EJ is like wine, the longer the better, getting better with time, ...when he is over 30 he'll be considered as vintage EJ
For the same reason they game twellman a raise when he was still under contract. Good faith. We are talking about extending his contract beyond the two year extension so MLS won't up against the wall after the world cup when it comes time to sign him. The best way to get him to agree to this is more money.
Maybe you are right, but in the end I doubt EJ will sign the extension, or more accurately I don't think he's agent will want him to. They know that if he does, and if that raises the transfer fee that clubs will have to pay, that leaves less for them to pay him in salary. I think EJ wants Europe sooner rather then later, and by not signing the extension he is forcing that issue. Besides, if he does sign one I'm sure his agent will want a percentage of the transfer fee, which will nullify much of the difference between what MLS will get for him with at the end of 05 with a year left and what they might get for him at the end of 06 with two years left. Unless he goes CRAZY in WC06, which if you know anything about agents, they usually aren't willing to bet a fee on.
Yeah, but we have the allocation, and we need improvement. Going out there with the same lineup as this season ain't going to cut it. Re-signing Ronnie O'Brien is as important to this club as re-signing EJ, particularly if EJ ain't staying past 06 anyway. The allocation needs to be used to improve the club. And an additional midfielder is needed to shore up the team's future. Honestly, I know you guys want this EJ extension for MLS's future, but the issue is bigger then that. We have a team moving into a new SSS, that just changed its name and image. It needs to re-introduce itself in the marketplace. Hurting the future of the team just to re-sign a player who is gone in a year or two regardless isn't very forward thinking. Certainly it isn't worth it in the name of good faith.
I just want to see how much love EJ gets once he misses two sitters and fails to spot a wide open Landon Donovan in a tense matches in Matzetenango. Sachin
I am sorry I can't let this pass. MLS didn't undersell Beas. They waited for a higher offer. And got it. YOU wanted them to undesell him because in your view that is smart buisness. And when they didn't undersell him you raised bloody hell. Accussing them of practicing slavery and ruining his career. Lets not rewrite history here. No need to run away from your statements now.
Basic sports management? Well basic sports management should tell you that the best way to make money on a player that is going to leave eventually, one way or the other, is to drive up his price while you still have him. Seeing that extending his contract would allow them to do so, it shouldn't be hard for you to figure that one out. You keep harping on this 05/06 salary. if the league spends 400K more to get an extra 2 million, isn't that acceptable? I guess in your world, it is not. I thought that Beasley's contract was up after '05. regardless of that, i can see we are going to disagree about "worth" and that is extremely subjective, so there is no point in us debating that. i think that in 2 years his "worth" will be much higher than it is now ......... which is the basis for my disagreement with you. Why do you keep making this all about Dallas? This is a business. I know that hurts your feelings, but that's the bottom line. Newsflash. The league is paying the salary. They are the ones who make the transfer fees. The Dallas FO isn't, nor is DCU's, or Columbus'. This is the system that we have. And for the league to take what in their eyes would be a loss, just so a conspiracy theorist Dallas fan doesn't get their feelings hurt, is silly. Remember, you are the one who is saying that EJ isn't worth as much as I say he is. If he's not worth it, why should his presence have any effect on Dallas' attendance? See, that's my issue. You want to continue to undervalue EJ because in doing so, Dallas gets to keep him cheaply for cap purposes and then ship him off for what you think will be a high value player in return. if you really didn't think he was worth more, you wouldn't even be wasting your time arguing about this.
I don't think there's any question that clubs will show interest - and there doesn't seem to be too much rhyme or reason to the offers these days. Does anyone really think that if a club threw out a $2mm offer that that MLS would turn it down? If that number isn't correct, I'm sure the league has a price in mind. But a big piece of this is what the player wants - after all, they gave Boca up for nothing. If you want to know which way EJ will go with this thing, as a personal decision, I think you need to watch Beasley's playing time. EJ's mentioned several times that he's talking to Beas, and if Hiddink continues to play Farfan, I predict you'll see EJ press for an MLS extension. If Beas gets the nod and the minutes, then buy EJ a plane ticket because he'll go. That's my leading indicator.
And basically, EJ has said as much. He's commented on how tough it is for the American player overseas (as heard from Convey, Beas and LD) and as such, he is unsure of whether he would want to go right away. my point is that for MLS, this period of indecision would be a good time for them to swoop in and ATTEMPT to extend his contract, and play the odds that he will continue to blossom and his price will be driven up. Will his agent allow him to sign an extension as texgator says he wont? texgator could be 100% right on that. i have no idea. if he doesn't, then cool. but MLS would certainly be foolish not to give it a try.
EJ would require a percentage of the transfer fee, so we don't know if they would get all of the 2 million. And it wouldn't be 400k for 2 million, it would be 400k for 2 million minus what they would have gotten for him without the extension minus the percentage they will have to give back to EJ. In my opinion it will be closer to break even. Meanwhile, you've just screwed up FC Dallas' roster and not allowed them to make moves they needed to make. YES I KNOW THAT MLS NEGOTIATES THE CONTRACTS. But who do you think owns MLS? What does HSG care more about, splitting up MAYBE an extra $500,000 of EJ's transfer fee amongst all the other owners OR securing their $25+ million investment in a new stadium?? Hmmmm...tough choice there. If you really believe that MLS HQ goes about extending players' contracts without input from that players' club first then you are unbelievably niave. If FC Dallas makes a stink about screwing up their rebuilding plan you better believe MLS will consider that before tripling EJ's salary in the hopes that the can eeak out an extra $500,000 from a Euro club in two years.
Eddie makes 85k now and will be extended by 2 years by MLS to 2006. Two years at 85K (or 100K if he gets a raise) is 170K. If MLS says eddie we will pay you 200K a year if you extend for 2 extra years to 2008 so as to give us more leverage when we sell you do you think an agent will tell him to turn that down? Thats 230k that being left on the table. Transfers don't work that way. If the player has to agree personal terms with a team before a transfer is finalised. If PSV offers MLS 5 mil and offers EJ 400k a year and Sochaux offers MLS 4 mil but offer EJ 600k a year, guess which transfer he will agree to? They can't force him to accept any offer. Its all about the terms MLS negotiates.
This is MLS and players are moved because of the cap all the time. The bottom line is that if MLS wants to give themselves more options they will wave some cash at him.
Point taken tex. But this goes to the essence of what I'm saying. if EJ is looked at as a guy who is important to the Dallas franchise anyway, then it makes even MORE sense to sign him to an extension. If you believe, like you seem to admit in a round-about way, that EJ is an exciting player who would keep or put people into the seats at a new stadium, why would MLS not want to sign him to a longer contract? In this way, if his value continues to go up, you can sell him for a higher alue if you choose to do so. However, if it hasn't gone up to your (or his likiing), you have a young, exciting player on the roster to keep the fans coming to your seats. I just don't agree that MLS should scoff at resigning players that have this kind of dual purpose. Serious question here, from the perspective of bringing in new fans to the game......... do you honestly believe O'Brien is more important than EJ to FC Dallas?
Yeah, but it has to be weighed against the flexibility of having his contract end in 2 years, and being free to move to Europe sooner rather then later. You can't look at in just short term plus dollars terms. You have to consider the player's interests and the long term $$$. Yeah.....they do. If a team knows upfront that acquiring a player is going to cost them X amount, that comes out of the new player acquisition funds. If they know that they won't be having to pay X amount, or much less then X, they can now afford to offer more in the way of salary. This has been discussed many times in the past, and is pretty standard in the biz. Teams don't bother negotiating personal terms with a player until they have an idea of what the team will do in regards to selling that player. Which is why the transfer business can get so "slimey" at times. "unofficial" team representatives talking to other "unofficial" team representatives to guage interest in selling a player, while the club "officially" states they have ZERO interest in selling that player. Come on, man, you really think its all above board like that?
True players are moved for cap reasons regularly in MLS, but the teams make that decision on their own. If they really want to keep a player they will. Rarely does the league force their hand by upping a players' salary without their consent.
Come again? I think you are making this more complex than it has to be for the sake of making this more complex than it has to be. You can't factor in what they might have gotten since it is not real money. If they get two million for him thats two million. Subtract 400k for his salary (which is a wash since they would have gotten his services for two years anyway so that 400k has would have already paid dividends) and the standard 15 percent players get from fees (300k) and MLS is still up 1.3 million. Not break even. 1. I think they might get more than that for him 2. As I stated that 400k is a wash since they are paying him for services to be rendered not to just since a contract and sit on his ass. They would have already gotten their 400k from him by the time he is sold.
The supporters group MVP vote was nearly 50-50 between the two...with O'Brien narrowly winning in the end. More important? NO, just as important all things being equal. The difference is we know EJ will be gone in 1 or 2 years, there is no reason why O'Brien won't stay. He likes Dallas, he is getting his green card, he seems happy, and, unlike EJ, he is in the midst of contract extension negotations with the league. In the end, new fans won't know either of them, so what's the difference? If your name isn't Landon Donovan or David Beckham or Freddy Adu ain't no one ever heard of ya in non-soccer circles. As far as MLS scoffing at re-signing him?? No, certainly not, but once they look at the alternatives....and EJ's agent sticks 'em with a ridiculous number and wants 20% of the transfer fee there decision will be easy.
I am considering the players interests which is why I gave him a big ass raise. He get something MLS gets something and when he sold dallas gets a part of the fee like we did this year from selling Tommy. This above board below board stuff has nothing to do with the point that what a players transfer fee is does not determine his salary. That was the point you made and that is what I was responding to. This is plainly wrong. Players who cost more are worth more. Players who are worth more get paid more.