http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/April 1, 2014 Salary Information - By Club.pdf Players in bold are obvious discussion points. Akpan Andre F $ 51,333 Alexander Eric $ 128,750 Bitolo Ambroise $ 36,500 Bover Ruben $ 36,500 Bustamante Michael $ 48,825 Cahill Tim M $ 3,625,000 Castano Santiago GK $ 36,500 Christianson Ian $ 48,825 Convey Bobby $ 147,500 Duvall Chris $ 36,504 Eckersley Richard$ 373,333 Henry Thierry $ 4,350,000 Kimura Kosuke$ 105,000 Lade Connor $ 61,963 Lozano Armando $ 130,000 Luyindula Peguy $ 90,000 McCarty Dax $ 242,500 Meara Ryan $ 69,500 Miazga Matt$ 71,250 Miller Roy $ 200,000 Obekop Marius $ 41,500 Olave Jamison $ 290,000 Robles Luis $ 125,000 Sam Lloyd $ 136,500 Sekagya Ibrahim $ 219,000 Steele Jonny $ 134,996 Stevenson Eric $ 36,504 Wright-Phillips Bradley$ 372,500 The only 2 things I have a problem with here are Miller and BWP. As much as Miller has tortured us in big moments he is otherwise a steady MLS LB which is very hard to find. I don't think he's earned $200k though. He essentially got a $75k raise in the off season, which I think is ridiculous. BWP...WTF??? How on EARTH has he earned that paycheck? If he starts banging in tons of goals I'll understand, and to be fair he's looked half way decent. Not running around like a chicken with his head cut off like Espindola and Cooper were prone to do. But $373K. NO. F#CKING. WAY. Obviously Eck isn't being paid anywhere close to that number since TFC is paying a large part of his wages. Still...how is actually VALUED at that number is a crime. Sekagya and Armando: Holgersson was due for about $300k so their numbers seem justified as long as Armando works out in the long run. He seems a decent player who still needs to settle in (same way Hulk had to). I do worry about cards with him though.
That BWP contract one of the craziest I've ever seen in MLS, he gets a $280k pay increase after 6 months worth of work? He has essentially the same resume as Lloyd Sam, and should be making about the same wage. Is it the baseline or guaranteed salary that goes towards the cap? I've always thought it was the baseline but don't know why...
I don't think there were any real surprises other than Eck, BWP and Miller. As I've stated elsewhere, I know we're not paying Eck that number, but he is pocketing that number. So thank you Paul Mariner, you beautiful idiot, for putting MLS on the hook for close to 400k a year for a run-of-the-mill fullback. I'm shocked at BWP's salary. Just didn't see that one coming. I thought he'd be in that 150-200 range. Just crazy. Miller is also surprising. Why he got such a huge pay raise when more deserving guys did not is beyond me. I think he has been relatively solid over the past season and a half but so have a lot of other guys. Peguy is a real bargain at his price.
Robles and Miller's contracts should be swapped. Peguy is here to hang out with Henry and chill in NYC. Great bit of business there by management. Jeeze Louise though...that BWP contract...Roxburgh's got some 'splainin' to dooooooooo!
Imagine how many more sweater vests Mike could buy if BWP wasn't making so much money. Or maybe football tactic books.
When I look at what Ecks and BWP are making, even if Toronto is paying part of Ecks' salary, it is hard for me to imagine that Soler would have done something so atrocious. Here I had been thinking that Roxburgh was never going to be overpaying for Europeans. It turns out that he is perfectly willing to overpay for Brits. Especially after disposing of Holgersson and Barklage, his decisions on new additions to the team have been atrocious.
Updated: Alexander Eric $ 128,750 *Bitolo Ambroise Oyongo $ 36,500 *Bover Ruben $ 36,500 *Bustamante Michael $ 48,825 Cahill Tim M $ 3,625,000 ($387,500) *Castano Santiago GK $ 36,500 *Christianson Ian $ 48,825 Convey Bobby $ 147,500 *Duvall Chris $ 36,504 Eckersley Richard$ 373,333 Henry Thierry $ 4,350,000 ($387,500) Kimura Kosuke$ 105,000 Lade Connor $ 61,963 Lozano Armando $ 130,000 Luyindula Peguy $ 90,000 McCarty Dax $ 242,500 Meara Ryan $ 69,500 Miazga Matt$ 71,250 Miller Roy $ 200,000 *Obekop Marius $ 41,500 Olave Jamison $ 290,000 Perrinelle Damien $100,008 Robles Luis $ 125,000 Sam Lloyd $ 136,500 Sekagya Ibrahim $ 219,000 Sene Saer $163,683 *Stevenson Eric $ 36,504 Wright-Phillips Bradley$ 372,500 *Off-cap players 28 players. $3,100,000 salary cap. HOWEVER, the total value of the team is $3,801,487!!! How Foxy Roxy managed this I have no idea. Obviously we're paying little to none of some of these guys' salaries. Obvious off-season cuts: Convey Bobby $ 147,500 Eckersley Richard$ 373,333 2 players Total: $520,833 Probable cuts: Cahill Tim M $ 3,625,000 ($387,500) Henry Thierry $ 4,350,000 ($387,500) 2 players Total: $775,000 Tougher to make a decision on: Kimura Kosuke$ 105,000 Lozano Armando $ 130,000 Luyindula Peguy $ 90,000 Olave Jamison $ 290,000 Perrinelle Damien $100,008 Sekagya Ibrahim $ 219,000 Sene Saer $163,683 Wright-Phillips Bradley$ 372,500 8 players Total: $1,470,191 If we totally blew up the roster and all 12 of these players came off our books that would be a savings of $2,766,024. Our salary cap spending would be at $1,035,463. I doubt all these moves happen, but I'd guess at least 6-9 of these guys go. Another thing to think about is that we currently have 8 players off the cap out of a possible 10. *Bitolo Ambroise Oyongo $ 36,500 *Bover Ruben $ 36,500 *Bustamante Michael $ 48,825 *Castano Santiago GK $ 36,500 *Christianson Ian $ 48,825 *Duvall Chris $ 36,504 *Obekop Marius $ 41,500 *Stevenson Eric $ 36,504 This might be a year where we can load up on some good young homegrown/college players. However, if we bring in more than 2 then someone has to get a raise. The obvious choices here are Duvall and Oyongo. I'd also have no problem letting go of Bustamante and Bover. Bustamante is 25 years old. He's no longer a growing prospect and he hasn't earned a single minute of first team PT this year. Bover because he's been downright terrible. So if we made those 4 moves we'd have space for 6 developmental signings (college and/or academy guys). I'd 100% sign homegrown midfielders Sean Davis (Duke, Sr.) and Dan Metzger (Maryland, Sr.). My guess at how next season's roster shapes up: Alexander Eric $ 128,750 Bitolo Ambroise Oyongo $ RAISE ($ 100k?) *Castano Santiago GK $ 36,500 *Christianson Ian $ 48,825 Duvall Chris $RAISE ($ 100k?) Kimura Kosuke$ 105,000 Lade Connor $ 61,963 Lozano Armando $ 130,000 McCarty Dax $ 242,500 Meara Ryan $ 69,500 *Metzger Dan $ 36,504 Miazga Matt $ 71,250 Miller Roy $ 200,000 *Obekop Marius $ 41,500 Olave Jamison $ 290,000 Robles Luis $RAISE ($ 200k?) Sam Lloyd $RAISE ($ 200k?) *Sean Davis $ 36,504 *Stevenson Eric $ 36,504 Wright-Phillips Bradley$ 372,500 18 players total. 14 on cap. 6 off cap. Estimated cap hit: $2,271,463. My conservative guess is that the salary cap is increased to about $4.5 million. Everyone on the Red Bulls roster will get a small % increase in salary so under the scenario above I'd guess we have about $2 million to play with. New signings: IMO you should always have 3 clear choices each position. A starter, a veteran, and an upcoming young talent. There are of course exception. Robles and Meara are both starting quality IMO. Duvall and Oyongo are upcoming talent and starters. That being said with what I wrote above this is how we would shape up: GK: Robles, Meara, Castano RB: Duvall, Armando, ??? CB: Olave, Armando, Miazga CB: ???, Armando, Miazga LB: Miller, Armando, ??? LM: Oyongo, Alexander, Obekop CDM: Dax, Alexander, Metzger CAM: ???, ???, Davis RM: Sam, Alexander, Obekop ST: BWP, ???, ??? ST: ???, ???, ??? So following that I'd spend the $2 million referenced above on: 1 Starting CB 1 Starting CAM 1 Veteran CAM 1 Starting striker 2 Veteran strikers $2 million split 6 ways is $333,333 each. Totally doable. I would draft or sign from the academy 2 strikers and a RB and LB. I'd also look to get our hands on a big time CB prospect in the college draft in case Olave goes down with an injury. The guy is getting up there.
Good analysis @kokoplus10. I completely agree with you on where we should target players this offseason. In your scenario we would have all 3 DP slots to play with and you have to think that RBNY would be thinking about filling at least two of those. My no. 1 priority would be a younger CAM along the lines of Diaz in Dallas. If Austria needs more name recognition then use the second DP spot on someone with international prestige, but please bring in guys who fit into the fabric of the team.
Of course it all depends on what exactly happens with the CBA but I don't think we're in all that much trouble. It might mean a rough year and missing the playoffs but the actual long term core of the team is pretty good with Robles Duvall miazga miller dax alexander sam oyongo and BWP. My only obvious concern is Austria screwing us by not getting this next big crop of talent signed and developed. Whatever else we need we can acquire from somewhere else.
I wonder how exactly the league will react to a sharp increase in the salary cap next year. If teams all of the sudden have an extra million to spend, will there be a huge spending spree this winter, or will teams slowly creep up to the cap over a few seasons?
I'd seriously consider an offer for Scott Thomsen. He's a left back with scoring ability and it gives the team the flexibility to draft players in other areas. I think Petke and Roxburgh will have the greatest flexibility in signing young players and draftees. Moves for foreign players will likely be limited and may have to be net-net. And then of course there's this... Report: “Zero chance” Henry remains with Red Bulls following season Ibarra would be a nice option or at least a way to extract some concessions from Orlando for his rights. I remember the rumor going around in the offseason that they were looking to bring him in. http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/redbulls2.php?article_id=38743
I would encourage our team to "slowly creep". The CBA is going to throw everything out of whack and IMO it's better to be a tortoise than a hare in this circumstance. If we blow all our money on a bunch of Bobby Convey's and Richard Eckersley's we'll be up the creek.
It doesn't seem like management is going for a spree in any case. They may well tell the US management team to make do with less.
I fully expect Garber to totally f#ck us over and simply hand Ibarra to Orlando for something worthless like a supplemental draft player. There's no telling how Ibarra will shape up down the line, but this already reeks of shady MLS closed door shuffling. They'll probably invent a new rule to hand him over to Orlando no questions asked.
Yeah, it could swing that way, but it also could swing the other way. After Osorio, Conde, Duka, Szetala, etc., you have to figure one of these will hit for the Red Bulls. A valid discovery claim is a physical piece of evidence, which may tamp down on the shenanigans. If Orlando had moved for him during the season, they would have been able to pull a fast one, but now that they are transitioning from USL to MLS they have new rules. There is a track record of MLS teams getting compensation for having dibs. A winger may not be the most pressing need, but Orlando is likely to have a fat wad of allocation money and salary cap room in order to cut deals. Picks or allocation money? Given the state of things the allocation money may be more useful, but no matter what, next year is a rebuilding year.
I admire everyones sticktoitivness as it comes to our future and what we should do. I basically think its all over UNTIL we sell. In business, when the companies start checking out from the top, its trickles down fast. Good players with integrity will rather go to clubs that are commited to winning. I really wanted Henry to stick around for one more year BADLY. I love the guy. Now I am glad he is leaving. Can't wait for RB to sell at this point. No hard feelings with Austria at all. Its just hard to get into a team that just wants to tread water as they attempt to sell. DeGrandpre or Houllier in one article said its not hard to see that Henry and Cahill make 9million a year. RB loses 6.5 a year. After they are gone, RB is in the black. This makes them more attractive to seller and more comfortable to have on the books. They are just not going to put money into the team. Basically we will become Philly or Colorado until we can move on.
http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/redbulls2.php?article_id=38743 "The Red Bulls were hoping to bring in Minnesota United midfielder Miguel Ibarra into training camp this offseason as a trialist, but a league source tells BigAppleSoccer.com that the potential transfer fee for the 24-year old was too steep." I expect Don Garber to send $1 million to Minnesota to move Ibarra to Orlando and then claim it was a legit transaction because Red Bull didn't want to spend that kind of money.
Agreed. Makes for a stronger case to sell right now today. ($6,500,000) = current loses $4,350,000 = less Henry $3,625,000 = less Cahill $1,475,000 = 2015 profit $1,475,000 = 2015 profit $1,500,000 = estimated increase in salary cap under the new CBA in 2015 ($ 25,000) = estimated 2015 losses Leaves no room for DP's whatsoever. Not even in the 1-2 million range for guys like Besler and Gonzalez. Which destroys our developmental pyramid. If you have some of the best young talent in the country and can't get them games with a USL side from ages ~18-21 and you can't promise them big money if they stay w/the club long term they are going to pack up their $hit and either go to LA/KC/etc. or go to Europe. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Your negativity is impressive but Ibarra is not a $1M player, nor has MLS ever paid anything approaching that kind of fee for a domestic transfer. Even a $100K out of the allocation pot would be a lot for a player who couldn't make Portland's roster a couple of years ago.
I'm a glass is completely empty type of guy He's not anything to write home about...yet. However, he was a player we were interested in signing so if he ends up having an impact with the national team and then ends up elsewhere I'm calling shenanigans on MLS.
BWP's figures are astounding?! Does anyone know how that compares to his salary in the Championship in the UK? Also the difference between Henry and Cahill is much less than I expected as Henry (even now) is 4X the player of Cahill!
No idea what BWP was making in the Championship, but when they first released his wage earlier this year the fans all kind of raised their eyebrows a bit. The general sense was that he could end up having a breakout season, and now that he has a lot of people would even be OK with him making more.