Today’s Estimate Reading Time: 5 minutes and 4 seconds

Good Morning. This is the Daily Breakroom. We’re here to talk a little sports and get you on your way.

Today we’re discussing:

• MLB Opening Day

• NFL QB Update

• NBA Playoff Picture

Let’s go

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MLB Opening Day

Thursday marks Major League Baseball’s 2023 opening day. All 30 teams will take the field to begin the 162 game season.

The matchups have been set for months now. You can catch your team’s game on your regional network. ESPN will be broadcasting the 2022 World Series Champion Houston Astros taking on the Chicago White Sox at 7pm.

Looking to get in on the World Series futures? We’ve searched the top 3 betting sites to find the highest odds for the top 10 teams. Take a look.

1. Houston Astros +600 on Fanduel, MGM

2. NY Yankees +850 on Fanduel

3. LA Dodgers +800 on MGM, Caesars

4. Atlanta Braves +850 on Caesars

5. NY Mets +900 on Fanduel, MGM

6. SD Padres +1000 on Fanduel, Caesars

7. Toronto Blue Jays +1300 on Caesars

8. Philadelphia Phillies +1600 on MGM

9. Seattle Mariners +2000 on Fanduel

10. St. Louis Cardinal +2200 on Caesars

Remember… Please bet responsibly and don’t confront the athletes if you don’t win.

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NFL QB Update Drama

If you pay any attention to the NFL offseason then you can probably guess who we’re about to discuss. If you’re new to this, both of these QBs have been the big offseason stories and they will continue to be major headlines until these two players are in a place they are happy with. So.. who are we talking about. Let’s respect the elders and let them go first.

Aaron Rodgers

We’ve mentioned the trade talks in a few of our posts but here’s the deal. Aaron Rodgers wants to be traded out of Green Bay. He’s found a destination that he thinks he’ll be happy with the NY Jets and said a deal is ready to go. The Green Bay front office is giving Aaron a taste of his own medicine and isn’t in a rush to give the QB or the Jets what they want.

The Green Bay front office is drawing this out a bit and they have every right to. The Jets are in need of a QB and the Packers feel like they have their next starting QB in Jordan Love and Green Bay isn’t looking to make many other offseason moves. So, no rush on Green Bay’s end. As that may be, it does feel like the deal closing is imminent and we’ll see what the Jets can offer for the 4x MVP QB.

Lamar Jackson

The Lamar Jackson story is a bit different than Rodgers. Jackson has missed time at the end of last 2 seasons due to injury. Jackson was looking to get a new contract with Ravens, something that was reflective of the value that he believes he brings.

Here’s the problem. The Raven’s might not value Jackson as much as he values himself but… There’s always three sides to a story. There’s the story that side A is telling, the story side B is telling. and then there’s actually what’s going on. I guess there’s a fourth side here since we get stories from the media as well.

And here’s the thing…none of us have any idea what’s actually going on. We’ve got stories that Jackson was able to play in the playoffs but wanted to preserve his body and show the Ravens they needed him to win, and on the flipside, stories that Jackson could hardly walk on his injured knee and was nowhere close to being able to play. We’ve got stories that he’s looking for a fully guaranteed contract and the complete opposite, that’s he’s not looking for a full guarantee. This could go on forever.

Here’s what we do know.

1. The Raven’s tagged him at a cost of $32 million for this year. If another team wants to sign him, they can. They just have to give two first round picks to the Ravens.

2. Lamar Jackson has requested a trade.

The trade request doesn’t make much sense because Jackson has the right to openly seek a new team under the tag. This appears to be his public acknowledgement that he doesn’t want to return to the Ravens organization for another year.

Apparently some teams were questioning Jackson’s sleep habits and nutrition as well as # of missed games. No one seems to be concerned with a 39 year old Aaron Rodgers durability and the fact he’s openly discussed ayahuasca use and is sleeping in caves.

We’re not sure where Jackson will land and quite frankly we’re a bit surprised that there are many QB needy teams that aren’t pursuing him. It’s come into question recently if owners are colluding to avoid setting the precedent of fully guaranteeing contracts. Not much has come of these allegations.

We hope he’s on the field in 2023 and we’ll keep you updated on his status.

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NBA Playoff Picture

We’re about two weeks away from NBA playoffs and we’ve got about 7 games to go.

The Eastern Conference has had 4 teams clinch the playoffs. Milwaukee, Boston, Philly, and Cleveland are all in. The NY Knicks should be able to stay at #5 in the East and the 6 spot is a toss up between Brooklyn and Miami currently. Washington, Indiana, and Orlando are all on the cusp of getting into the play-in tournament but they will need to likely win out the rest of their games.

The Western Conference is a bit messier as only Denver and Memphis have clinched spots and seeds 4-12 in the West are separated by 5 games. To put that into perspective, seeds 4-12 in the East are separated by 14.5 games. At this point in the West, playoff spots 4,5, and 6 are up for grabs and there’s no guarantee of a play-in tournament spot. There will be some teams sneaking into the playoffs in April and there will be some teams(and fans) having heartbreak.

That was lots of info today, so we’ll end there.

Have a great Wednesday,

The Daily Breakroom Team