Crew, Chivas clash before losing U.S. players

Soccer Betting Lines

05/14/2010 - Columbus, Ohio (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus is one of just two undefeated teams remaining in MLS but, like the unbeaten Los Angeles Galaxy, the Crew are about to face a spell without some of their top players.

Columbus defender Chad Marshall and midfielder Robbie Rogers were selected for the United States' pre-World Cup training camp and, if they earn a spot on the final 23-man roster, would miss at least five MLS games.

The Crew, who have three wins and two ties, host Chivas USA on Saturday in the last game before the U.S. players start training in Princeton, N.J.

While L.A. star Donovan is a lock to remain with the U.S. through June's World Cup, Marshall and Rogers are fringe players hoping for a coveted roster spot.

Regardless of whether the Columbus duo makes the final cut, they will miss MLS games in late May against New York, Kansas City, Los Angeles. If they make the cut, Marshall and Rogers will miss June matches against San Jose and Colorado.

Depending on how well the U.S. does in South Africa, Columbus and other squads could be without players even after the league goes on break in mid-June.

Columbus has three more matches scheduled before the end of the World Cup, but that would require the U.S. to make a run in the knockout stage.

With the uncertainty of the next few weeks, Columbus needs to continue its hot start against Chivas, which loses defender Jonathan Bornstein and midfielder Sacha Kljestan to U.S. camp after this weekend's match at Crew Stadium.

"They've really got to have a sharp camp because they are probably two bubble guys," Columbus defender and World Cup veteran Frankie Hejduk said about his teammates. "I think (both) can help the team do well in South Africa."

First, both have to focus on getting Columbus three points before they join up with the U.S.

"It's still important that I work hard with my team here in Columbus and get better," Rogers said on the league's website. "I have a lot to prove."

Columbus has three wins in as many games at home, while Chivas has a win and a draw in four road matches.

Bornstein and Kljestan are more likely to make the last U.S. World Cup roster, making their last appearances for Chivas before the tournament just as huge.

Chivas has only three games before the World Cup but, with four losses in its first eight matches, needs to get as many points as possible as well.

"We hope to go to Columbus and bring back three points. I think we have a good chance against Columbus," Mariano Trujillo said on the league's website.

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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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