Untouchables : De Rosario $650,000 Hamid $80,000 - Still roster exempt? Should get a raise at some point Najar $180,000 - Also still roster exempt I think Kitchen $170,000 Korb $45,000 - A small raise is due here. Woolard $55,000 Jakovic $225,000 Willis $45,000 De Leon $75,000 Pontius $165,000 Saragosa $70,000 McDonald $250,000 - total cap hit : approx 1.5 million Likely to stay : Dykstra 45,000 Neal 45,000 - Expendable, but sooo cheap. Shanosky - $85,000 - Even if roster exempt eventually he has to contribute to earn that salary White - $85,000 - Same as Shanosky potential cap hit : approx .1 million 50/50 : Boskovic $240,000 - Only guaranteed til summer so could only be half that Salihi $485,000 - Ben may try to trade, sell or mutually terminate but may not be so easy Dudar $235,000 - Would need to take pay cut to stay potential cap hit/savings : .7 million Not likely to stay : Santos $110,000 - Journeymen don't stay put Pajoy $195,000 - Same as above potential savings : .3 million Definitely gone : Augusto $45,000 Chabala $80,000 King $65,000 Rozeboom $30,000 Russell $110,000 Tan $45,000 Wolff $80,000 potential savings : .45 million Interesting to note that the true core of the team is only a 1.6 million cap hit on the team not counting Najar and Hamid. BTW how long can we keep those guys exempt from our cap? Our likely savings right off the bat would be about .75 million. Sounds like a lot but that would have to be spread out in at least 6 replacement players. With that money you could make at least a couple of those players over $100,000 which should make them impact players. The real story is in the 3 guys I have listed under 50/50. Not so much Boskovic because he's only a $120,000 cap hit for half season. But if either Salihi or Dudar are moved along, we could be entering speculation territory for a new DP. If both move along, I'd say we're basically guaranteed a new DP.
Team has already said they're trying to extend Augusto's loan. Rozeboom should compete for a spot in the offseason, but FO and Olsen were high on him before and after his injury.
Interesting about Augusto. I guess he's so cheap, it's a small risk. Those Brazilian clubs can be difficult to deal with though ... they may insist that he goes back to Brazil unless we buy him. As for Rozeboom I could see him getting a shot for a roster spot in preseason. At this point I'd be putting my money on Shanosky to fall in line ahead of him in the depth chart.
Good list, Boloni. I'll quibble with it. As far as untouchables, I wouldn't put Saragosa there. It's obvious Olsen thinks highly of him, giving him the captaincy yesterday, but if they want the youngsters to get some PT (Rozeboom, Shanovsky), he could be let go. If it's a King v. Saragosa thing though, I know who I want to stay. Also, don't be surprised to see a trade. Najar is a hot commodity and could fetch something shiny, say to Chivas for Juan Agudelo. If United are offered that, it would be very hard to pass up. With the likely to stay list, if White and Shanosky come off the exempt list, one of them will surely be gone. I think you implied that, though. I'm with you 100% on the not likely to stay list. That's a lot of money there with not enough return, badly needed resources. The only two I think are definitely gone are Chabala and Wolff. I think United views Tan as a project they want to see through. United is thin at FB, so if Russell wants to continue at least United know what they are getting there. Jason touched on Augusto and Rozeboom. King is the next closest to definitely gone, imo.
They wont let go of Saragosa just to give Shanosky and co playing time, I would think. Do these new investors mean we get a little more funds as far as salaries go?
The real question is will there be cap room for a new DP? De Ro and Salihi are both under contract for next year. If they both come back, we may not get an offseason DP. A combination of offloading Dudar and Pajoy could open up a DP roster spot, maybe. That's 1 player for 2 unfortunately. Having 3 DPs is a big risk in this league because it can really decimate your depth. If I was a betting man I'd say : Salihi mutually terminates contract 34% Salihi comes back 25% Salihi has his contract bought out 20% Salihi is sold 15% Salihi is traded 5% Salihi retires 1%
From a more macro level, Ben and the FO need to be planning for a post-DeRo world. Next year will be fine, but I think 2014 will be a very important transitional year. I doubt DeRo will be physically able to be a regular starter by that point. For this next season, the team is in a relatively enviable position. They can look to make upgrades in a few spots, but there really is no need to do a substantial change in the roster. You could take this exact same team and put them on the field next year, and they would again be competing for MLS Cup (especially considering how young players like DeLeon, Kitchen and Najar are all on an upwars trajectory). The FO can be opportunistic in the offseason, but doesn't need to take any major risks. Now, if the investment group wants to capitalize on this year's success by bringing in a name player as DP #3, I'm not going to complain. The area they need to look at the most in the offseason are the forwards. Not sure what will happen with Salihi, but replacing much of the current crop of forwards wouldn't bother me.
For anyone saying/having said/will say lose Dudar, he is a quality center back. He may make slightly more than Jakovic or McD, but they all make essentially the same amount of money. It's important to have 3 good center backs, and I would pay for it.
Well in my fantasy world I would keep Dudar too. And I would keep him at a reduced salary. I think his contract was only a year, so we could resign him closes to $175,000. Otherwise the FO may prefer to cut him loose and replace him with a younger and cheaper CB. It is unusual in this salary cap league to have a backup CB over 30 making $235,000 In my fantasy world I would keep Salihi too. If you get rid of Pajoy, Santos, Wolff and Tan, you open up $430,000 of salary cap space. With that money we can bring in a brand new mix of strikers that would complement Salihi better.
Im assuming Christian Wilhelmson is not a DP? If that's the case, I'd prefer DC go that route [unless their's a chance we could get Eto'o or Kaka [] at our club] of signing players from Europe who are not DP's. Can we get a Jason Roberts? or a Shaun Wright Phillips on a non DP contract? [highly unlikely]
Yeah, unless they can replace him with someone who is cheaper and/or better, I don't see him leaving. Penny-pinching on the defense doesn't strike me as a wise move. They're what kept the team alive when the goals dried up in the latter part of the season. I would say the same thing about Russell- unless there's an obvious upgrade available, keep him on the roster. IMO, the defense needs the least amount of tinkering in the off-season.
Red Bulls just released Jan Gunnar Solli. He was only making $185,000. Out of contract we could probably get him at under $150,000. He has international pedigree and MLS experience. Would be an upgrade over Russell IMO and more versatile. Could be a veteran cover for Najar and De Leon on the right.
Agree about Dudar, but I see no use in keeping Russell. For me Najar should have that RB spot locked down and Russell is just too old and expensive for a backup RB. I feel good about starting 2013 with Woolard on the left, Najar on the right, Korb as first sub for both and maybe Neal as the depth ...
I keep forgetting about Woolard. Hope he makes a complete recovery. I'd still want a second dedicated defender as a sub for the wings, though. Neal is a great bargain. I assume he's sticking around unless he gets a better offer.
I think giving Korb up as a starter is a tough call to make. He was beastly both on his defensive work as well as his offensive forays. He's been putting in some really quality crosses and some impressive shots on goal, and he's getting better at spotting promising runs.
This, 1000X this. I watched him pick Will Bruin's & other Dynamos' pockets 3-4 times, last night, in our own penalty area. Without fouling. And, with retaining possession and passing the ball to an open teammate, to start attacks. Someone else saw him ball-watching on Houston's goal. I saw him reacting slowly to their attack, which comes when you don't play a lot. He is the best, pure defender on the team, IMHO. If I had to choose a defender on physical attributes, it would be McDonald. If I had to choose a defender on soccer skills, it would be Dudar, hands down.
I think DeRo needs to have a pay cut down to 500K. I think if asked he would take it. Salihi should ask if he is in the plans as a starter, if not I think he leaves and goes back to Europe. I would love to see him stay and start with Boskovic (how about that 90 minutes on Sunday). I would love to see an offense with Bosko, DeRo, Pontius, DeLeon, Salihi, Kitchen. I think we would score a ton of goals with that lineup on the field. James
I can't see DeRo taking a pay cut. Why would he? He's nearing the end of his career and any contract he enters into after this one will be for less money.
I don't think Korb necessarily loses his spot. I think in preseason he and Woolard should go in 50/50 and whoever has the best preseason starts on day 1. Right now I lean slightly towards Woolard just because he's left footed and a stronger defender. Korb on the other hand covers more ground. I could see a scenario where they split time depending on the opponent. Also Korb could get his time on the right to cover for Najar ... and even De Leon. I mean if De Leon goes down, most likely it's Najar moving up which leaves that RB spot open
Not going to happen. De Ro's been lobbying for this contract his whole career. He won't give it up now ...
I don't have time to get into everything right now, but I just want to put this idea out there: Korb could turn himself into a L/R defensive midfielder next year. I would love that option to either move him around the field, or from off the bench. It would help this team tactically a great deal.
Florian Lechner is out in New England. He was only making $45,000 there. Would be an upgrade over Chabala for half the price. Would be about the equivalent of Russell for almost 1/3rd of the price.
Here's the thing to know here. If the team unloads one or two DP deals (not clear if the team will be able to use allocations next year to buy down DeRo's contract again), the new ownership means we can finally afford to pay the money to bring in a real impact DP that might do for us whatKeane did for LA. However, there is a real limit to what our new riches can do, especially if we don't clear a DP contract, but even if we do. It was gratifying to finish 2nd in the East, and then thrilling to get to the conference finals. However, the way the playoffs unfolded really leaves us screwed. We don't get the bonus for playing in CCL, or for winning MLS Cup. Also, our finish -- 3rd in MLS means we get a lower regular allocation than all but KC and SJ, who are going to be in CCL play and will get those allocations. Unless we acquire allocations from other teams, United may actually have the lowest cap number in MLS next year. That doesn't leave a lot of flexibility to improve.