Door closing quickly in Oakland

Baseball Betting Lines

08/02/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics closed out the month of the July the same way they kicked it off, by losing five of seven games. Overall the A's have lost eight of their last 14 games, bringing their record to a disappointing 51-57 on the year.

Oakland's chances of making a run at the postseason are slim at this point, as the A's are 12 games back in the AL West and 9 1/2 games off the lead in the AL wild card.

The team may have sealed its fate over the weekend, by dropping three out of four games to division foe Seattle. However, the A's did manage to bounce back earlier this week, as they took two out of three games from the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers.

DESPITE RUMORS A'S REMAIN QUIET AT DEADLINE

Shortly after the All-Star break, Oakland was rumored to be shopping around many of their veteran players in hopes of clearing some salary for next season. However, when the hour glass ran out on Tuesday's trade deadline, the A's were one of several teams who were unable to get a deal done. During the past three weeks numerous players were rumored to be on the block, namely DH Mike Piazza, first baseman Dan Johnson, southpaw Joe Kennedy and outfielder Bobby Kielty. The A's were involved in numerous trade talks over the weekend, but decided not to make a move at the deadline.

"Any time you don't do something to make the team better, yeah, it's disappointing," said Oakland assistant general manager David Forst said. "We had a number of deals we were discussing, right up to the deadline. We were very active all day...Through nobody's fault, we just couldn't make a match."

STREET READY TO RETURN AS CLOSER

Reliever Huston Street wants to return as the A's closer. Street was forced to miss more than two months with an elbow injury, and now feels as though he is ready to return to his normal position in the bullpen. Although he returned to the team on July 23rd, the A's have only used Street as a set-up man and have yet to use him in a save situation. While Oakland is taking a cautious approach to Street's return, it has also failed to create many save opportunities over the past three weeks.

Street has appeared in four games since his return, allowing three runs on nine hits, while striking out four. Manager Bob Geren is impressed with Street's velocity and control at this time, but wants to make sure the righthander is fully healed before he returns as a full time closer.

"He was good the first time out and even better the second time,'' Geren said. "I felt, in my head, like I have to see three or four games before I switch roles, just to make sure he's ready.''

Left-hander Alan Embree has taken over the closing role in Street's absence and has recorded 12 saves on the year. Embree' success has been bittersweet for the A's, who received a consistent closer while Street was out, but lost their most polished middle-reliever in the process. If street can successfully return to the closer role, it will allow the A's to use Embree as both a middle-reliever and set-up man. With both Embree and Street healthy, Oakland could be a tough team to face in the final weeks of the season.

Street is not sure about when he will be given the opportunity to close, but he is confident that he can return to form when that time comes.

"I pretty much go on how my body feels," Street said. "I could have gone back- to-back [Thursday and Friday]. But I know they want to see if I can do that, just for their own assurance, which is fine with me.''

INJURY NEWS

Starting right-hander Esteban Loaiza is close to returning to the A's rotation, after missing all of this season with a knee injury. Loaiza is in the final stages of his rehabilitation, following an offseason knee injury.

Loaiza completed his first minor league start on Wednesday night for Triple-A Sacramento. The A's will reevaluate Loaiza over the weekend and could activate him for next week's series against the Texas Rangers.

WHO'S HOT

Outfielder Nick Swisher is beginning to come around at the plate, hitting safely in eight of his last 10 games. During that time Swisher has gone 10- for-36 at the plate with three home runs, nine RBI and 10 runs scored. On the season Swisher is batting a respectable .256 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI.

WHO'S NOT

Johnson continues to struggle at the plate, going just 3-for-32 over his last 10 games. The first baseman cannot seem to get things going, as he gone hitless in eight of his last nine games. Johnson's season average of .237 is well below his .251 career mark.

ON DECK

The A's will welcome the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to town for a four-game set from McAfee Coliseum. Gaudin (8-6, 3.71) and Joe Saunders (4-0, 3.16) will kick things off during Thursday night's opener. Friday night's game will feature Dinardo (5-6, 3.10) and Dustin Moseley (4-1, 4.37), before Joe Blanton (8-8, 3.82) and Kelvim Escobar (11-5, 2.87) square off on Thursday afternoon. Both team's saved the best for last, as AL Cy Young candidates Haren (13-3, 2.44) and John Lackey (13-6, 3.07) will take the mound for Sunday's finale.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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