Wait a minute, I'm not sure you can make that argument. The Fire players making the short money are making it because they were willing to take it when the team offered it. Now I assume Rolfe and Segares are due to make substantial raises (if they haven't already) since they have established themselves as something other than run of the mill developmental players. It is worth remembering that in the majority of the developmental players cases, the choice the league has made is to pay these guys 12k to 15k a year (this season) or simply not hire them at all (previous seasons before the reserve system). Since these guys have taken the money, one assumes these guys prefer making 15k to play soccer than not playing soccer at all. That said, it does look bad. Most developmental players are a spare part, interchangeable with 100 other available guys just like them. As such they are theoretically worth next to nothing above their use as a warm body to fill out reserve rosters. The guys who have shown themselves to be a level above that likely get raises soon thereafter. Still, even with all of the new developmental players, an extra 10k a piece likely wouldn't kill the league and there are probably areas where they piss that away (and then some) that could be eliminated to cover the cost. That it would technically be a poor allocation of money (why pay more for something than its worth), might be counterbalanced by the good PR or at least the avoidance of bad PR.