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07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have been playing poorly since mid- June and will try to stop a five-game losing streak tonight in the opener of a three-game series versus the Oakland Athletics at Progressive Field.
The Indians haven't won a series since winning two of three matchups versus the St. Louis Cardinals from June 12-14 and have dropped 13 of their last 15 games, including Wednesday's 6-2 setback to the Chicago White Sox. Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore were both credited with RBI for Cleveland, while starter Jeremy Sowers was rocked for five runs and 11 hits in six innings to absorb the loss.
"It's not a mystery that we're struggling," Sowers said on the team's Web site. "We've been in some games, but we just haven't found a way to get over the top. Right now, we're searching for an identity and a rhythm. For whatever reason, it's not clicking."
Cleveland, which is last in the AL Central and 1-5 on a nine-game homestand, will send rookie David Huff to the mound on Friday. Huff was 3-0 in a four- start span before losing his last outing Sunday versus Cincinnati, which reached him for seven runs -- six earned -- and nine hits in five innings of an 8-1 decision.
The left-handed Huff is 3-3 with a 6.26 earned run average in nine major league starts, and will face the Athletics for the first time.
Oakland also resides in last place in its respective division, the AL West, and owns just two wins over the last eight games. It just took two of three versus Detroit, however, and is coming off Wednesday's 5-1 victory over the Tigers behind seven strong innings from starter Dallas Braden.
Braden allowed one run on five hits and a walk and struck out three in the win, while Brad Ziegler and Andrew Bailey each tossed a scoreless inning to preserve the victory. Jack Cust and Jason Giambi each hit a two-run homer and Kurt Suzuki drove in a run for the A's, who won this series after losing five in a row.
"We've been facing good pitching all year," Cust said. "Today we went out and beat one of the best pitchers in the league [Detroit's Justin Verlander]. We've just got to take that mindset and remember that, and go into these next games against guys that are similar to him and try to have good at-bats."
The Athletics will open a nine-game road trip against the Indians, Red Sox and Rays tonight and will hand the ball to rookie Trevor Cahill this evening. Cahill dropped his last appearance in an 11-9 loss to Colorado on Saturday, as he gave up seven runs and eight hits through 3 2/3 innings. Cahill entered the contest 3-0 in his previous five trips to the mound.
The righty, who is 5-6 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 starts, has never faced Cleveland.
The Tribe took five of nine meetings with Oakland last season, including a 4-2 mark as the host. Cleveland has won nine of the last 13 matchups versus the Athletics at home.
<< Greinke hopes to slow down White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There haven't been many pitchers who have slowed down the
Chicago White Sox as of late, but Zack Greinke has shown in the past to be
quite capable of such a task.
The Kansas City Royals ace will take the mound in tonight
<< Santana returns to face Orioles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have been able to
rebound from a rough beginning to the season. The team is hoping one of its
most talented pitchers will be able to do the same in tonight's matchup with
the Baltimore Orio
<< Rays ride hot streak into Arlington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays take their hot streak into the Lone
Star State, where the defending American League champions will start up an
intriguing three-game series with the Texas Rangers this evening.
With wins in 15 of their
<< Cardinals send Pineiro to hill in Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro hopes for some run support tonight when the
St. Louis Cardinals begin a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds at Great
American Ball Park.
Pineiro lost for the ninth time in his last 11 starts on Sun
Federer reaches record seventh straight Wimbledon final >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer
defeated Tommy Haas in Friday's men's semifinal action at Wimbledon. The
iconic Federer will now appear in a men's record seventh straight Wimbledon
final on Sunday.
Manny set to return as Dodgers visit Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - He won't have the home crowd on his side until after the
All-Star break, but Los Angeles Dodgers star left fielder Manny Ramirez
probably doesn't mind, since he is finally done serving his 50-game suspension
for violating the
Rookie aims for repeat in Giants' tilt with Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski will shoot for an encore performance tonight
for the NL Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants, who will open a 10-game
homestand with the first of three consecutive meetings versus the Houston
Astros at AT&
Serena and Venus will decide Wimbledon champ on Saturday >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Serena Williams and third-
seeded Venus Williams will square off in Saturday's ladies' final at
Wimbledon, where Venus topped her younger sister in last year's third all-
Williams f
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
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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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