Diamondbacks deal Haren to Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded starting pitcher Dan Haren to the Angels for starting pitcher Joe Saunders, reliever Rafael Rodriguez, minor league pitcher Patrick Corbin and a player to be named later.

Haren, a California native, was one of the few high-profile arms still available prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and several teams were vying for his services.

The Angels, who trail the Texas Rangers in the American League West by six games heading into their Sunday night tilt, nabbed the three-time All Star for the stretch run.

The 29-year-old right-hander has struggled this season, however, pitching to a 4.60 earned run average in 21 starts, his worst ERA since his 2003 rookie campaign. His strikeouts are still up, having fanned 141 in as many innings.

His 7-8 record puts the 6-foot-5, 215-pounder at 86-70 in 217 games -- 208 starts -- for his career, which includes stints in St. Louis (2003-04), Oakland (2005-07) and Arizona (2008-10). The Diamondbacks acquired Haren in an eight-player trade prior to the 2008 season.

Saunders, also 29, had spent his entire six-year career in Anaheim and was used strictly as a starter. The lefty made the All-Star team in 2008 but has also hit a rough patch in 2010, going 6-10 with a 4.62 ERA, as opposed to his career 4.29 mark. His lifetime record is 54-32 in 115 outings.

Rodriguez has made just one appearance out of the bullpen this season for LA after seeing action in 18 games in his rookie year with the club. The 25-year- old right-hander owns a 5.51 ERA.

Corbin, 21, was selected by the Angels in the second round of the 2009 draft. In two seasons in the minors, the left-hander has gone 17-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 33 games -- 32 starts.

Narketwatch Baseball Betting News

<< Brewers sweep Nats
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey McGehee hit a three-run homer and Rickie Weeks clubbed a two-run shot, as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with an 8-3 victory at Miller Park.

<< Twins put Hudson on DL
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have placed second baseman Orlando Hudson on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain. The move is retroactive to July 24. The Twins will recall catcher Jose Mora

<< Rodriguez leaves Sunday's game
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez left Sunday's game in the eighth inning after being hit in the top of the left hand by a pitch. Rodriguez, still seeking his 600th career home run, came to the plate with the bases loaded and one o

<< Dawson, Herzog take their spots in Hall of Fame
Cooperstown, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Dawson became the second member of the Baseball Hall of Fame with a Montreal Expos cap on his plaque when he was inducted Sunday afternoon. Others joining the induction party were former manager White

<< Helms' hit in 11th gives Marlins win over Braves
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Helms hit a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Florida Marlins edged the Atlanta Braves, 5-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Sun Life Stadium. Helms ended with two

Brignac homers as Rays beat Tribe >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reid Brignac hit a three-run homer, as the Tampa Bay Rays earned a 4-2 decision over the Cleveland Indians in the rubber match of a three-game series at Progressive Field. Carl Crawford also knocked in

Fish downs Isner for Atlanta crown >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish outlasted second- seeded John Isner in three sets to take home the title at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Fish battled back from a set down to defeat fellow countryman Isner,

Granderson's two HRs key as Yanks blast Royals; A-Rod stuck at 599 >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson hit two solo home runs and Derek Jeter had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run to lead New York to a 12-6 win over Kansas City to finish off a four-game set. Alex Rodriguez had t

Martin, Kershaw help Dodgers edge Mets >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Martin's two-out double in the eighth inning drove in the only run of the game as Los Angeles subdued New York, 1-0, to finish off a four-game set. Clayton Kershaw (10-5) worked eight sc

Braden finally wins again as Athletics down Chisox >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden picked up a long-awaited win and was backed by three RBI from battery mate Kurt Suzuki as Oakland held off the White Sox in a 6-4 win to close out a three-game set at the Coliseum. Braden (5-7)

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.