Beltran (finally) returns for Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets will get a much-needed boost on Thursday when they welcome back perennial All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran from the 60-day disabled list.

Beltran has not seen the field for the Mets during the 2010 season after undergoing knee surgery back in January. The procedure was somewhat controversial, as the Mets did not get a chance to review Beltran's medical condition before the outfielder decided to go under the knife.

In 14 rehabilitation games with Single-A St. Lucie over the past few weeks, Beltran hit .367 with five runs scored, five doubles, five RBI, and seven walks.

Beltran started having trouble with his right knee in the middle of May of last season and had a lengthy stay on the disabled list with what the team maintained was a deep bone bruise.

The 33-year-old missed 2 1/2 months of the 2009 season and was limited to 81 games. He returned in September and, according to the team's medical update, had not been experiencing pain following the conclusion of the season and into his early offseason conditioning. However, the symptoms returned to the point where pre-spring training conditioning became too painful.

The switch-hitting, five-time All-Star batted .325 with 48 runs batted in, 10 homers and 11 stolen bases last season for the Mets. He owns a lifetime average of .283 to go with 273 home runs, 1,035 RBI and 286 steals.

Wmegachannels Baseball Betting News

<< Browns' Rogers to enter diversion program, avoid trial
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Browns defensive lineman Shaun Rogers will enter a diversion program and avoid trial after carrying a concealed weapon through security at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, according to a report

<< Rezai, Errani land in Palermo quarters
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hot Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai and former champion and 2009 runner-up Sara Errani recorded second-round victories Thursday at the $220,000 Palermo International tennis tournament. The second-seede

<< Oilers name Smith, Buchberger assistant coaches
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers named Kelly Buchberger and Steve Smith as assistant coaches for Tom Renney on Thursday. Buchberger has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with Edmonton and prior to tha

<< Cavs' West pleads guilty to charges
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West pled guilty to weapons and traffic charges stemming from his arrest last September, according to a report in the Washington Post. The judge in Prince George's County Ci

<< Bruins sign four
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins signed four players on Thursday, including forward Gregory Campbell. Campbell is a six-year veteran of the NHL and had played that entire time with Florida. Over 363 games, he has total

McIlroy's 63 ties record; Woods four back >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory McIlory has gone lower in his career, just not in a major championship. On Thursday at the British Open, McIlroy matched the lowest round in major championship history with a nine-under

Wild re-sign goaltender Khudobin >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild re-signed goaltender Anton Khudobin to a one-year, two-way contract. Khudobin made his NHL debut last season with Minnesota and in two games he went 2-0-0 and allowed just one goa

Braves activate Heyward from DL >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves activated outfielder Jason Heyward from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday. The rookie sensation has been out since injuring his left thumb while sliding into third base in a win over A

Hurricanes ink D Rodney >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes signed defenseman Bryan Rodney to a one-year, two-way contract. Rodney appeared in 22 games with Carolina last season while also spending time with the AHL's Albany River Rats. While

Dolphins DT Ferguson retires >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Jason Ferguson announced his retirement on Thursday. Ferguson, 35, played last two seasons for Miami and was recently hit with an eight-game suspension for a violation of t

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.

MySportsbook.com is the Internet’s largest online sportsbook site serving customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1997, MySportsbook.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin wagering, using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web, MySportsbook.com has earned an industry leading reputation for providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Antigua and the UK, the company offers a secure environment for sports betting, horse racing and online casino games.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.