Nuccaneers Baseball Betting News

<< Cubs ship Lilly and Theriot to Dodgers
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs have traded pitcher Ted Lilly and infielder Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for infielder Blake DeWitt and a pair of minor league pitching prospects. Chicago also

<< Redskins' Haynesworth has swollen knee, sits out again
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth did not practice for a third straight day, though this time because of a swollen knee. Haynesworth was held out of practice Thursday and Friday

<< Sharks re-sign Setoguchi
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks have re-signed restricted free agent forward Devin Setoguchi to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. Setoguchi, 23, posted 20 goals and 16 assists i

<< Cardinals get Westbrook from Tribe, send Ludwick to San Diego
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired pitcher Jake Westbrook from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade that also involves the San Diego Padres. Along with Westbrook, St. Louis acquired cash fr

New York waives forward Wolyniec >>
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York waived forward John Wolyniec on Friday night. Wolyniec played in four regular season matches, including two starts, for New York this season. He also recorded four goals in four Lamar Hunt U

Starace, Ferrero reach Umag final >>
Umag, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero and Italian Potito Starace will contest the final at the clay-court Croatia Open after winning their respective semifinal matches Saturday. Ferrero, a former world No.

Eagles sign WR Washington >>
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have signed veteran wide receiver Kelley Washington to a one-year contract. Washington caught 34 passes for 431 yards, both career-highs, and a pair of touchdowns last sea

Rams make Bradford deal official >>
Earth City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams made it official Saturday and announced they have signed quarterback Sam Bradford, the top overall draft choice in 2010. While the team did not disclose terms of the deal, the sides report

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.