Latest news with #ALCS
Fox News
2 days ago
- Sport
- Fox News
2025 MLB Odds: Bettors Believe Detroit Tigers Can Win AL Pennant
Is 2025 the year of the Tiger? Bettors at one sportsbook would certainly argue that's the case when it comes to the AL Pennant race, because at BetMGM, they're backing Detroit in a big way. At +340, the Tigers are the favorite to win the AL. They also have the highest ticket at 22.1% and the highest handle at 19.4%. And if you guessed that Detroit is BetMGM's biggest liability when it comes to this market, you were right. But will bettors' enthusiasm translate to them winning the league? Let's dive into one expert's insight after taking a look at some of the Tigers' other odds at BetMGM as of Aug. 5. World Series+900 (bet $10 to win $100 total) American League Central Winner-10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total) World Series: Division of Winning TeamAL Central: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total) World Series: League of Winning TeamAmerican: +125 (bet $10 to win $22.50 total) ALCS: Division of Winning TeamAL Central: +280 (bet $10 to win $38 total) Are the 66-48 Tigers actually a good bet to win the AL — especially since they're in a league with contenders like the Yankees and Blue Jays? According to FOX MLB writer Rowan Kavner, the organization fell slightly short of beefing up its roster with the necessary pieces at the trade deadline to make a real push. "Considering they've been one of the best teams in baseball all year, I expected them to more meaningfully address their deficiencies," Kavner wrote about the Tigers' trade deadline moves. "They could have used an elite piece at the back end. Instead, they opted to address their pitching issues with quantity over quality, favoring slight upgrades over major upside. "They should still cruise to a division title, but this felt like an opportunity missed." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sean McAdam: Red Sox needed bold strokes at deadline, but instead got half measures
Talk about uninspiring. After all the speculation, all the talk, all the promises of urgency, the Red Sox came away from the 2025 deadline with a back-end starter and a reliever/swingman — both of them rentals. That's not exactly what Red Sox fans had in mind. In the end, the team's play of late and its playoff chances, estimated to be roughly 60 percent, weren't enough for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to act decisively. It's a better haul than last year, but if you're setting the bar at Danny Jansen, Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia, that's not very high one to clear. It was supposed to be different. But in the end, the acquisition of Steven Matz and Dustin May seemed to be more of the same — more hedging, more toe-dipping. If the Red Sox are better than they were Wednesday, it's not by much. It was reasonable to expect that this would be the year for the Red Sox to approach the deadline with more assertiveness. They spent the winter vowing that the rebuild had made sufficient enough progress to mark them as contenders, with a goal of ending a playoff drought that stretches back to 2021. Breslow, team president Sam Kennedy and manager Alex Cora all delivered the same theme, dating back to the 2024 post-mortem: enough waiting. So the expectations were set. This would be going to be like the 2021 deadline, when the arrival of Kyle Schwarber helped lead the Red Sox to the ALCS. To hear Breslow tell it, they tried to replicate that assertiveness. But in a conference call with reporters Thursday night, Breslow seemed to suggest he had wanted to do more, but found that the organization's prospects weren't attractive enough to land bigger pieces. That's an odd take, given that by almost every measure, the Red Sox still have a Top 10 farm system, even if graduating Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer. 'We felt like we needed to do what we could to bolster the team,' said Breslow, 'so we pursued as much as we possibly could. We pursued a number of really impact opportunities. Obviously, not all of them work out, but it wasn't from a lack of trying to be as aggressive as possible, or an unwillingness to get uncomfortable. But ultimately, it takes two teams lining up for those trades to line up. 'This wasn't about an unwillingness to include guys or anything like that. Teams have to like our players in order for that to happen. We went into this deadline feeling like, in order to accomplish what we hoped to accomplish, we couldn't take our top minor league players off the table. We couldn't go into this with untouchables and we didn't We were willing to talk about all of our guys in the name of improving the team. It just didn't work out.' There was reason for hope late Wednesday night when Ken Rosenthal reported that the Red Sox had had discussions with the Arizona Diamondbacks about third baseman Eugenio Suarez, inarguably the best hitter available on the market. According to Rosenthal, the Red Sox would have had Suarez play first base, filling a need. That suggested a Red Sox team that was prepared to be all in at the deadline. Knowing how much Suarez was going to cost, the fact that the Sox were willing to play in the deep end of the pool meant they were willing to be both creative and bold. But that, apparently, passed. All Thursday, as quality relievers and better starting pitching rentals got flung around the game so many trading cards, the Red Sox remained strangely inactive. In the end, it appeared as though the Sox did only the bare minimum. That wasn't the case around the American League. The Yankees landed big-time bullpen help (David Bednar, Camilo Duval and Jake Bird), and a highly athletic infielder (Jose Caballero). The Seattle Mariners, just behind the Sox in the wild card race, added two big corner infield bats (Suarez and Josh Naylor) in the last week. The Texas Rangers, making a late-summer charge, outbid the Sox for an established starter (Kelly) and two useful bullpen arms (Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe). For context: none of the controllable starting pitchers got dealt. MacKenzie Gore, Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan and Mitch Keller all stayed put. That suggests unreasonably high asking prices, which everyone else avoided, too. So it's hard to blame the Red Sox there. But there were better rental options than May and better relievers than Matz. That the Red Sox settled is hardly inspiring. Had Breslow acted with the boldness he displayed last winter, when the Red Sox traded for than extended Garrett Crochet, and signed Alex Bregman, the Red Sox would be in far better position today for the final two months of this season. Instead, the Red Sox took small steps toward improvement when a giant leap of faith was called for. More Red Sox coverage 'I throw up in my mouth.' Red Sox broadcaster rips Boston's deadline approach As Red Sox put Tanner Houck on 60-day IL, Craig Breslow offers ominous update 'Epic fail.' How experts graded Boston Red Sox at MLB trade deadline Red Sox trade deadline another full throttle disappointment Red Sox spent 'pretty significant time trying to add a bat' at trade deadline Read the original article on MassLive.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Giants' Justin Verlander gets a no decision as Pirates score twice in 9th to win
PITTSBURGH — Justin Verlander rediscovered his youth Monday night at PNC Park, pitching like he was in the prime of his sure-fire Hall of Fame career. In his best outing by far for the San Francisco Giants, Verlander allowed one run, and that unearned. He struck out three — including getting Joey Bart looking at, essentially, a 98 mph fastball to end the fifth. And still, Verlander did not get a W, such is his fate with the Giants. He went six innings and he was in line to win his second consecutive decision when the Giants did their ultimate deny-Verlander act, with new closer Randy Rodriguez walking one and hitting another batter in the ninth before Bart tied it up with a base hit against his former team. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa's tapper to first ended it, a 5-4 walkoff win for the Pirates when the Giants were unable to get the safe call at home overturned. Verlander has made 10 starts this season in which he's worked at least five innings and allowed no more than two runs, and San Francisco is 1-9 in those games. More For You What are the best outcomes possible for Giants in their first Buster Posey season? Giants opt for Jerar Encarnacion, send Luis Matos back to Triple-A Sacramento "I'm not shying away from it - everybody knows where I'm at wins-wise," said Verlander, who's 37 away from 300 for his career. "I'd like to get some, you know, but at the same time, you just control what you can control. It's a s- run in a long career, and nothing I can do about it. You just try to pitch better consistently and keep us in ball games and give us a chance to win, give myself a chance to win, and do that more times than not and see where things end up." Verlander's fastball has averaged 94.1 mph this season, and he hadn't hit 98 mph this season before Monday, but he threw Bart one 98.3 mph fastball, his hardest pitch since Game 1 of the 2022 ALCS. The one he struck Bart out on was 97.9, a velocity he hadn't recorded since his second start on April 9. "I was just talking to IKF and I was like, 'I really wouldn't want to see that guy in his prime,' " Bart said. "He's got a different fastball. He made some really good pitches against a lot of us, but especially against me. Facing a guy like that, you just hope you're ready for one mistake, and if you don't capitalize you probably won't get another one." The oldest player in U.S. pro sports, at 42, Verlander appeared as if he felt a dozen years younger, too. In the sixth, he dove to his right for Spence Horwitz's tapper. He missed, amusing the infield; third baseman Matt Chapman tipped his cap at the attempt before giggling in his glove with shortstop Willy Adames as Verlander smiled and assured them he was fine. "That was fun, all those guys came out there, and I'm just like, 'Hey, we don't need to call an ambulance here, I'm OK,' " he said "Everybody's just kind of like looking at me, like, wide eyed. I'm all right, not a little fragile egg, I can move around on the mound. I am a fielder, after all." Verlander's velocity wasn't the only strong aspect of his night; his curveball was the best it's been, catcher Patrick Bailey said. Verlander entered the game using the pitch about 14 percent of the time and upped it to 23 percent Monday. Helping things along are some mechanical changes he's made lately, including moving his glove position up near his neck and shifting to the left on the rubber. The results: He's allowed one earned run over his past three starts and 16 innings. Run support remains elusive for Verlander, with just 33 runs of backing in his 18 starts entering Monday, the fewest in the majors among pitchers with that many starts. Monday, his teammates pasted two runs on the board right away, with Dom Smith knocking an RBI single and Casey Schmitt drawing a bases-loaded walk from Johan Oviedo, making his first start since 2023 after recovering from elbow surgery. The Giants took their walks Monday, drawing five, including two to open the fifth. With two outs, Jung-Hoo Lee tripled to right center to send in both. Little-used Carson Seymour, pitching in only his fourth game since July 2, had a 1-2-3, 12-pitch sixth but walked Liover Peguero and gave up a homer by Jack Suwinski in the seventh.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Weapon': How Cincinnati Reds trade deadline might impact prized rookie Chase Burns
Seventeen years ago this October, a top pitching prospect from Tennessee in his first full season of professional baseball came out of the bullpen to get the final four outs of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to eliminate the defending World Series champs. 'He was a weapon,' said Terry Francona, who watched Tampa Bay's David Price strike out J.D. Drew that night to end an eighth-inning threat then strike out two of the four Red Sox he faced in the ninth to close out Francona's Boston club in St. Petersburg, Fla. Reds victory On Speedway Classic eve, Reds pull away from Braves, hold on for the win Reds trades Nick Martinez Williams: See what Cincinnati Reds' highest-paid player did to help team make playoff push Reds trade deadline additions Nick Krall's, Cincinnati Reds' biggest takeaway from MLB trade deadline: 'We bought' These days, Price is retired. Francona manages the Cincinnati Reds. And the only reason Francona brings up Price is that he was asked about his own first-year, prized pro, Chase Burns, as a possible bullpen option later in the season as the Reds approach the final two months since adding starter Zack Littell at the July 31 trade deadline. Francona won't talk about possible personnel moves. But team officials have been clear. And Burns is aware of the reality as he piles up innings during his first pro seasons after being drafted No. 2 overall a year ago. 'They could keep me in the starting role for a minute until I hit that limit. Or as I come closer to it, maybe put me in the bullpen,' Burns said. 'Just depends on what they want to do.' Burns, who already has a career-high number of starts for any level, is 6 2/3 innings from an innings-pitched high as he takes the mound for Saturday's Speedway Classic game at Bristol Motor Speedway in his home state of Tennessee. 'Maybe I could see myself throwing those innings limits just because I do feel good,' he said. 'Just kind of play it by ear.' Reds officials don't know what those limits are exactly. Front office officials and pitching coach Derek Johnson say the goal is for Burns to finish the season without being shut down, which requires closely monitoring his strength and bounce-back effectiveness as the season progresses. It also means taking advantage of extra days on the schedule for more rest, and could mean at some point a move to the bullpen. Think David Price. Think unleashing Burns' top two pitches, a 100-mph fastball and exceptional slider, one inning at a time. Think weapon. With an asterisk. 'If you get to September, you've got an extra pitcher,' Francona said. 'We certainly would never use him as a regular reliever. That's just not fair. Those are all good thoughts. We'll get to (those kinds of decisions)." For now, Burns has settled into a competitive comfort zone six starts into his big-league career, with three straight starts of 10 strikeouts or more and 6-plus ERA inflated mostly by a hellish outing in Boston in his second start. So what's next? 'I've been in both roles before, starting and relieving,' Burns said, 'so whatever they want to do with me.' Getting through a trade deadline in which the team traded reliever Taylor Rogers and acquired Littell, a starter, added some clarity to the moving parts moving forward. Francona said Littell drops into Nick Martinez's rotation spot, making his Reds debut Tuesday at Chicago, as Martinez moves to the bullpen. Opening Day starter Hunter Greene, meanwhile, makes another rehab start Sunday, on a pitch limit in the 60-65 range, which could put him close to a return from a groin injury. Is that decision time for Burns and a possible bullpen move? Does he get skipped once or twice until September and then it's decision time? What's the health and strength of the other five starters at that point? 'All those things we're thinking about,' Francona said. 'Addressing when we think it's the right time and the right place and how do to it, those are all things we've been talking about for a while.' With the right move in the right place, the right time might start to look a lot like October. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Reds trade deadline impacts prized rookie Chase Burns
Globe and Mail
01-08-2025
- Globe and Mail
Ex-CFL player Paul Markle used his marketing skills to help the Blue Jays soar
At the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in October of 1992, the police created a barrier around Paul (Sparkle) Markle and a group of Toronto Blue Jays front office workers and players' children and wives. It was Game 4 of the American League Championship Series and after Roberto Alomar slapped a ninth-inning, game-tying homer off A's closer Dennis Eckersley, the fans, already rowdy, began sniffing for Canadian blood. The Jays eventually won in the 11th inning. 'The police said, 'Stay in your seat until the crowd leaves,' because we didn't want to get rained on with popcorn and warm beer,' says Glen Wilkie, known as Hoop, Mr. Markle's best friend of 67 years. As Mr. Wilkie relates, the Jays' contingent did as the police advised, but the evening wasn't over. After exiting the stadium, Hoop and Sparkle, sporting powder blue Jays' caps and shirts, hit an East Oakland bar. 'Of course, we decided we needed one more beer, so we enter this place and all of the people are wearing black leather and chains – it was a biker bar,' Mr. Wilkie says, adding that the situation's danger subsided when Sparkle showed how he earned his nickname for exploits well beyond the playing field. 'Paul just went over to one guy and started a conversation – engaging him – and that guy brought over his friends,' Mr. Wilkie says, disbelief still apparent in his gravelly voice. 'Next thing you know, we're part of the biker gang, and that was Paul: a raconteur, but he listened and was always interested in other people.' Mr. Markle died on July 2 from early onset dementia complications at the age of 78, with Lisa Moore, his wife of 28 years, and his son, Blake, at his side. He was born on Oct. 23, 1946, in London, Ont., to Beatrice, a homemaker, and Gower Markle, a labour negotiator with the gift of gab, who would body-build and demonstrate his physique in miniature gym trunks, his body painted in gold. 'It was a popular thing in the fifties, posturing like Adonis, and I think dad grew up like grampy, admiring the beauty of the human form,' Blake recalls, adding that his father was a standout high-school football player at Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke and then Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University). After university, he married Cheryl Johnson, a flight attendant with Canadian Pacific Air Lines whom he first met at a Toronto bar. He was drafted by the Toronto Argonauts in 1968, and later played for the Blue Bombers. In Winnipeg, he thrived as a hard-to-bring-down tight-end and a neighbourhood fixture when being a CFL star was still a lunch pail job. 'When those Canadian kids made the roster, especially making it as a starter, it was special,' says Ken Derrett, a sports marketing professional who grew up in Winnipeg and remembered Sparkle giving him an autograph as a childhood fan. 'Paul had time for young kids and wanted to have a conversation. Even then, he was genuine, caring and calm.' Mr. Markle's six-year CFL career included stints in Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. He capitalized on the unique light professional sports shone on homegrown stars. He believed in the power of storytelling and competition, which made him a natural in sports marketing. 'He was a small-market jock in Manitoba and, as an enthusiastic side hustle, hosted radio shows and the interview program CFL Today,' Blake recalls. 'I think he enjoyed breaking down the nuts and the bolts of the sport and articulating the nuances of the game and its players – his buddies – to a wider audience.' He also worked at a used-car dealership. When his CFL games played on the radio, the announcer would urge listeners head over later to buy a car from Sparkle Markle. After his CFL career ended, Mr. Markle moved his family back to Toronto and took a job in marketing with Labatt's, which then owned the Toronto Blue Jays, a brand new expansion baseball team. Like a hand in a glove, the opportunity was a perfect fit for the former pro athlete, who had enough chutzpah and entrepreneurial zeal to become the team's first director of marketing. 'Paul was able to expand our fan base not only across the city, but across the province and, ultimately, across the country,' says Paul Beeston, the Toronto Blue Jays president from 1989 to 1997 and again from 2008 to 2015. (Mr. Beeston, from Welland, Ont., was president of Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2002). It was under Mr. Beeston's watch that the Jays moved from Exhibition Stadium to the SkyDome in 1989 and Mr. Beeston says that Sparkle Markle was able to bring athletes, executives and sponsors on board to his line of community building and growth. Generally, over a beer. 'Paul was the one who kept everyone together and he may not have been the face of the Blue Jays, but he was the heart and soul of it,' Mr. Beeston says. Under the leadership of Mr. Beeston and Mr. Markle, the Blue Jays became the best and most popular team in baseball. In the 1991 season, they became the first team in Major League Baseball history to surpass four million fans in attendance. The team – backed by John Olerud, Roberto Alomar and walk-off home-run-hitting Joe Carter – won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. When Blake Markle was growing up, he recalls, the Blue Jays were like Marvel superheroes, and like Marvel executives, his sky's-the-limit father knew how to extend the intellectual property. 'There wasn't a single non-branded Blue Jays item in our house,' Blake says, adding that his father, through his network, knew how capitalize on his beloved team's popularity. 'He was like, 'Blakester, I know a guy with Polo Ralph Lauren who has a warehouse downtown,' and we went into that factory and took whatever we wanted because Dad had gotten him season tickets. Everybody wanted a piece of the Jays – Dad knew how to pull those levers.' His career with the Blue Jays would last 14 years and when it was over, Mr. Markle took his love of sports and drama to public speaking, giving inspirational talks across Canada and, once, in New Zealand. He became a sports marketing instructor at Toronto's George Brown College and maintained his lifelong loves of marathon running, people and taverns. In 1997, after his first marriage ended in divorce, he married Ms. Moore, a television commercial producer. Together, they enjoyed golf, crossword puzzles, music and catching the game – any game – with Mr. Markle's wide circle of friends. Obituary: Maine-born football star John Huard fumbled as coach of Toronto's Argos Mr. Wilkie says that until the end, his buddy enjoyed telling stories, engaging with strangers and letting other people shine in his light. 'He was one year and one day older than I was – my birthday is Oct. 22 and his is Oct. 23 – so every year we'd have a tray full of draft beer and reminisce about the old days at the downstairs bar at the Old Victoria Hotel,' Mr. Wilkie recalls. 'Various loved ones would come and join us, but Paul would also engage with people he didn't know.' The evenings would sometimes get a bit rowdy. Even after 67 years of friendship, Wilkie says, certain things didn't change. 'Right up until the very end,' Mr. Wilkie says, 'he still called me Hoop.' Mr. Markle leaves his wife, Ms. Moore; son, Blake; daughter-in-law, Julie Bogdanowicz; granddaughters, Mia and Flora; as well as his former wife, Cheryl Markle; his brother Ross; and extended family. He was predeceased by his brother Glen. You can find more obituaries from The Globe and Mail here. To submit a memory about someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page, e-mail us at obit@
