MLB 2025 BEST BETS- NEWS THRU THE WORLD SERIES !

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In baseball……..
— Baltimore Orioles threw a combined no-hitter against Pittsburgh Saturday; seven pitchers combine to blank the Pirates.

Orioles also signed 37-year old P Kyle Gibson for one year, $5.25M; two years ago, Gibson was 15-9, 4.73 in 33 starts for the Orioles. Last year, he was 8-8, 4.24 in 30 starts for St Louis.

— Guardians/Rockies pulled off a trade Friday; Cleveland re-acquires OF Nolan Jones, Colorado gets utility guy Tyler Freeman, who they need after losing 2B Thairo Estrada during the week with a broken right wrist.

— A’s 2B Zack Gelof broke the hamate bone in his right hand, will start the season on the IL. Gelof hit .211 last year, after hitting .267 in a strong rookie season.

Luis Urias or rookie Max Muncy (not that Max Muncy) figure to replace Gelof at 2B.

— Atlanta Braves added outfield depth, signed Alex Verdugo for one year, $1.5M; Verdugo hit hit only .233 with a poor .647 OPS for New York last year. In 2019-20, his OPS was over .800 both years- he is still only 28 years old, so the Braves are giving him a look.

 

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Monday’s 6-pack:
Six highest-rated leagues this year, with their NCAA records:
1) SEC: 14-7
2) Big 18: 10-4
3) Big X: 8-3
4) Big East: 5-5
5) ACC: 3-3
6) Mountain West: 2-4

Quote of the Day
“I think as hard as it’s been on everybody, as impossible as it’s been to deal with, the experienced guys have been there and done that. And then it is, ‘Can they adjust?’ Some can, some can’t.”
Tom Izzo, talking about the NIL era in college sports

Monday’s quiz
In the history of the New York Mets, who has scored the most runs?

Sunday’s quiz
Before Florida’s win Sunday, New Mexico State was the last team to beat Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament.

Saturday’s quiz
Jameis Winston played his college football at Florida State.

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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday……..​

Maryland 72, Colorado State 71
Freshman C Queen banked in a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer.
Maryland is in Sweet 16 for first time since 2016.
Colorado State led by five with 4:36 left in the game.
Rams out-rebounded Maryland, 39-29.

Florida 77, UConn 75
UConn led by 6 with 9:01 left in the game.
Florida was 22-34 on the foul line, Huskies 19-22.
Gators were 9-19 on the arc, UConn was 8-29.
Florida is in Sweet 16 for first time since 2017.

Kentucky 84, Illinois 75
Kentucky is in Sweet 16 for first time since 2019.
Since 2006, Illinois is 1-6 in second round games.
Wildcats were +9 in turnovers (14-5)
SEC rivals Kentucky-Tennessee play in Indianapolis Friday.

Alabama 80, Saint Mary’s 66
Alabama held Saint Mary’s to 34.3% from the floor.
Since 1997, Gaels are 1-4 in second round games.
Six guys on Alabama scored in double figures; no one had more than 13 points.
Crimson Tide is shooting 60% inside the arc (#3)

Duke 89, Baylor 66
Blue Devils shot 73.9% inside arc, led 47-30 at halftime.
Duke shot 12-22 on the arc, scored 1.51 points/possession.
Duke has won 13 in a row, are 29-1 since Thanksgiving.
Baylor loses in second round for fourth year in a row.

Ole Miss 91, Iowa State 78
Ole Miss is in Sweet 16 for first time since 2001.
Coach Beard is in Sweet 16 for third time in last seven tournaments.
Rebels shot 11-19 on the arc, led 40-29 at halftime.
Absence of injured PG Gilbert really hurt Iowa State.

Michigan State 71, New Mexico 63
New Mexico led 31-29 at halftime.
Spartans are in Sweet 16 for third time in last six tournaments.
Michigan State was 19-28 on foul line, Lobos were 5-10.
Spartans put three players in double figures; two of them didn’t start.

Arizona 87, Oregon 83
Arizona led 42-38 at halftime.
Caleb Love scored 29 points, had 9 rebounds, 4 assists.
Oregon was only 12-22 on the foul line.
Arizona plays Duke in New Jersey Thursday.

— Famous birthdays, March 24th:
Garry Templeton, 69
Bruce Hurst, 67
Mike Woodson, 67
Kelly LeBrock, 65
Lara Flynn Boyle, 55
Steve Karsay, 53
Peyton Manning, 49
Aaron Brooks, 49
Jessica Chastain, 48
Chad Gaudin, 42
Chris Bosh, 41
Damar Hamlin, 27

— College basketball coaching news:

Texas fired Rodney Terry, hired Xavier’s Sean Miller.
Terry went 69-38/27-27 at Texas, making the NCAA’s all three years, going 4-3 with an Elite 8 appearance, but that didn’t appease the Longhorns’ rich boosters.
Miller was 65-40/37-23 in three years in his second stint at Xavier, making the Sweet 16 couple years ago.
Miller will be the Longhorns’ fourth coach in six years.

— Whoever replaces Miller at Xavier will be the Musketeers’ fourth coach in nine years.

— NC State officially hired Will Wade as its new coach, after Wade led McNeese State to a 58-11 record in two years, including its first-ever NCAA Tournament win over Clemson this week.
Does Wade bring any McNeese players with him to Raleigh?

— Longwood College coach Griff Aldrich quit his head coaching job to become as assistant coach for Ryan Odom at Virginia.
Aldrich got the Lancers to two NCAA Tournaments in his seven years at Longwood; he played college basketball with Odom at Division-III Hampden Sydney and later earned a law degree from Virginia.
Aldrich was an assistant for one year in 1999, before leaving the profession for 16 years.

In baseball……..
— Baltimore Orioles threw a combined no-hitter against Pittsburgh Saturday; seven pitchers combine to blank the Pirates.
Orioles also signed 37-year old P Kyle Gibson for one year, $5.25M; two years ago, Gibson was 15-9, 4.73 in 33 starts for the Orioles. Last year, he was 8-8, 4.24 in 30 starts for St Louis.

— Guardians/Rockies pulled off a trade Friday; Cleveland re-acquires OF Nolan Jones, Colorado gets utility guy Tyler Freeman, who they need after losing 2B Thairo Estrada during the week with a broken right wrist.

— A’s 2B Zack Gelof broke the hamate bone in his right hand, will start the season on the IL. Gelof hit .211 last year, after hitting .267 in a strong rookie season.
Luis Urias or rookie Max Muncy (not that Max Muncy) figure to replace Gelof at 2B.

— Atlanta Braves added outfield depth, signed Alex Verdugo for one year, $1.5M; Verdugo hit hit only .233 with a poor .647 OPS for New York last year. In 2019-20, his OPS was over .800 both years- he is still only 28 years old, so the Braves are giving him a look.

— RIP to the great boxer George Foreman, who passed away at age 76. Foreman won an Olympic gold medal in 1968, was a two-time heavyweight champion; he was also a pretty good businessman.
In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the George Foreman grill for $138M; I have one of his grills in my kitchen.

RIP, sir.

 

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Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Sweet 16 games this week:
— Alabama (-5.5) vs BYU
— Florida (-6.5) vs Maryland
— Duke (-8.5) vs Arizona
— Texas Tech (-5.5) vs Arkansas

— Michigan State (-2.5) vs Ole Miss
— Tennessee (-4.5) vs Kentucky
— Auburn (-8.5) vs Michigan
— Houston (-7.5) vs Purdue

Quote of the Day
“If God wanted me to walk, he would’ve made me a mailman.”
Former big league OF Willie Wilson, who walked 425 times in his 19-year career, but stole 668 bases, scored 1,169 runs. He was really fast.

Tuesday’s quiz
From 1954-1996, the Dodgers had only two managers, Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda; who replaced Lasorda as the Dodgers’ manager?
(Hint: he played for the Dodgers)

Monday’s quiz
In the history of the New York Mets, David Wright has scored the most runs.

Sunday’s quiz
Before Florida’s win Sunday, New Mexico State was the last team to beat Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament.

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Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but……..​

— Tennessee-Kentucky are SEC rivals playing in the Sweet 16, only the fifth time in the last 20 years that conference rivals have met in the Sweet 16:
2015- 4- Louisville (-2.5) 75-65 over 8- NC State
2018- 2- Duke (-11) 69-65 0ver 11- Syracuse
2019- 1- Duke (-7) 75-73 over 4- Virginia Tech
2021- 7- USC (-2) 82-68 over 6- Oregon (favorites 4-0 SU/2-2 ATS)
2025- 2- Tennessee (-4.5) ??-?? vs 3- Kentucky

In the Elite 8, underdogs have fared better vs conference rivals, but we’ll get into that over the weekend.

— March Madness is down to 16 teams, the Sweet 16; this year, only four leagues will have teams playing this weekend, the fewest ever. 7 of 14 SEC teams are still alive.
Things go in cycles; Florida Atlantic was in the Final Four two years ago; in three of the last six tournaments, an 11-seed made it to the Final Four. This year, #10-seed Arkansas is the only team left that is seeded lower than 6th.

— Monday was the first day the college basketball transfer portal was open; at 3:30, there were already 500 names in the portal. Trying to keep up with what players are on what team, you wind up like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, with your head spinning all over the place.

— Speaking of which, a 6-4 guard named Devin Askew is in the portal:
2021- Kentucky- scored 6.5 ppg in 28.9 minutes/game
2022- Texas- scored 2.1 ppg in 14.9 minutes/game
scored 3 points in 24:00 in his only two NCAA Tourney games
2023- California- scored 15.5 ppg in 31.8 minutes/game
2024- California- scored 6.2 ppg in 24.3 mpg, in only six games.
2025- Long Beach State- Long Beach lost their last fifteen games this season.
Will be interesting to see where he re-surfaces in the fall.

— College basketball coaching carousel:
Minnesota hired alum Niko Medved as its new coach; Medved was a student manager for the Gophers. He was 143-85/78-50 at Colorado State, making NCAAs three of the last four years in Fort Collins, after also coaching at Furman, Drake.

Iona hired NBA assistant coach Dan Geriot to replace Tobin Anderson; Geriot has worked the last nine years for the Cavaliers/Pelicans- he was also a head coach in the G League for a year.

Ryan Miller is the new coach at Murray State; he’s been an assistant coach at seven different schools, most recently Creighton.
Racers have gone 29-31 in their three years in the Missouri Valley Conference- they made the NCAA’s three of the last five years they played in the OVC.

— Iowa Hawkeyes signed up former Drake coach Ben McCollum as their new coach, after he led the Bulldogs 31-4 record this year. McCollum won four national titles in six years at the D2 level.

— Rick Pitino is a GREAT basketball coach, one of the best ever. St John’s was 31-5 this year, winning the Big East tournament and an NCAA tourney game, both for the first time since 2000, but they lost 75-66 to Arkansas Saturday, and we live in a fickle society.
Late in the game, down by 2 points, Pitino benched one of his best players, who was 3-17 from the floor in that game. Since then, certain media members have criticized the coach, because, well it was Monday and they had to have something to talk about.
But Jalen Rose did it on live TV Saturday night, then again Sunday night, over 24 hours after the game ended. Almost like Jalen Rose has a vendetta against Pitino.

— Famous birthdays, March 25th:
Bonnie Bedelia, 77
Lee Mazzilli, 70
Avery Johnson, 60
Sarah Jessica Parker, 60
Tom Glavine, 59
Dale Davis, 56
Travis Fryman, 56
Domenick Lombardozzi, 49
Kyle Lowry, 39
Mike White, 30
Hyun Jin Ryu, 28
Pete Crow-Armstrong, 23

— Long time ago, maybe ten years or so, I’m at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the first week of the NCAA Tournament. The early games on Thursday tip off (really early, it was 9am in Las Vegas) and before the second TV timeout, a guy hits a 3-pointer from the right side, and his team is winning 15-9.

(MGM Sportsbook is excellent, by the way; good place to hang out and watch games, with good food options very close by)
Three young guys sitting to my left start yelling, hugging each other; I asked one of them “Was that your brother who made that shot??”
“No, man, they got to 15 first; that was our bet!!!”

I had no idea that was a thing, that you could bet on which team got to 15 points first. Every now and then, I still debate researching this and keeping track of it, but it seems kind of random to me, so I haven’t done it.

— When the San Francisco Giants play Thursday night, they’ll be starting their 19th different left fielder over the last 19 Opening Days, the longest-such streak by any team at one position in the last 120 years.

— Cleveland Guardians signed P Tanner Bibee for five years, $48M; he was 12-8, 3.47 in 31 starts last year, his second year in the majors.

— World Champion Dodgers used 17 starting pitchers last year; also-ran Angels used 18 starting pitchers. Takes a lot of quality depth in your organization to have a winning team.

— Kansas City Royals acquired 36-year old OF/1B Mark Canha from Milwaukee, in exchange for a player to be named later.
Canha has played for five teams in his 10-year career; he could see some time at 1B for Kansas City, with Vinnie Pasquantino out with a bad hamstring.

— Angels acquired P Ian Anderson from the Braves, in exchange for lefty reliever Jose Suarez.
Anderson 22-13, 3.97 in 52 starts for Atlanta, but he missed the last two years after he had his elbow operated on. He walked 18 batters in 17 IP this spring; he was out of options, so Halos had to trade him or risk losing him via waivers.

— Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was getting interviewed last week, and someone asked him how he dealt with analytics. Skubal gave analytics their due, then referred to the office the analytics guys for Detroit used as……..”the nerd room”

 

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Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Over/under win totals for this year:
105.5— Dodgers
93.5— Braves
90.5— Mets, Phillies
88.5— Bronx
86.5— Arizona, Orioles, Red Sox, White Sox, Astros, Texas
85.5— Padres, Mariners

Quote of the Day
“It’s not going to be a live game, but nobody really has live scrimmages anymore. So, you make it a full thud like we’re doing and practice against them, just like they do in the NFL.”
Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy, suggesting an OSU-Oklahoma spring scrimmage, to raise $$$ for NIL payments to players

Wednesday’s quiz
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played the last 14 years of his great career for the Lakers; who did he play for, in the first six years of his career?

Tuesday’s quiz
From 1954-1996, the Dodgers had only two managers, Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda; former Dodgers SS Bill Russell replaced Lasorda as the Dodgers’ manager, in 1997.

Monday’s quiz
In the history of the New York Mets, David Wright has scored the most runs.

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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….​

— New Jersey Giants signed QB Russell Wilson for one year, $21M, with $10.5M of that $$$ guaranteed; Wilson will be playing for his fourth team in five years. He is 130-85-1 as an NFL starter, 9-8 in playoff games, but he is also 23-32 the last four years.
Giants signed QB Jameis Winston last week, would appear that they’re out of the market for a QB in next month’s draft.

— New England Patriots signed WR Stefon Diggs for three years, $69M; Diggs caught 47 passes for 496 yards in only eight games for Houston last year, after six straight seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards. New England will be his third team in three years.

— Last three years in the NCAA Tournament, #1 seeds are 4-5 SU/2-7 ATS in their Sweet 16 games. From 2016-21, #1-seeds were 11-1 SU/7-5 ATS in Sweet 16 games, so 9-12 ATS over an 8-year span isn’t very good.

— Arkansas is the only team seeded 9th or worse still alive in March Madness; since 2017, #9 or lower seeds are 9-3 ATS when they play in a Sweet 16 game.

— St Francis PA lost 70-68 in a play-in game to Alabama State, after winning the NEC tourney, but this week they announced they’re dropping down to D-III sports, much like Hartford did a couple years ago. Some schools have no desire/ability to compete with bigger-money schools for good players.

— Drake star Bennett Stirtz is following his coach Ben McCollum to Iowa; Drake was 31-4 this year, won a first-round NCAA Tourney game. McCollum won four DII national titles in his days at Northwest Missouri. The question: how good is Iowa’s NIL program?

— UNLV signed former Memphis/Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner as their new coach; Pastner followed John Calipari at Memphis, went 130-44 the first five years, but only 2-4 in the NCAA tourney. When Memphis faded the next two years, they fired him and he went to Georgia Tech, a much harder job.

Pastner was 109-114 at Tech, making NCAA’s once in seven years. He spent the last two years as a studio analyst on ESPN. Pastner will he UNLV’s 7th coach in 16 years.

— Xavier is hiring Richard Pitino as its new coach; Pitino was 75-30/35-21 the last three years at New Mexico, winning a game in this year’s tournament.

— Sacramento State named former NBA star Mike Bibby its new head coach; Bibby was on the Sacramento Kings for 6+ seasons. He scored 14.7 ppg in his NBA career.
Sac State will be on its fifth coach in six years; their last winning season in Big Sky games was in 2015. Hornets have never played in the NCAA Tournament.

— Famous birthdays, March 26th:
Martin Short, 75
Catherine Keener, 66
Marcus Allen, 65
Mike Warren, 64
John Stockton, 63
Kevin Seitzer, 63
Keira Knightley, 40
Cristian Javier, 28

— Seattle Mariners signed C Cal Raleigh to a six-year deal worth $105M; Raleigh has hit 91 home runs the last three years.

— Arizona P Jordan Montgomery is going to have Tommy John surgery, is out for at least a year; he had a 6.23 ERA in 21 starts last season. He won’t be back until late in the 2026 season.

— NIT
Chattanooga 67, Bradley 65
Bradley led 38-25 at halftime.
Honor Huff played all 40:00, shot 5-13 on arc, scored 21 points.
Bradley lost, despite shooting 66.7% inside the arc.

North Texas 61, Oklahoma State 59
Mean Green led 27-22 at halftime.
Cowboys shot 4-15 on the arc, only 9-16 on the foul line.

— CBI
Illinois State 78, Incarnate Word 73
Redbirds outscored the Cardinals 17-9 over the final 5:00.
Chase Walker scored 27 points, had 8 rebounds for Illinois State.
Three players on Incarnate Word played all 40:00.

Cleveland State 72, Florida Gulf Coast 65
Vikings led 36-29 at halftime.
Cleveland State was 20-23 on foul line, FGCU 8-14.
Cleveland State was +5 in turnovers (13-8)

— Kentucky Wildcats are the only team in the last 20 years to make the Sweet 16, when they had zero returning points from the year before- kudos to them for that. Mark Pope rebuilt his roster and the Wildcats are

— I’m wondering what its like to be traded; you make a lot of money playing ball, but you get the call that you have to pack up and move somewhere else. Has to be weird, especially for guys who have a family.

— My brain is tired; have watched a ton of college basketball, spring training games and also a lot of fantasy baseball podcasts. Looking forward to watching a lot of baseball that counts on Thursday, as well as the four Sweet 16 games.