Rays try to make it two straight in Cleveland

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After snapping their 18-game slide at Progressive Field, the Tampa Bay Rays will try for a series win this afternoon in the finale of their three-game series against the Cleveland Indians.

Ben Zobrist's replay-reviewed three-run homer began a stretch of six unanswered runs, as Tampa Bay defeated Cleveland, 6-3, on Saturday.

Carlos Pena also homered for the Rays, who hadn't won in Cleveland since September 28, 2005. It was the longest active losing streak by one club at one particular venue.

David Price (13-5) moved into a tie for the AL lead in wins after allowing three runs, three hits and four walks while fanning five in seven-plus frames. Rafael Soriano earned his 25th save.

Shelley Duncan hit a two-run homer for the Indians, who are 7-2 after the All- Star break. Mitch Talbot (8-9), pitching against the team that traded him last offseason, gave up five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Despite the loss, Talbot managed to tie a team record by striking out six consecutive batters from the first through the third innings. He struck out a career-high eight overall.

This afternoon the Rays will give the ball to Wade Davis, who is looking for his third consecutive victory. The last time the right-hander was on the hill he led the Rays to an 8-1 victory over Baltimore.

In the victory, Davis tossed eight innings, allowing just one run on seven hits. The young hurler surrendered just one walk and struck out three batters. It was the third road win on the year for Davis, who has a lackluster 4.88 earned run average in eight starts outside of Tropicana Field.

Earlier this season the Florida native made his first-ever start against Cleveland and in that outing he grabbed a victory after holding the Tribe to just two runs in seven innings. Davis did allow four hits and four walks, but did strike out four batters as well.

As for the Indians, they will turn to Justin Masterson, who is winless in his last three starts. The young hurler is currently stuck in a major slump, having won just once over his past seven outings.

The last time the hard-throwing right-hander was on the bump, he allowed three runs against Minnesota. In the 6 1/3 innings of work Masterson allowed seven hits, but also collected seven strike outs. Despite the mediocre performance Masterson did not factor in the 4-3 victory.

Earlier this season Masterson surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and three walks against Tampa Bay. That outing is similar to Masterson's efforts against Tampa in his career, as the young hurler is just 1-3 with a 6.49 earned run average against the Rays.

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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.

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