Barajas leads Dodgers over Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/25/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newly-acquired Rod Barajas hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-3 win over Milwaukee in the opener of a three-game set.

Matt Kemp hit a two-run home run, a 447-foot shot in the second inning off Dave Bush. Barajas, who was acquired from the New York Mets on a waiver claim Sunday, finished the game 3-for-4 for the Dodgers, who have won two of their last three games.

Ted Lilly (8-8) won his fifth consecutive start as he gave up three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 frames.

"That was a good one for us," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "Our catcher the other day had three hits, too. I guess our managers dumb for batting them eighth. The two doubles were a bonus, but the home run was a game-changer. When you get traded sometimes, you're so excited to get to your net team."

Rickie Weeks hit a solo home run while Casey McGehee went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Brewers, who have dropped their past two games. Bush (6-11) was handed the loss as he was charged with five runs on 10 hits over six innings.

"Bush would like to have a couple of pitches back," said Milwaukee manager Ken Macha. "A couple of two-strike breaking balls got too much over the plate and accounted for all their runs. Besides that he pitched good."

The Dodgers went ahead in the second as James Loney led off with a single and Kemp followed with a blast over the center field wall.

The Brewers got a run back in the bottom of the second as Prince Fielder led off with a single and McGehee brought him home with a triple to make it a 2-1 game. McGehee was stranded at third as the next three batters recorded outs.

Milwaukee then went ahead in the fifth. With two outs, Weeks homered to right to tie the game. Alcides Escobar then singled and Ryan Braun's double to left scored Escobar for a 3-2 lead.

Los Angeles, though, surged ahead in the sixth. With two outs, Ronnie Belliard kept the inning alive with a single and Jamey Carroll followed with a single. Barajas then launched a pitch over the left field wall for a 5-3 lead.

Lilly worked around a leadoff double by McGehee in the sixth and got the first out of the seventh before handing the ball to Ronald Belisario, who set down the next two batters.

With one out in the eighth, Fielder doubled, but McGehee lined out to third and Fielder was caught off the bag for the double play to end the frame.

Hong-Chih Kuo came on to close the game and got the first out, but Carlos Gomez laid down a bunt single. Jonathan Lucroy then hit one back to the mound and Kuo's throw to second base went into the outfield, leaving everyone safe. Kuo, though, then got pinch-hitter Corey Hart to pop out and Weeks to strike out and pick up his fifth save of the season.

Game Notes

Former Milwaukee owner and current baseball commissioner Bud Selig was honored with a bronze, 7-foot statue in front of Miller Park on Tuesday...Each team has won twice in the season series...Gomez was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game as he was suffering from a concussion...Lilly has won all five of his starts with Los Angeles since coming to the team from the Cubs.

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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.

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