PPH Baseball Betting -- As Usual, Yankees Are the Center of Attention
Derek Jeter set the stage for what could be a very dramatic end to the 2014 baseball season when he announced that he would be taking a farewell lap around the American League this year. The question on the lips of PPH baseball bettors at WagerHome.com is - will such a farewell include champagne in the New York Yankees' clubhouse in October?
They may be in the most high-powered division in baseball, and that showed last season as they couldn't even make a dent in the World Series landscape. Are things going to be different this year, since the Yankees opened up their wallets in such a major way? That is what Price Per Head customers would like to know.
After winning just 85 games last year, the team's hierarchy, which includes Hank Steinbrenner, general manager Brian Cashman and team president Randy Levine, decided to bring in some new blood, though it is not necessarily young blood. They decided not to go overboard with Robinson Cano, who signed a ten-year, $240 million deal with Seattle. And they did not re-sign Curtis Granderson, who moved over to Queens with the Mets.
But as baseball bettors are well aware, they emptied the vault to pick up three prominent free agents, signing seven-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann ($85 million, age 30), post-season hero Carlos Beltran ($5 million, age 36) and multi-talented Jacoby Ellsbury ($153 million, age 30). Those players should have an opportunity to shore up an offense that was morbid at times last season, as the Yankees batted .242 as a team (24th in the majors) and ranked 27th among thirty major league teams in slugging percentage.
Customers at WagerHome.com know that there are still some holes in the lineup, and the jury is still out on whether they can be filled. Brian Roberts, the former Oriole, will head up a combination of people who will try to fill in for Cano at second base. And Kelly Johnson, who hit 16 homers at Tampa Bay last season, will be one of the players occupying third base in lieu of Alex Rodriguez, who added to the Yankee drama by catching a season-long suspension. So Jeter (who played only 17 games last season) will have new people to work with in his last go-around.
With all of this, there were questions among PPH baseball bettors as to what the Yankees were going to do about their pitching staff. But when you think about it, they aren't necessarily in bad shape. CC Sabathia still has the ability to anchor things, and Hiroki Kuroda (3.31 ERA in 2013) is not a bad #2. Then there is Ivan Nova, and WagerHome customers should not forget that Michael Pineda, who has missed the last two seasons with shoulder problems but was an All-Star as a rookie with Seattle in 2011, may still have some upside. And David Robertson (5-1, 2.04 ERA in 2013) may prove to be a very worthy successor to the retired Mariano Rivera as the closer.
Most eyes in the early part of spring training, however, have been on explosive Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, whose numbers for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2013 were cartoonish: 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, plus six wins without a loss in the post-season. The Yankees won the bidding for his services, paying $155 million for seven years. He is likely to be the #4 starter, and many Price Per Head baseball bettors have taken note that those around the team, including some hitters he has thrown to, are touting his split-finger fastball as perhaps the best in the game.
He is under intense scrutiny, not only from the New York media, but dozens of reporters from Japan who have made him their biggest story. So by definition, he is vying for the distinction of being the biggest story of the Yankees' spring camp, and when you consider the likes of Jeter, A-Rod and the other big-money free agents, that's pretty big indeed.
The question for WagerHome.com customers to ponder - will he be the biggest story of the SEASON? The Yankees sure hope he is - for the right reasons, that is.
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