RSL player salaries, cap conditions, international slots, etc...

With the way RSL's season went (from hopes of winning multiple trophies to not winning a single one), people are starting to look at the team with a more critical eye. And I think many of them are starting to realize that Will Johnson has endeared himself to them because of his dogged work rate, but aside from that, he is a pretty average player.

I'm a little late to the discussion, but here's my 2 cents.

Arturo is woefully over-paid. I wonder what the breakdown would be of $$ per first team appearance.....

The Will discussion is an interesting one, I too would hate to lose him, but can see where it may benefit the team. The talk of whether or not he is worth the money seems inane to me. Will does a lot of the dirty, unglorious work on the team. He can seem absent from matches for large stretches, but when you think about it, the guy he is marking is also absent. He fills space well, defends effectively, and is the energizer bunny. I really don't think the guy has an off switch. That, to me, is worth the money.

One thing I think the team really needs to look at is where they are going to invest their time/energy/money for the younger players.

Guys like Nelson, Jr., Arnoux, Warner, Schuler, McKenzie....

How is the club going to manage retaining some of that talent while also filtering it out a bit?

For my money, I like a guy who plays like Arnoux plays over Paulo Jr. I realize I may be the only one who thinks that way, but in his limited time with the first team (mostly due to nagging injuries) Arnoux impressed me more than Paulo did this year.

all that said, losing will in the expansion draft (for nothing) would be one of the greatest tragedies in this clubs history. Trade him or keep him, and I would prefer keeping him.

(that was a rambling mess.)

I was also impressed by Arnoux and was hoping we'd see more of him.

How many minutes did he have?
While I agree, the limited time we saw was promising, lets not get our hopes up.

It is VERY telling that he couldn't make the 18 over PJ. PJ couldn't get into a match in which we were down by 2 goals in a must win situation...

see where I'm going with this?

While I agree with you, Arnoux didn't make the the rosters based on health issues from what I understand. He was coming back from knee surgery through the first half of the season and took that knock on his good knee in training that kept him out from the majority of the second half. The reserve match at Colorado was interesting to watch for a lot of reasons, but specifically the play of Nelson and Cody intrigued me. There is so much potential in our system for players like them, if they can be fit (Nelson) and healthy (Cody).

So Cody is trying to pass Nelson for the new "Mr Glass" award?
sweet

And that is the key. Last year we thought AA would be a great fit and improve the team. Well it didn't happen as well as we had all hoped. Good luck this year RSL in the off season. The team will need it.

What ever happened to the American players overseas that wanted to come back (Borchers, Will, etc.). When was the last time RSL was able to find someone in that category?

As of Sept. 1, 2011 mlsplayers.org numbers:

Code:

                                   2011    2011 Guaranteed
Club Last Name   First    Pos  Base Salary  Compensation
RSL  Agorsor     Chris    F   $  32,604.00 $  32,604.00
[COLOR=Green][COLOR=Black]RSL  Alvarez     Yordany  M   $  ??,???.?? $  ??,???.??[/COLOR]
RSL  Araujo      Paulo Jr F   $  42,000.00 $  42,000.00[/COLOR]
RSL  Arnoux      Cody     F   $  75,000.00 $  75,000.00
RSL  Beckerman   Kyle     M   $ 219,996.00 $ 231,246.00
RSL  Beltran     Anthony  D   $ 100,000.00 $ 135,500.00
RSL  Borchers    Nat      D   $ 159,996.00 $ 169,058.00
[COLOR=Olive]RSL  Espindola   Fabian   F   $  75,000.00 $  75,000.00[/COLOR]
RSL  Gil         Luis     M   $  90,250.00 $ 185,333.33
RSL  Grabavoy    Ned      M   $ 118,125.00 $ 118,125.00
RSL  Johnson     Will     F   $ 225,000.00 $ 225,000.00
[COLOR=Green]RSL  Morales     Javier   M   $ 400,000.00 $ 452,500.00[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]RSL  Muniz       Nico     M   $  31,500.00 $  31,500.00[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]RSL  Olave       Jamison  D   $ 124.992.00 $ 174,992.00[/COLOR]
RSL  Reynish     Kyle     GK  $  50,000.00 $  58,304.00
RSL  Rimando     Nick     GK  $ 150,000.00 $ 158,250.00
[COLOR=Green]RSL  Saborio     Alvaro   F   $ 250,000.00 $ 305,625.00[/COLOR]
RSL  Schuler     Chris    D   $  32,600.00 $  32,600.00
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]RSL  Toia        Donny    F   $  45,000.00 $  60,000.00[/COLOR]
RSL  Wingert     Chris    D   $ 135,000.00 $ 135,000.00

Totals                       $2,247,959.00 $2,573,533.33
                             $  ---,---.-- $  ---,---.-- (Do not apply)
2012 Cap                                  ~$2,810,000.00 (+ or - 10,000's)

Difference + or -               [COLOR=Blue]+$236,466.67[/COLOR]

Green are international slots. We have 4/8 filled. Olave and Yordany both got a green card.

This purple color designates development/home-grown players.

Gil's salary is included in the number. If he's GA again for 2012, then you can add just shy of $200k.

Espindola and Grabavoy will be renegotiating contracts this year. I'd expect Espindola to approximately double his salary to $150k and Grabs to maybe take a mild pay cut. I could be wrong on Ned.

I can't remember the conditions now, but many of these players are guaranteed a 5% increase in pay. That counterbalances the 5% cap increase, which will continue until 2015.

The major discrepancies from last year's spring numbers to fall numbers were that both Beckerman and Olave's numbers were reported as much larger the first time around. Beckerman was reported as $231k and Olave as $290k. Big difference.

To end, the DP cap hit is $335k. According to these numbers, Sabo is $30k shy and Morales is way over. I'm not sure how closely these numbers relate to actual cap hit, but we do know that there are significant inconsistencies. I'm guessing we have $400-$500k to play around with to acquire players to replace the 4 who left as well as a few more.

i'm sorry but this league is so retarded with the salary cap raises, 5% increase a year while the players receive a MINIMUM of a 5% raise every year is retarded. flat out retarded. how are the teams supposed to find new, better players every year when the cap cannot account for those things? the league forces its teams to stick with a few good players and find cheap guys to fill out depth. until the league starts pushing the cap closer to $5 million+, the talent will continue to be limited. i laughed at a comment made by a MLS HQ exec (posted in the MLSNA forum), he basically said that the league needs to get 50 landon donovan quality players in the 5 years or so. HAHAHAHA, HOW? how in the hell are 20 teams going to acquire 2 or 3 LD quality players, EACH, with this salary cap?

Aren't we hamstrung with only 6 international slots because we traded them away for 'magic beans' back during the Ellinger era?

As for Sabo and the DP spot - remember there was a large payoff associated with his loan - and it was amortized over his contract even though it was a one-time thing, which is why his cap # is higher than his salary.

Given the cash crunch, it may well make sense to DP Morales, as with a raise etc he'd be about 150k over the 335k limit.

----> I'd expect Espindola is in the $200K territory. Ned received a "bona fide" offer that kept him out of the re-entry draft that means his salary had to be at least 2011 salary plus 5%. However, he may have had to have received slightly more than that based on the auto increases below (not sure how that works w/re-entry). Gil is GA for 2012.

Many players have performance bonuses based on games played, etc, that aren't included in the published numbers.

Some players have options that take them up significantly more than 5%. For those with standard agreement they get an automatic 5%, or for players whose "annual compensation is less than $125,000, the minimum increase in base salary will be 10% for players who play in at least 66% of his club’s games and 12.5% for players who play in at least 75% of his club’s games." (from mlssoccer.com)

These numbers do not include player acquisitions costs - which would include Sabo's loan buyout, and the loan payments for Gonzalez, Paulo Jr, and Y. Alvarez. However, these numbers also don't include any allocation money used to offset player acquisition costs.

I know just enough to be dangerous. And just enough to know that every time I do this analysis, when I get to the end I realize I'm missing key pieces of information.

I used to be better at this, but I just don't have the time to dedicate to it anymore.

Quibbs, I believe the league reset all teams back to 8 international slots last year since the value of those international slots wasn't obvious/apparent 6-15 years ago. With the introduction of DP's and the increased competitiveness of MLS, international players are seen as a prized asset. I know some teams are trading international slots, but not for forever. I think the league won't allow that anymore.

KIR, Thanks for the info on Espy and Ned, plus the salary % increase requirements. I thought my guess about Ned was completely wrong, but then again, I don't know the inner workings of the re-entry draft eligibility deal and what they can negotiate beyond the guaranteed 5%.

It looks like Schuler will have to get an increase to at least $42000 this year since I believe he played enough to not be considered a development player anymore. (just a guess)

I'm not sure what kind of role Agorsor has with the team and if he will stay in the $30k's.

I'm seeing about 20 guys with the team right now, assuming Ned's deal works out. That means we have another 10 available roster spots available. RSL needs to get to at least 26 players, in my view, in order to handle a serious run in the Open Cup, SS race, and CCL. That means 6 players with roughly $400k in hand. Plus, all teams like to leave at least $100k flexibility for any midseason adjustments.

Don't CCL teams get additional allocation $$ to sign more serviceable backup players?

Anyhow, the scouting staff will be busy.

Lastly, any ideas as to why Beckerman's and Olave's salary numbers were so wildly disparate from early 2011 to late 2011?

Here are how I see the breakdown of players from this season's roster.

[FONT=&quot]SURE THINGS (15):[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Sabo, Espy, Johnson, Morales, Gil, Grabavoy, Beckerman, Wingert, Olave, Borchers, Beltran, Schuler, Rimando, Muniz, Toia, [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]PROBABLY (4):[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Paulo Jr, Y. Alvarez, Arnoux, Reynish[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]MAYBE (2):[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Agorsor, McKenzie[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]NOT LIKELY (1):[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Wagner[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]GONE (6):[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Williams, Russell, Melia, Alexandre, A. Alvarez, Gonzalez[/FONT]

Notes: Gil is GA, Toia and Muniz fill homegrown slots. Also, I'm guessing that like w/Yura, Y. Alvarez does not take up an int'l slot. This would leave Morales, Espindola, Sabo, and Paulo Jr. as int'l players. That leaves two int'l spots (although maybe I'm imagining it, but at some point I thought I heard Morales was in green card process.)

Olave? He didn't get a green card when I wasn't paying attention, did he?

Edit: yes, he did. well over a year ago http://www.ksl.com/?nid=143&sid=11684033

i remember because there have been some half-hearted "lets bring olave into the USMNT camp" comments due to the green card.

I believe they said that Wagner wouldn't be returning at the TH mtg.

ugh
hopefully they plan on keeping him just because his cap hit is so low and he'll never see the pitch in first team action.

If they think he is a capable replacement for Russell, though, we're in deep trouble if either of Wingert or Beltran go down

I think outside back is one of their priorities, but I am just guessing

Wagner was wildly out of position and very slow in his debut.

The roster spot would be better used to develop a young player IMO.

No disrespect to Wagner intended.

Huh, I thought McKenzie was gone already... YorDany does have a green card too. Cuban "refugees" or defectors get them with almost no questions asked, as long as they can get here without being caught by border patrol/coast guard.

They don't get a green card (I assume that there is some special type of visa they receive). I know that Yura was working on his green card before he left and he was a political refugee, but they do get some special status. However, Yordany wasn't able to travel to Vancouver because there was some issue with this. As I heard he was working on some paperwork to eliminate this problem. Whether that was a green card or some other status, I'm not sure.

This article says YorDany did just recently get his green card. You're right though, he didn't have it until very recently if this report is to be trusted.