Seattle inks Fernandez as third DP
Soccer Betting Lines
07/29/2010 - Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC signed Uruguay national team midfielder Alvaro Fernandez, the Major League Soccer club announced on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Fernandez, who will be Seattle's third designated player, joining Freddie Ljungberg and Blaise Nkufo, played four matches for Uruguay during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
"Alvaro is a versatile player who can play in a number of midfield positions," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "He brings good energy to the game as well as World Cup experience. He can score and also set-up others."
"I'm very excited to be playing in the U.S. because the football has grown a lot in the last few years and keeps getting better," Fernandez said. "Seattle is beautiful and I think it's the ideal place to be with my family. All these things helped in making my decision."
On top of his national team experience, Fernandez is a veteran of top-flight leagues in Uruguay, Mexico, Portugal and Chile.
"My goals are always the same whenever I join a team: try to help, on and off the field; help the club achieve its goals; and, obviously, win championships," Fernandez said. "I believe I can contribute through my experience. I describe myself as a fast, smooth player, who can play on either flank. I am strong in the air, and I work very hard."
"Alvaro is experienced internationally and he has demonstrated a tremendous work rate and great tactical awareness," Sounders technical director Chris Henderson said. "He likes to connect passes, possesses good pace and moves well off the ball."
Fernandez' signing will be finalized upon receipt of his International Transfer Certificate. Per MLS and club policy, terms were not disclosed.
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have reportedly hired Buck Showalter to be their next manager. The Baltimore Sun is one of several media outlets to report the hiring. His first game as manager will be August 3
<< Seahawks sign free-agent G Chester Pitts
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<< Orioles hire Buck Showalter as manager
BALTIMORE (AP) -The Baltimore Orioles have hired Buck Showalter to be their manager.Showalter's first game will be Tuesday night at Camden Yards against the Los Angeles Angels.Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail confirmed the hiri
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ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -Albert Haynesworth has failed his conditioning test and is being forced to sit out the first practice of the Washington Redskins training camp.A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Haynesworth did not
<< 2010 NFL Training Camp Dates
BALTIMORE RAVENS - McDaniel College, Westminster, Md., rookies: July 26/veterans: July 28.BUFFALO BILLS - St. John Fisher College, Pittsford, N.Y., both July 29.CINCINNATI BENGALS - Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky., both July 28.CLEVELAND BROWNS
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston's Roy Oswalt has agreed to waive his no-trade clause, according to multiple media reports, and will be dealt from the Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies. Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia
Orioles hire Showalter as manager >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have hired Buck
Showalter to be their next manager.
A press conference is scheduled for Monday and Showalter is expected to assume
his role as manager on August 3 to begin a s
Pena, Price lead Rays to sweep of Tigers >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Pena went 3-for-4 with a home
run and drove in all of Tampa Bay's runs, as the Rays completed a four-game
sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-2 victory.
David Price picked up his AL-best
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners headline Haskell >>
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two leading three-year-old colts in the
country top a field of eight for Sunday's $1 million Haskell Invitational at
Monmouth Park. Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and Preakness champ Lookin At
Lucky w
Mets take rubber match from Cards thanks to Dickey, Davis >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Ike Davis hit a three-run homer and
knuckballer R.A. Dickey went 8 1/3 innings, as the New York Mets earned a 4-0
win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game set at
Citi Fi
FOOTBALL BETTING LINES
NFL Football Sports BettingTwo playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
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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