Oswalt traded to Phillies

Baseball Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies completed their trade for Roy Oswalt on Thursday, acquiring the pitcher from the Houston Astros.

The Phillies also received cash considerations, and sent pitcher J.A. Happ and two prospects -- outfielder Anthony Gose and infielder Jonathan Villar -- to Houston.

Oswalt will make his first Phillies start Friday in Washington.

Oswalt is owed approximately $5 million for the remainder of this season. He's due to make $16 million next season and there is a club option of $16 million in 2012 or a $2 million buyout.

The 32-year-old Oswalt, who has only pitched for Houston over his 10-year career, is 6-12 with a 3.42 ERA this season. He's lost his last two starts, but has received little run support from his team. In fact, the Astros have scored two runs or less each of the last six times he's pitched.

With 143 wins, Oswalt is one victory shy of matching Joe Niekro as the all- time leader in Astros franchise history.

The addition of Oswalt gives the surging Phillies a powerful 1-2-3 punch in the rotation, led by Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. Additionally, the Phillies acquired a frontline starter for the second straight season, having traded for Cliff Lee last year.

Lee helped the Phillies reach the World Series for a second consecutive year in 2009, and Philadelphia is hoping Oswalt will help the club in its push to get back there this year.

The Phillies have won a season-best seven games in a row and were 3 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East standings following Wednesday's games. The Astros are well out of the playoff race at 42-59, and now lose the face of their rotation.

In return, Houston gets a young left-hander in Happ. The 27-year-old broke out in 2009, when he went 12-4 with a 2.93 earned run average in 35 games (23 starts). He had three complete games, two shutouts and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Happ has made only three starts this season, as he went on the disabled list in April with a left forearm strain. On Sunday, Happ made his first start since returning from the DL, and is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA this year.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.