Tommy Rider and I spent our Wednesday off-day for sports shopping around town for some early college football lines at the Golden Nugget and the Las Vegas Hilton and earlier got a chance to visit the Gamblers Book Shop, which I will be discussing more in detail on Friday.
I also took a hard look at MLB futures in anticipation of the second half of the season and tried to parlay the New York Mets to win the NL East (-120 at BetUS) with the Boston Red Sox to win the AL East (-190) at the Nugget but was declined. Believe it or not, the Nugget had plus-money on both teams to win their respective division as of Sunday. Tommy made a wager on the Colorado Rockies to win the NL West at 12/1, and that is something I definitely believe to be possible considering the team's offensive talent and lack thereof with the others in the division.
The way I see it, there are four main contenders to win the National League pennant in the hot Mets (currently riding a nine-game winning streak), the Philadelphia Phillies (+110 to win the NL East), the Milwaukee Brewers (3/1 to win the NL Central) and Chicago Cubs (-300). The Phillies are the weakest of that group despite leading the NL East right now due to weak starting pitching outside of young ace Cole Hamels and very streaky hitting.
In the AL, I am not counting out the Detroit Tigers (4/1) in the AL Central and think they will battle it out with the Chicago White Sox (-165) down the stretch. The Angels (-1000) should have no problem winning the AL West but I still think the Red Sox are the class of the league and will end up getting past them to defend their World Series title. The wild card here (no pun intended) is the Tampa Bay Rays (+150 to win the division), who ended the first half on a seven-game losing streak.
The Rays have one of the best young pitchers in baseball waiting to be called up in time for the stretch run in 2007 #1 overall pick David Price (4-0 with a 1.38 ERA currently with the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits), who would only strengthen what is already arguably the best rotation in the majors. I honestly believe the Rays will end up making the playoffs for the first time ever and will face their AL East rivals in the ALCS.
My MLB picks for the World Series? I am sticking with the Cubs (4/1 to win the World Series) and Red Sox (+350 favorites), who I think will end up prolonging the 100-year drought another season by beating the loveable losers in seven games. But if injuries do end up becoming a factor for the North Siders in the second half, then I would not be surprised at all to see the Brew Crew (14/1) or Mets (12/1) visiting Fenway in October. Those two teams represent the best value plays to win the World Series in my opinion. Otherwise, there will be a distinct possibility of hell freezing over 
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