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The Chicago Cubs have been spending the last few seasons trying to build themselves back into a contender. They took a big step towards doing that when they signed young first baseman Anthony Rizzo to a seven year, $41 million contract.

When the deal was announced, it was met with nearly unanimous approval. The Cubs have long tried to go the route of signing big-name free agents to make their team better. That has not worked for them in the past, but now it appears as though they have two strong building blocks in Rizzo and Starlin Castro.

Rizzo was a well-traveled minor leaguer, going from a sixth round draft choice by Boston to San Diego and then Chicago. After a slow start to his big league career, Rizzo really started to show his potential last season. He finished with a .285/.342/.463 split with 15 home runs and 48 RBI in about half of a season’s work, which can’t be ignored when building your daily fantasy sports team. His strong April in 2013 convinced the team that he is a talented player worth locking up for the future.

The deal is structured in a way that will allow Castro to get paid handsomely if he reaches certain incentives. The deal has two club options at the end of the contract for $14.5 million each, meaning it could escalate into a nine year, $68 million contract. There is also about $5 million worth of escalators if he meets certain criteria during the next few years. Those specifics still have not been announced.

Many project Rizzo to be a power-hitting first baseman for years to come. He has the potential to hit 40 home runs or more, and his size (6’3”, 240 pounds) puts him into practically a perfect mold to have success. He is also a plus defender with a solid amount of athleticism both in the field and on the base paths.

With the opening day of Major League Baseball looming on the horizon, sports bettors prepare for a new season. While the season is about three months away bets are still being placed on the sport. This may seem a bit strange however, it is anything but. In the world of sports betting, betting on certain sports continues year round even when the season has concluded. During the off season, this kind of betting is referred to as futures betting. Since the season has ended and games are not being played, bettors can only bet on the future of the sport.

Futures bets are predictive betting as to what will occur in the future. With regards to baseball, they generally focus on the championship game, the World Series, rather than each game that makes up the lengthy regular season. Making a futures bet can be rather risky as one simply doesn’t know what will happen when the season opens. However, bettors can study information about what is going on with the team during the off season. The teams with the highest payouts are teams that have little chance of going to the Series, such as the Chicago Cubs. Before playing a futures wager on the Cubs bettors will examine player trades. Coaching changes as well as other key staff replacements can also be examined.

Many online casinos such as http://www.luckynuggetcasino.com/au/ have a sports betting area at their site. Here, the site will provide the futures odds for each Major League team. The odds are the chance the team has of winning the World Series. These are the odds used when a futures bet is placed. Currently, the odds of the Chicago Cubs of winning the World Series are set as 100 to 1. Should the Cubs win, this could result in a lucrative payout for those who have wagered for the team.

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To some, the first games of the NL and ALCS might be a little too early to talk about World Series favorites. Historically, baseball’s Championship Series’ produces, if not unexpected, drawn out results. Meaning, simply, the focus in the sporting world isn’t usually on the outcome of the World Series; it’s aimed at each respective series and the drama happening therein.

However, if you’re the gambling type, looking to lay your money down on the Series, then it helps to know which team is favored at this juncture and why they’re pulling favor over the other remaining teams.

Checking out the best online casinos and sports books on the ‘Net, you’ll find that the Yankees are now huge favorites to win the ALCS and head to the Series after their impressive come-from-behind win against the Texas Rangers.

What started out as a great game for Texas ended in quintessential Yankees’ style, as CJ Wilson pitched a great 7 innings, left with a 3 run lead, and watched as New York tore the bullpen apart and came back for the 6-5 win.

With the Rangers dropping 5 on CC in 4 innings, however, there is a glimmer of hope that, if the Rangers can knock the Yankees’ horse around, then Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte, with the Rangers’ Cliff Lee going to head-to-head with the aging star in game three, won’t present an insurmountable problem.

Texas’ odds are about as good as hitting the jackpot on the best online slots for winning 4 games, though, because, in any close game, The Fireman himself, Mariano Rivera, is coming in to shut the Rangers’ lineup down. Not to even mention that the Rangers have yet to win a home game in this postseason with home-field advantage all the way through. Their problems may be a little on the mental side, and the pure physicality of the Yankees only adds to Texas’ woes.

All told, the Yankees are looking good at 7:5 (give or take) to make to the World Series.

In the NLCS, things are a little bit different. At the time of this WS update, game one of the series, Giants @ Phillies, hasn’t been played yet. Even still, nothing much changes in the predictions. With a better all-around team, as proven over the past three seasons, and home-field advantage, the Phillies are favored in the NLCS by a fairly wide margin.

If Lincecum can pick up the win, however, while Halladay goes the way of CC, then we’ll be looking at a different situation. But why speculate further when we’re already speculating so much?

In a game like baccarat online, you know what you’re getting in terms of odds. In MLB, it’s hard to say.

If the World Series ends up as predicted and the Yankees face off against the Phillies, we’ll have a rematch of the Series with Philadelphia hoping to take some sweet revenge.

They won’t be favored to do so. Even with home-field advantage and Halladay possibly able to play three games in the series, the Yankees still hold a slight edge over the Phillies, by about 13/10 to 27/20. Sure, it remains close, but the Yanks, like always, are pulling favorites.