At this point, we probably shouldn't be surprised at the full menu of options sports bettors have when it comes to throwing good money at -- in the best cases -- educated guesses.
And still, surprise ruled as we ventured onto the web site for Bovada, an online sports book, and encountered the range of prop bets out there for the 2012 MLB season.
The people who set these various rules, over-under lines, spreads and other such things are ridiculously good at what they do -- that's why Vegas has a lot of shiny casinos and you usually wind up digging in your pockets to buy a 75 cent hot dog by Saturday night -- so we would not recommend actually flinging money at any of these things. But purely for entertainment purposes, we rooted through all the options -- and there were hundreds -- and pulled out the ones related to the Twins. Here is a look:
ODDS TO WIN AL MVP
Joe Mauer: 22-1
Justin Morneau: 35-1
Thoughts: Well, both guys have won it before (Mauer is pictured with his prize). Two years ago, this would have been a great bet if you were so inclined. Now? Without indications that Mauer will ever hit for power again or that Morneau will play in the field, it's hard to think of either as a major threat. It should also be noted that no Twins players were listed among the fields for most AL home runs or AL Cy Young.
INDIVIDUAL MILESTONES
These bets come with the following disclaimer, just so you know: Player must start season on active roster. Position players must play 130 games for action, starting pitchers must start 25 games, relief pitchers must not spend any time on the DL. If player switches leagues or teams, stats will be combined. In the case of bets involving totals instead of averages, you can win the "over" bet even if a player doesn't play in the requisite number of games.
Joe Mauer batting average: Over or under .322
Joe Mauer home runs: Over or under 10.5
Joe Mauer RBI: Over or under 67.5
Justin Morneau BA: Over or under .290
Justin Morneau HRs: Over or under 18
Justin Morneau RBI: Over or under 75.5
Josh Willingham total HRs: Over or under 24.5
Ben Revere stolen bases: Over or under 35.5
Francisco Liriano wins: Over or under 10
Scott Baker wins: Over or under 10.5 (nullified, we suppose, by the fact that he's starting the year on the DL).
Carl Pavano wins: Over or under 10.5
Matt Capps saves: Over or under 31
We'd say the Morneau HR number -- if he really is to play at least 130 games -- is low. We also think Liriano will eclipes 10 victories as he pushes for a big payday. Revere could be a sneaky "under" play considering he could get in a lot of games as a defensive replacement, thus pushing his games played to the required mark but giving him fewer stolen base chances. Would we bet any money on these? No way. Once again, these folks are very good at what they do. Seriously, if you wrote down .322, 10 HRs, 68 RBI right now, we would say, "Joe Mauer in 2012."
FIRST MANAGER TO BE FIRED
Ron Gardenhire: 6-to-1 (tied for fourth-most likely, according to the site).
That would be a pretty safe way to throw your money away. If you have like 50 bucks just lying around, go ahead and spend it on the firiing of a guy who has 6 AL Central titles in 10 years and who is leading a significantly remade roster.
In any event, those are our thoughts. Remember, this is all just for fun -- a convenient way, in most cases, to speculate about various Twins milestones this year. Your thoughts, please, in the comments.
