Harper seems headed for our nation's capital

Baseball Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft gets underway on June 7th, with the Washington Nationals holding the top pick for the second straight year.

It is just the second time since the inception of the draft in 1965 that a team has had the No. 1 overall selection in consecutive years, as Tampa Bay chose David Price and Tim Beckham with the top picks in 2007-08.

Until the most recent basic agreement took effect in 2005, the top pick had alternated annually between the leagues.

Of course, Washington selected arguably the best pitching prospect ever in Steven Strasburg with the first selection last year. Strasburg, who is scheduled to make his big league debut the day after the start of this year's draft, could be joined soon by another phenom in 17-year-old slugging catcher Bryce Harper.

The consensus best player available in this year's draft, Harper has already graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and has been dubbed the "LeBron James of Baseball". As per agent Scott Boras' advice, Harper skipped his final two years of high school, received his GED and enrolled in a wood-bat junior college league to get him in the draft a year early.

Despite being just 17 years old, Harper starred for the College of Southern Nevada, hitting .442 with 29 home runs, 89 RBI, 88 runs scored, an .986 slugging percentage and a .524 on-base-percentage through 62 games.

Scouts differ on where he will play at the next level. Some say he is fine where he is behind the plate, while others feel he will either outgrow the position or that his bat will be too good to hold him back, with the thinking that a move to third base or right field could get him to the majors quicker.

Harper's legend grew last summer, when at the 2009 International Power Showcase at Tropicana Field, he hit the longest home run in the building's history at 502 feet, albeit with a metal bat.

Should he indeed go to the Nationals, Harper will be the first catcher selected with the first pick since Minnesota made reigning American League Most Valuable Player Joe Mauer the top overall selection in 2001.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have the second pick, followed by the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians. The Arizona Diamondbacks select sixth, with the New York Mets, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics completing the top 10.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hold three first-round picks (18, 29, 30) and will make five of the first 40 selections. The Texas Rangers, Astros and Tampa Bay Rays also hold multiple picks in round one.

As usual, pitching will dominate the first round, with prep right-hander Jameson Taillon and Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz both expected to go early on. Also, South Florida high schooler Manny Machado, who has drawn comparisons to Alex Rodriguez, is also expected to be gone in the top five.

Once again the draft will take place over three days. The first day will consist of the first 50 picks, including Round One and Compensation Round A. There will be five minutes between first-round picks and one minute between all other selections.

On Tuesday, June 8th, the Draft will resume in the second round at 12:00 p.m. (EDT) and will be tentatively scheduled to go through the 30th round. The draft will then conclude on Wednesday, June 9th, which is set to cover the 31st-50th rounds and will begin again at 12:00 p.m. (EDT).

The inaugural Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held in New York in 1965. The selection rotation is determined by the clubs' reverse order of their won-lost records at the close of the previous regular season, regardless of league.

There will be 50 rounds in the draft and it will finish after all 30 teams have passed on a selection or after the final selection in the 50th round, whichever comes first.

Former No. 1 overall selections include current major leaguers Ken Griffey, Jr. (1987), Chipper Jones (1990), Rodriguez (1993), Josh Hamilton (1999), Adrian Gonzalez (2000), Mauer (2001), and Price (2007).

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According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.

Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet.  The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.

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Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL.  In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.


ODDS TO WIN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Texas
USC
Florida
California
Auburn
Oklahoma
Iowa
Louisville
Florida State
Michigan
Miami (FL)
LSU
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Nebraska
Tennessee
Georgia
Arizona State
Oregon
Clemson
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Alabama
Arkansas
Boston College
Michigan State
Maryland
South Carolina
Colorado
Purdue
Georgia Tech
TCU
UCLA
Arizona
Pittsburgh
Iowa State
Wisconsin
North Carolina State
Virginia
North Carolina
Fresno State
Hawaii
Northwestern
BYU
Oregon State
UNLV
Field (Any Other Team)
5-1
7-1
8-1
8-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
18-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
70-1
70-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
150-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
250-1
250-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
400-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
1000-1
1000-1
40-1



ODDS TO WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Miami (FL)
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
2-1
2-1
3-1
7-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
50-1
500-1



ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Colorado
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Kansas State
Missouri
Kansas
Baylor
Oklahoma State
7-5
9-5
9-2
12-1
14-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
35-1
100-1
100-1



ODDS TO WIN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Auburn
Florida
LSU
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
5-2
11-4
4-1
6-1
7-1
7-1
9-1
20-1
28-1
75-1
100-1
300-1

For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.