Sorry guys, this is probably the 100th thread started asking this question, but can someone please confirm which salary figure is used to determine a players cap "value" or cap "hit"? I was under the impression that it was the guaranteed compensation figure (the larger of the two figures listed), can someone confirm this and post a link that proves this? Thanks, and i'll rep. you!
There never has been an official confirmation. According to Buzz (3rd degree) there are also other factors that are added in when calculating the salary cap hit so that neither number is the true number. My opinion is that the guaranteed number is better to use for "calculations", since if they didn't include guaranteed bonuses it would be too easy to game.
I think that's most likely correct. For one thing, the difference in figures is most often the signing bonus pro-rated. And that kind of thing is pretty much always going to count against the cap. As for other numbers, bonuses are often counted against sports caps if they are 'achievable' (often means if a player has done it before), but they still won't appear there because though they are achievable they aren't guaranteed.
I stopped trying to figure this out a long time ago. In addition to all the bonuses, ect, teams can use allocation money to buy down a players cap hit, and nobody knows how much allocation money is actually floating around in MLS. The most recent and obvious example of this was Columbus buying down GBS' cap number so as he didn't count as a DP. Once Columbus' allocation money ran out GBS became a DP. But I have no idea what GBS' actual cap hit was his first two years in the league. Outside of Mark McCullers, and the league office, I don't think anyone does.