Union hopes to halt Toronto's unbeaten run

Soccer Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC will be trying to extend its unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday when they visit PPL Park to face the Philadelphia Union.

Toronto recorded a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids last time out with a second-half goal from Fuad Ibrahim, but the young striker will have some more competition for playing time with both Maicon Santos and Mista in the fold.

Santos was picked up from Chivas USA just a few days before the Colorado match, and after looking good in a substitute appearance, he should have head coach Preki considering him for a starting spot.

Mista signed prior to the arrival of Santos, but the 31-year-old had to wait until after July 15 to be eligible because of international transfer rules.

He brings with him a wealth of experience from La Liga, where he played for Real Madrid, Valencia and Deportivo, but Preki has said he will most likely start the game on the bench.

"We will see how the game goes. We have been working on his fitness and he has been trying to push himself," the boss told mlssoccer.com. "I think he is coming along nicely. Are we going to start him? Most likely not. Is he going to see some minutes? Probably he will, but how much he plays will depend on the match."

TFC enters the game in third place in the Eastern Conference table, four points back of second-place Red Bull New York, while the Union will be trying to work its way off the bottom of table in the East.

The Union lost a 2-1 contest to the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend as they conceded a stoppage-time winner to Arturo Alvarez, leaving goalkeeper Chris Seitz to wonder how something like that happens.

"I do not know if people are turning off or what it is," Seitz told mlssoccer.com. "Obviously, in the 90th minute we're not a team at home that's going to push for a tie."

Philadelphia has lost three of its last five games, but the club is playing the second of four successive games at home, where they have earned seven points from four games this season.

Toronto has been in a good run of form lately, but they have won only once in six games away from home.

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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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