We are still a bit more than 2 months away from the start of the oficial regular season but I can't seem to wait anymore to create this thread.
I had a very good season last year with MLB and lately I have been looking back on the plays and the mistakes I made which caused me to lose money on certain situations, since this was re-evaluated and behind, I welcome everyone to my 2011 thread.
Everyone is welcome to join, especially my friend to talk about baseball only -- don't wanna deal with drama about a play losing or poster's grudges against others.
I already put a unit on 5 different teams to win the world series because I thought they presented value to go far in the season so I can get at least a chance to hedge.
Chicago White Sox +3201
White Sox resigned slugger Paul Konerko and catcher AJ Pierzynski along with free-agent Adam Dunn who is a major pick-up for their lineup that should form one of the best 3-4-5 with Konerko & Alex Rios.
They acquired free-agent relievers Jesse Crain and Will Ohman who was one of their worst problems in the 2nd half. Thornton should be the closer with Crain/Santos/Ohman as the 7th inning/setup guys for the White Sox who will also have starting pitcher JAke Peavy back to this season.
Oakland Athletics +3500
I am not happy that I missed some value in the A's because this line moved the day before I placed my wager from +4000, it's currently at +3300 on Pinnacle.
Oakland had the best rotation in the AL last season but they fell short on making the playoffs because their lineup just couldn't produce enough runs to back their pitcher adding that to some bullpen trouble.
Well, they improved all of that this season. Their rotation is more mature and should continue the success they had in 2011.
They got outfielders Josh Willingham, David DeJesus and designated hitter Hideki Matsui-san. They are all a MAJOR IMPROVEMENT and I cannot stress this more, over Rajai Davis, Jeremy Hermida and Jack Cust. They are all better hitters in avg and pop, that was much needed in this lineup.
The bullpen was also a problem and they did very well on that category: Picked up Grant Balfort and Brian Fuentes who could close in most of the teams around the league. Also picked up a couple more relievers and starter Rich Harden, who despite being injury prone, is a big improvement over Vin Mazzaro if healthy.
So I think Oakland has a great chance of winning the pennant this year.
Milwaukee Brewers +6500
Brewers had one of the strongest lineups in the game in 2010 and they underachieved in the NL Central. I expect it to be different this year.
They picked-up two very good pitchers in Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke which will give them one of the best 1-2-3 punch in the MLB along with Yovani Gallardo. Combine them with Randy Wolf and possibly Carl Capuano who ended the season in a high-note and you have a very solid rotation.
Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder will be on the last year of their contract, which means they will be playing for money and that's usually when players perform the best (see Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, among others).
Also wagered on St. Louis CArdinals at +2136 and the Texas RAngers at +2326.
So here's to a profitable season to everyone!