Bayern signs Swiss starlet Shaqiri from Basel
Soccer Betting Lines
02/09/2012 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich acquired Switzerland starlet Xherdan Shaqiri from Basel on Thursday and signed him to a four-year contract.
The 20-year-old Shaqiri will join Bayern this summer on a contract through the 2015-16 season. He debuted for Basel in 2009, and helped lead the squad to the last 16 of the Champions League this season, where it will face Bayern.
"Xherdan's intelligent play and dribbling skill will add to our team's strength next season," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said. "I've been observing him for a while now, and I'm convinced he can become a very important player for FC Bayern."
Shaqiri debuted for Switzerland and has played 17 times and scored four goals. Although the transfer fee was not officially announced, various reports have put the number at around $15 million.
After leading Basel through the group stage of the Champions League with a win over Manchester United, Shaqiri was coveted by most of Europe's top clubs.
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim and coach Holger Stanislawski have parted way following the club's exit from the Pokal Cup, it was announced Thursday. Hoffenheim has struggled under Stanislawski, who took over before the se
<< Symetra Tour announces 2012 slate
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Symetra Tour announced its schedule
for the 2012 season on Thursday.
The schedule for the LPGA's developmental tour will have 16 events in 12
states and one in Mexico, and includes a purse of
<< Swansea signs coach Rodgers to long-term deal
Swansea, Wales (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swansea City signed coach Brendan Rodgers to
a 3 1/2-year contract extension Thursday through the 2014-15 season.
Rodgers, 39, led the Wales club to the Premier League in his first full season
and has the cl
<< Ticats reach deals with pair of receivers
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tiger-Cats signed Bakari Grant to a
contract extension that will keep the receiver in Hamilton through the 2014
season.
Grant caught 42 passes for 507 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie l
<< U.S. will host friendly against Brazil in May
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. men's national team will host five-
time World Cup champion Brazil in a friendly on May 30 in Landover, Md. during
final preparations for 2014 World Cup qualifying.
The U.S. opened the year with win
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks avoided arbitration on Thursday with Craig Breslow, signing the veteran reliever to a one-year contract. The D-Backs acquired the 31-year-old lefty and starting pitcher Trevor C
Bayern's Schweinsteiger tears ankle ligament >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich and German midfielder Bastian
Schweinsteiger faces another layoff after tearing an ankle ligament in a Pokal
Cup win over Stuttgart, the club announced Thursday.
Schweinsteiger, who was sidel
Hawks sign Erick Dampier >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have added some depth to a
banged-up front line by signing veteran center Erick Dampier to a 10-day
contract.
Centers Al Horford and Jason Collins are both sidelined with injuries, le
England names Pearce interim coach >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England named Stuart Pearce interim coach
Thursday, one day after Fabio Capello resigned.
Pearce will manage England against Netherlands in a friendly later this month,
while the English FA searches for a
Real Madrid's Altintop sustains calf injury >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid's Hamit Altintop has sustained a
muscle tear in his left calf and will likely be sidelined for a few weeks, the
La Liga club announced Thursday.
Although Real Madrid gave no exact timetable for
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
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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