OK folks, I warned you in my first post that I may have to ask some stupid questions as I feel out the rules and regulations of MLS.. So try to go light on the new fan.. I promise that once you pass this knowledge to me, I'll pass it on to another new fan, and so on My question deals with DMB, if (or I guess when) he goes overseas, is he outright lost for good, or will he be a part time player? And the second part to that deals with if he's outright lost.. Is there some sort of compensation for losing one of your star players? I know in the NFL, if one of your more important players leaves via free agency, they award compensatory draft picks to the team losing the player... Is there a similar situation in MLS, or are you pretty much SOL?
1. When DMB goes to a new team, he'll be theirs as a full player, gone from the Fire and hopefully getting to be starter for his new squad, in the same way that Bocanegra is at Fulham after leaving the Fire earlier this year. 2. In soccer, players leaving after their contracts end are called free transfers or Bosman transfers (their equivalent of a free agent). Unless a player is younger than 24, his old club receives nothing. However most larger star players leave the clubs that develop them before this age, so its usually not a problem. If a player's club sends him to a new team before the contract is over, his old club is due a transfer fee which must be negotiated before the transfer can actually occur. The interesting monkey wrench in all of this is that in MLS the league, not the club, owns all contracts and negotiates all transfers. So if you read something in a newspaper about, say Man United goalkeeper Tim Howard, it'll say something like "MLS received a transfer fee of £2.3m for his services," even though the MetroStars were his old club. Of course in the same way, when players like Bocanegra or Clint Mathis leave on free transfers, the league is the one who receives nothing in return. Hope that answers some of your questions. And remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people... many of whom seem to have found a home at BigSoccer (not you obviously, though there are others).
Achtung, You left out one important item in your concise and correct explanation: allocations. I leave it to others to explain this enigma of a riddle.
Everyone who actually understands how allocations work has had to don the brown robes, take their vows and join the MLS preisthood. For us normal humans, transubstantiation is a more straightforward process.
MLS should really write some kind of "Rule Book" to clear things things up. I still don't know what an allocation is. I know we got one when Boca left, but I still don't know what it is and why.
It was explained awhile ago actually. This isn't the MLS dark ages anymore and things have been relatively straightforward about what an allocation is since 2000. Allocations are basically a set amount of money as compensation for the loss of a player due to retirement or sale. There are major and minor allocations worth different amounts. The money can be used for purchasing players or deferring salary. Now, the method of determining who gets allocations and why (via the MLS Competition Committee) beyond the two playoff rejects every season getting one is not exactly consistent, but it's gotten better. I mean, it's not like we've had a dispersal draft lately or anything.