Thumbs down: Twins' Cuddyer placed on DL

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2007 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday due to a sprained right thumb.

Cuddyer suffered the injury when sliding into second base during Tuesday night's 1-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers. He missed Wednesday's game because of the injury.

Cuddyer is hitting .289 with 10 homers and 56 RBI this season. Since the All- Star break, he was hitting 10-for-21 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI.

Minnesota recalled outfielder Darnell McDonald from Triple-A Rochester to take the vacated roster spot. In 22 games with the Red Wings, McDonald was hitting .282 with two homers and 13 RBI.

Punteruk Baseball Betting News

<< Young headed to Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Middlesbrough is close to signing defender Luke Young after it agreed to a transfer fee with Charlton on Friday. Young, who now must agree on personal terms and pass a physical, played in over

<< Newcastle's Owen injures thigh
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle striker Michael Owen is expected to miss 10 days after suffering a thigh strain during practice on Friday. The 27-year-old will miss Saturday's friendly at Carlisle, and most lik

<< Nadal cruises into Stuttgart semis
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Rafael Nadal continued his domination on clay with an easy quarterfinal victory Friday at the Mercedes Cup. Nadal, who won this title in 2005, rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over eighth-

<< Angels fighting to keep hold of first place
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have done everything they can to separate themselves from the rest of the American League West. The Angels finished up the first half of the season with a Major League-best 53 wins

<< Cubs activate Dempster from DL
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated closer Ryan Dempster off the 15-day disabled list on Friday. Dempster, who went on the DL June 26 with a left oblique strain, has a 1-3 record with a 3.38 ERA and 16 saves in 1

Yashin headed to Russian Super League >>
Yaroslavl, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former New York Islander Alexei Yashin agreed to a contract to play next season with Locomotiv Yaroslavl of the Russian Super League on Friday. Yashin, who had the last four seasons of his 10-

Moya upended in quarters of Dutch Open >>
Amersfoort, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Carlos Moya was upset in three sets by Werner Eschauer in quarterfinals action at the Dutch Open on Friday. Eschauer, an Austrian, survived a first-set tiebreaker loss, and

British Open Second Round News & Notes >>
Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been quite a golfing week for Spain. On Monday, Seve Ballesteros, a three-time champion, and Spain's greatest golfer in history, announced his retirement from competitive golf. He had be

Fisher returns to Lakers >>
El Segundo, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Fisher, who was released from his contract with the Utah Jazz in early July so that he could seek the proper medical care for his 11-month-old daughter fighting eye cancer, signed with the Los

Dodgers banking on big second half from Penny >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Penny nearly reprised his role as the National League's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game for a second consecutive season. The Los Angeles Dodgers are now hoping that their burly ace doesn't repeat his subpar second-

Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards

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.