Pirates get Milledge, Hanrahan from Nats in four-player deal
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired outfielder Lastings Milledge and right-handed pitcher Joel Hanrahan from Washington in a four-player deal on Tuesday.
In return, the Pirates gave up outfielder Nyjer Morgan and left-hander Sean Burnett.
"In both Hanrahan and Milledge we have acquired players with the upside to be solid to above average major league players," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "Hanrahan had a strong season in his first year as a relief pitcher in 2008 and has the arsenal to pitch in late game situations in a quality Major League bullpen. Milledge was one of the premier prospects in baseball. He is still young enough and has the tools to develop into an above average Major League player."
Milledge began the 2009 season with the Nationals, but was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse on April 14 after hitting only .167 (4-24) in seven games. He broke a finger on his right hand on May 11 while in the minors and was on a rehabilitation assignment with the Gulf Coast League Nationals when the trade took place. Milledge was originally acquired by Washington from the New York Mets for catcher Brian Schneider and Ryan Church in November of 2007.
The flamboyant outfielder, who was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft by the Mets, has yet to live up to expectations. In 260 games, he has a .261 average to go along with 25 homers, 113 runs batted in and 107 runs scored. He is expected to complete his rehab stint before heading to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Hanrahan is 0-3 with five saves and a 7.71 earned run average in 34 relief appearances this season.
Morgan was batting .277 with two home runs, 27 RBI, 39 runs scored and 18 stolen bases in 71 games this season. In 157 contests, all with Pittsburgh, he is a .286 hitter with three homers, 41 RBI, 80 runs scored and 34 steals.
Burnett is 1-2 with one save and a 3.06 ERA in 38 relief outings in 2009.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Pirates shipped utilityman Eric Hinske to the New York Yankees for minor league pitcher Casey Erickson, outfielder Eric Fryer and cash considerations.
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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