2013-2014 Columbus Crew Offseason Roster Thread

With Berhalters talk about the roster, I get the feeling AP blew his wad buying the team and upgrading the seats. He's saying how he likes the current roster and DPs aren't always needed, etc. I think AP has told him his financial means are near his comfort zone so don't let your eyes get too big.

 

I thought the reason that Luke Rogers never went back to New York was that he was unable to re-enter the country

 

The seats were already on the stadium renovation plan before he bought the team.

 

Is this MLSTumors renamed? God I hope so. There is no place for Luke Rodgers here.

 

No - They actually seem to be fairly accurate....

 

Every new coach says they like the guys on the roster before they release half of them. It's the polite thing to do, especially in the weeks before you even have a staff in place.

 

What connections does he have? Swedish f-ing 2nd division players?

 

Oduro gets a raise and the other two get 2 year extensions. I like it.

 

I'm also on board with Luke Rodgers. As I remember, he impressed with NYRB a few years ago and they considered his visa issues a solid setback in their plans.

Re-signing Andy will be interesting. Either it's a sign and trade or (and I think this is more likely), Berhalter sees the Hammer as the starter with Lampson getting another season of understudy work.

 

I see us keeping Andy.

We currently spend the least amount of $ in MLS on GKs. The basic rule of thumb that we (and a lot of other teams) have adopted as this:

1 Keeper (for just about every team, the starter) making a good chunk of money (usually around 140k)
1 Keeper making significantly less (for some teams, that is the 46,500 minimum; for others, it is a bit more (around 60-70k)
1 Keeper making the minimum (for some teams that is the 46,500 minimum, for others, it is the 36,125 minimum)

(there are some teams that spend SIGNIFICANTLY more on their goalkeepers, but this looks to be our plan going forward)

So basically, we are going to have a 3rd keeper making 36,125- that may be Withrow, that may be another new, young guy next year. No reason to spend more on that 3rd spot unless we REALLY like someone who has lots of potential (like if we sign a homegrown like Carter Richardson).

Now, between our #1 and #2 keepers, we've got quite a bit of $ to spend. If we were like most teams, we'd end up dropping a little less than 200k between our #1 and #2. However, I don't think anyone really knows who is going to be our starter next year. Even if they are leaning towards Lampson, I don't think they're sure enough about him RIGHT NOW to just hand him the reigns and they'll be looking to bring Andy back anyways. This helps in negotiations with Andy because he has an injury history and we don't absolutely NEED him, so we don't have to overpay to get him. He is comfortable here. I'm guessing we re-sign Andy for around 90k (basically what he is currently making). That way we're only spending around 135k between our top 2 keepers, which will be the least in the league and significantly less than the average club.

As far as the length of the deal, I'd make it however long Lampson's current deal has left .If Matt has 2 years left on his deal, I'd sign Andy for 2 years. If Matt has 1 year, I'd sign Andy for 1. The basic plan would be that when Matt's deal is up, he'll hopefully be a better keeper and ready to take over the #1 spot, which will cost us a bit more money. But then we can raise his salary (to around 100k or so), release Andy (or keep Andy around for only 50k or so) and still have lots of wiggle room financially to add to the rest of the roster.

At least, that's what I'd do.

 

Lampson deserves a raise if he's in the mix to start and is getting paid like a first contract backup. It would also be desirable to not have their contracts end at the same time. I'd do something like:

Withrow: he's probably entitled to a small raise in his second year.
Gruenebaum: 80K plus 2K in bonus per start. That's 148K if he's the full year starter, 80K if he's a full time backup.
Lampson: Also 80K plus 2K per start.

That would end up costing something like 230K for the season regardless of who starts

 

I don't think it is called for to pay Lampson the same base rate as you are paying Andy, who at this point is the second longest tenured player on the Crew roster. Andy deserves decent money. Matt is still a backup, still in his understudy phase. If Andy doesnt get hurt last year, Lamp doesnt get those starts. Andy is the number 1, plain and simple, pay him like the number 1. People around here seem used to having Andy as the loveable backup who is willing to just grin and bear it... but the guy is quality too and has a right to get paid what he is worth and be a starter.

 

Given how free agency and MLS contracts are structured, why would you want to spend that much when we don't have to?

The league's minimum gets raised every year (I forgot what the % is, but it goes up annually). So guys making the minimum (Lampson/Withrow) will get a slight raise. There is no reason to renegotiate Lampson's deal quite yet- I'm sure Matt would love a beefy long-term deal, but why do that now? He'll be taken care of when the time comes.

Last season, and likely next season, we spent $175,511.67 on our 3 keepers. I see no reason to spend any more than that. If Andy wants anything over 110k, let him go- he is good, but I'd rather have Lampson as the starter and free up a ton of money bringing in an additional minimum 2nd/3rd stringer than have a lot of $ tied up in Andy. Andy doesn't have other options besides accepting our deal (thanks to the free agency process), forcing a trade (he'd have decent value), or going overseas (he has never struck me as the type of guy who wants to leave).

 

Berhalter may change it but Lampson remained the starter after the Hammer was healthy. In other words Lampson beat out Gruenebaum for the starting job under Bliss. The starter should make more than the backup regardless of seniority. Under my suggestion, whoever starts will make more money than the one who doesn't.

 

I think that was more of a case of trying to ride the hot keeper and hope for the best than it was him actually beating out Andy for the job.

 

It would actually cost around 270K for all 3 keepers but that's not terribly expensive. If Lampson remains the starter he should be paid like it. If Gruenebaum wins the job back, then he'll be paid more than his backup. If we kept Lampson and Withrow on their current deals and gave the Hammer a new one, we might end up with a highly paid backup. I doubt he'd sign a deal that isn't guaranteed for at least the first year. Maybe we can find a good replacement somewhere but getting a starting national team keeper for 46K like the Galaxy did isn't easy.

 

Fair point but if Lampson was the hot hand, he deserves to be paid more than 46K while Gruenebaum got 93K on the sideline. Maybe instead of 80K base it should be a bit lower but in any event the starter should make more than the backup regardless of seniority.

 

I don't disagree with you, when his contract is up and we re-sign him he deserves to get rewarded for proving he can be a starting keeper in this league.

 

But why spend the extra 100k if we don't have to? That 100k can go to another very solid player (making around 150) rather than a guy worth 50k.

Matt and Andy both probably deserve raises. And I don't disagree with your valuation of each of them. But when you're working with a salary cap, there is no reason to spend more than you have to when you can avoid it. With Matt still on a minimum salary and with Andy never earning a HUGE salary (where he'd think he was being slighted if we offered him less than 150k), we have a good opportunity to keep both on the roster for less than they're probably worth, evaluate their development over the next year or 2, and use the cash we saved to bolster the rest of the squad (which certainly needs more help than the GK position).

 

The way I look at it is we should want to pay for performance. Inevitably some guys will come out underpaid and others overpaid but we should aspire to pay for results. Gruenebaum didn't make much during the years he was Hesmer's backup, then after he became the starter he got a raise to 93K. Lampson was signed as a homegrown project player. Withrow as a late draftee bubble guy. So none of them are paid much.

Withrow hasn't shown anything in first team play. He looked competent in reserve league play that I saw but not like the next big thing. So keep him at his minimal pay.

Lampson mostly played well in the reserve league and did well in first team play when thrown into battle. Bliss made him the starter over Gruenebaum when Andy was healthy. Even if people think Andy was still dinged up at the end of the season and expect him to win back the starting job, nobody would object to an open competition for the job next year. Lampson might very well win that competition. It seems more likely that he will raise his game than the Hammer will at this point in their careers.

Gruenebaum may well return to his form of 2011. But he might not either. If Lampson wins the starting job, AG may be expendable if his contract isn't guaranteed. One of the questions for the Crew this offseason is how much the 3 out of contract guys are worth. I don't think AG is worth a guaranteed raise from the 93K he made last year. I think he should be on some sort of prove it deal. Same with Lampson who does deserve a raise from his 46K since he proved he is a competent MLS keeper still with some upside.

You are of course correct that we need to maximize the value of our cap space but I'd rather do it by moving some of the higher paid players on. Arrieta, Marshall, Glauber didn't live up to their salaries last year. I'd ask Marshall to take a paycut to something like what Aurelio Collin makes, about 260K. He may not go for it. I'd just cut Arrieta and give his salary to Oduro. I'd cut Glauber and look for a replacement. Last year Ike Opara was available and he only makes 90K and is decent. Williams was inexpensive at 52K but also inconsistent and not necessarily a starter. Gaven is unfortunately gone. O'Rourke should be asked to take a cut. Sanchez and Horton are already gone. The Crew should look for a DP forward (or attacking midfielder if Higuain is going to play up top for Berhalter). We have plenty of cap space. There are always decent, inexpensive vets available in the waiver and re-entry drafts. Supposedly our new coach has good contacts overseas.

 

That is one of the other issues with the cap (and why I didn't want Bliss back): I think we take too huge of a cap hit if we release any of those guys. Arrieta is worth his $ when he is on, but he wasn't worth half his salary last year. Marshall is great, but he is being paid just less than a DP and is a boo-boo away from retiring. Glauber is horrifically overpaid, but I'm guessing his contract is guaranteed. O'Rourke should have to take a cut- no reason for him to make 190k even if he is healthy all year (if healthy and utilized on the backline, he is worth around 140).

As far as decent, inexpensive vets being available, I disagree. I like having a guy like Tyson Wahl on our roster- he is experienced and doesn't cost much. But you can't rely on any guys available through re-entry to really contribute to your squad if you want to be successful. I was happy with the Wahl signing as long as he played less than 1,000 minutes (not over 2k).

 

I thought it was 850

 

By decent inexpensive vets I mean guys that are good backups. They don't cost much and have experience. There's also the roster compliance swap meet too. Last year I thought we might get Josh Gardner back but we got a similar value in Wahl. Opara and Brunner changed teams for a pittance last offseason. Instead we bring in Glauber who makes a lot more than both those guys combined and isn't necessarily better.