Mitchell: Crew can't afford to keep GBS next year

Buried in today's article:

Edit: Sigi is slightly more optimistic in Mitchell's blog, but vague. It could mean we trade his rights or some such "solution".

He'll only spend big money on useless big names

See Hislop, Shaka and Denilson

Exactly, and I'm sure we can offload some salary, although with Noonan's salary added, who knows how close we are to the cap. But if Clark wants to keep winning, and one has to think that he can do 2+2 and see the value of a winner with increased ticket sales, and a stage that helps add to the profitability, he will get the money for Guille, I think $750,000 is not out of the realm of possibility if we make the playoffs, and he is in MVP contention. That's less than what we offered McJudas, I believe.

Is it time to pass the hat around Nordecke?

from the quoted portions it looks like it has to do with cap space. Not that Guille is asking for more money. And even if he's made a DP 400,000 counts against cap.

That was the impression I got - that it's more a cap issue than a dollars issue.

Damnitdamnitdamnit. We have to figure something out.

The title of this thread is way off base.

First, Sigi says, basically, we'll be able to work something out.

Second, Guille says "I choose Columbus." Which, by the way, is a breath of fresh freaking air compared to the pissing and moaning that often swirls around here related to Columbus' so-called inferiority complex in attracting talent. Let's re-state this for emphasis: One of the most revered players in Argentine soccer history loves playing in Columbus, OH, likes living here, wants he and his family to stay. This is not a small thing, people.

Third, it's a little early for Sigi to start renegotiating Guille's contract, at least publicly. And that's the thing; Sigi, to his credit, is very, very tight lipped when it comes to his players.

Fourth, we have no idea what the cap will be next year, but chances are it'll go up a bit.

The Crew will want to retain almost everyone from this season, and some of those guys will deserve/need a raise; Rogers, for example, and I can't see Moffat sticking around for $18K.

Quite a few players - Moreno, Frankie, Noonan, Ekpo, Gaven, Carroll, Chad, Migs, Padula, O'Rourke (who I don't consider irreplaceable) - are pretty much where they'll be next year, salary-wise. Not sure about Hesmer.

There was no transfer fee for Noonan, though we gave NE some allocation cash for him. I'm sure the "war chest" is depleted, but I doubt Sigi spent every last penny on acquiring Noonan.

Oh, and we have a DP slot available and EZ is retiring.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over our inability to afford Guille next season. Not saying it'll be easy, but I think Sigi's crafted this team very deliberately and knows how to live within his means under MLS' roster and cap rules.

A side note from mitchell's blog, did anyone else find this funny? The way he worded it just amused me.

Yeah, Ekpo swung by Nigeria to pick up a bonus check. Mail and Direct Deposit must not be very reliable in Nigeria.

To me the remark in the article is very disturbing. I'm not sure why people think this is a cap issue - can you explain? To me it looks very much like money/willingness to spend it. We don't have free money from the league - therefore we don't know how we are going to pay him. There's the strong implication in this article that the owners won't pay up although Sigi is optimistic "something" will work out.

And while GBS likes CLB, he's not ruling out a transfer to another team in MLS. In others words, Minnman's points one or two don't matter because those two people don't write the checks for the Crew. The fourth point, I still don't see how this is a cap issue. As for the third point, you're right, Sigi is tight lipped about players. Don't you think it's odd he'd speak to Mitchell on this issue now? Maybe he's a little worried about things. Dunno.

Actually the solution is quite simple. We change our name to the L. A. Crew and then we get whatever we want. Oh yeah, but then we would suck.

Keep in mind, MLS has some wacky ways of getting around the rules. We could always trade Andy Iro for "allocation money" or "extra cap space" from some other team. If Schelotto wants to stay here, we'll figure out a way to keep him here.

Hell, if we don't make Schelotto our Designated Player, we could probably trade our DP slot to some other team for a helluva lot of allocation money. There you go, problem solved.

Except all money is "free money from the league" except what a team pays a DP player above 400K. Otherwise all contracts are with the league and paid for by the league. They spent allocation money to buy down his cap hit.

The fact that he's saying he likes Columbus and wants to stay, while great, is one that I'm taking with a grain of salt. He made lots of noise about wanting to return to argentina last off season. And even if much of what we got upset about was due to poor translations, he does "say the right things" to whoever he's talking about. Now if it's confirmed he's initiated the process to get a green card, then great, maybe he means it. I'm hopeful, but not counting on him returning for one more year.

While I don't expect public negotiations, it's not out of the norm for a team and player to say they're trying to get a deal done for the next season during the last year of a players contract. Nor is it abnormal for the press to ask questions about the future of teams best player.

It thought it was the first 400k counted against the cap and above 400k it didn't for your DP.

Or am I backwards. West Ham's way doesn't seem to make sense.

Last off season his kids weren't in KinderCare.

All they have to do is ask for the advice of the Galaxy to figure out what they do. Problem solved.

Isn't that what I said? League pays the first 400k, which also counts agianst the cap. Team pays anything above that, which doesn't count against the cap.

Did I say something other than that?

No, I misread your post. You are correct. I mentally omitted "from the league" and took free money to mean "against the cap.

Originally Posted by west ham sandwich
Except all money is "free money from the league" except what a team pays a DP player above 400K. Otherwise all contracts are with the league and paid for by the league. They spent allocation money to buy down his cap hit.

First off, I agree that the title of the thread is extremely misleading. Mitchell said no such thing.

Second, the claim we can't afford a $415k hit on the cap for Guille is also bunk (at least according to my math and understanding of the cap rules). The former is solid, the latter a bit shaky.

Third, the proof and some reasons. If one looks at the salary numbers below, Guille is already counting 250K (Min) against our cap (the compensation # can't be the cap number, else he's over the max salary already). A DP counts $415. We are "only" talking about an increase of $165 K of cap. Add in the fact that DP's are immune from the expansion draft, hence, if we make Guille the DP, we can actually protect 12 players, not 11. (If I'm reading the rules correctly). That's a good investment.

Also, in the early days of DP, a DP signing "in season" counted less against the cap than one made during the off season. I could find no trace of this distinction in the rules, but remember it clearly. If it still exists, it would behoove the Crew to make the DP designation in season and lessen the cap hit.

Here's our 2008 salary info, the cap is rumored to be around $2.3 million. You know it will go up some next year (at least another 100k/200k).

Total Base Salary 2008 = $1,888,073 = $411,927 worth of cap room. Easy fit.
Total Guaranteed Comp (not the cap number) = 2,167,573 = $132,427 worth of cap room.
We only need an additional $165k for Guille.

SENIOR ROSTER PLAYERS
RANK PLAYER NAME POSITION BASE SALARY GUARANATEED COMPENSATION
1. Schelotto Guillermo Barros F $250,000 $375,000
2. Hejduk Frankie D $150,000 $175,000
3. Gaven Eddie M $165,000 $165,000
4. Marshall Chad D $125,000 $148,000
5. Padula Gino D $120,000 $145,000
6. Moreno Alejandro F $126,000 $131,000
7. Carroll Brian M $122,500 $126,250
8. Ekpo Emmanuel M $101,500 $123,750
9. Miglioranzi Stefani M $76,200 $84,200
10. Oughton Duncan D $75,600 $75,600
11. Hendrickson Ezra D-M $72,000 $72,000
12. Hesmer William GK $70,000 $70,000
13. O'Rourke Danny M $59,147.81 $69,147.81
14. Garey Jason F $48,125 $60,625
15. Iro Andy D $36,000 $53,500
16. Evans Brad F $33,000 $33,000
17. Gruenebaum Andy GK $33,000 $33,000
18. Noonan Pat F/M (Estimated!): $225,000 $227,500 (2007 Revs Salary)

The only real people who jump out as overpaid are Noonan and Gaven, who make nearly $400k (DP) money between them. I'd not be surprised to see one or the other go, or take a cut.

Playes who are in for a raise. Rogers (58k: Dev), Moffat (18k, Dev) and Evans (33k, Sen) come to mind. If Robbie is a GA (I'm unsure) we may be able to get away with giving him a bump and keeping him off the books. Still, he's had a good year, but shouldn't be in the 150k range. He hasn't scored for two months. Moffat and Evans play the same position, and both deserve a bump, but not a huge one. Look for Moffat and Rogers to be on the Senior roster replacing Ezra and Oughton, who may be waived.

Other players who may be cut/retire. Oughton (75.6k, Sen), Hendrickson (72k), Miglioranzi (84k), and Garey (60k). I love Duncan, but it appears as if Carroll, Miglioranzi, Moffat, Evans, and probably O'Rourke are all ahead of him at CM. Either a pay cut or release is in his future, and Sigi doesn't remember when he was the heart and soul (though Bob does). Ezra will likely retire. And Miglioranzi seems awfully well paid for the backup LB/DM, though still a useful piece. If Noonan and Sigi stick around, it's hard to see how Garey stays on for 60k as the 4th forward (Moreno, GBS, Noonan) and when we have cheaper (Lenhart, Josten, Pierre-Louis) or other tactical (Rogers, Ekpo, Gaven) players who can also play up top when needed. If Noonan or Gaven leave, or Sigi sours on the youngsters, he probably stays. Still, his base (48k) isn't that heavy, so he may stick around.


DEVELOPMENTAL ROSTER: DON'T COUNT VS. SALARY BUDGET!
1. Rogers Robbie F-M $57,500 $57,500 (GA?)
2. Zayner Jed D $36,300 $43,800 (GA)
3. Moffat Adam M $17,700 $17,700: Season Ending DL
4. Pierre-Louis Ricardo F $17,700 $17,700
5. Schoeni Kenny GK $17,700 $17,700
6. Lenhart Steven F $12,900 $12,900
7. Peterson Andrew D $12,900 $12,900
8. Junge Ryan D $12,900 $12,900
9. Elenio Cory M $12,900 $12,900 On 6 WK DL
10. Josten George F $12,900 $12,900
11. Burns Kevin M $12,900 $12,900.00: On Season Ending DL
12. Miller Ryan M-D $12,900 $12,900
13. Plotkin, Brian M (Estimated!): $30,000 $30,000 (2007 Salary in Chicago)

If anyone has better info on salary cap rules and regs, feel free to drop some knowledge on the rest of us peons.

EDIT: Salary info from 2008/2007 Players Union site.

Amen brother, you got that right. Still, I don't think too many defenders are making $150k now. The list at 200k is probably even shorter (Conrad, Parkhurst).

I don't think we can do much more than 50k more, do you? If he gets a big $$ offer from Europe, the extra 100k here isn't going to make that much difference, is it?

The only things that confuse me about your salary breakdown, TC, are:

1) We can't make Guille a pro-rated DP, mid-season and still gain the advantage of that extra protected roster spot during the expansion draft.

2) Are we sure that base salary corresponds to cap salary? I'm glad we have these numbers now, I'm just not sure how much faith to put in them. We know Guille's salary was 'bought down' with allocation $ so that he'd not be a DP. But it was reported that his annual compensation is about $1 million (http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten.../18/crew0418.ART_ART_04-18-07_F1_H06DSKO.html), so I'm not quite sure how to gauge the numbers re: Guille.

I agree, though that, in general, I'm optimistic the Crew can hold the club together - cap wise - and still keep Guille. And, personally, I saw nothing in the articles I've read that implied HSG won't cough up the cash to pay GBS DP wages.