The Fire enter the offseason in a familiar spot, trying to patch theholes that once again kept them from a playoff berth. With a vacant designated player slot and clear needs, the Fire should be busy before next spring.

Goalkeeper

Coach Ezra Hendrickson seemed to shut the door on Gabriel Slonina spending time on loan with the Fire next year, saying he’s “gone”during a postseason media availability.

With Slonina apparently out of the picture, the Fire will need to find another goalie. Chris Brady is the early favorite to replace Slonina as the starter, while backup Spencer Richey is also under contract.

How the Fire actually feel about Brady should be clear when they sign another goalie: if it’s an experienced veteran, that might indicate they think Brady needs more time. If it’s an unheralded journeyman or young project, the job is Brady’s to lose.

Defender

Veteran right back Boris Sekulic is out of contract, and the Fire will look for his replacement. The in-house options aren’t appealing, sothe Fire will be searching for somebody to take his spot. Sekulic spent three steady but unspectacular years with the Fire.

The rest of the back line should be more stable, though during the season the Fire were reportedly linked with Silkeborg IF’s center back Tobias Salquist. Like everywhere else, adding depth should be a goal, even if the defense was a relative strength in 2022.

Midfielder

The Fire look set deep in the midfield with Gaston Gimenez and Federico Navarro. Gimenez’s health will be worth watching after season-ending hamstring surgery, but his new deal that means he’s no longer a DP should lessen expectations on a player who has divided opinions among Fire fans and observers.

Mauricio Pineda can provide cover for Gimenez if he’s not fully healthy and is also dependable on the back line.

Further up the field, the Fire are locked into Xherdan Shaqiri, Chris Mueller, Jairo Torres and Brian Gutierrez. Additional options for Hendrickson wouldn’t be a bad thing, but the Fire don’t need to make a splash here.

Striker

This is the most intriguing position entering the offseason.

After Kacper Przybylko flopped and could be sent out of town this winter, it would seem like the Fire clearly need to add a proven performer who can produce as the lone striker in Hendrickson’s 4-2-3-1 formation. This is where that open DP spot could come into play, and a good signing would provide goals that Przybylko didn’t. If that acquisition is a big name who could draw fans to Soldier Field and SeatGeek Stadium, all the better.

However, the future of young star Jhon Duran complicates matters. If Duran stays for another full season, there’s a compelling argument that he should be handed the starting job, which theoretically would allow the Fire to use the DP spot somewhere else on the field or keep it in their pocket until the summer.

Duran staying, though, is a big question mark because of his desire to jump to Europe and the reported interest from major clubs across the Atlantic. If Duran leaves this winter, there’s no question where the Fire should use that DP slot.

Read More

C’mon, even the grouchy have a love of Halloween. Kids dressed in costumes, looking cute, asking for candy as if it were manna from heaven. Now, I will admit, I’m a fan of treats, not tricks. Although, I do sometimes answer my front door by quickly swinging it open and banging on it once with the heel of my hand. Then I watch the kids react as they see fake blood dripping from my forehead. As I hold my forehead, I ask if I’m bleeding.

Speaking of reactions that are worth the cost of candy, I often sit outside my home with a basket of candy. Sometimes, a group of near-teenagers comes up shouting “Trick or Treat!” I then tell this group to choose one representative to pick a number between one and 10, and if he (usually a boy) gets the number, I will give the kids the entire basket. The kid can never get the answer because no matter what number is said, I respond “So close!” and tell them a number that’s one off the guess. They all get candy after that, so we’re all winners.

Enjoy this special edition of the quiz, and email me your favorite Halloween stories.

1. This guy is in the Hall of Fame after a major-league -career that included 573 homers, including five league highs. His nickname was “Killer,” which qualifies him for our Halloween fun. Killer hit 72 homers against the White Sox, tied for the fourth-most all-time against the local nine. He never faced the Cubs. Who is this guy?

2. Let’s start by telling you that “The Monster” was the losing pitcher for the American League in the 1964 All-Star Game. He was the Reliever of the Year in 1962 and 1964 while pitching for the Red Sox. He was not so great when he pitched for the Cubs in 1967. In 1964, he struck out 181 batters, all in relief, a record he still holds. Who was this guy?

a. Dick Radatz

b. Lindy McDaniels

c. Don Mossi

d. Stuffy Monstero

3. Back in the day, ballplayers made nowhere near the salaries they make today. As a result, they had to take offseason jobs. That’s how “The Gravedigger” got his nickname. This third baseman played the majority of his career with the Pirates, but he spent his final two seasons with the Cubs. Who was this guy?

a. Don Hoak

b. Barry Karloff

c. Richie Hebner

d. Freddie Patek

4. Let’s talk about “The Mummy,” a relief pitcher for the Yankees and a few other teams in the 1960s. This pitcher was 6-4 and 192 pounds with deep-set eyes and a skeletal build. The great Jim Bouton described him by saying he could “pose as the illustration for an undertaker’s sign.” Who was this guy?

a. Billy Mumy

b. Jerry Mumphrey

c. Jim Coates

d. Luis Arroyo

5. This question should be a treat for you. What is the name of the pitcher credited with being the first to throw a curveball?

a. Dum-Dum Doherty

b. Candy Cummings

c. Milky Wayfair

d. Jelly Beaner

6. Which two stars were known as the “M&M Boys”?

a. Stan Musial and Marty Marion

b. Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle

c. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris

d. Willie Mays and Willie McCovey

7. Imagine going through your professional career with the nickname “Creepy.” Well, that was the moniker given to the answer to this Halloween question: Which of these guys was known as “Creepy”?

a. Terry Crawley

b. Steve Bannon

c. Frank Crespi

d. Frank Crosetti

8. Here’s a Reese’s piece of trivia for you. As a player, this guy was Babe Ruth’s roommate. As a coach in Los Angeles, he was famous for hitting fungoes. Who was he?

a. Pee Wee Reese

b. Pokey Reese

c. Jimmie Reese

d. Rich Reese

9. Orange and black are the colors of Halloween. Orange and black are the primary colors of two MLB teams. Which two teams would be ideal to meet in the World Series on Halloween?

Hope you had a good time. I’ll be back next week with more questions and less candy.

Read More

TEMPE, Ariz. — So close, yet so far.

It was only last March when Cubs All-Star catcher Willson Contreras took prospect Miguel Amaya to dinner and implored him to prepare as much as possible in the event Contreras was traded or embarked for free agency.

But days before Contreras officially files for free agency, Amaya remains relegated to wearing a walking boot while rehabbing from a Lisfranc fracture suffered Sept. 11 that cost him a chance to move closer to a major-league job.

So instead of getting at-bats and testing his rebuilt right throwing elbow in the Arizona Fall League, Amaya is resigned to receiving treatments and mentally preparing by calling pitches from his couch.

“Even watching the playoffs, it’s hard,” Amaya said while sitting at a hotel patio, flanked by a crutch.

In the event Contreras rejects a qualifying offer of $19.65 million after the World Series, the Cubs will need to do no less than fortify their catching depth. Yan Gomes was a plus-5 in defensive runs saved and was successful in nailing 33% of would-be base stealers. But Gomes is 35 and batted .235. Backup P.J. Higgins, 29, provided versatility, but the Cubs don’t have a healthy and prized catching prospect above the Class-A level.

If it weren’t for the COVID pandemic, Amaya, 23, might have made his major-league debut in 2021. But he injured his elbow on May 27, 2021, and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery last November.

Amaya was about a week away from resuming catching duties for Double-A Tennessee before injuring his left foot on a slide that stunted his progress.

Before the foot injury, Amaya had eight hits in his last 22 at-bats (.364) with three doubles, three home runs and a 1.373 OPS. He was close to completing a long-toss program and caught as many bullpen sessions as possible to regain the strength in his legs that allowed him to catch 778? innings in 2019 — the same year he made his second consecutive Futures Game appearance and was ranked as the organization’s fourth-best prospect by Baseball America entering the 2020 season.

“We can’t control that,” Amaya said of the foot injury. “It happens playing the right way. From that point, we have to keep moving forward and stay positive with a lot of faith. Trusting God is the main thing for me and trying to get better.”

Treatment of the foot is paramount. Amaya hasn’t been allowed to throw out of fear of compensating for his foot and risking injury. He does perform shoulder and elbow exercises and appears identical to his listed 6-2, 230-pound frame.

But playing winter ball won’t be an option until the foot is completely healed.

“I’m just trusting the process and conditioning my entire body with the program they gave me,” Amaya said.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer empathizes with Amaya but stressed that he’ll need to make up for the lost at-bats.

“He’s still a really good prospect, and I think he’s going to be a very good player,” Hoyer said Oct. 10 at his postseason news conference. “He hasn’t been able to get on the field.”

Nevertheless, Amaya remains upbeat while reinforcing his religious faith. Before the COVID shutdown, Amaya adjusted his swing under the suggestion of team instructors to induce more power.

But getting live at-bats over an extended period became scarce because of the COVID shutdown and Tommy John surgery. And after a 12-game rehab stint in the Arizona Complex League in July, Amaya recognized he needed to adjust to the higher velocities after being activated to play in the Double-A Southern League.

“Being shorter, being quick, just being more direct,” said Amaya, who batted .278 with four home runs in 97 at-bats and an .864 OPS with Tennessee. “That’s helped me recognize pitches. It’s been helping me get my walks.”

Since signing for a $1.3 million bonus out of Panama in 2015, Amaya has caught many pitchers who have advanced through the farm system, including Keegan Thompson and Justin Steele, whom Amaya caught at the alternate site in South Bend during the latter part of 2020.

“They did an awesome job,” said Amaya, who watched many Cubs games on TV while he was rehabbing his elbow in Arizona during the first half of 2022. “If I get an opportunity to catch them again, I’ll feel confident because I’ve caught them before.”

And he’ll apply many of the lessons taught by Contreras.

“Contreras means a lot to me,” Amaya said with a smile. “He talked about how to control everything on and off the field, like preparing for a game, calling a game, adjusting to situations. Just trying to control everything you can, even with fans.”

The dialogue has subsided, mostly because Amaya prefers to give Contreras ample mental space as he prepares for free agency.

And returning to full health remains Amaya’s biggest priority.

“My offseason focus is to be the best version of me for 2023, and whatever happens, happens,” Amaya said. “I just want to be healthy to show everyone who Miguel Amaya is and just have fun and play the baseball I know.”

Read More

The Fire enter the offseason in a familiar spot, trying to patch theholes that once again kept them from a playoff berth. With a vacant designated player slot and clear needs, the Fire should be busy before next spring.

Goalkeeper

Coach Ezra Hendrickson seemed to shut the door on Gabriel Slonina spending time on loan with the Fire next year, saying he’s “gone”during a postseason media availability.

With Slonina apparently out of the picture, the Fire will need to find another goalie. Chris Brady is the early favorite to replace Slonina as the starter, while backup Spencer Richey is also under contract.

How the Fire actually feel about Brady should be clear when they sign another goalie: if it’s an experienced veteran, that might indicate they think Brady needs more time. If it’s an unheralded journeyman or young project, the job is Brady’s to lose.

Defender

Veteran right back Boris Sekulic is out of contract, and the Fire will look for his replacement. The in-house options aren’t appealing, sothe Fire will be searching for somebody to take his spot. Sekulic spent three steady but unspectacular years with the Fire.

The rest of the back line should be more stable, though during the season the Fire were reportedly linked with Silkeborg IF’s center back Tobias Salquist. Like everywhere else, adding depth should be a goal, even if the defense was a relative strength in 2022.

Midfielder

The Fire look set deep in the midfield with Gaston Gimenez and Federico Navarro. Gimenez’s health will be worth watching after season-ending hamstring surgery, but his new deal that means he’s no longer a DP should lessen expectations on a player who has divided opinions among Fire fans and observers.

Mauricio Pineda can provide cover for Gimenez if he’s not fully healthy and is also dependable on the back line.

Further up the field, the Fire are locked into Xherdan Shaqiri, Chris Mueller, Jairo Torres and Brian Gutierrez. Additional options for Hendrickson wouldn’t be a bad thing, but the Fire don’t need to make a splash here.

Striker

This is the most intriguing position entering the offseason.

After Kacper Przybylko flopped and could be sent out of town this winter, it would seem like the Fire clearly need to add a proven performer who can produce as the lone striker in Hendrickson’s 4-2-3-1 formation. This is where that open DP spot could come into play, and a good signing would provide goals that Przybylko didn’t. If that acquisition is a big name who could draw fans to Soldier Field and SeatGeek Stadium, all the better.

However, the future of young star Jhon Duran complicates matters. If Duran stays for another full season, there’s a compelling argument that he should be handed the starting job, which theoretically would allow the Fire to use the DP spot somewhere else on the field or keep it in their pocket until the summer.

Duran staying, though, is a big question mark because of his desire to jump to Europe and the reported interest from major clubs across the Atlantic. If Duran leaves this winter, there’s no question where the Fire should use that DP slot.

Read More

LAS VEGAS — Of all the angles and edges he developed in Chicago as a burgeoning sports bettor in the 1980s, one presented itself to Chuck Edel, involving three buddies, that was money.

When that trio concurred on a wager, he went into action.

“I just had to take the opposite of what everybody else was playing,” Edel said. “It worked better then, because there’s so much information out there now. But if they matched up, I’d go the other way.”

Something like actor Richard Dreyfuss’s horse-playing Jay Trotter, in “Let It Ride,” asking track patrons whom they like in a race. He’d scratch off that thoroughbred. Left with one, he bets it. It wins.

Edel eased into betting, with a bookie, while he tended bar at the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Those pals provided profit whenever they achieved consensus on a position.

“Golden,” Edel said. “Even if two went a certain way, I’d bet the other way.”

He progressed, set goals, eyeballed Vegas, made the move. Today, Edel is among an elite group of 16 punters who compete, for $25,000, in the inaugural Circa Friday Football Invitational.

Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) senior editor and host Matt Youmans selected Edel, whose 9-1 initial two weeks gave him a month-long first-place cushion. He’s now a half-game off the lead.

Youmans concocted the competition as a throw-back to the old Stardust Invitational, a winner-take-all $10,000 challenge, and Circa owner Derek Stevens furnished the $25,000 stakes.

“I figured [Edel] would be one of the four or five favorites,” Youmans said. “He uses the right resources and talks to the right people, and he’s got instincts for picking winners.”

DOING, NOT DREAMING

Edel, 61, attended Maine East High for two years, finishing high school at Libertyville High when his family moved to Vernon Hills. His dad was a chemist. One of his brothers went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Books of another sort, however, attracted Edel after unrewarding stints at Lincoln College and College of Lake County. Point spreads became his destiny.

Edel planned every step carefully. He landed in Vegas in 1992, tending bar at Morton’s and the MGM Grand Garden Arena, managing beverage services at the old Imperial Palace as he polished his betting tactics.

He dabbled in radio, partnering with Ken Thomson for one show. He met Youmans, who covered sports betting for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I had a lot to learn still,” Edel said. “I learned about the back end of the business. I had a good feel for the games but, obviously, there’s more to it. That was a good education.”

In ’97, he started solely relying on sports wagering for income. Wife Rebecca understands his livelihood that they conducted their Florida nuptials during MLB’s All-Star break.

A year ago, he made a splash by going 22-1 over a series of weeks on VSiN’s early-morning “Follow the Money” show, securing a regular Friday-morning guest spot.

And the soft-spoken Edel has done it all with zero showboating.

“Chuck is not an attention-seeker or carnival barker,” Youmans said. “He isn’t trying to sell you something. He’s a solid guy who figured out, through the years, how to make sports betting a viable career, and that is not easy.

“Most guys dream about that. Not many can really do it.”

THE EASY ONE

Edel awaits the imminent release of the Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook, the game’s bible. He recommends researching player transfers, excavating for sleepers, scanning schedules.

“So that maybe, early in the season,” he said, “you have a little edge.”

He scours local papers, on the web, for insights. He has a math-guru sidekick who helps establish power ratings, to build a foundation.

“James Madison is plus-3.5 against VCU, say, which it should be, but Madison’s point guard has a bad ankle?” Edel said of a scenario requiring instinct. “Lots of stuff goes into it. We do totals and pace of the games.”

When wide-open football boss Sonny Dykes left SMU for TCU, replacing Gary Patterson, Edel knew more points would be the windfall. Horned Frogs games are 5-2 to Over.

Same at Middle Tennessee, which went 4-2 to Over out of the gate under new offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart (ex-Samford OC), and Louisiana Tech, 6-1 to Over under new high-octane coach Sonny Cumbie.

“Tell someone you bet on sports for a living, it’s usually, ‘Oh, what a life!’ But a lot of hard work goes into it,” Edel said. “You roll with the ups and downs. You can’t be nonchalant, or you won’t do too well.”

The Edels and their two daughters live in exclusive MacDonald Ranch in the southern foothills. In his den, four large flat screens surround a mammoth one. He has four phone apps, myriad options at his fingertips.

Sometimes, though, it is easy.

In 1995, he worked out in the same Gold’s Gym that Jorge Luis Gonzalez visited. The 6-7 Cuban heavyweight boxer was 23-0 and prepping for a WBO world heavyweight-title bout against Riddick Bowe.

However, Edel saw a lazy slug more keen on fraternizing with babes.

Edel boldly wagered half his bankroll on Bowe, who toyed with Gonzalez, knocking him out in the sixth round at the MGM Grand. That triggered the Cuban splitting the final 16 fights of his career.

“I worked out 10 times harder than him,” Edel said, “and I never sweat that bet.”

Read More

C’mon, even the grouchy have a love of Halloween. Kids dressed in costumes, looking cute, asking for candy as if it were manna from heaven. Now, I will admit, I’m a fan of treats, not tricks. Although, I do sometimes answer my front door by quickly swinging it open and banging on it once with the heel of my hand. Then I watch the kids react as they see fake blood dripping from my forehead. As I hold my forehead, I ask if I’m bleeding.

Speaking of reactions that are worth the cost of candy, I often sit outside my home with a basket of candy. Sometimes, a group of near-teenagers comes up shouting “Trick or Treat!” I then tell this group to choose one representative to pick a number between one and 10, and if he (usually a boy) gets the number, I will give the kids the entire basket. The kid can never get the answer because no matter what number is said, I respond “So close!” and tell them a number that’s one off the guess. They all get candy after that, so we’re all winners.

Enjoy this special edition of the quiz, and email me your favorite Halloween stories.

1. This guy is in the Hall of Fame after a major-league -career that included 573 homers, including five league highs. His nickname was “Killer,” which qualifies him for our Halloween fun. Killer hit 72 homers against the White Sox, tied for the fourth-most all-time against the local nine. He never faced the Cubs. Who is this guy?

2. Let’s start by telling you that “The Monster” was the losing pitcher for the American League in the 1964 All-Star Game. He was the Reliever of the Year in 1962 and 1964 while pitching for the Red Sox. He was not so great when he pitched for the Cubs in 1967. In 1964, he struck out 181 batters, all in relief, a record he still holds. Who was this guy?

a. Dick Radatz

b. Lindy McDaniels

c. Don Mossi

d. Stuffy Monstero

3. Back in the day, ballplayers made nowhere near the salaries they make today. As a result, they had to take offseason jobs. That’s how “The Gravedigger” got his nickname. This third baseman played the majority of his career with the Pirates, but he spent his final two seasons with the Cubs. Who was this guy?

a. Don Hoak

b. Barry Karloff

c. Richie Hebner

d. Freddie Patek

4. Let’s talk about “The Mummy,” a relief pitcher for the Yankees and a few other teams in the 1960s. This pitcher was 6-4 and 192 pounds with deep-set eyes and a skeletal build. The great Jim Bouton described him by saying he could “pose as the illustration for an undertaker’s sign.” Who was this guy?

a. Billy Mumy

b. Jerry Mumphrey

c. Jim Coates

d. Luis Arroyo

5. This question should be a treat for you. What is the name of the pitcher credited with being the first to throw a curveball?

a. Dum-Dum Doherty

b. Candy Cummings

c. Milky Wayfair

d. Jelly Beaner

6. Which two stars were known as the “M&M Boys”?

a. Stan Musial and Marty Marion

b. Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle

c. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris

d. Willie Mays and Willie McCovey

7. Imagine going through your professional career with the nickname “Creepy.” Well, that was the moniker given to the answer to this Halloween question: Which of these guys was known as “Creepy”?

a. Terry Crawley

b. Steve Bannon

c. Frank Crespi

d. Frank Crosetti

8. Here’s a Reese’s piece of trivia for you. As a player, this guy was Babe Ruth’s roommate. As a coach in Los Angeles, he was famous for hitting fungoes. Who was he?

a. Pee Wee Reese

b. Pokey Reese

c. Jimmie Reese

d. Rich Reese

9. Orange and black are the colors of Halloween. Orange and black are the primary colors of two MLB teams. Which two teams would be ideal to meet in the World Series on Halloween?

Hope you had a good time. I’ll be back next week with more questions and less candy.

Read More

TEMPE, Ariz. — So close, yet so far.

It was only last March when Cubs All-Star catcher Willson Contreras took prospect Miguel Amaya to dinner and implored him to prepare as much as possible in the event Contreras was traded or embarked for free agency.

But days before Contreras officially files for free agency, Amaya remains relegated to wearing a walking boot while rehabbing from a Lisfranc fracture suffered Sept. 11 that cost him a chance to move closer to a major-league job.

So instead of getting at-bats and testing his rebuilt right throwing elbow in the Arizona Fall League, Amaya is resigned to receiving treatments and mentally preparing by calling pitches from his couch.

“Even watching the playoffs, it’s hard,” Amaya said while sitting at a hotel patio, flanked by a crutch.

In the event Contreras rejects a qualifying offer of $19.65 million after the World Series, the Cubs will need to do no less than fortify their catching depth. Yan Gomes was a plus-5 in defensive runs saved and was successful in nailing 33% of would-be base stealers. But Gomes is 35 and batted .235. Backup P.J. Higgins, 29, provided versatility, but the Cubs don’t have a healthy and prized catching prospect above the Class-A level.

If it weren’t for the COVID pandemic, Amaya, 23, might have made his major-league debut in 2021. But he injured his elbow on May 27, 2021, and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery last November.

Amaya was about a week away from resuming catching duties for Double-A Tennessee before injuring his left foot on a slide that stunted his progress.

Before the foot injury, Amaya had eight hits in his last 22 at-bats (.364) with three doubles, three home runs and a 1.373 OPS. He was close to completing a long-toss program and caught as many bullpen sessions as possible to regain the strength in his legs that allowed him to catch 778? innings in 2019 — the same year he made his second consecutive Futures Game appearance and was ranked as the organization’s fourth-best prospect by Baseball America entering the 2020 season.

“We can’t control that,” Amaya said of the foot injury. “It happens playing the right way. From that point, we have to keep moving forward and stay positive with a lot of faith. Trusting God is the main thing for me and trying to get better.”

Treatment of the foot is paramount. Amaya hasn’t been allowed to throw out of fear of compensating for his foot and risking injury. He does perform shoulder and elbow exercises and appears identical to his listed 6-2, 230-pound frame.

But playing winter ball won’t be an option until the foot is completely healed.

“I’m just trusting the process and conditioning my entire body with the program they gave me,” Amaya said.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer empathizes with Amaya but stressed that he’ll need to make up for the lost at-bats.

“He’s still a really good prospect, and I think he’s going to be a very good player,” Hoyer said Oct. 10 at his postseason news conference. “He hasn’t been able to get on the field.”

Nevertheless, Amaya remains upbeat while reinforcing his religious faith. Before the COVID shutdown, Amaya adjusted his swing under the suggestion of team instructors to induce more power.

But getting live at-bats over an extended period became scarce because of the COVID shutdown and Tommy John surgery. And after a 12-game rehab stint in the Arizona Complex League in July, Amaya recognized he needed to adjust to the higher velocities after being activated to play in the Double-A Southern League.

“Being shorter, being quick, just being more direct,” said Amaya, who batted .278 with four home runs in 97 at-bats and an .864 OPS with Tennessee. “That’s helped me recognize pitches. It’s been helping me get my walks.”

Since signing for a $1.3 million bonus out of Panama in 2015, Amaya has caught many pitchers who have advanced through the farm system, including Keegan Thompson and Justin Steele, whom Amaya caught at the alternate site in South Bend during the latter part of 2020.

“They did an awesome job,” said Amaya, who watched many Cubs games on TV while he was rehabbing his elbow in Arizona during the first half of 2022. “If I get an opportunity to catch them again, I’ll feel confident because I’ve caught them before.”

And he’ll apply many of the lessons taught by Contreras.

“Contreras means a lot to me,” Amaya said with a smile. “He talked about how to control everything on and off the field, like preparing for a game, calling a game, adjusting to situations. Just trying to control everything you can, even with fans.”

The dialogue has subsided, mostly because Amaya prefers to give Contreras ample mental space as he prepares for free agency.

And returning to full health remains Amaya’s biggest priority.

“My offseason focus is to be the best version of me for 2023, and whatever happens, happens,” Amaya said. “I just want to be healthy to show everyone who Miguel Amaya is and just have fun and play the baseball I know.”

Read More

LAS VEGAS — Of all the angles and edges he developed in Chicago as a burgeoning sports bettor in the 1980s, one presented itself to Chuck Edel, involving three buddies, that was money.

When that trio concurred on a wager, he went into action.

“I just had to take the opposite of what everybody else was playing,” Edel said. “It worked better then, because there’s so much information out there now. But if they matched up, I’d go the other way.”

Something like actor Richard Dreyfuss’s horse-playing Jay Trotter, in “Let It Ride,” asking track patrons whom they like in a race. He’d scratch off that thoroughbred. Left with one, he bets it. It wins.

Edel eased into betting, with a bookie, while he tended bar at the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Those pals provided profit whenever they achieved consensus on a position.

“Golden,” Edel said. “Even if two went a certain way, I’d bet the other way.”

He progressed, set goals, eyeballed Vegas, made the move. Today, Edel is among an elite group of 16 punters who compete, for $25,000, in the inaugural Circa Friday Football Invitational.

Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) senior editor and host Matt Youmans selected Edel, whose 9-1 initial two weeks gave him a month-long first-place cushion. He’s now a half-game off the lead.

Youmans concocted the competition as a throw-back to the old Stardust Invitational, a winner-take-all $10,000 challenge, and Circa owner Derek Stevens furnished the $25,000 stakes.

“I figured [Edel] would be one of the four or five favorites,” Youmans said. “He uses the right resources and talks to the right people, and he’s got instincts for picking winners.”

DOING, NOT DREAMING

Edel, 61, attended Maine East High for two years, finishing high school at Libertyville High when his family moved to Vernon Hills. His dad was a chemist. One of his brothers went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Books of another sort, however, attracted Edel after unrewarding stints at Lincoln College and College of Lake County. Point spreads became his destiny.

Edel planned every step carefully. He landed in Vegas in 1992, tending bar at Morton’s and the MGM Grand Garden Arena, managing beverage services at the old Imperial Palace as he polished his betting tactics.

He dabbled in radio, partnering with Ken Thomson for one show. He met Youmans, who covered sports betting for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I had a lot to learn still,” Edel said. “I learned about the back end of the business. I had a good feel for the games but, obviously, there’s more to it. That was a good education.”

In ’97, he started solely relying on sports wagering for income. Wife Rebecca understands his livelihood that they conducted their Florida nuptials during MLB’s All-Star break.

A year ago, he made a splash by going 22-1 over a series of weeks on VSiN’s early-morning “Follow the Money” show, securing a regular Friday-morning guest spot.

And the soft-spoken Edel has done it all with zero showboating.

“Chuck is not an attention-seeker or carnival barker,” Youmans said. “He isn’t trying to sell you something. He’s a solid guy who figured out, through the years, how to make sports betting a viable career, and that is not easy.

“Most guys dream about that. Not many can really do it.”

THE EASY ONE

Edel awaits the imminent release of the Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook, the game’s bible. He recommends researching player transfers, excavating for sleepers, scanning schedules.

“So that maybe, early in the season,” he said, “you have a little edge.”

He scours local papers, on the web, for insights. He has a math-guru sidekick who helps establish power ratings, to build a foundation.

“James Madison is plus-3.5 against VCU, say, which it should be, but Madison’s point guard has a bad ankle?” Edel said of a scenario requiring instinct. “Lots of stuff goes into it. We do totals and pace of the games.”

When wide-open football boss Sonny Dykes left SMU for TCU, replacing Gary Patterson, Edel knew more points would be the windfall. Horned Frogs games are 5-2 to Over.

Same at Middle Tennessee, which went 4-2 to Over out of the gate under new offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart (ex-Samford OC), and Louisiana Tech, 6-1 to Over under new high-octane coach Sonny Cumbie.

“Tell someone you bet on sports for a living, it’s usually, ‘Oh, what a life!’ But a lot of hard work goes into it,” Edel said. “You roll with the ups and downs. You can’t be nonchalant, or you won’t do too well.”

The Edels and their two daughters live in exclusive MacDonald Ranch in the southern foothills. In his den, four large flat screens surround a mammoth one. He has four phone apps, myriad options at his fingertips.

Sometimes, though, it is easy.

In 1995, he worked out in the same Gold’s Gym that Jorge Luis Gonzalez visited. The 6-7 Cuban heavyweight boxer was 23-0 and prepping for a WBO world heavyweight-title bout against Riddick Bowe.

However, Edel saw a lazy slug more keen on fraternizing with babes.

Edel boldly wagered half his bankroll on Bowe, who toyed with Gonzalez, knocking him out in the sixth round at the MGM Grand. That triggered the Cuban splitting the final 16 fights of his career.

“I worked out 10 times harder than him,” Edel said, “and I never sweat that bet.”

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