The Twellman Precedent

After they "punished" him for going to Germany for more $$ and not staying in the US they should be cutting him a little bit of a break now.

That article also says that MLS was pissed that he left for Europe to take the big money and that when he came back they took advantage of his situation to make an example of him and show others that they should stay here to play. do they really feel that they have to play hardball with these young players? Why not just pay a person what he is worth once he has proven himself?

 

People....

This is Frank Dell'Apa...

This is Frank Dell'Apa having the story spoon-fed to him by an agent not known for exercising restraint in his comments...

Is Twellman deserving of a better contract? Yes.

Does he deserve some semblance of job security and benefits? Absolutely.

Is Twellman worth the league-max salary?

... that's a big risk to assume. Who's to say he could go out next season, get injured, leaving us with no cap space to sign another player? Then again, say he can't follow-up this season's numbers with an equally strong performance in 2003 then? Would he been be worth the $$$ inked in to his contract?

If my guess is right he'll end up signing for a figure that he'll be happy to see out for the duration of his contract. I'd say just under a $100,000 base with some considerable performance-based incentives that could add $15,000 to that.

You also have to remember that this guy's likely to earn his first cap against El Salvador in a few weeks. Twellman and Craig Sharon have to appreciate the long-term issues here: the current national team climate favors those players who commit to MLS. Twellman could certainly end up back in Germany making more money, but to be honest, what are the odds of him playing everyday... that's something to think about if he really wants to commit to playing more than a bit role in the U.S. qualification efforts for WC 2006.

The Magpie

 

To start off, almost no one in the MLS gets paid what they are worth (other than a few well publicized, overpaid busts). They are all working for small money in order to play in the US.

Second, Rev fans need to get their priorities straight. It's all well and good to say give this guy and that guy the max because they deserve it, but the reality is that the MORE Twellman gets from MLS, the LESS the Revs will be able to do to improve the team.

I like Twellman, but I'm more interested in seeing the team do well than him personally - so I'm hoping to see a settlement midway between the min and max (say, $125K), and a couple of more years of "ownership" tacked on.

 

Interesting that FDA's article also speculated that a deal for 100k without an increase in years would satisfy everyone. You'd have to think he's right on this considering his ties w/ Sharon, but I thought Twellman would end up with a lot more.

 

The other option is for MLS to agree to a "reasonable" buy-out clause.

 

A question - does the 4 years already include the year he has played?

It is interesting either way in that 4 years from now the 2006 WC will have just ended. Taylor will be near the prime (age wise) 26. To tie him up longer says you want to have his rights after the next WC.

I am also interesting that there isn't some sort of 'standard' transfer fee/buyout clause for soccer contracts. It certainly is something that seems kind of standard in Europe. Is MLS not adhering to that, or are the players not wanting MLS to adhere to that model?

 

Magpie,

How much did he make in Germany as a reserve? $100,000? How do incentive clasues figure into the salary cap?

Match what he was making auf Deutschland or even a little better, toss in some incentive clauses, dangle the national team scenario in front of him, give him directions to Springfield for The Student Prince (for decent sauerkraut and Wiener Schnitzel) to satiate his Deutscher wanderlust and alles is gut! Another season like this one und viele Gemutlekeit!

 

MLS has no reason to up TnT's salary besides being nice. Taylor signed a contract and unless there was a clause in it that states he could renegotiate if he hit some mark, then this should be a non issue.

Maybe in a way this is showing that MLS is catching up with the 'big four' because such holdouts/renogiations/etc. are commonplace in the rest of the sports world.

KF

 

Re: Re: The Twellman Precedent

The other reason to "up" his salary is to send the message to other successful American players that they will be "taken care of" by the league. This is really important. This league will live or die on the success of its home grown talent. The league needs to strike a balance between cost savings and development and nuturing of its stars and future stars.

If the league blows Taylor off he has two options:

(1) play out his contract and go to Europe at age 26 - barring injury or a rapid detioration in form he will make 10 - 15 times what MLS is offering now.

(2) Sit out next year.


I am sure neither of these two are his first choices for the resolution of this, but MLS has to stop being penny wise and pound foolish.

 

MLS does have reason to up TnT's salary besides being nice - credibility in the marketplace.

Tom Brady was in a very similar position to TnT and the Pats took care of him. The real question is - do you want to have a key player angry at the organization or not? There is no way you walk into next season with TnT seriously disgruntled about his situation. That doesn't mean you have to give him everything he and his agent are asking for, but it DOES mean doing MUCH more than league minimum.

 

As I said on another thread, the time has come for MLS to at least double the salary cap if the league is serious about giving players incentive to play in the USA. I'm not saying that TnT should get the max but he should get a good contract with serious incentive bonus clauses and every reason to stick around and improve. And, frankly, every MLS player should have this chance. That doesn't mean blowing the top off salaries but it does mean putting a high-end carrot out in front of the players across the board to increase the level of competition.

If MLS figures are remotely accurate then player salaries are the least of their expenses. Hell, airline tickets, hotel rooms, meal per diems and bus charter costs for one player almost add up the the league minimum. In other words, I bet it costs the Rev at least $25,000 per player to maintain them during the season.

JIM DOW

 

This is a good point, but just to clarify. The organization that would bear the anger of a dissatisfied Twellman is MLS - not the Revs or the Krafts. Especially toward the end of the season, the Krafts treated him and his family really well.

Has anyone noticed the recent ad campaigns in magazines for season tickets ? Taylor's picture is all over the place. The Revs know they have a key part of their future success - now its a matter of the league ponying up some money to a level that is not insulting.

 

I'm not saying TnT doesn't deserve more money, I'm just saying he doesn't have the right to expect/demand more. He signed a contract and he should honor it's terms.

As far as credibility, isn't this the same board that has complained of the "rules carved in jello?" Should contracts be "written in jello?" Should MLS ask Chacon for a refund because he did the opposite of TnT? Maybe if MLS does handle things right now they can avoid the future pitfalls that all the other sports are experiencing in this matter?

All that being said, if MLS doesn't make a offer than TnT could get his knickers in a twist and take off at the first opportunity no matter what -- which would totally be his right to do.

(I also don't know how relevant this all is because the source was FDA and not Taylor himself.)

KF

 

Twellman should offer something like following but MLS would reject it out of hand, which shows how ridiculous his "punishment" is.

Keep the money, but give me an option to buy my contract out at the sum of remaining salary x 2 (punishment)

$24,000 x 4 x 2 = $192,000 = pocket change for any European club.

 

Twellman v Donovan

I am still annoyed with the idea that Twellman is being punished.

I see Twellman and Donovan as having very similar stories with one major difference. MLS and Bruce Arena have treated Donovan like the gem that he is (and then some) while Twellman is the pariah.

I have a real problem reading in the same day that Garber is jetting to Germany to beg, borrow and deal another year for Donovan while the league continues to give Twellman the shaft. From being ignored by Arena, being forced into the draft, paid as little as possible and now, after proving himself to be the best American striker (bar none), they are still giving him the stiff arm.

I don't get it. What did I miss that separates Donovan from Twellman in the eyes of the league?

Explain it to me like i'm 6.

 

No successful soccer club in the world is going to give a merit raise to a player under contract w/o requiring an extension. When a good player is ready to move up to a higher level of competition, the club that owns his rights expects a transfer fee as compensation. No successful club lets promising players reach free agency unless they totally refuse any reasonable extension.

When and if TT moves to a European club, the MLS expects and deserves compensation. The same as with Beasley, McBride, Olsen, Mastro, Mathis, etc. Many of that bunch would already be playing in Europe, and MLS compensated, if MLS hadn't misplayed the market. They're still trying to set a baseline transfer fee for it's players, and they're trying to set it at a favorable rate.

In the coming years, MLS will have to let some of it's players under contract move up - market forces will make that happen. If TT is good enough to attract major interest, he will go at some point. If he only attracts minor interest, in which case suitors aren't willing to pay a serious transfer fee, then he really isn't that good a prospect and MLS is justified in holding him to his contract.

Buyouts aren't the answer, transfer fees are.

 

Re: Twellman v Donovan

Donovan is younger and 'starred' in the last WC.

Twellman is older and doesn't have a full cap.

This means Donovan is more likely to be a name more people will recognize for longer and that equals a better marketing ploy.

KF

 

Re: Twellman v Donovan

Maybe, he's a complete as-hole that has made unrealistic approaches, and his agent is incapable of negotiating on serious terms or realistic terms. maybe the league is blowing him off to wait until he gets a new agent or a commonseniscal approach. or not.



who the hell really knows. its hard to sit here and say that he's worth x and isn't getting it for this or that reason. fact is that he is worth what he is getting paid, untill he is paid more. anyone else have any other facts about the negotiation?

 

Re: Re: Twellman v Donovan

But this seems to have started even before the World Cup. Just look at how each of them arrived in MLS.

Donovan was still under contract in Germany. MLS (with lots of help from Pepsi) went out of their way and spent lots of $$ to work out a loan deal and then assigned him to the team of his choice. Arena tossed him into the line up so fast I think Donovan's laces were still untied in the first match.

Twellman was free and was forced into the draft. No special contract. No choice of team. No Pepsi. Had Twellman not been spectacular this year (basically forcing Arena to pick him up) Bruce would still be saying "Taylor who?"

There may be a simple and reasonable answer, but I don't get it. And I am not the person who used the word 'punished' first.

 

Re: Re: Re: Twellman v Donovan

That was the agent, and we all know about those kinds of people.

Still, it seems to me it was more a matter of timing if you compare The Baby Jesus with TnT. If 2003 was a WC year, you could bet he'd be in the mix, and if TnT played in Korea as well as we think he's capable of, he would be just as much the star,if not more, than The Baby Jesus.

But instead, Twellman came over here with less pedigree than Imad Baba, and until he started producing, no one thought he was anything special. Admit it, when we drafted him, you thought that it would be a pleasant surprise if he could contribute some minutes behind Diallo/Harris/APC, and thought that maybe, just maybe he could be groomed to take over in a year or two. Sure he was a hotshot college player, so was Johnny Torres. Yes, he played in Germany, but so did my second cousin Hans-Dieter.

At the start, he was an unknown commodity, and the league played hard-ball with him. Not the first player to be in that situation, and certainly not the last. Fortunately, Taylor has proved that he is a little bit more than the second coming of Hansi Amani-Dove, and will certainly get his due.

As for The Baby Jesus, let's see how he does over the long run. I can see him and Twellman combining for the nats for the next several years. My guess is that when all is said and done at the end of their careers, they both will have a lot of glory to look back on. I wonder if this will ever be a Rocket Richard-Gordie Howe (or Williams-DiMaggio, Russell-Chamberlain) kind of rivalry.

Tom

 

Thanks, Tom. That I understand.

 

Pay the man. He exceeded expectations so reward him

 

Donovan and TT are such vastly different players I doubt any real rilvary could ever occur.

The natural rivarly for Taylor should be Josh Wolff as they will both be competing for one of the striker spots in WCQ.

Landon, as he has already demonstrated, can play many different positions at the highest level so his direct competition with TT will be minimal IMO in the coming years.

Andy