If I was drafting a team of MLS players, I would definitely draft both Sarvas and Zardes over Eric Avila. However I'd rather have Eric Avila over Jimenez, Stephens, Garcia, Mastroeni, Clark, and McBean.
Time for me to put on my GM hat. 1) Freddy Adu signing for less than 85k on a 1 year with 1 year option with performance bonuses. 2) Trade Robbie Keane to New England Revs. For Fagundez and 2015 1st round draft pick. Robert Kraft should jump on this deal exploiting his large Irish community, but he is essentially the cheapest owner in MLS. And I mean that in the kindest way possible. He doesn't see value in anything that isn't his beloved Patriots. 2) Trade Robbie Keane to NYRB for Jamison Olave and 2015 first round draft pick, or Fabian Espindola. Again letting NYRB pander to the Irish community and probably shoring up its offense for the next 2 years. It also lets us start fresh on our offense while shoring up the defense for a couple of years. Package Espindola to CUSA or Dallas FC for allocation money. 3) Sean Franklin is too expensive to stay... we dump his salary into the pile and move forward. AJ/Robbie Rogers/Cochrane can compete for that spot. 4) Dump either Juni or Sarvas we don't have room for 2 brazzies who basically play the same position. This is the Nagamura/Saragosa situation allover again. Pick one, the other has high value in a package move by himself or with Franklin for allocation money or pick and allocation money. Players the Galaxy should look at 1) Eddie Johnson much like Edson Buddle he's poised for 15 goal year next year as he tries to show for JK and usmnt. and although you lose him if he is called up into WC, he only gets that call up if he is tearing up the MLS in goals before hand. 2) Joe Corona extend those MLS hands in to FMF for once and bring back a prodigal son to his hometown so the LA Galaxy can do what it loves to do, grab that hated latino dollar... how can any good mexicano say no with a vecino on the the team? 3) Jonathan Bornstein just like with Joe Corona but more like Freddy Adu... a guy who can come back home and put together something with motivation of being asked to comeback to the elite squad in MLS. And enough years have passed that the CUSA scent has since faded away. With Stephens, Villareal, Zardes, Jimenez, Leonardo, McBean, and hopefully re-invigorated Robbie Rogers you have a bench that can push starters for places, but also each other for minutes in crucial games. With lots of dead weight to cut and salary cap to stock up... we can still pursue a big name European or S' American and all the while leaving the team a little younger, more athletic, and core future under 25 getting vast experience to carry on 2 years from now.
Personally, I don't think we'll see big changes. If we had Donovan, Penedo and Rogers for a full year I bet we get 6 more points and 6 more points would have meant the supporters' shield this year. This is not the year we revamp the team (2015 might be that year). I expect we'll try to sell Gonzalez after the world cup and then pick up a DP forward (and move Donovan to the midfield) or Amid (and keep Donovan up), so there's not point in buying an expensive player in either of those positions now. I hope we look for a reasonably-priced (200k) wide midfielder and a similarly-priced defender who would either partner with Omar or replace him if he goes. We probably have the money for that without declining the option on Franklin, although I go back and forth on that decision. Players like Jimenez just don't mean that much. We'll draft some players and they'll either beat out Jimenez or they won't.
We're both being a bit snippy with our posts (I know I started it, my bad) and there is no need to be. We're all Galaxy fans and have our own opinions about how best to improve our team. In my view, Bocanegra DID fall into Chivas' lap. Bocanegra wanted to come home and MLS acquiesced. Chivas thinks "hey, a highish quality Mexican-American", cool. He doesn't go to Chivas unless they're based in SoCal. It's the exact same as Chicago having Mike Magee fall into their laps. Chivas, in general, doesn't care about the draft simply because that isn't where their talent is going to come from THe (see the Shalrie Joseph trade as example of how little they care about the draft picks) . The "Base Salary" number is not what the cap hit is. That is purely his weekly wage. As we all know, the cap hit includes things like annualized bonuses and transfer fees. The "Guaranteed Compensation" is generally closer (it includes most annualized bonuses), and you can see that Avila actually has a $120k Guaranteed Compensation. Again, I think you're missing my point about Avila. It's not that Avila wouldn't bring more to the team than Jimenez. I would assume that he indeed would. My points is pure that Jimenez is SO cheap, that he's not worth throwing away. His value to cost ratio is MUCH higher than Avila's. Avila's ~$120k cap hit would put him above average in the 17 non DP full roster players (which would average $108k in 2013). Even if Jimenez is your 4th best winger, he's cheap enough and has enough marginal talent to keep him on the roster. Put together a team of $46.5k players who are still going to be on that salary next year (ie ones who haven't played well enough to earn a salary increase), and I bet he's probably in your 18. This is MLS. You need cheap depth, even if that depth isn't ever going to be a starter for you. It's possible that keeping him on the roster allows us that extra $50k we can spend on another player. It's pure economics in my view. I simply disagree with the idea that if a player isn't a first team player after 3 years, we need to let him go. That may be true with someone we sign at 22, but not at 16. McBean has played many games and has proven to be effective in the CCL and moderately so in MLS. He's a lot more productive than Villarreal's been. I think he'll end up being a serviceable player in MLS. Think Conor Casey or Kenny Cooper. Now even if you think McBean is taking up an off roster HG spot, we could certainly sign him to a full roster spot, since $100k is still below average for players 1-20. Simply boiled down, you don't think McBean is going to be a good player. That's fine, everyone will have an opinion. Yours isn't any better or worse than mine. We'll just have to agree to disagree on McBean. I don't think it will be an either/or with regards to Iloski or Mendiola anyway. We may have our B team in USL Pro next year anyway, which would mean roster spots in some capacity, which I'm sure would be heavily geared toward academy graduates. I wonder what other Galaxy fans have to say about McBean and Jimenez. Am I in the minority?
this is a very realistic and probably accurate perspective. not as much fun as roster rebuilding though . crazy to think how many points were left on the table this year compared to others.
it's a capped league, so having guys like Jimenez is the current reality. im with you on the economic side of it. i want to spend more money on roster spots 12-16. in any event, he's essentially a commodity. stay until the improvement slows down and then it's the next guy. McBean is tougher call. he's a teenager and he actually brings a physical presence we dont have elsewhere. AFAIK, there are no world-beaters in the HG pipeline this year, right? the only way i get rid of him is if we have Zardes 2.0 wanting a HG contract THIS offseason. otherwise, i wait. Jack may continue to develop. the HG rules could easily change to allow a third spot.
Many people would say Iloski, Mendiola and Arriola have more potential than any of our current HG players. It would be a shame if we lost Iloski and Mendiola like Arriola.
It would be a shame. Getting rid of McBean doesn't guarantee we get them, and keeping McBean doesn't guarantee we won't.
If there after that contract of a higher value than the league minimum then something has to give or else we might miss the opportunity. Again, like I said recently though I'm not sure what the rules are for offering a new contract to a HG player. Is there a time limit they have to hold those contracts before being offered a regular contract? If he's going to be part of the team then I don't see the issue, but the restriction on those spots hinders our ability to approach kids with all our options.
You can't compare Villarreal to McBean just because they're both HG. One is make the league minimum for HG (which we can have unlimited amount of) and the other is making GA HG (which we can have only two), however both off roster players. The problem for me is that we signed him probably too soon at age 16. Not sure why Bruce felt they need to step in and offer him a big contract at age 16. I never said we should have Eric Avila over Jimenez. I originally said we should look to trade McBean to Chivas for allocation money of a player like Eric Avila. Comparing Eric Avila to Jimenez is inaccurate too much disparity in wages. However you could compare Eric Avila to the Galaxy having Collin Clark.
I can compare them for production. I didn't compare them for roster spot reasons. My point is that I disagree with dumping a player who isn't ready for the first team by 18. Colin Clark came in the RED, us trading a one year international spot and supplemental round draft pick. He's also on $40k less than Avila. Sure, he was a bust, but he was a regular for a good Houston side before his injury. Avila isn't a sure bet. I understand what you're getting at, but what I'm getting at is I don't think a player like Avila is worth a player like McBean. At some point, you HAVE to compare players on disparate wages. That's how you build rosters. It's tough and certainly not an apples to apples comparison. I'd rather have McBean on the roster as a full roster player than trade for some mediocre player.
Well then you might as well compare the production of Villarreal to Keane's, beacuse it's apples and oranges. The only player you can compare McBean's production to is Zardes, or hypothetically to some of our top rated academy players who are potential signees. It's like comparing Sorto's and Zardes' production to the team this year because they were our HG signings. What's sad is that Chivas selected Avila in the RED last year as well, after Clark. Bottom line is we have completely differing opinions on the talent and value of McBean, Jimenez, and Avila. If I came on here and some posted that it was confirmed that we traded McBean, Jimenez, and a sack of balls to Chivas for Avila + we signed Mendiola or Iloski to a HG GA contract; I'd do wind sprints up and down my block because I'd be so pumped.
No way in heck I would let go of McBean. He has shown remarkable presence and talent for his young age, and was pretty much a deserving starter until he got injured. I would rate him behind Zardes, but ahead of Villarreal. I would also keep Jimenez. While probably won't ever be our first choice starter, he does provide offensive spark when he comes off the bench, and has chipped in with some nice goals .
I"m hoping Dunivant is getting less money, can't see him having a big impact next season. he's already slowed down considerably this year
Just for the record, in terms of guaranteed compensation per the MLS Players Association 9/15./2013 release: Cudicini's guaranteed compensation is 150K, McBean is 101K, Clark is 80K, Rogers was 90K. The same link shows that the 25yr old Eric Avila for Chivas sits on 120K. I am flabergasted that anyone would say it was worthwhile to trade to McBean with his 2 goals and 2 assists in 17 total games played (652 minutes) for a 25 year old with 8 goals and 13 assists in 7 years of play. While I hate to bag on a fellow Bruin, Avila's is now on his 3rd team (he was RED'd by Toronto) and seems to be very much a "guy". IMO, his acquisition by Chivas for Nick LaBrocca was a net negative for Chivas. On the otherhand, McBean will still be a teenager when next season ends. He won't turn 19 until December of this year. As for the HGA thing, it would seem that McBean could easily be signed as a regular player at the same salary if we wanted to add someone else as an HGA for more money.
My 2 cents on McBean: keep him. He's not a sure-fire star, but he's young, and he shows flashes of combining well and using his body very smartly. Can't say if he'll thrive in MLS or not yet, needs a couple of more years in my opinion. He's a question mark, but I don't like flushing young talent in less it is clear they are not progressing anymore, which is definitely not clear with McBean due to injury derailing his year.
Pretty much agree with this. I think the only question is should he be a regular roster player with a 101K salary cap hit or stay off the roster as HGA. IMO, the 101K is not that bad a hit to take if someone else seems to have more potential and otherwise be unsignable.
The Hoyos brothers want to come home. They found out that they weren't ever going to play for Argentina. And if the ever have a chance to go to the WC it will be with USA. Both are creative midfielders. So either or both would be useful to the Galaxy. Then Freddy Adudoo is a free agent and Arena could probably handle him Now their is a player who is a great goal scorer but would be the most hated player in MLS. Lots of people feel he is a traitor. After the WC Gussepie Rossi wants to come home.
I am all for Adudoo (lol) if we can get him at a reasonable price. After the WCup tho I think there will be a plethora of quality players suddenly interested in MLS