Guerrero's bat, Harden's arm helps Rangers down Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

08/01/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero's two-run homer in the fourth inning was enough against his former team as the AL West-leading Rangers edged the Angels, 2-1, in the middle installment of a three-game series.

Nelson Cruz extended his career-high hitting streak to 19 games as Texas, despite playing without major league-leading hitter Josh Hamilton, bounced back from a 9-7 defeat on Friday. Hamilton was out because of patella tendinitis in his right knee.

Rich Harden (4-3), activated off the disabled list earlier in the day, limited Los Angeles to one run on five hits over seven innings.

"They were aggressive and that was my plan, to go out there and throw strikes," Harden said. "I was hitting my spots and I was happy with my pitch count."

Dan Haren (0-2), making his second start with his new club, was charged with five hits, walked two and fanned six in a complete game effort. It was his second complete game of the season and 11th of his career, but he's winless (0-6) over his last nine starts.

Howie Kendrick homered in the seventh inning for LA, which lost for the eighth time in 10 contests.

David Murphy walked to start the fourth inning and Guerrero homered on the first pitch to left-center for his 21st long ball of the year.

"The pitch was low, but it should have been more outside. It caught too much of the plate," Haren said.

Erick Aybar struck out swinging to leave men at the corners in the bottom of the fifth. Hideki Matsui grounded out to strand a runner in scoring position in the LA sixth, but Kendrick homered to center with one out in the seventh. Mike Napoli doubled with two outs and Aybar was hit by a pitch, but Maicer Izturis grounded out to end the frame.

Frank Francisco retired the side in order in the eighth and Neftali Feliz did the same in the ninth for his 29th save.

Game Notes

Harden hadn't pitched since June 11 due to a gluteal strain...To make room for Harden on the roster, Texas optioned pitcher Doug Mathis to Oklahoma City...Texas has prevailed in seven of the 11 meetings this season...Feliz has saved all 15 of his opportunities on the road...The Rangers acquired infielder Cristian Guzman from the Washington Nationals on Saturday. Texas also sent catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Boston in exchange for pitcher Roman Mendez, first baseman Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later and cash considerations.

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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.

NFL Betting Lines

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