games of their three-game set in Seattle with the Mariners before Thursday night’s finale.  David Murphy had a solid week, hitting .286 with a pair of homers and six RBIs in six games, while Vladdy Guerrero hit just .217 and knocked one out, but he drove in a team-high eight runs during the week.  As for the pitchers, Rich Harden returned from the disabled list to have his best performance in two-plus months in a win over the Angels, but that was probably the highlight of the week as the starting pitching struggled.  Tommy Hunter was hammered for the first time this year, taking his first loss, and it’ll be a test of the 24-year-old’s strength to see if he can bounce back.  Now, heading into Thursday’s game, the Rangers have an eight-game lead over the Angels, and a nine-game lead over the Athletics, who will host the Rangers this weekend in a three-game set.  Texas will be looking to avenge a series loss in Oakland from back in early May. The Rangers will then head to New York to face the Yankees in a possible playoff preview, and Texas was swept at the new Yankee Stadium in June.

Dallas Cowboys

NFL betting players have seen Dez Bryant cause quite the stir in his first camp, first with his “I’m not carrying pads” fiasco, and now the wideout may have to miss the entire preseason with a high ankle sprain.  Owner Jerry Jones questioned whether Bryant should have been practicing that late in the practice, but he backed off his comments and is leaving the coaching to Wade Phillips (for now, anyway).  Another rookie, linebacker Sean Lee, is battling a quadriceps injury, so the Cowboys are just trying to get to the preseason with no more ailments.  Bryant is obviously the more important loss as the Cowboys were trying to get him as many reps as possible, and he even signed a contract to get to camp on time.  This is just bad luck, and online betting players will be hoping that is all for the Cowboys this year.

Dallas Round-Up | Rangers Stretch Lead | Cowboys Making Noise In Camp

Those doing their college football betting online are gearing up for the beginning of their season, but the baseball betting season is starting to heat up, and Texas is well on their way to the American League West crown.  In the NFL, Dez Bryant is getting off to an interesting start with the Cowboys.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers will be aiming to take the rubber match of their three-game set with Oakland at home, wrapping up a week in which they took three of four against the Los Angeles Angels at home last weekend.  Michael Young went deep three times for the Rangers last week, hitting .318 with four RBIs, while Nelson Cruz batted .417 with a pair of homers and four RBIs.  If the Rangers can continue to prove that their lineup isn’t just Josh Hamilton and Vladdy Guerrero, who struggled last week, their MLB betting odds will improve.  Cliff Lee continues to be a monster for the Rangers, going 1-0 in two starts last year, tossing 17.1 innings, and he struck out 17 batters….without walking a single one.  Neftali Feliz was perfect in three save opportunities for the Rangers, who have another important week coming up.  The Rangers head out on the road for a nine-game trip with teams from the West, beginning with a three-game set in Los Angeles against the Angels this weekend, following by a visit to Seattle, Lee’s former team. If they can manage to at least split their six games in the next week, the Rangers should be sitting pretty in the West.

Dallas Cowboys

NCAA football betting players know that Dez Bryant had a tough time at Oklahoma State, missing virtually all of last year because he lied to NCAA investigators about a meeting with Deion Sanders, and it’s things like these that caused him to slip in the draft (some folks call them “character issues”.  Then, Bryant made a fuss earlier this week when he refused to carry the pads of Roy Williams, who many people feel Bryant will replace in the starting lineup.  Bryant then said he wasn’t aware of the tradition that has been going on not only in the NFL, but in most professional sports, for years.  Rookies, no matter how highly touted or where they were drafted, are usually counted on carry pads, buy dinners, and be generally subservient to the veterans, and it’s not like they were trying to tape him to goalposts or anything.  Of course, the media took and made way too big of an issue, but Bryant is going to have to learn to be more humble and realize that he’s part of a team now.  Little things like that can mess with a team’s online betting odds.

Trading Jarrod Saltalamacchia Could Be a Bad Move

Over the last few years the Rangers have made some pretty good personnel moves: the signing of Vladimir Guerrero, The Cliff Lee Trade, Edinson Volquez for Josh Hamilton and of course the famous Mark Teixeira Trade. They have also made some bad ones: Chris Young for Adam Eaton, Alfonso Soriano for Brad Wilkerson, and John Danks for Brandon McCarthy.

The most recent move by the Rangers was trading catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the Boston Red Sox for right hand pitcher Roman Mendez, first baseman Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later and cash considerations. The move was done because they were disappointed in Saltalamacchia’s performance, but it was also done to bulk up their roster as they make a serious run for the post-season.

Getting to the post season in Major League Baseball is probably more difficult than other professional sports such as the NHL or the NBA, so making deals that help a team in short-term is commonly accepted. However; are the Rangers hurting themselves in the long-run by parting with a catcher who has the potential to be one of the best in the league? Will this move join the list of regrettable trades made by the Texas Rangers?

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Cristian Guzman traded to Texas Rangers? Confirmed

Twitter is buzzing and the Washington Post is reporting that there is more Texas Rangers news, 2B/SS Cristian Guzman is heading to Texas. The Rangers traded prospects to the Washington Nationals for the veteran infielder. There are no more details yet on the trade, and we will update this post when we here more details on the Texas Ranger’s Cristian Guzman trade.

Washington Post Articte: Cristian Guzman Traded to Texas Rangers
Photo Credit: Sports of Boston

Jorge Cantu traded to the Rangers? Confirmed

**The Jorge Cantu Trade has been confirmed.**

It looks like the Jorge Cantu rumor is getting closer to being true. If  Jorge Cantu is coming, you can forget about Prince Fielder. I like this deal better, because we don’t have to give up the farm to get Cantu. In the Cantu deal the Texas Rangers are supposedly giving up to AA minor league pitchers for Jorge Cantu, at this point it is not confirmed. Rumor is that the Rangers will only be picking up very little if any of his salary. However Jorge Cantu is still in the game for the Marlins so this might be some BS, however this post will be updated as more information is available.

UPDATES:

Ken Rosenthal’s Tweet
• #Marlins’ return for Cantu will be Double A RHP Evan Reed & Double A RHP Omar Poveda, who is on DL recovering from TJ surgery. #Rangers #MLB

Other Tweets

• “The Marlins will obtain AA righties Evan Reed and Omar Poveda from the Rangers for Jorge Cantu” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports @560wqam

Image Source: http://www.exposay.com/

Texas Rangers Lead the West, Cowboys WR Dez Bryant

Dallas Round-Up – Rangers Extending Lead In West; Cowboys, Bryant Hope To Avoid Holdout

College football betting online is about to get started, but until then, check out the Texas Rangers’ quest for the American League West, and things are looking good for them right now
(on the field, anyway).  Elsewhere in NFL news, the Dallas Cowboys have begun talks to try and avoid a Michael Crabtree situation.

Texas Rangers

Heading into Thursday’s opener of a massive four-game series at home against the rival Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers were five games ahead of the Angels in the West after a pair of series wins.  First, the Rangers proved they could win on the road by taking three of four against the Red Sox in Boston’s venerable Fenway Park, and they rode a 4-2 win in the Boston finale into a two-game romp in Detroit, outscoring the Tigers 16-6 in the first two of the series before falling 4-1 in the final game.  Benji Molina and Ian Kinsler both nailed a couple of homers for the Rangers, who are boosting their MLB betting odds with each win, while Nelson Cruz hit .438 with 11 RBIs over the week for the Rangers.  On the pitching side, young Tommy Hunter continues to dazzle, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 13.2 innings of work, and the 24-year-old righthander is now 7-0 in nine starts with a 2.09 ERA this season.  Cliff Lee is still looking for his first win for the Rangers since coming over from Seattle, but he’s gone nine innings in each of his starts so far, and he was unlucky to earn a no-decision in an extra-inning loss in Boston last week.  Lee will be on the mound this Thursday against the Angels in search of that elusive win.

Dallas Cowboys

NFL football betting players can practically taste the beginning of the season as camps are almost here, and rosters are becoming a bit clearer.  The Cowboys are hoping that their first-round draft pick will be a part of it all as they’ve begun contract talks with Dez Bryant, the talented but apparently troubled receiver that many are calling the next Michael Irvin.  Bryant would do well to look at the situation of San Francisco’s Michael Crabtree, who played with Texas Tech while Bryant was at Oklahoma State, another Big 12 school.  Crabtree held out for all of camp and the first five weeks of the season in 2009 because he thought he should have been drafted higher, yet wanted more money.  Crabtree was playing catch-up all season, and it was only at the end of the year that we were starting to see how special he could be.  Jerry Jones isn’t shy about splashing around money, so we think this situation will be sorted, and you can bet on Bryant in your best online sportsbook to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Dallas Round-Up: Rangers at the All-Star Game – Nowitzki Stays

If you’re betting on NFL football odds for the upcoming season, it’s pretty quiet for a change around the Cowboys’ camp, so there’s not much to talk about there, as well as with the Stars.  In baseball, the Rangers are sending a few players to the All-Star (held at the stadium of their division rival, no less), while the Mavericks ensured their star will probably retire in Dallas.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers will have a pair of All-Star starters in Los Angeles, as outfielder Josh Hamilton and designated hitter Vladdy Guerrero will represent Texas.  This is an extra-special trip for Guerrero, who played at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim for five years and was a fan favorite there.  Guerrero is second in the American League in RBIs and fifth in homers after most MLB betting players thought he was washed up, while Hamilton is third in average, second in homers and fourth in RBIs, showing everyone that last season’s decline was due to injuries.  Closer Neftali Feliz is tied for second in the league with 23 saves, so that was enough to get him on the roster, and the Rangers could have a fourth player if Michael Young wins the fan vote.

On the field, the Rangers have certainly cooled off, losing two of three at home to the White Sox last weekend, but they rebounded to win two of three at home against Cleveland through the week.  Hamilton had another big week, hitting .308 with three dingers and five RBIs, while Joaquin Arias also added five RBIs for the Rangers, who will wrap up the first part of their schedule with a four-game set against Baltimore at the Ballpark, and the Orioles are the worst team in the major leagues, so the Rangers will expect to take at least three of four heading into the All-Star break.  The Rangers swept a two-game set with the Orioles at home back in May.

Dallas Mavericks

College football betting players don’t have to worry about players staying for a team for 12 years, but they surely understand the importance of Dirk Nowitzki retiring as a Maverick.  That should happen now as the Mavericks re-signed their franchise player to a four-year, $80-million deal, and this benefits both sides.  One, Nowitzki knows that the market won’t be as good for players when the new CBA is negotiated, so he had to opt out of his previous deal so he could get as much as he could, but he was never in danger of leaving Dallas.  Second, he gave the Mavericks a bit of a hometown discount so they could pursue other free agents in hopes of helping Nowitzki get a championship.  Check out the Mavericks’ odds for next season when you’re betting online.

Texas Rangers Land Cliff Lee? Confirmed

The rumor mill is spinning big time Ranger fans, apparently the Yankees & Mariners Cliff Lee trade talks broke down and the Rangers swooped in and made a deal to bring Cliff Lee to Arlington. The Rangers are reportedly giving up Justin Smoak and a few other prospects to get Lee here. There is no doubt that Cliff Lee will be the Texas Rangers ace, and will also help the younger starting pitching in Texas learn to carry themselves and prepare for games. More info as it is available.

1310 the ticket is reporting that the Rangers will get Cliff Lee and injured reliever Mark Lowe from the Mariners. The Texas Rangers will give up 1B Justin Smoak, Pitching Prospect Blake Beavin, 2B Prospect Matt Lawson and RHP Prospect Josh Lueke.

Texas Rangers Press Conference

John Daniels confirmed that the trade for Cliff Lee is official

Halfway Home: A look at the Texas Rangers through 81 games

The Texas Rangers are 48-33 halfway through the MLB season. I continue to remind myself of this fact despite the recent four losses in six games.

Perhaps this is a loser’s mentality. Perhaps I shouldn’t be as thrilled that the Rangers are 15 games above .500, and have a 3.5 game lead in the AL West.

But I can’t help myself. I’ve been waiting for a team like this for so long, I just don’t know what to do with myself.

Keep on reading for some thoughts on each part of the Texas Rangers.

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Dallas Round-Up – Rangers Looking To Make Moves, Mavs Getting Worried About Dirk?

World Cup betting players in Dallas may have had the blow of the United States elimination in South Africa softened by the recent hot streak of the Texas Rangers, who are looking to build on their lead heading into July.  Elsewhere in the NBA, the Mavericks will be kicking off a crucial free-agent period.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers had an 11-game winning streak snapped last Friday against Houston, but they still went on to win two of three against the Astros, and they had split a pair against the Angels in Los Angeles ahead of Thursday’s series finale.  Josh Hamilton had 10 hits over six games, and his 49 hits in June was a franchise record.  Vladdy Guerrero also went deep three times and drove in 10 runs for the Rangers, while Ian Kinsler is regaining his power stroke with two homers and six RBIs last week.  On the pitching side, Scott Feldman didn’t have a good week with a 7.71 ERA in two starts, and those who bet on MLB odds know that you have to have a little bit of pitching to be successful in the postseason.  The Rangers are apparently hot on the heels of Houston’s Roy Oswalt, and they could even go after Seattle’s Cliff Lee, but their financial problems may put Lee out of their reach.   The Rangers also may have helped their hitting problem behind the plate by picking up Bengie Molina from San Francisco.  Texas has the worst-hitting catchers in the league, and Molina’s also a solid defensive catcher, so this should work out for the Rangers, but they will keep an eye for a pitcher to bolster themselves for the stretch run.

Dallas Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki figured to be a Maverick for life, but stranger things have happened (look at Ghana, who are on the verge of reaching the World Cup semi finals betting stage).  But he did opt out of his contract and is officially fielding offers from other teams in the 2010 free-agent summer sweepstakes.  Now, the odds are still very good that Nowitzki will remain in Dallas, where he has spent all 12 years of his NBA career, and some feel that he’s just trying to get a contract under the current CBA, which will expire after next season.  But the Mavericks are going to have to go out and aggressively pursue another big free agent to join Nowitzki in Dallas, and some have even said they’re a solid betting darkhorse to land LeBron James, who is good friends with Dallas owner Mark Cuban.  Although that’s unlikely, the Mavericks have to go out and get someone better than Caron Butler to boost their betting odds.

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