But we were only discussing the low end, where salaries would be much lower without the union's influence. IIRC, it's $35K minimum for players below #24 on the roster, $45K minimum for players in the top 24.
The first homegrown of the off-season has been signed, and its Matt Wiet of the Crew. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...efender-waylon-francis-homegrown-defender-mat
Iirc, the Crew wanted to sign him, but he chose to stay at UCLA and finish school. Once he finished up, he played in the USL for a few weeks. Doesn't seem like a big deal.
But he probably developed much more as a player and person by staying in school and getting a degree. You don't have to be 19 years old as a rookie to succeed in MLS. Look at Bright Dike who was 23 as a rookie and is way better than Altidore ever was.
Arena was talking about the USL-pro team and he mentioned this. “We’re hopeful that we can discover a couple of players through the USL team but also develop our academy players that need playing time,” Arena continued. “You’re going to see players like Oscar Sorto, Jack McBean, Raul Mendiola, perhaps, Jose Villarreal; all those young players that if they’re not playing on a regular basis with us, they will be playing with the USL team.” It's been rumored for awhile that he would sign a home grown contract. Also in a recent article there were suggestions that Zardes might lose that designation and be a regular salary player so we can sign another above the league minimum. I'm still not exactly sure how that works. Do players have a time limit on how long they have to be classified as "home grown" before you can sign them to a new deal?
Don't quote me on this. But I think there is a certain number of HG players that don't effect the cap (maybe as much) every year. But there is a limit, say 4 or 6. So if you wanted to sign another and kinda park him in the USL but not have him count against the cap maybe Zardes needs to be a full "non-exempt" player? I don't see how you could "lose" the HG status, as its kinda a permanent designation. You either are or you aren't...
I believe he is reffering to the contract status which follows along the GA (Generation Addida's) lines, which exempts player salary from top 20 and also protects players from Expansion drafts until some minutes played/ games played limit is exceeded. Then MLS announces they "graduated" from their GA deal at end of season.
Might as well mention here that the first homegrown signing of the off-season was announced last night: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...roduct-jordan-allen-homegrown-player-contract It was UVA and US U20 midfielder Jordan Allen to Real Salt Lake................
I am guessing the MLS has changed the HG rules again since Allen was in USA U-17 Residency before moving to RSL's and previously you had to be in a MLS teams academy before any team USA "exposure" or you had no HG claim. "Allen played for Real Salt Lake’s academy from August 2011 to December 2012. The 18-year-old featured with the club’s residential academy in Arizona after spending one semester with the U.S. U17 Men’s National Team Residency Program in Florida in spring 2011." link below http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...freshman-jordan-allen-signs-with-rsl_aid32336 Or am I just mis-understanding previous rule?
US-U20 Roster 17 of the 36 were from academies, most came from the same groups of academies 6 from red bulls, 4 from real salt lake, 2 from dc united and the union, and 1 from seattle, chicago, chivas, and the galaxy US-U18 Roster Alot more variety here Overall RSL lead the way with 7 in total between the two teams.
Rumor is Sean Okoli will be signing with the Sounders http://www.sounderatheart.com/thefuture/2014/1/5/5277730/sounders-academy-sean-okoli-signing Read the comments section for more substance to that rumor. Sounds like they offered Darwin Jones as well but he turned it down. [edit\http://www.soccerwire.com/news/pro/...-jones-three-year-homegrown-player-contracts/ Both were offered 3 year 50k contracts. Jones turned it down. Appears Okoli will be signing in a couple days.
Jalen Robinson signed by DCU................ http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ontinues-club-inks-homegrown-defender-jalen-r
How do HGPs work with the Sueprdraft? An example, Alex Sweetin is an SKC academy product and was invited to the combine. If SKC wants him as a Home Grown Player would they have to do that before the draft? Does a player lose HGP status after going through the draft?
Yes, clubs have to make a decision on HG-eligible seniors prior to the draft. If Sweetin is in the draft, it's fair to assume that KC declined to make him an HG offer. Similarly, Patrick Slogic (Colorado) and Wojciech Wojcik (Chicago) were late additions to the combine, presumably because they were not offered HG contracts by their respective clubs.
It's official. The Sounders sign Okoli and Kovar to HGP contracts. http://www.soundersfc.com/news/articles/2014/01-january/sounders-add-two-hgps.aspx
We can also add Harrison Shipp (Chicago), Matt Walker and Ross Friedman (Columbus), and Jordan Hamilton (Toronto) to the list in recent days.
I read the Crew's owner's tweet today that they now have 7 HG players on roster. That seems almost excessive. Don't you think?
I think it entirely depends on the context of what they are contributing. It's only excessive if you view it through the lens of FC Dallas' HG handling and therefore view HGs as these Waiting-For-Godot type players who are talked about who contribute nothing and/or are given no chances to contribute nothing. Trapp is a starter for Columbus and Speas, Barson, and Lampson contributed significant minutes in 2013. In that light, seven doesn't seem like a ton. Numbers of HGs are going to continue go up and up on every team as more and more HGs establish themselves as solid MLS players and a higher and higher percentage of the MLS enters the league via this route.
Trapp, Barson, Speas, and Lampson all held their own. Wiet, Friedman, and Walker will most likely be loaned out to Dayton. Also the Crew were 2 games away from making the playoffs. We just couldn't shake of the RW negativity type play soon enough.