Cubs designate DeWitt for assigmnent

Baseball Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs designated infielder Blake DeWitt for assignment on Monday.

The 26-year-old batted .265 with five home runs, 11 doubles and 26 RBI in 121 games during his first full season with the Cubs in 2011.

DeWitt arrived from the Dodgers at the trade deadline in 2010, and in 174 games for Chicago, he hit .258 with nine homers, 20 doubles and 48 RBI.

In addition, the club claimed infielder Adrian Cardenas off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. The 24-year-old hit .314 in 127 games for Triple-A Sacramento last season.

Wwwtribune Baseball Betting News

<< Alcohol led to Presbyterian player's death
Clinton, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An autopsy has determined the death of a Presbyterian College football player on Sunday was brought on by alcohol intoxication. The Laurens County Coroner's office said Monday that the death of 21-year-old Kyl

<< Liverpool, Spurs finish goalless at Anfield
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool and Tottenham played to a 0-0 draw at Anfield on Monday, doing little to improve the ambitions of either side. The result leaves Tottenham seven points back of leaders Manchester City

<< Missouri State to visit Kansas State, Louisville
Springfield, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Missouri State football will open the 2012 season by visiting two FBS opponents and play five home games as part of an 11-game schedule announced Monday. Seventh-year head coach Terry Allen and the Bears wi

<< Lawrie, Stanley soar in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Lawrie claimed a four-shot win in Qatar, while Kyle Stanley erased an eight-shot deficit to come from behind and win the Phoenix Open on Sunday. With those victories, both players made big moves i

<< Boeljon moves into top 50 in women's rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Christel Boeljon came from three strokes back to win the Australian Ladies Masters on Sunday and that helped her jump 16 spots in this week's women's world rankings. Boeljon, who played in her first

Granada edges Malaga to emerge from drop zone >>
Granada, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Granada climbed out of the relegation zone on Monday with a 2-1 win over Malaga at Los Carmenes. With its second-straight La Liga victory, Granada improves to 25 points on the year to sit tied with Rayo Va

Crosby skates with team >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby skated with the team on Monday, but did not participate in full team practice and his status has not changed. Crosby has been out since December 5 due to concu

BU downs Harvard, gains Beanpot final >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kieran Millan stopped 29 shots and Wade Megan tallied twice as Boston University took a 3-1 decision over Harvard in the first semifinal matchup of the 60th annual Beanpot from TD Garden. Matt Nieto als

Carmelo Anthony leaves game with strained groin >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony suffered a strained right groin in Monday's game against the Utah Jazz and will not return. He suffered the injury near the midpoint of the first quarter as he

No. 24 Louisville routs Connecticut >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Smith scored 16 points and Gorgui Dieng added 15 to lead No. 24 Louisville to a thorough 80-59 throttling of Connecticut. Kyle Kuric chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds, while Chane Behanan

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.