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Franklin's earned run average has skyrocketed to 8.46 this season as opposed to a 3.46 ERA and a 6-2 record last season.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated infielder Darwin Barney from the 15-day disabled list and granted pitcher Doug Davis his unconditional release Wednesday. Barney was placed on the disabled list with a left knee sprain he suffered June 13 against Milwaukee.
His lone win came on June 17 against the New York Yankees when he allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings, snapping a six-game personal losing streak.
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros made several roster moves Wednesday, as announced by general manager Ed Wade. Outfielder Jason Bourgeois was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad. Bourgeois left Tuesday's game against the Rangers in the eighth inning after tweaking the quad. In 45 games this season for Houston, Bourgeois was hitting .353 with nine RBI and 14 runs scored.
The Astros also recalled pitcher David Carpenter from Oklahoma City and claimed outfielder Luis Durango off waivers.
To make room for Carpenter and Durango, catcher Brian Esposito has been optioned to Oklahoma City and pitcher Alberto Arias has been transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.
Lowe (4-6) gave up one run, four hits and three walks to notch his first win since beating Philadelphia on May 6. He had gone 0-3 with a 5.29 ERA in his previous nine starts.
Freddie Freeman drove in two runs as part of a three-hit performance for the Braves, who have won eight of their last 10 games.
Three straight two-out hits by Freeman, Dan Uggla and Brooks Conrad produced the game's first run in the fourth. Conrad's ground ball up the middle came after Uggla had beaten out an infield single.
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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