MLB Betting Rumors Of The Week – September 16th

Posted by Alex Murphy on Wednesday,September 16, 2015 3:37, EDT in

As the Texas Rangers moved into first place in the American League West or the first time during the 2015 campaign on Tuesday night, the Houston Astros now either have to work their way back up past Texas or hold off the hard-charging Minnesota Twins just to make the postseason. While the AL West has the tightest division race in MLB right now, thee are MLB betting rumors circulating from all over the league. Let’s take a look.

A Quick Review of the MLB Betting Rumors Of The Week – September 16th

One common source of stories is managers on the hot seat. In Detroit, there are whispers that the Tigers are going to let manager Brad Ausmus go, although interim general manager Al Avila has said that he has not determined what will happen with Ausmus. If the Tigers do let Ausmus go, there are rumors that the San Diego Padres are waiting to bring him on board there as their next manager. The Padres currently have an interim manager in Pat Murphy. Padres GM A.J. Preller has also said that he needs to wait to make a decision on the situation there.

If Detroit fires Ausmus, Avila is likely to want a new manager who has more experience. Ron Gardenhire is at the top of the potential list, given his six AL Central championships during his lengthy stay in Minnesota. Other teams who could be bringing in new managers within the next month or so are Philadelphia, Washington, the White Sox, Seattle and Cincinnati.

What Other Rumors Influenced MLB Betting Lines?

One of the great stories of 2015 has been Wilmer Flores, who loves playing for the Mets so much that when he found out that the Mets were planning to trade him for Carlos Gomez, he started crying during a July game. However, even though the trade collapsed, it remains uncertain what he would do on the postseason roster. The team is not as in need of offense as they were, and Flores is not as solid defensively at shortstop as Ruben Tejada is.

Eugenio Suarez has been a terrific fill-in at shortstop for the Reds since Zack Cozart went down in June with a knee injury that brought his season to an end. Batting .284, Suarez has made manager Bryan Price consider him for an everyday role next season. He can play second and third, but the Reds already have players signed there. Cozart is due to return in 2016, which means that Suarez could be headed for left field.

It looks like the Angels are set to decline David Murphy’s option for the 2016 season. He would be due $7 million, but the Halos feel like they could get a player with similar numbers (.285 over 115 games) for less cash, and the Angels have so much dead money going out to such contracts as the Josh Hamilton imbroglio that they are trying to save where they can now.

Giants second baseman Joe Panik will likely miss the rest of the 2015 season because of ongoing back problems. This means that Kelby Tomlinson will get more plate appearances at second base as the season winds down.