Green Corners: Dallas Cowboys

The last segment of the "Green Corners" series was a breakdown of several rookie cornerbacks in the AFC East who appear to have a shot at productivity in the NFL based on various aspects of their NCAA careers. I chose 1 rookie corner from each team, basically introduce them and write up a ballpark read of what I expect from them in their development process. Today I singled out the Dallas Cowboys to go diamond mining in the secondary. I believe I've found one here.

Dallas Cowboys: Bryan McCann, SMU ran a 4.28 40 on the Mustangs pro day, signed to the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. I think the Southern Methodist hire of former Hawaii coach June Jones helped McCanns' development as a player in general. He appears to be the dime, 5th or 6th corner in most of the Cowboys defensive packages thus far (as the depth chart suggests), but could work his way up. I expect that we are going to hear his name called quite a bit throughout the season. I'm calling that this is a great pickup for Dallas from a school within their home state, that began their transition to becoming a powerhouse within Conference USA. With Terrence Newman and Mike Jenkins manning the boundaries in front of him, he should adapt nicely to the learning curve. He's also very fast, as his 40 time would suggest. I think the knowledge and improvement on football instincts McCann accumulated from his senior season will solidify at least mild success for him in the pros.

8/27: Drunken Young Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Milwaukee Brewers (J.McDonald @ C. Narveson)

Since the Brewers could do nothing against Dodgers pitching in the last series, maybe the baseball gods are giving Milwaukee a mild sense of redemption in facing one of L.A's promising castaways, now taking the mound for baseball's worst road team-so lets hope they deliver. Pirates starter McDonald stymied lineups in his first couple of starts for his new team- posting lofty pitching lines, but has since come back to earth. The Brewers bats should get up for this game after being victimized in the 4 game HOME sweep vs. premium dodger pitching (for the most part)- and they are more than comfortable facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, whom they own. Until the Pirates "talent" (i'm referring to all those prospects they have on the front line) deliver consistently, they will continue to pile up losses-especially in venues like Miller Park where they are infamous for losing in recent years (3-27 since '07). On the other side of the mound, Chris Narveson gives up a ton, but the Brewers lineup can hit- and frequently give him solid run support, hence his winning record (9-7). My read here senses that this is a tough spot for the Pirates...walking the plank . The Pittsburgh bats may actually go to town on Narveson, but if so, they will get outscored. I expect the Brewers to snap their losing skid.

Milwaukee Brewers (-1) @ (-145)

The Bat Signal

NY Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays (D.Moseley @ M. Rzepcynski)

The bet here is not calling a winner, but rather taking advantage of the totals-over/under 9 runs for this game. My assumption is that both clubs will score enough runs between them to go over the 9-10 run bar set by the oddsmakers. Initial reactions from checking in on the 3-2 Jays win last night, as well as going over the splits of the two starters for tonight's game, gives me what would appear to be a clear indication that both these high powered lineups will score tonight. It also eases this decision that yesterday's pitching clamped down in the RISP situations, thus leading to a low scoring (3-2) affair, decided on a solo HR. Can't relay who will win this, but I expect a high scoring game.

NYY@TOR Totals: Over 9 Runs (-150).

**Take The Detroit Tigers(-1) Tonight: -145

8/23 "Resenting SpoilerHood"

Kansas City Royals @ Detroit Tigers (Chen vs. Bonderman)

The Tigers are hitting collectively well, as shown in their last series outscoring (19-3) and sweeping the Cleveland Indians in 3-the 1st half of this 6 game home stand. I would suggest to you that they sweep the rest of this home stand-thus beating the Kansas City Royals tonight. I have no reason to believe that Kansas City starter Bruce Chen will produce 2 quality starts against the Detroit Tigers this season-and to his credit, he already has 1 over in Kauffman. After an "out-of-body" start to the season for Chen, his #'s have started to drift back to "normal", or closer to what they have been in years past} it is my assessment that this is a bad spot for him, and this Detroit lineup is liable to strike early and chase him. After various moves before the trade deadline and outfielder DeJesus' injury, this Kansas City team is basically playing their farm- Billy Butler and Alex Gordon the 2 prospects, and some b-list defects from other rosters. The splits raised my eyebrow a bit, as the KC hitters are hitting a collective .346 vs. Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman. He'll be looking to bounce back with a quality start vs. KC after getting shelled by the Yankees in his last outing. The added motivation leads me to pounce, and Bonderman is also looking to avenge a bad game against the Royals earlier in the year-this however, is against a more watered down Kansas City lineup than the 1 he previously faced. This is the furthest thing from a "pitchers' duel", but the Royals will not outscore Detroit.

Detroit Tigers (-156)

"Look Like An Alien or Loser Callin' Me Washed Up"

Oakland A's @ Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez vs. Floyd)

This looks to me like the most legible game on the board-within reason of anything close to even value on a return...when it opened the White Sox were at (-140), their value has decreased since as most of the money is pounding them as oppose to Oakland...I believe the Sox are in the (-160) range now. That Rich The Factor quote up top in the heading can apply to Alex Rios getting his current shots in when the Jays waived him-relating to the season he's having (.303 avg, 16 HR's, 60 RBI's, 23 steals). He's just 1 piece of a thorough lineup that can hit in general, but specializes in crushing left-handed pitching. Yesterday, Oakland LH pitcher Dallas Braden held the Sox bats in check and Oakland surprisingly took it to John Danks who has always gotten the better of the "small ball" Oakland lineup in the recent past. Today's starter for the A's Gio Gonzalez, also a lefty has the displeasure of facing a White Sox lineup that has his #. The fact that Oakland won yesterday gives me a bit more assurance in taking the White Sox to win this game as well, and the fact that todays starter Gavin Floyd owns the Oakland hitters and is pitching probably at a higher level than almost anyone in the majors since his shaky start to the season. We usually don't give the A's too much credit because they have no hitters, and their strength is built on their arms solely-never the bats. Gonzalez is turning the corner as a quality pitcher, as observed in his last duel with the Texas Rangers Cliff Lee...I still think this is a bad spot for him. Also, he's had success against the Rangers hitters, but never on the road in Arlington until his last start. The White Sox on the other hand have always troubled him wherever the location, and they play better in their park. Even if Gonzalez has a stellar outing, I don't see the Oakland bats hitting Floyd, who is virtually unhittable at the moment, and this is against potent lineups-Oakland's isn't up there, I figure they get shut down.

Chicago White Sox (-140)

Feast In The D

Toronto Blue Jays @ Detroit Tigers (Romero vs. Verlander)

Here's the scope on these two clubs since the all-star break: Toronto continued their reign on the Orioles sweeping another 3 game series in their park (9-0 vs. Baltimore this year), then travelling to Kansas City and losing 2/3. Detroit had the AL Central lead by a whisker, and lost it after getting swept 4 games in Cleveland. The White Sox took their position, with the Twins gaining ground on both. In the confines of Comerica Park, they entered their 2nd series after the break with the Rangers, winning the only the last of a 3 game series. With this 6 game losing streak snapped in the recent win over Texas, I would expect a win streak to surface. Verlander is pitching for the Tigers, he goes deep into games and doesn't give up much-however, he has struggled with the Jays in the recent past, and the Toronto bats hit a collective .340 off him...thats the scare. Nonetheless, I don't think Detroit is slumping-the Cleveland Indians are hitting insanely well right now-they just took 2/3 in Minnesota as well, so the sweep of the Tigers is more a testament to the progress they have made with the talent in their lineup (centering around catcher, Carlos Santana)--the Indians bats will cool off eventually, but may well be that outside force that will solidify the AL Central champion. Also, for Detroit losing 2/3 to the Texas Rangers and the arsenal of weapons they have this year is nothing surprising-the bats are about even, but the majority of the pitching matchups favored Texas.

Getting this win out of the way should prove helpful to the Detroit Tigers going into this series with the Jays. Home Field plays a major role in this 1 I think, and the potent Detroit hitters get it done. Toronto puts up a fight and Romero is pitching which is a + for the Jays, but I would certainly take the Tigers to win.

Detroit Tigers (-136)

Scope On Contact: Boston Red Sox

I kicked off the InterLeague schedule with authority, posting a lofty 10(w)-3(L) record over 14 games (77%)-with 1 push on the Cubs (+1) keeping it close in Texas. This increased the balance 33% of the original wager. Although no cigar on the parlay (need a perfect day 4 that), you can't ask for better protection, without the sweat. A 3 game trend has surfaced since the "Scope On Contact" feature was introduced: mind you I started in a mediocre alphabetical order with Arizona, Atlanta and Baltimore---but all 3 teams won on their breakdown days. Today I give my take on the Boston Red Sox, underdogs in Philly today, but I project a win or at least a 1 run loss for the Sox; Something to keep an eye on.

Boston Red Sox:

--Bats--

Torch: Kevin Youkilis

Dead Battery: Bill Hall

--Arms--

Live: Jon Lester

Dead: John Lackey

They started slow this season, and it may be difficult for the Red Sox to gain ground on the Yankees and Rays, it should also be noted that the Blue Jays are a few games up on them as well at the moment- although Boston leads that season series 5-1 so far. If you look up and down this lineup, and the quality of that starting rotation as well as decency in the bullpen, there is no reason to think this unit won't catch up to the front runners and contend for a wild card. The only problem here is that the front runners in the AL East are also stacked, and Tampa runs laps around the Red Sox with their speed and run manufacturing ability-with young excellent pitching to support it. There is no question in my mind that this Boston team will rack up a tremendous amount wins- closer to 100 than 80. They are always a tough matchup for the World Champion Yankees, and the games so far this year haven't suggested anything different; I am convinced they end up winning the season series' with both Baltimore and Toronto, and will fare well in the rest of American League play based on their high talent level. As far as the lineup goes, David Ortiz is starting to hit well, bringing his average up around the .250 mark with 8 jacks-and I wouldn't be surprised if he builds (a bit) on his recent success. The rest of the lineup is deep and powerful---additions C Victor Martinez(mid-year, 09') and OF Jeremy Hermida should turn out to be genius pickups for them, and the Adrian Beltre experiment is working out for the better thus far. When Ellsbury gets back in the lineup, an average SS Marco Scutaro will have to defer to a "bottom of the order" slot, probably filling the hole of Ellsbury's unproductive fill-in, OF Bill Hall. The fact that the Boston regulars (Youkilis, Pedroia etc.) are maintaining solid paces at the plate leads me to believe that this lineup will click well as the season goes on. They already have their spurts where they hit and score like crazy, and these moments look to occur more frequently. One knock on the Boston catchers Martinez and Varitek is that neither can throw out runners, primarily the reason running teams like Tampa can run them out of the stadium on any given night. They are not very fast, but Ellsbury's return should help, being the craft base stealer he is-and the rest of them are run producers. The pitching has been disappointing to this point, generally speaking. Buchholz and Lester are both pitching well, and the book is still out this season on Dice K Matsuzaka-tonights starter, coming off a bad start. Free agent pickup, workhorse John Lackey hasn't adjusted well to his new team thus far- he has been below average, something he is not normally accustomed to. He is 4-3, with a 5.07 ERA (A testament to Boston's hitters) but I would suggest that his ERA settles down to the high 3.00's before the season ends--another reason I would give the Red Sox a fighting chance at the wild card. The bullpen has always been decent (Delcarmen, Okajima etc.) and hard throwing Daniel Bard, their 1st round pick from 06' looks like as dangerous a reliever as they come...and then there's Papelbon to close--never an easy task for hitters playing catch-up in the 9th. Thats the Red Sox breakdown through my eyes so far. I also think they beat the Phillies tonight, getting a nice underdog spot.

The Board:

(D Lowe & C Morton must start) ATL Braves-1.0 @ -145
(Chris Volstad & G Floyd must start) CHI White Sox0.0 @ -126
(S Kazmir & K Lohse must start) LA Angels+1.0 @ -130
(B Bergesen & C Stammen must start) BAL Orioles+1.0 @ -135
(Matt Cain & G Gonzalez must start) SF Giants0.0 @ -104
(Jeff Francis & K Davies must start) COL Rockies0.0 @ -125
(Y Gallardo & K Slowey must start) MIL Brewers+1.0 @ -130
(J Niemann & Wandy Rodriguez must start) HOU Astros+2.0 @ -160
(J Cueto & Fausto Carmona must start) CLE Indians0.0 @ -105
(R Wells & D Holland must start) CHI Cubs+1.0 @ -115
(A Galarraga & John Ely must start) DET Tigers+1.0 @ -125
(D Matsuzaka & Kyle Kendrick must start) BOS Red Sox+1.0 @ -125
(P Hughes & M Pelfrey must start) NY Yankees-1.0 @ -145
(C Richard & I Snell must start) SEA Mariners+1.0 @ -145