MLS announces First XI for All-Star Game

Soccer Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States star Landon Donovan highlighted a list of four Los Angeles Galaxy players named to Major League Soccer's All- Star First XI on Tuesday.

L.A.'s Edson Buddle, Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts were also selected to the team, which will be filled out by 10 coaches' picks and two Commissioner's selections to be announced Monday.

The MLS All-Stars will face English Premier League giant Manchester United on July 28 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas at 8:30 p.m. (ET).

Donovan, who helped the U.S. win its group in the FIFA World Cup last month in South Africa, has been selected as an All-Star in each of his 10 years in the league.

Due to international competitions, the MLS All-Star Game Day roster will be 23 players as opposed to the 18 players used in the past. No Seattle Sounders FC players will be available for the game day roster, but can be named All-Stars.

Los Angeles Galaxy manager Bruce Arena will coach the MLS All-Stars.

The First XI, consisting of one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards, received the most votes at their respective positions from four groups - fans, players, media, and coaches/general managers.

Following is the complete 2010 MLS All-Star First XI:

Goalkeeper: Donovan Ricketts (Los Angeles Galaxy).

Defenders: Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jamison Olave (Real Salt Lake).

Midfielders: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire), Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew).

Forwards: Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy).

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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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