NFL Lines & College Football Lines

Earlier this week the Toronto Blue Jays pitching ace Roy Halladay looked like he was on the way out as Toronto seemed determined to trade him for some young propects, but the asking price from the Blue Jays has been too much for most teams to handle.

The most interested team so far in the Halladay race has been the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, but like I said before the Blue Jays have been asking for entirely too much in exchange for the All Star pitcher.

I still believe the Toronto Blue Jays will be trading their pitching ace, but they will definitely have to go a little easier on the asking price. Supposedly even the Los Angeles Dodgers are interested in getting Halladay and there is no lack of young talent on that ball club to make a deal happen.

They may not be the Bash Brothers of old in Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco, but Manny Ramirez and Andre Either are quickly turning into a deadly one-two punch for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

We all know Manny Ramirez can hit, but this season Andre Either has shown us all that he can be a big time hitter as well as he continues improve swinging the bat and knocking them out of the park.

Yesterday the Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewer 7-5 in which both Manny Ramirez and Andre Either went yard. Manny is batting .338 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs, Either is batting just .257 but has 19 homers and 58 RBIs so far this season.

It is a possibility, but nothing has happen yet and opening day is right around the corner.

Not that long ago Pedro Martinez was arguably the best pitcher in the MLB. He was just as dominant as they come on the mound, but like most pitchers in baseball an injury is bound to follow and it did.

Pedro Martinez hasn't really been relevant since his days with the Boston Red Sox. Now he can't seem to find a job, even as a relief pitcher.

One team has taken interest in the once dominant pitcher and that is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only are Manny Ramirez and Pedro close friends, but the Dodgers are in desperate need of a veteran pitcher in their lineup and Pedro could be the one to fit the bill.

It is down to just a handful of teams, but once again the faith in the USA seems to be fading away.

It has never been more obvious that the US is no longer the country with the best players anymore. The United States may have been the birth place of baseball, it is called "America's Past Time", but they just can't hang with up and coming countries.

The next game for the Americans is against the defending champion Japanese team headed by Ichiro Suzuki.

In my honest opinion, the Americans have no chance. Yeah, USA has some great players, but teams like Japan and South Korea live for this tournament.

Take any team, but the Americans in this tournament and you will win some money.

There a few players in the history of the MLB that could make such a huge difference to their team that they could turn a possible playoff contender to a title contender.

A few of these players in the past have been Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Ted Williams.

These days these players don't really come along anymore with the exception of one player, Manny Ramirez. I am not saying that Ramirez is the next Ruth, Bonds or Williams, but he has turned the Los Angeles Dodgers from NL West contenders to possibly World Series bound.

The Dodgers will still have stiff competition from the Phillies and Cubs, but their chances of making a World Series run from start to finish just became drastically better.

 There have been a lot of big money free agent signing this offseason with a lot of elite players going to play elsewhere, but the Los Angeles Angels have been one of the title contending teams in the AL that haven't really made any significant moves throughout MLB free agency.

A very smart move for the Angels, in my opinion, was passing on Mark Teixeira. The New York Yankees signed the slugger for an unheard of $180 million dollars after signing both CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett for over $250 million combined. 

Trying to compete with the Yankees money these days is impossible and honestly not worth it.

As a way of countering losing Teixeira the Angels went out and made what I think was the smartest and most cost effective move yet by signing ex-Yankee outfielder Bobby Abreu for one year and $5 million. Abreu may not be a Teixeira, but he helps replace a big bat and is a solid outfielder.

The next move for the Angels was signing their pitching ace Ervin Santana to a four year deal for about $30 million. Santana is no Sabathia or Burnett, but at $30 million he is a steal!

The Yankees may have signed three of the most talented free agents out there, but the Angels got the best bang for their buck!