Report: Garland headed to Cleveland

Baseball Betting Lines

02/13/2012 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have reportedly agreed to a minor league contract with veteran pitcher Jon Garland.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the pact includes an invitation to spring training if the 32-year-old right-hander can pass a physical.

Garland made just nine starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season because of injuries and is coming off rotator cuff surgery. He began the 2011 season battling a left oblique strain and posted a record of just 1-5 with a 4.33 earned run average before undergoing the surgical procedure on July 11.

The Indians are in need of depth in the rotation with the status of the former Fausto Carmona unknown. Carmona, whose real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia, is still dealing with legal and visa issues in his native Dominican Republic after being arrested last month for double identity.

Garland is familiar with the American League Central, having spent the first eight seasons of his 12-year career with the Chicago White Sox. He was an All- Star in 2005 for the Sox and helped the club to the World Series title that year.

After his time in Chicago, the California native pitched for the Angels in 2008, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers in 2009 and the Padres in 2010 before returning to the Dodgers last year. He had never been on the disabled list prior to last season.

In 353 career games, including 330 starts, Garland owns a mark of 132-119 with a 4.32 ERA.

Casinoonnt Baseball Betting News

<< Randy Moss apparently planning a comeback
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Moss is apparently planning a comeback. Moss decided to retire last August after 13 NFL seasons and told an audience on UStream.tv Monday about trying to return for 2012. He just turned 35

<< Speir completes Western Carolina coaching staff
Cullowhee, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Western Carolina first-year head football coach Mark Speir has completed his coaching staff by adding defensive coordinator responsibilities to linebackers coach Curtis Walker and naming Steve Sisa the defensive

<< Packers make changes to offensive staff
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy announced a few changes to the club's offensive staff on Monday. Jerry Fontenot will move from running backs coach to tight ends coach for 2012, while Ben

<< Revs add French forward Sene
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution announced on Monday that the club has acquired forward Saer Sene on a free transfer from Bayern Munich. Sene has spent the past two-and-a-half years playing with Bayern

<< Rounding Third: Linsanity would never happen in MLB
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The whole sports world seems to be enamored with what's going on with the New York Knicks and Jeremy Lin. It's become a story that has transcended not only the National Basketball Association, but all of spor

McCarthy axed by Wolves >>
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton sacked manager Mick McCarthy on Monday after the club's 5-1 defeat to West Bromwich over the weekend left Wolves in the relegation zone. The move brings to an end McCarthy's

Jaguars name Mark Lamping team president >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars have named Mark Lamping team president, new owner Shahid Khan announced Monday. Lamping, who has served as president and CEO of MetLife Stadium since 2008, will oversee all no

Ortiz agrees to one-year deal with BoSox >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox and designated hitter David Ortiz have avoided salary arbitration and agreed to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Boston Globe reported the deal to be worth $

Rangers on the verge of administration >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending Scottish Premier League champions Rangers confirmed on Monday that the club has filed a notice of intention to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to appoint administrators. The club

Villa's Dunne to miss two months >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne is set to spend the next two months on the sidelines after sustaining a broken shoulder in Sunday's 1-0 defeat against Manchester City. Dunne suffered the injury

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

Bet NFL Sports Lines

Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

Betting Line

To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs.

For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well.