2020-21 Roster Movement Thread

I got a little softer on him when I read the Athletic's piece on Demidov. Same story between those two. His signing and contract--and the fallout from both--are absolutely tragic, totally agreed. He's absolutely not acceptable at MLS level, given that this is a very open, fast-paced league when the places he made his mark were much more compact and indirect. He just really has the wrong skill set to be here.

So is he embarrassingly not great? Sure. It's not entirely his lack of quality that's to blame.

And frankly, since we almost guaranteed will see him get minutes this year, forgive me for holding out a little hope that he's not a shambolic screwup every time.

 

Difference is Minnesota swallowed their pride and admitted it wasn't working with Demidov and got rid of him fairly quickly.

When your only hope is "not a shambolic screwup every time"...

 

I'm not pro-Fontas, guys. I'm just saying I don't think SKC will swallow his salary, so he's both a roster spot and a lot of TAM that is locked down. So maybe we can hope he finds himself in the situations where he is okay a couple of times this year? I dunno.

I didn't expect that would be the wildest thing to suggest, though I guess Fontas is a pretty frustrating figure.

 

Normally I try to take that stance with players where I feel like they can still contributor someone, usually because I feel like the reason they're not doing well has to do with formation, form, or something that they have the ability to work on and sort of control. It's why I still hold out slim (fading) hope for Salloi. With Fontas he can't control that he has the speed of someone consistently running in water. His only success with SKC came when the club was controlling massive amounts of possession against a Toluca team in a complete crisis. As soon as KC didn't have possession in league play he was on his heals and turned every which way.

And just as much of my frustration with him comes from the fact that, like you, I don't believe we will dump him. I don't think at this point we're going to buy out his contract so he's here for the next two years sucking up a roster spot and he's going to get time. And him getting time is going to cost us points.

 

You're probably right.

I generally am feeling very down about this season and I'm actively trying not to.

 

Hey. there's a lot of room on dis boat I'm rowin' up de Nile. feel free to grab a seat. On my boat, the beast is a beast from day one. Puncec and Fontas equal one good enough CB. Remi is an instant star. Roger has the wheels to give us 10 full games. kinda is a star, shining brighter than most but not as bright as Busio, who is attracting a lot of flirtation from Juve (but only for 2022). Pulido is stronger and healthier and will be a 15-10 or better guy, and he and Johnny, with Shelton will form a perfect polyamorous group. The kids will all be above average and the wide defenders will all be looking good.

 

Saw on reddit that Samuel Grandsir is likely signing for the LA Galaxy. That lends real credence to his claim that he turned SKC down because he wanted to stay in Europe...

 

Leaving Monaco, yet choosing LA over KC certainly is a puzzler. I mean, Monte Carlo has a casino, KC has a casino. Does LA even have a casino?
This is a bad joke. KC is always going to struggle with this. I mean, the German language announcers on SKC games have not once referred to us as Kansas City, but as Kansas, which inevitably results in musings about Dorothy and tornadoes. the announcers here, to be fair, don't do much time filling chatting, they stick to the game, and they often like SKC. but they're in a studio in Koeln and they really have no idea that Kansas City is actually the name of the city the club is in. Must not be jazz fans.

 

Has the beast arrived in camp yet? I checked my usual sources and his twitter account (major props, btw, he never tweets. Like five in the past five years), but last reference I could find was that he had an immigration issue and was expected to arrive soon. ish

 

Not according to Sunday's announcement of their preseason roster.

https://www.sportingkc.com/post/202...ter-2021-preseason-presented-children-s-mercy

 

It's not his lack of quality, its his total lack of pace. He has a FIFA speed rating of 31 which makes him a candidate for slowest team in the game.

Signing Fontas directly resulted in trading away the MLS defender of the year and tied up $$$ that could have helped the team in other places. He's mostly been injured and when he's played, he has looked like he should be playing in the Rush over 40 league, not in MLS. There is no sugar coating it; Fontas is up there with the very worst player signings during the PV era. He's on par with Jefferson, Croizet , and Luis Marin.

 

I'm not sure your point. You sound like you're arguing but you're not actually taking up a different position than anyone in this thread, including me.

That said, while Fontas is (with all knock-on effects considered) the definite worst signing of the PV era to my perspective... I don't think Croizet or Jeferson really need that sad label. Jeferson was a loan that didn't pan out--I'll call that reasonably cautious and not a worst ever signing--if he'd been fully transferred in, then yeah. Croizet was an enigma that never came near any consistency but put in a number of really decent shifts over his time here. He was just overpaid and overhyped and a poor early fan reaction I think sunk his mindset from the beginning.

I guess if "worst signing" inherently requires bigger salary and hype, then you might have a point. But if it's just "guys who absolutely in no way could hack it here" I think they slide down the list. Don't forget the free agent womp womp train started with Justin Mapp on a high salary and a super sad season. Hell, just look at 2016 and tell me who was brought in that year that wasn't painful (the answers are Salloi and Rubio, albeit neither did anything that year).

Anyways. That was a tangent...

 

The one step forward (Pulido, and yes, pun intended), two steps back (2021 offseason) approach to roster building has me tightly wound. Arguing with myself, perhaps.

With the new jersey release and notable absence of an actual corporate $ponsor, I hope it is only two steps back.

 

Sporting isn't alone in the lack of spending/movement this offseason.

https://theathletic.com/2430503/2021/03/05/mls-signings-offseason/

 

wasn't brad davis the first of the free agent fails? i can't remember who was first. regardless, that brad davis signing still gets me irritated just thinking about it. what an awful decision.

 

Davis was a trade (for a 2nd and 3round draft picks). And compared to Mapp, Davis was a Sporting Legend.
Davis played in 24 games, 1,300 minutes, 2 goals and an assist.
Mapp made 6 appearances for a total of 43 minutes.

 

More from PV today on the radio:

"He should be here in the next couple of weeks based on immigration." - #SKC manager Peter Vermes on newly acquired CB Nicolas Isimat-Mirin's arrival timeline

— Aly Trost Martin 🏧 (@AlyTrostMartin) March 9, 2021

 

True, there were very few impact moves in MLS this offseason. That said, SKC did more than just not bring in players. They also actively shed payroll. Gutierrez, Gerso, Besler, and Hurtado are millions off the payroll that were replaced with kids that are essentially free.

No fans in stands, no jersey sponsor, no stadium sponsor and just shelled out a record sum for Pulido. It's unfortunate but it's not coincidence.

 

As I said before, all the salary cap and TAM/GAM is already allocated via the league since they own all the contracts, it's not like the owners are pocketing the cap space and TAM/GAM they're not spending. The only "out of pocket" is DP salary. So you can keep on that horse, but it's just not accurate given the way rosters and cap space work within MLS.

 

I understand how MLS finances work. The club freed up GAM. That GAM can now be reallocated and used to buy down salary charges against the budget for other players. Homegrown players don't count against the salary budget if they are roster spots 21 or greater. Currently 11 homegrowns so they are taking full advantage of that. If you can't see it, I can't help you.

 

I do see that, but you're making a claim that KC isn't using it like it's an indictment that ownership is being cheap. I'm explaining that the money is already there whether they use it or not, they don't get it back for not using it, especially the GAM which as you know is use it or lose it.

 

I thought the difference between TAM (being phased out) and GAM (being beefed up) was that GAM could be used for basic operational expenses, while TAM was limited to player salaries? Has that changed?

 

I won't quote the whole section, but it's in this part of the rules section on mlssoccer.com

https://www.mlssoccer.com/league/official-rules/mls-roster-rules-and-regulations#allocation-money

 

Ownership spent a ton of their own money on Pulido. I don't think they are "cheap" nor did I really imply that they are. What I said is they dumped players that had salaries covered by TAM/GAM, freeing up TAM/GAM, which can now be used to buy down other players salaries. I also said that they are brining in a lot of Homegrown players and that those players don't count against the MLS salary budget. So, if effect, a homegrowns player salary can be used to buy down senior roster players. This doesn't mean they are "cheap", but its running the business on the thrifty.

COVID eliminated/reduced their primary revenue (in stadium) and they just lost a jersey sponsor, which they couldn't replace. They have historically not been able to monetize the jersey or the stadium. All of this, plus spending a record sum on Pulido, has to have factored into why this offseason went the way it did (a lot more out than in). That was my point. I'll be sure more explicit next time.