While Darvish is only one piece in a large betting equation that has Texas out front in the AL West once again, his play early on this season has been solid enough to think that he could be one of the answers for the question marks left by consecutive World Series defeats. The 25-year old looks like an absolute stud, striking out at least seven batters in each of his last five starts, the longest streak for a Rangers’ pitcher since 1987. Over that same span, Darvish has thrown first-pitch strikes to 60-percent of the batters he has faced, factoring in a changeup to go with the curveball and fastball he opened the year with. The Texas pitching staff ranks fourth in the majors in ERA with a combined 3.24 mark, with Darvish leading the way at 2.60, and three other starters keeping their number under 4.00 including Neftali Feliz, Colby Lewis, and Derek Holland. The depth the Rangers have demonstrated in their starting rotation has allowed them to move Alexi Ogando in to a relief role, where he has combined with Mike Adams for 13 holds already. Closer Joe Nathan has already recorded eight saves, completing what could very well be the deepest pitching staff in baseball, if not the best according to the stats on the sites listed by the sportsbook reviews.

For all of the sportsbook points we have already made about the pitching staff, it is that much more incredible that Texas’ offense has been even better, leading the majors in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage, and ranked second in on-base percentage. Everybody knows just how good Josh Hamilton has been early on with 18 home runs already and a .408 average, but the Rangers also have five other regulars that are hitting over .270, with Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Nelson Cruz the three among them that have already hit 20 RBI in addition toHamilton’s 45.

As far as the MLB blogs evaluation is concerned, this Rangers’ team is actually better than the two that lost in the World Series in consecutive seasons, a scary thought considering how good those teams were.Texas is undoubtedly the most complete team in the majors, and as long as they can maintain their focus and consistency throughout the length of this marathon season, the Rangers will once again be right there contending for a World Series championship in what could be their best chance at finally bringing a title home.

Josh Hamilton is every body’s favorite player, even if he hits home runs against your team. Over the past three years, Hamilton has grown into one of the most dynamic baseball players to ever play the game, as his five tool attributes have allowed for the Texas Rangers to go from a good team to an elite team. While Hamilton has held up his end of the bargain by performing to the most of his abilities, the Rangers have seemed to lag in regards to contract negotiations. Essentially, the Rangers acquired Hamilton for next to nothing from the Cincinnati Reds, as personal problems made him appear as a project player. For this reason, Hamilton was signed to cheap one-year deals regardless of impressive numbers.

As we noted earlier, Hamilton launched nine home runs last week, while anchoring the Rangers offense. Right now, Hamilton is on pace for 80 home runs 204 RBI and a 980 OBP. Meaning to say, for the Rangers to continue to sit on their hands and avoid signing Hamilton to a long-term deal, makes very little sense. After all, the team could believe that Josh Hamilton should be loyal to them since they stuck by him throughout his recovery from a variety of addictions. However, after bringing the team to within a World Series victory in back to back years, does he really owe them anything?

In theory, if Hamilton elects to test the free agent market, he could have plenty of suitors, with all five AL East teams being in the fold. To us, the team that makes the most sense of the five AL East teams for Hamilton to play for is the Toronto Blue Jays. Currently in rebuilding mode, the Jays management plans to contend for a betting online World Series Title by 2013. With uncertainty in left field, where Josh Hamilton currently resides on the baseball diamond, signing the best hitter in the game makes a ton of sense on the surface. Yet, there are plenty of things to consider both for Hamilton and the Blue Jays.

For Hamilton, he has shown that he can hit the ball very well in a warm climate, and Toronto plays in a dome, would it have an effect? Conversely, the Blue Jays offense has struggled this year, as even though they rank fourth in total offense, the team batting average is awful. One of the main reasons for this is the approach of hitting coach Dwayne Murphy, whose game plan isn’t very good. If Hamilton leaves for the Blue Jays would his overall game be affected, by leaving the Rangers hitting coach? At the end of the day, if the Toronto Blue Jays can land Josh Hamilton, they should be able to win the World Series.

The warning flags should be going up all over the Big Apple about the Rangers’ realistic chances at winning the Stanley Cup this year. The Rangers required overtime of the seventh game of the series with Ottawato final crack the shell of what had been a weak Ottawadefense. Now the Rangers need a seventh game to decide whether or not Big Blue can get past Washington’s rookie goaltender. Even the best sportsbook online is having a hard time understanding how one player could be giving the Rangers such a hard time. ButWashington rookie goaltender Braden Holtby continues his Dryden-esque performance in this series by driving the Rangers crazy.

The Capitals are suddenly finding its scoring right when it needs it. All season long, the Washington Capitals could not find its scoring touch. Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin were not the point scoring machine they normally are. The Capitals looked disorganized, disgruntled and disinterested when the playoffs started. But the persistent play of Holtby has inspired the Capitals to come together as a team and start playing to its potential. The price per head sports experts had always considered Washington a potentially dangerous team, even when the Caps were falling apart during the season. But it took a rookie goalie to bring the team together and force it to be great.

New York Rangers

The Rangers are extremely difficult to understand in these playoffs. New Yorkentered the playoffs with the best defensive team in hockey that was enhanced by a very opportunistic offense. But when the puck dropped on the playoffs, the Rangers’ offense went south and never came back. New Yorkhas been living off of the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and has shown no indications that it can regain its scoring touch. When the Rangers lost game six by a score of 2-1, every NHL fan inNew York should have been preparing themselves for disappointment on Saturday night.

Washington Capitals

A sportsbook review of the Capitals’ play in the post-season shows that the team has been inspired and wants to win. There is talent on thisWashington roster, but it was not playing to its full potential all season long. A coaching change and several goaltending changes did not do anything to elevate the collective attitude of the Capitals. But when Braden Holtby started to look like he was batting on his own to win playoff games, the rest of the team responded. As the playoffs move forward, this Capitals team is only getting better.

The Bottom Line

The Rangers cannot pull this in every series and expect to get away with it. The Rangers cannot disappear offensively and rely on Lundqvist to win every game.New Yorkhas put itself in a position where Braden Holtby has shattered the Rangers’ offensive confidence. That means a lot and will be the main reason whyWashingtonadvances to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Pick; Washington Capitals

In theory, the five game suspension to Cole Hamels for admitting post game he did threw at Harper on purpose, is a slap on the wrist. One of the biggest misconceptions in baseball is that a pitcher who is suspended actually has to serve the length of his suspension. The reality is, the team is penalized for five games, but the pitcher is technically only punished for one game, since today’s starting pitchers only pitch once every five days. For this reason, many people are wondering if the MLB had a right to even penalize Hamels for his honesty in explaining his actions to the media.

Historically, throwing at rookies because they are rookies is nothing new. For example, a pitch hit the legendary Frank Robinson 20 times in his rookie season. However, when he still managed to hit 39 home runs, knock in 83 runs and boast an OPS of 936, the pitchers took the hint that hitting Robinson was worse for them then it was for him. While we aren’t saying that Bryce Harper will duplicate Robinson’s numbers, what we are saying is that Harper won’t be fazed by a pitcher ‘intentionally’ throwing at him. In fact, for those who missed the game, Harper got revenge on Hamels quite quickly after being thrown at in the first inning. Essentially, as the inning carried on, Harper found himself on third base, where he decided to steal home plate, and was safe on the play.

The Phillies would ultimately win the game, by a score of nine to three, despite all the talk after the game being about the betting online actions of Hamels towards Harper. As we noted earlier, many are in disbelief that the MLB would punish Hamels for his honesty, as he basically stated what we all knew anyways. On the other hand, the fact Hamels was suspended but won’t have to serve that long of a suspension has critics infuriated. They are mad because the MLB they feel was too lenient on Hamels when he intended to throw at Harper. With this in mind, the punishment should have been 15 games, or five starts for Hamels.

Another issue that has fans and especially the media angered at the MLB is the timing of the Hamels suspension. Even though he threw at Harper, the umpires did not eject Hamels from the game. In fact, had Hamels not said anything to the media, would he really have been suspended for the pitch? Meaning to say, the MLB appears to have only given Hamels a suspension, because he told the truth instead of saying ‘next question’.

In the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays are back on top with 11 wins in 12 games at Tropicana Field, once again capitalizing on a unique blend of pitching consistency and the ability to bring in runs once they get on base. The betting sites fact that they took five of six games against the Angels and Texas Rangers is impressive, but they still have to take care of business in their own division. The top four teams in the AL East rank in the top-five in the entire league based on record, which would start with the Rays and Rangers at 17-8, and follow with the Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees. Baltimore’s pitching has been much better early on but there are real Betonline question marks about how long that will last, but there is intrigue in Toronto in the fact that they are doing so well in spite of reigning two-time home run king Jose Bautista’s struggles at the dish. Bautista is batting .180 with four home runs, and if he could get going this month it could be the Blues Jays making a run at the division lead. The Yankees have dealt with pitching woes by scoring a ton of runs, but in the end they may need to acquire some help on the mound to have a pay head contending shot.

Outside of the AL East, it seems at this point like it is the Rangers and everybody else. Texas is undoubtedly the best online sportsbook favorite to advance to the World Series out of the AL once again, with the best offense in the majors complimented by a pitching staff that ranks sixth in overall ERA. The Rangers are without peer in the AL West, even though the Angels do appear to have enough talent to make a run. Los Angeles has won three-straight but still remains seven back, a gap that will be difficult to close even this early on. The Detroit Tigers are expected to close out the season on top of the AL Central, but will have some internal issues to settle along the way. The Tigers have been far too inconsistent of late, winning just three of its past 10 games and appearing disinterested at times. Right now Detroit is grouped with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians at the top of the AL Central, but it shouldn’t be long before they find some separation.

As we turn the page on the first month of the season, there are several players that could easily fill our infield. Paul Konerko gets the nod of Adam Dunn as the Chicago White Sox representative in the All Star Game, as the 36-year-old veteran has had a dream month of April. Konerko has a 383 batting average, 444 on base percentage and 679 slugging percentage, to go along with five home runs and 15 RBI to start the season. As of this writing, Konerko is an obvious choice at first base, as he is leading all everyday first basemen in all offensive categories.

On the other hand, making a decision on the designated hitter is a difficult one, as you could easily slot in a first baseman in the position, or stick with players that primarily hit the ball. From main stream baseball media in the United States, you would think the decision on designated hitter is a two horse race, between Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, and the aforementioned Adam Dunn. However, we believe that the odds of being named All Star Game designated hitter belong to Toronto Blue Jays power hitter Edwin Encarnacion. Encarnacion has a 322 batting average, 376 on base percentage and a 678 slugging percentage along with eight home runs and 21 RBI. Given the struggles of the Blue Jays lineup of late, Encarnacion may be the lone representative this season.

Moving onto the outfield and two players that are locked in after quick starts, are Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers and Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The two anchors of the MLB’s hottest teams have literally come as advertised this season. Batting clean up in both lineups, Hamilton and Kemp are first and second in all offensive categories. Hamilton has a 395 batting average, 438 on base percentage and 744 slugging percentage, with nine home runs and 25 RBI. On the contrary, Matt Kemp has been an absolute beast, essentially locking up the NL MVP award in the month of April. Kemp is the only player to out play Hamilton, as he is hitting 425 batting average, 495 on base percentage, and an 888 slugging percentage, with 11 home runs and 24 RBI. If Kemp can keep up the 888 slugging percentage, he will be better then Babe Ruth, who posted a career 820 slugging percentage.

To close out the All Star nominations, fans and media and handicappers are all looking at which pitchers deserve the start. Despite coming off of Tommy John surgery a season ago, pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg has seemingly regained form at least to start the year. Strasburg was the king of April, winning two of his five starts, while posting a 1.13 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and nearly 10k’s per nine innings. In other words,

Winnipeg Jets

The problem the Winnipeg Jets are having is that it is run by the same management team that could not get the Atlanta Thrashers over the playoff hump. The Jets did the same thing this year that the Thrashers had done for years prior. The team started out strong, contended for a playoff spot, and then faded down the stretch. The Jets have a great goalie in Ondrej Pavelec, but the team plays poor defense in front of him. The price per head sports experts see a lot of potential in the Winnipeg Jets, but the Jets are going to need to shore up its defense if it wants to win games.

Buffalo Sabres

The fans in Buffalodo not see a winning team being built, but a bodog review of the Sabres’ roster shows some positive changes being made. The Sabres need to get tougher and faster if it wants to compete for the Stanley Cup. Players like Marcus Foligno fit that bill. Cody Hodgson looked almost timid when he came over from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline, but he started to show potential towards the end of the season. The Sabres have promised results to its fans and now it needs to deliver. The only question is whether or not it is the right choice to keep going back to the team of general manager Darcy Regier and head coach Lindy Ruff.

Edmonton Oilers

The entire league keeps waiting for the Oilers to turn the corner, but the team continues to struggle.Edmontonis starting to see the benefits of drafting young talent like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but where the Oilers continue to fall short is in goal. Last season,Edmontonthought that veteran Nikolai Khabibulin was the answer. That turned out to be the wrong guess. The Oilers need to stop guessing in goal and find a real talent that can push the team to success. The Oilers seem to work on name recognition rather than talent. A few changes in the scouting department and a good goalie should get the Oilers on the right path.

Anaheim Ducks

NHL fans inAnaheim had a rough season. Their star goalie Jonas Hiller was out for a good part of the beginning of the season. When Hiller finally made it to the ice, he was inconsistent. The Ducks had some problems scoring goals, but it was mostly issues on defense that preventedAnaheim from making any progress this year. No team needed the season to end more thanAnaheim. New head coach Bruce Boudreau tried everything to get the team moving and nothing seemed to work. There will be player changes inAnaheim this offseason, but there is not a lot that really needs to be done. The Ducks can be a playoff team next year if the team just applies itself and utilizes the talent it has.

The Kansas City Royals are an anomaly in this week’s Power Rankings, on several major sports networks across North America. In an effort to show uniqueness, many networks are using variables that diehard fans understand, such as WAR, which are wins above replacement metric. Meaning to say a team’s WAR indicates how the current crop of players on their team would fair against minor league players or players brought in through trade to help or improve the team. As it relates to the Royals, bookie software users are confused at the team’s seventh place ranking. Essentially, the Royals on a winning percentage of 200, which is amongst the lowest in the league. Yet, the WAR winning percentage is 544, which is seventh best in the league.

What makes less sense is the fact, that baseball statisticians have rated the Royals with such a high WAR winning percentage. Made up of mostly prospects, and a few scattered veterans, the small sample size has fans, and media wondering which is the real Kansas City Royals team for 2012. In other words, are the Royals a team that only wins 20 percent of their games, or a team that wins 54 percent of their games? Since there is such uncertainty, we recommend waiting a few more weeks, before you back or fade the Royals on the line.

On the contrary, a team that is leaving no question in fans and medias mind about taking them on the betting line is defending American League Champion, the Texas Rangers. To start the season, the Rangers are tied for the most wins in the MLB with 13, they’re WAR winning percentage is 833 and their regular winning percentage is 813. From top to bottom, the Rangers are easily the best team in baseball. Franchise outfielder Josh Hamilton appears like a modern day Babe Ruth, anchoring one of the deadliest offenses in the MLB.

As well, the Rangers pitching staff, both rotation and bullpen rank third in the entire league. To top off the early season success, the Rangers are sitting in first in team defense. What this indicates to bettors is that there is no safer wager to make, then on the defending World Series runners up. It also means, if the World Series started today, the odds indicate, that the Rangers should finally get over the hump and win the title.

Of course, with Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillen stealing the spotlight with the ridiculous comments that earned him a suspension from the team, and the new stadium with its almost as ridiculous Marlins’ home run attraction in the outfield adding to the distractions from the actual product on the field, there is no doubt that this actual Miami team has been under the radar. The Marlins overall record hasn’t been very impressive either as they have hovered around the .500 mark to open the year, but if you look at the finer details, there are several reasons to believe this team could become a legitimate sports betting contender.

The Marlins rank in the top-third of the league with a combined .256 batting average, and most of the players are still getting settled in to their new digs. The combination of 2011 NL batting champion Jose Reyes at the top of the order with Hanley Ramirez batting in the three-spot has already looked like one of the best in baseball, including Ramirez hammering home runs in three straight games earlier in the week. Emilio Bonifacio and Omar Infante are both batting over .330 to open the year, and with some quality depth in Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison, the Marlins have a ton ofbetting options.

With the offense accounted for, the focus can change to the starting rotation, where Mark Buehrle got his first win on Wednesday throwing five strikeouts through eight-strong with just one earned run allowed. Buehrle should be fine in terms of givingMiamia shot to win every game and sometimes stealing one, but the Marlins are going to need more from both Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez. Johnson has struggled early on this season and needs to be better forMiamito have a shot, and if the team can get something from Sanchez in Carlos Zambrano, they very well could surprise.

A quick look over the Betonline preseason favorites to win the NL East shows that the Marlins weren’t considered among the top choices, and the lack of respect that they have gotten could lead to some good value out there throughout the year. Whether or not the talent in Guillen’s clubhouse has what it takes to win games is an entirely different story altogether, but don’t sleep on them as a team capable of winning some big games this season. The Nationals will be in tough to keep up their current pace, and neither the Braves or Phillies have been overwhelming early on, so while Miami may not be the flashiest choice as a betting option, they could surprise by contending for the division.

Despite a five and four record through their first nine games of the season, the Blue Jays are a team you should back after an off day. According to the statistics, the lone Canadian franchise in the MLB, is a bookie software best, 21 and nine in the first game back after an off day. As they enter tonight’s opening game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Blue Jays are coming off their first off day in six days. Another interesting trend, is to back the red hot Texas Rangers, especially when they are on the road. Carrying over from last season, the Rangers are an impressive 14 and six in their past 20 road games. Tonight, the Rangers travel to Boston, to face the disgruntled Red Sox.

Two teams that have jumped out to hot starts, are the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Dodgers. After struggling in recent years, the two clubs were able to increase the odds of an eventual playoff berth, a season ago, when they experienced much success. Through the first week of the season, the Indians are averaging a league best six and a half runs per game, while hitting at least one homer in eight of their nine games. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are off to their best start in five years, going nine and one in their first 10 games of the season. The Dodgers are already an impressive six and one against their division, and are undefeated in six home contests. With series against a struggling Milwaukee team and a terrible Houston squad this week, the Dodgers could be 15 and one after the first 16 games of the season.

While the Astros continue to hang on for dear life in the NL Central, before a move to the ever daunting AL West next season, the youth of the team has become evident through the first week of the season. Houston is an impressive eight and one going over the total in its first nine games. The Astros are in an interesting sportsbook review situation, as they are more or less hitting over the total because of how bad they are. In other words, housing the worst bullpen in the league, the total amount of runs accumulated in their games, have put Houston over the line, since the bullpen can’t get a stop when necessary.

In a complete reversal, lay the Pittsburgh Pirates, as they are one and eight on the total, as the majority of their games have gone under. At first glance, MLB bettors are quick to assume that the line is under because the Pirates can’t produce runs. Yet, the reality is, that the lack of run support and half decent pitching has allowed for games to go under the total. Part of the reason the Pittsburgh Pirates rose to the top of the NL Central by the All Star break a season ago, was because their rotation and bullpen kept them in the majority of games. For instance, Joel Hanrahan closed out 40 games, with 29 saves being consecutive.