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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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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