No-brainer for both Phils and Oswalt

Baseball Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is hard to argue against the Philadelphia Phillies' acquisition of Houston righty Roy Oswalt, especially considering they received some money from the Astros and did not have to exercise his 2012 option.

In fact, it is an absolute no-brainer. I would give up prospects for a proven commodity every day and, unlike Anaheim plucking Dan Haren earlier in the week, this move does make the Phillies the favorites in not only the National League East, but the entire National League.

Plus they gave up nowhere near as much as the Angels had to surrender for Haren. J.A. Happ is not Joe Saunders and nobody Philly surrendered is as touted as Tyler Skaggs, who is going to be the player to be named later in that deal.

Oswalt would have been destroyed had he rejected this deal. I usually blow a gasket when players invoke their no-trade clauses rather than moving from a losing situation to a team in the playoff hunt. Derrek Lee just did it on Wednesday, turning down a deal to the Angels, but I can't get on him too much. He is as classy as they come, he loves playing for the Cubs and he already has a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins (2003).

Lee plays before a packed house at Wrigley Field every night, and while the Cubs aren't going to make the playoffs this year, they spend money and are always an offseason away from competing, particularly in a division that houses the likes of the Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Oswalt, on the other hand, would not have gotten a free pass. Houston has become baseball Siberia. It's clear that Philadelphia was not exactly his top choice, but pairing up with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels was too good a situation for him to turn down.

Would St. Louis have been a better fit for Oswalt? Probably. He seems like more of a St. Louis guy than a Philadelphian, and as a duo I would rather have Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright than Halladay and Hamels pitching with me, but whether Oswalt likes it or not, the Astros were going to explore every road that led them to a deal out of their own division. There is no way Houston GM Ed Wade wanted to face him five times a year.

Oswalt does lead the National League in losses, though the sabermetricians will tell you that wins and losses are not an accurate barometer for a pitcher's success. In this case, I have to agree. Oswalt has pitched to a 3.42 earned run average in 20 starts to go along with a 1.11 WHIP, and has held the opposition to a .229 batting average. Not to mention he has received a total of four runs of support in his last six starts.

Run support is not going to be a problem in Philadelphia. In case you haven't noticed, the Phils have cranked it up at the plate in the last week or so. Heading into action on Wednesday, Philadelphia has won seven straight and now sits just 3 1/2 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the division.

If there is anything that I have a problem with regarding the deal, it is that I don't necessarily think starting pitching was a problem for Charlie Manuel's club. It was the bats that put them in a hole. Now that the bats are coming alive again, the only real problem is the back-end bullpen, specifically closer Brad Lidge.

Lidge is an adventure every night. Lately he has been getting out of the jams he has put himself in, but I have no faith in him heading into the stretch run. And the problem is, there really are no other options from within. Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero are both competent, but seem to struggle when taken out of their current roles.

If Cole Hamels and Oswalt can follow Roy Halladay's lead and just throw nine innings every time out it won't be a problem, but we all know that is not going to happen. So either Lidge gets his act together soon, or this move amounts to very little come playoff time.

Of course, the 800-pound gorilla in the room is the fact that the Phillies really wouldn't have had a need for a starting pitcher had Ruben Amaro just hung onto Cliff Lee this offseason.

I said at the time the move away from Lee made no sense. I would have non- tendered Joe Blanton and went for it with Halladay, Lee and Hamels. Worry about next year, next year.

Still, I respect Amaro for making this Oswalt move. It is not often that a general manager admits to making a mistake. And make no mistake, he is admitting he was wrong with this move.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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