Friday MLB Free Pick
(The Spread) – The Oakland A’s kick off their season tonight when they host their AL West rivals, the Seattle Mariners. Who has the edge?
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the A’s –114 money line favorites over the Mariners, who are +107 on the ML. The over/under total for this game is currently set at 6.5 runs.
The A’s will send Trever Cahill to the mound to oppose 2010 AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez. The Mariners aren’t expected to score many runs again this year, but Hernandez is expected to be nothing short of outstanding again in 2011.
Oakland could become a team to be reckoned with this season. The Rangers and Angels have plenty of question marks and thanks to their young pitching, some believe the A’s are the team to beat in the West. The same cannot be said for Seattle, which is expected to drop like a rock once the season gets underway.
MLB Free Pick: That said, I like the M’s tonight. Any time you get the opportunity to take King Felix with a plus number on the money, you’re buying value. (Assuming of course that he’s not in a funk or dealing with an injury.) The Mariners won’t score many runs but it’s not like the A’s have a juggernaut lineup either, even after adding Josh Willingham, David DeJesus and Hideki Matsui this offseason. Therefore, the under 6.5 looks like a sound play as well, but for my free pick I’m going with the Mariners +107. You can never tell how a team will come out of the gates, but the closet thing to a guarantee in this game is that Hernandez will be sharp.
FRIDAY MLB FREE PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS +107
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