? He scored the goal that put Miami out of CONCACAF last week, and has 2g, 3a in 5 games with Nashville in MLS play, including a goal and assist in their 5-0 trouncing of Orlando on Saturday: From mlssoccer: Paced by a hat trick from early MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi leader Sam Surridge and all-around brilliance from newcomer Cristian Espinoza, the confident Coyotes could easily have drilled a few more past Maxime Crépeau and the Lions, who made clear that the issues in Orlando run deeper than departing head coach Oscar Pareja.
Ok so good for him! He scored a goal eliminating Messi and Miami and I was glad about that! That is also great for him and Nashville and we are happy for them both! What more are you or any of us supposed to do about it? Keep crying over a player who isn't here? Maybe we should worry ore about the Quakes and Arena's 2026 team. I mean Espinoza is gone and isn't coming back so let's move on already!
I agree with falvo, Leitch is too smart of a guy not to read the writing on the wall. Maybe it was a last FU to Fisher? Actually, I don’t think Leitch would be that kind of a guy either. I don’t think you last long in the Quakes org unless you are a pretty good brown noser.
It's cool to see Cristian playing meaningful matches and excelling. He was probably just tired of losing and needed a change of (professional) scenery, even if his family was happy in the Bay. Not sure it had anything to do with Bruce or Hernán for that matter. You could maybe even argue that it was time for the Quakes to wipe the slate clean by moving their franchise player along. But letting the option lapse and passing up an obvious chance to pick up some assets through a trade is just pure idiocy and frankly beneath the level expected from a top division professional sports front office.
Espinoza played “meaningful matches” and “excelled” with the Quakes too. Again I think Espinoza’s statement on re-signing with San Jose is well beyond the normal re-sign happy talk. And he’s said similar things in interviews before Bruce came in. He is very happy in SJ. All his kids were born here. He feels connected to the community, etc. “Ready for a change” is one thing but you don’t take it lightly when you have a family of 3 and at least the older kids are probably in school of some kind and have groups of friends, etc. And of course it can be a combination of factors - not particularly liking to play for Bruce / being pissed about Bruce’s treatment of Hernán and other Latin players like Rodrigues, and wanting a change of scenery on the field as well for other reasons. The bottom line is that, “clerical error” or not, Espinoza would still be with San Jose if was still happy playing with the team. Anyway, it's a stick in Bruce's craw that we don't have Espinoza anymore. Chicho and Josef, maybe not so much. If we can only find the guy who signed those guys!
Again why all the consternation about Espinoza "leaving for nothing" and the Quakes doing the same with Josef and essentially Chico also?
Well with Chicho we got something and he’s still under contract with the Quakes thru 2029 (options in 28 and 29). But with Josef, yeah, it doesn’t make much sense.
With Josef I don't think we were about to pick up his option (he made $1.45m last year). There's no way you could have found a trade partner willing to eat all that salary, nor an overseas loan that would absorb the entire wage. The right thing to do was to decline the option and get him off the books entirely.
You can’t transfer him and get a non-zero transfer fee? And no MLS team would trade for a guy who scored 14 goals in 1800 minutes and who makes a TAM buy-downable salary? I think Josef was in the top 10 or so in goal productivity per 90 last year, for guys who scored 10+ goals. And if you factor in (goal productivity) / cost, otherwise known as value, he moves up even higher. That's a high value asset. You don't give away your high value assets for free. It's one thing if you do it because you made a mistake, but doing it willfully is even much worse.
Possibly not. You don't find it persuasive that no other team in MLS signed him? And now he has 0 goals in 8 games for Tijuana. Also he's 32.
Who knows if he wanted to play in MLS anymore or if Tijuana didn't offer him the highest amount. Transfermarket lists his market value at $2M at the time of that signing. As for "0 goals in 8 games", Berterame, a $13M transfer, has 0 goals in 7 games with Inter Miami. So there is that. As for "32", he scored 25 goals in MLS in the last 2 seasons in the league, in not that much beyond 3000 total minutes between the 2 years, which is not much more than one full season's worth of minutes. Not great evidence that he's washed.
I mean part of the problem is giving a limited-minutes guy a significant deal, especially when he contributes zero aside from the goal poaching. Josef is not Espinoza who could probably improve any MLS team’s lineup at a reasonable price tag. Ultimately they went in a different direction, playing young, fast, high work rate players at every position so they can press and push up the back line. Starting an old and sedentary CF up top is counterproductive, so I think it was kind of a no brainer to clean the slate especially once the Werner deal came together.
Yeah, the old “all he does is score goals”. We had another player like that… I don’t buy the “old and sedentary” thing. Josef pressed like any other CF. He was not lazy. Not as fast as Judd, but from what I’ve seen at least as committed and speedy as Timo when pressing. I’m not arguing that we should kept him, because if Bruce wants to give Judd the keys for the most part Josef’s not gonna be happy sitting on the bench. I’m arguing that you don’t give up an asset like that for free. Some team is gonna want a guy that scores a goal every 120 minutes and then you get compensated.
Another assessment no one looked at regarding Espinoza's departure was or is, Tennessee has zero state income tax as opposed to California's 13.3%. This coupled with the cheaper housing as opposed to Silicon Valley, Espinoza by going to Nashville, will earn more money in the long run and in retrospect, he made the correct decision by leaving. While the "administrative error" was the emotional trigger, the financial math made Nashville a very attractive landing spot for Espinoza, even if his "sticker price" salary was technically lower. The move to Tennessee likely resulted in a net raise for him due to two massive factors: 1. The "13.3% Raise" (Taxes) California has the highest state income tax in the U.S., reaching up to 13.3% for high earners like Designated Players. Tennessee has zero state income tax. On a $2 million salary, staying in San Jose would cost him roughly $266,000 a year just in state taxes. By moving to Nashville, he keeps that entire amount. For San Jose to match his "take-home" pay in Nashville, they would have had to pay him significantly more than his face-value contract. 2. Purchasing Power As a DP making millions, the cost of a gallon of milk doesn't matter much, but real estate does. San Jose: A luxury home in a prime Silicon Valley neighbourhood can easily run $4M–$8M. Nashville: He can buy a comparable (or larger) estate in affluent areas like Brentwood or Franklin for half that price. The "Respect" Factor When you combine the tax savings with the fact that Nashville SC treated him like a priority from day one—while his own club "forgot" he existed on paper—it makes total sense why he left. Espinoza will likely have a higher net income in Nashville than he would have in San Jose, even after accepting a lower "face value" salary. The combination of zero state income tax and a lower cost of living creates a massive financial advantage that offsets his lower base pay.
CA tax on $2 mil would be just over $200k. The Quakes reportedly offered a 10% higher salary. So that largely comes out in the wash. Sure you could buy much more house in Nashville but if you’re been making $1-2M for several years even in the Bay Area you can buy a nice house. Missing the deadline means “the team didn’t respect him” is silly. The Quakes re-upped his contract multiple times with sizable salary increases and made him captain. Then they disrespected him so much that they made him the highest offer. Then by moving to Nashville Espinoza had to drag his kids away from their schools / friends, and move to a much less cosmopolitan place. The Latino population in San Jose is about 5x that of Nashville. And then there’s the weather. ‘Nough said!
No so sure... I think he will get a lot more house and land for his money in Nashville as opposed to living in Silicon Valley's Evergreen, Alamden Valley, Willow Glen , Los Gatos, Saratoga , Rose Garden or even Campbell. I don't know for certain but I think he was living in the Campbell-Willow Glen area , near where Matias Almeyda use to live, although I don't know if he rented or owned a home. When he was in his 20's , he probably didn't even think about it but now at 31 years of age , with a wife and small kids, I'm sure he is thinking about his future. When a 31 year old player only has 3-4 years of your playing career left (if that), of course he has to be looking at these factors. Anyway, I also read that Chris Leitch screwed the pooch on not signing him but Bruce Arena wanted to sign him badly. Even though they won't admit it, missing out on the deadline to re-sign CE was the reason on why Leitch was fired. So far, the Quakes are on fire and are doing well without him. Let's hope it continues.
Why would he buy a house in Nashville? I don't think it's likely his family stays there beyond his contract, and Espinoza could be traded elsewhere without his consent earlier. We don't even know if his family is living there with him.
Why wouldn’t he? Why did Almeyda buy a house in Campbell-Willow Glen? Also, why would Espinoza live there without his family? His family was living here with him so I doubt he is living there without them. Anyway, he has a three guaranteed contract and saving $266k a year comes to almost $800k by the time he is 33. Unless he has money to burn, I’m sure he welcomes that kind of cash. For now, he most likely loves living there.
I can imagine that when Nashville had Espinoza come visit they took him on a little housing tour and showed him what a $5M house looks like in the Nashville area.
No one looked at? So, it was even a surprise for Espinoza when he showed up? Therefore, not a factor in his leaving? p.s. you should credit who actually wrote all that. Sure as hell wasn’t you.
First of all, I never posted that I wrote it. Secondly, who cares if I take credit, did or didn't write it? Thirdly, my entire post was about why Espinoza left San Jose for Nashville.
Another assessment no one’s looking at is that Espinoza is currently tied in goals scored this season — with Jack Skahan.