Big Unit exits early with shoulder injury

Baseball Betting Lines

07/05/2009 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco starter Randy Johnson had to cut his outing against Houston short on Sunday after injuring his left shoulder.

The injury appeared to come in the third inning on an awkward wave at a third- strike curveball from Astros starter Roy Oswalt. He immediately reached for his shoulder but remained in the game. In the fourth, he yielded three of his four runs allowed and committed a throwing error before leaving. The initial diagnosis is a strain.

"Very scary. I thought he did something to (his left shoulder) and started throwing a lot slower than he usually throws...89-91 and all of the sudden you see this guy throwing 82. You just hope and pray that nothing happens to him seriously and that he's okay for the next start," said battery mate Bengie Molina.

Johnson was attempting to win a third consecutive start and fourth straight decision but took the loss in lasting just 3 2/3 frames. The five-time Cy Young Award winner, who picked up career win No. 300 earlier this year, is now 8-6 on the season with a 4.81 earned run average through 17 starts.

The Astros went on to post a 7-1 victory.

Starbuck-casino Baseball Betting News

<< Spurs wanted City signings Barry, Santa Cruz
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has admitted he had been hoping to sign both Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz this summer. Barry opted to leave Aston Villa for Manchester City though, while Paraguay in

<< Hahn wins Edmonton Open in a playoff
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American James Hahn parred the first playoff hole Sunday to defeat Jim Rutledge and earn his first Canadian Tour victory at the Edmonton Open. Both Hahn and Rutledge fired rounds of six-under 66 to finish r

<< Sunderland closing in on Da Silva
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is set to make Paraguay international Paulo Da Silva his first signing at the Stadium of Light. The 29-year-old Toluca defender is available on a free transfer and is s

<< Hamburg signs Dutch international Elia
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg acquired Netherlands international striker Eljero Elia from Twente on Sunday. Elia, 22, signed a five-year deal with the German Bundesliga club. He played 34 games last season in the Dutch Eredivi

<< Padres' Blanco lands on DL
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres placed catcher Henry Blanco on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring on Sunday. The veteran catcher suffered the injury while running the bases during the Padre

Hull interested in Lauren, Zamora >>
Hull, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Arsenal and Portsmouth defender Lauren and Fulham striker Bobby Zamora are the latest players to be linked with moves to Hull City. The Tigers are struggling to attract players to the KC Stadium this

Caicedo set to leave Manchester City >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ecuador international Felipe Caicedo looks certain to be leaving Manchester City and moving to Sporting Lisbon at some point this summer. The 20-year-old is keen to taste Champions League fo

Bolton's Megson gives up on Bodde >>
Bolton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bolton is not expected to prolong its interest in Swansea City midfielder Ferrie Bodde after having a second bid for the midfielder rejected. The Championship side have reportedly turned down a

Birmingham City interested in Barton >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reports continue to suggest Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is willing to take a risk on Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton. The 26-year-old former Manchester City star has been linked with a

Loney's HR lifts Dodgers over Padres in 13 innings >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney went 2-for-6 and smacked a solo home run in the top of the 13th to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers past the San Diego Padres, 7-6, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Petco Park. Edward

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.