He signed his original contract in March 1999 ( (MLSNET) and I haven't heard about another contract, although there might be one, 4 years is up after 2003 season.
please inform us all how dmb is worth more than 2 million dollars to mls? how is he worth it to impede the progress of the rest of the league by getting paid near the maximum, preventing another player from starting, preventing another player from entering the league, preventing the league to get his transfer fee and distributing that out in whatever way they see fit (personally i like my idea of a salary cap increase... literally turning him into a great man for the league... giving raises to deserving players and also money to teams for the acquistion of new players... i just don't see it as being likely) the league seems to think that a drastically dirt cheap cap and even smaller roster will promote soccer, especially with keeping players at or near the maximum salary so that they can force players on their team from receiving deserved pay increases or by forcing teams to cut them... cause you know we all care about watching a couple of players make people look like fools because most of the league is getting near the minimum salary because most of a team's cap is being spent on 3-4 guys personally, i would prefer to watch a good game of soccer over 3-4 guys that are decent and a ************ load of crappie minimum salary range guys but go ahead and keep asking for the league to retain it's best players for the demise of this league
that's what i thought, i figured he would have had to resign at 18 anyways, so the league got a bit extra out of him
Right, but you also have to weigh the benefits they would accrue over time he's under contract to them, even if he leaves on a free transfer. They're not getting nothing out of him, they're getting his playing appearances, his face on billboards etc. Then you have to decide which is more valuable to the league - keeping and marketing its young stars or taking transfer fees for them.
I'd vote for opening up spots for developing new young stars which then can be sold, thus opening up spots for new young stars, half of which will be sold to open up spots for more young talent, the other half of which can be signed at wages competitive with their counterparts in Europe. I'd then rinse and repeat, over and over until the league is financially stable. Wait, that wasn't an option.
I am with you on this one. I think the league should let him go. What I meant to say was he could be worth more than 2 million is if his contract was up in 05. The transfer market is depressed now, and his value should rise with his age & experience. So if he is transferred in a few years MLS may get 3-4 mil. We have two conflicting links here on when he is signed thru. Either way I think he should go ASAP.
That's a very valid opinion. The only other "d'uh" factor I forgot to mention in my post is that, despite how much to the contrary we'd like to believe it, this is not our money we're talking about, so the question isn't really what do we think is the better course of action, but what do Hunt, Anschutz, Kraft etc. think? If you believe what Don Garber said after the World Cup, their focus is more to hold on to their stars rather than sell them. I guess we'll see.
I saw that. IMO, this is a huge mistake that will ultimately kill the league. Soccer is not going to suddenly take off to an extent where MLS can afford to pay competitive salaries for the talent they have (by afford, I mean MLS, not the owners who could afford to pay MLS salaries with the change that falls out of their laundry...).
and what do you do about the fans who stop coming because the "stars" keep getting sold? The demise of the league will be when the fans are alienated, which sounds like your plan in a nutshell.
I might beleive this if we had a history of stars being sold. I think DMB would be the first real name player to go. Stern John yes but not a sbig an impact because he is not American. I say let Beas go and see how it works out, not sell every young American player we have.
i fully agree, i mean, who have they sold? beasley is not going to be the draw that mcbride or donovan are... plus the fire have wolff indefinitely that they can market themselves on.
I really don't have a problem with him going. I think the league's proven that they want to keep the Nat's around-with LD, McBride, Mathis. As for JMeissen and co., though, don't you think that they could keep him one more year, make full use out of his post-WC exposure, then sell him for even more money next year, when the market is not so depressed? I mean come on, major WC stars are going for free transfers nowadays. That's crazy. I think if he wants to go then yeah, let him go, but right now might not be the best time for him. A little patience might go a long way.
DMB is not eligible to play in England at the second because he doesn't have the requisite number of Nats team appearances. To get a work permit in England, you need to appear in 75% of the National team games in the last 2 years. Some speculation was that they might try toget him through on an exception as having played for the youth teams as they did for a Czech player, but that's a highly iffy route. Maybe he'll be eligible after the first of the year if he gets in enough Nats games. but right now, it's a no go.
in all honesty, i think you need to look at from the Euro point of view. right now, these guys are hot off the world cup. next year, they'll look at their performance saying its been 2 years since the cup and all they've done is play in the joke MLS(Euro point of view, not mine) yes, the market is depressed, but i don't think MLS players stock will go up that much over the next year
Also, I'd love it if we could stop ASSuming that we need to send all our guys off to Europe ASAP to improve their game. Give me a break, here, guys. Have any of you even looked at the list that Dave Marino has sticky'ed at the top of this forum for Mathis' sake? There's like a thousand names on there, 99% of whom most of you probably never heard of. How much did going overseas help their games?
It's definately true that the buzz on DMB will most likely not be nearly as loud next year. But, IMHO, if the market depression improves as much as it could next year with the TV deals settled, you figure maybe DMB's stock goes down 10%, but the market could easy go up 30-40%. You still get a nice return on your investment. Plus, you get the added benefit of having him here for another year.
I just want to know why people think Beasley can't be much of a draw compared to Donovan and/or McBride. Is it a color thing, black kid against clean-cut, all-american looking white boys? I'm not making a judgement on whether any of them are strong enough draws to turn down a decent offer or not, just questioning why people assume Beasley's not as much of a draw. He's a very exciting, energetic player who many people like to watch. In fact, I've got a wife at home who is casually interested in the game. She'll watch the big international games, a couple teams she likes to see from Europe, and any game when Beasley plays. She just says he's fun to watch. I have to agree.
Its not that iffy, actually it is standard proccedure. There is precedant (sp?) and as long as their is an EPL team standing at the table asking for a WP, there shouldn't be any problem. As far as the selling vs not selling arguement. There has to be movement on both sides. There needs to be some selling or expansion of rosters or else those kids who are 17, 18 and 19 now, are not going to get the benefit of playing time that Beasley and others have gotten. Sitting on the bench in the MLS is just about the same as sitting on the bench in Europe, except the pay is worse. But on the other hand, MLS needs to have some recognizable names to market. The solution in my mind, is sell the players who want to be sold. Keep the players who want to stay. Don't get a rep for restricting players movement, or else they won't be able to sign the "Next". Also they need to continue to sign young good central and south americans.
I don't know about anyone else, but my argument certainly wasn't that they need to go to Europe to improve. My argument is that if they're going to go to Europe when their contract expires with the league, we might as well try to make a profit on them. Look, I'm a Crew fan. I'd dump McBride in a heartbeat if it meant we'd open up another spot in our lineup for a young American player similar in quality to Martino. I enjoy watching Martino learn and improve every match much more than I enjoy watching McBride do what he's always done. MLS should not try to compete with European teams on a salary basis for American talent. They cannot do it. If they try, they will fail, because the market here does not support salaries of that level. Will it? Eventually it may....but not in the timeframe necessary.
Beasely wants to go. It is good money for the MLS. I think it is a no brainer. I just hope for his sake that it is not too soon for him. I think a couple of more years in the MLS would do him well, but Demarcus seems intent on giving Europe a try.
They're one and the same, though. If they're committed to keeping the players in the league, hopefully they realize that they will have to pay them appropriately.
i still don't buy this draw concept... please show me where ANY player in mls has a "draw" factor aside from when an el salvadoran goes to dc