Player Salaries Released

The MLS Players' Union today came out with their yearly release of player salaries. For Sporting Kansas City their salaries went up by about $1 million from the 2015 season. Included in the raises were the likes of Tim Melia getting a decent pay bump, Matt Besler, Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza and Benny Feilhaber both getting $50,000. The biggest bump looks like it went to Dom Dwyer, whose base salary jumped $100,000 from 2015 when he made $400,000 to 2016 where he's making $500,000. Here is the full list; the first number is the base salary while the second is the player's guaranteed compensation for 2016.

Abdul-Salaam, Saad - $63,000 - $76,750
Anor, Bernardo - 132,624 - $132,624
Besler, Matt - $700,000 - $732,624
Coelho, Nuno - $275,000 - $375,000
Davis, Brad - $355,000 - $355,000
Dia, Amadou - $51,500 - $51,500
Dwyer, Dom - $500,000 - $618,750
Ellis, Kevin - $72,000 - $75,150
Espinoza, Roger - $800,000 - $800,000
Feilhaber, Benny - $400,000 - $412,187.50
Hallisey, Connor - $63,000 - $76,750
Kann, Alec - $63,000 - $63,000
Kempin, Jon - $82,750 - $82,750
Mapp, Justin - $224,070 - $239,070
Medranda, Jimmy - $63,000 - $63,000
Melia, Tim - $150,000 - $152,500
Mustivar, Soni - $200,000 - $200,000
Myers, Chance - $200,000 - $225,000
Nagamura, Paulo - $225,000 - $225,000
Olum, Lawrence - $105,000 - $115,000
Opara, Ike - $125,000 - $131,250
Palmer-Brown, Erik - $65,000 - $65,500
Peterson, Jacob - $137,750 - $144,625
Quintilla, Jordi - $100,000 - $109,525
Rubio, Diego - $300,000 - $333,000
Salloi, Daniel - $51,500 - $51,500
Sinovic, Seth - $105,000 - $112,666.67
Zusi, Graham - $700,000 - $732,102.27

In base salary Kansas City tops out at $6,309,194 and in guaranteed compensation $6,751,824.44, around $3 million above the $3,660,000 salary cap for MLS. That puts Kansas City with the seventh highest payroll in all of MLS, although they have the highest payroll of any team that does not have a player making $1,000,000 or more. To be fair, $485,000 of that difference between the cap and Kansas City’s payroll is made up in the salaries of KC's three DPs base salaries, Besler, Zusi and Diego Rubio. But the rest of the salary difference comes from all the extra "stuff" that MLS has to allow teams to spend over the salary cap. For example, Kansas City technically has two players on their roster, Dwyer and Espinoza, who would qualify as designated players based on their salary, but neither player is recognized as such by the team or the league. If these numbers are correct (and has been discussed year after year you do have to take these numbers with some grain of salt), KC would be using the newer "targeted allocation money" to likely pay down the cap hit by Dwyer and Espinoza so that they do not count as designated players. That extra almost $400,000 gets closer to the cap, but not quite. There are other methods that KC is also likely using to pay down players, including maybe Espinoza or Dwyer if KC didn't want to use all their TAM. The team could be utilizing their general allocation money to assist in paying down the salaries of certain players on the team to keep them under the cap. The other possibility has to do with Brad Davis. Davis was acquired by KC in a trade with Houston, at the time most people expected Davis to take a pay cut (he took a $45,000 one from his salary last year), people also expected that the Dynamo were likely going to be covering at least a portion of Davis' contract, which would have also helped Kansas City to have some cap relief.

Looking at the list there are certainly a few numbers that stand out in terms of over paying/under paying. Amadou Dia continues to be a bargain at the price Kansas City is paying him at. At the same time, Seth Sinovic took a pay cut to come back to Kansas City, a good bit of business there by the team to get a deal done for less money that allowed Sinovic to stay in KC and KC to keep a good starting left back. Jimmy Medranda so far has been the brightest spark in KC's offense, but since this is the first time he's really shown it, his price isn't that surprising, now if he could just continue his breakthrough and get some goals/assists. KC's two free agent signings though have been disappointing to this point, Justin Mapp and Paulo Nagamura both are making north of $200,000 and have played a combined nine minutes so far this season. Certainly not the level of play that you want from players you're paying that much for. You're also likely going to see plenty of comments about Zusi's price tag along with Dwyer and Myers. The best bit of business KC may have done was with Nuno Andre Coelho who has been a rock in defense for Kansas City this season. While a $275,000 base isn't cheap, he's certainly proving so far to be worth every penny.

2015 MLS Salaries Released

With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement now ratified by the players, the MLS Players' Union has released the 2015 salaries for players. The annual to bi-annual event where fans argue over who is over paid, who is underpaid, who is a steal and marvel at the discrepancy in salaries from Kaka to the likes of Amadou Dia. Based off the base salaries, Sporting KC sits with the 10th highest salary in the league at $5,209,250. About a quarter of the price that the likes of Toronto and LA.

Here's Sporting's list of salaries. The first number is the base salary, the second is the guaranteed compensation.

Abdul-Salaam, Saad - D - $60,000.00 - $73,750.00
Anibaba, Jalil - D - $120,000.00 - $150,000.00
Anor, Bernardo - M - $135,000.00 - $135,000.00
Besler, Matt - D - $650,000.00 - $683,250.00
Carrasco, Servando - M - $80,750.00 - $85,375.00
de Jong, Marcel - D - $180,000.00 - $191,500.00
Dia, Amadou - D - $50,000.00 - $50,000.00
Dwyer, Dom - F - $400,000.00 - $518,750.00
Ellis, Kevin - D - $60,000.00 - $63,150.00
Espinoza, Roger - M - $750,000.00 - $750,000.00
Feilhaber, Benny - M - $350,000.00 - $362,187.50
Hallisey, Connor - M - $60,000.00 - $73,750.00
Kempin, Jonathan - GK - $85,000.00 - $92,083.33
Lopez, Mikey - M - $100,000.00 - $172,000.00
Medranda, Jimmy - M - $60,000.00 - $60,000.00
Melia, Tim - GK - $80,000.00 - $84,203.33
Mustivar, Soni - M - $250,000.00 - $250,000.00
Myers, Chance - D-M - $170,000.00 - $195,000.00
Nagamura, Paulo - M - $230,000.00 - $230,000.00
Nemeth, Krisztian - F - $250,000.00 - $250,000.00
Opara , Ike - D - $115,000.00 - $121,250.00
Palmer-Brown, Erik - D - $60,000.00 - $60,500.00
Peterson, Jacob - F - $123,500.00 - $130,375.00
Sinovic, Seth - M-D - $140,000.00 - $146,750.00
Zusi, Graham - F-M - $650,000.00 - $682,102.27


Some of the things that stand out.

Espinoza is the team's highest paid player with a base salary of $750,000. He's not a designated player though as the team is apparently paying down his salary with allocation funds. With the new Targeted Allocation Money, one could wonder if KC could look to use that to pay down Espinoza and use their current allocation money on other things.

Four players that started on the back line in KC's last game against Vancouver, three of them (Abdul-Salaam, Dia, and Ellis) make a combined $170,000 in base salary.

Mustivar and Nemeth are both making $250,000 per year. In the capped league that is MLS, that's probably fair for both the contribution of the players and the business the team did bringing them in.

Dwyer's new deal that he signed this offseason is a very good piece of business for him, he went from earning $80,000 according to last year's numbers, to $400,000 this year, a little under the designated player limit.

With their contributions this season you can easily argue that Ellis and Melia have been two of the best bargains in the league this year. Ellis making $60,000 has stepped up in the absence of Opara and really became a key contributor for the team. While Melia makes $80,000 and has become extremely important in KC's move up the league standings.

In terms of players that are overpaid, the biggest is probably Nagamura. While the Brazilian offers a lot when he's on the field, the problem is that he just hasn't been on the field that much recently. He's played just 398 minutes of a potential 1,530 KC has played in league play this year. At $230,000 that's not nearly enough of a contribution.

Similar comments can be made about Anor's $135,000 salary with only 188 minutes of contribution.

We unfortunately don't learn the salary Luis Marin was set to make with the club due to his mutual agreement to terminate his contract.

Updated MLS Player Salaries

The MLS Players' Union today released their updated salaries for the 2014 season. The union usually does this two to three times a year. This year the second release was later in the season than most people expected it to be released.

With it there are some updates to Sporting KC's salaries from earlier in the year.

The biggest changes are for KC's two new designated players, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. Both saw their base salaries jump to $600,000. Besler jumped from $200,000, Zusi from $365,000. Besler has the largest guaranteed compensation at $633,250 while Zusi is right behind him at $631,388.89.

Sporting's three new signings are also on the list. The lowest of which is midfielder, Michael Kafari making $36,504. Ahead of him is Honduran midfielder, Jorge Claros making $90,000. The highest of KC's midseason acquisitions was Swiss-Filipino midfielder, Martin Steuble who is making $120,000. It bit surprising considering the roles of the two players so far that Steuble is making more than Claros.

With the new salaries, Sporting KC now has the 11th highest payroll in MLS, moving up two spots from where they were when the first salaries came out this year. And according to the numbers, Besler is the 21st highest paid player in the league, Zusi the 22nd.

Sporting Player Salaries Released

The MLS Players Union has released the first set of salaries for the 2014 season. As always these are probably a good base, but these probably are not the 100% number for many of the players. You have to remember that some salaries get paid down with allocation money, or retention funds (which KC used last year on both Matt Besler and Graham Zusi). Also remember that a player is a designated player if the transfer fee paid makes them a DP. So Claudio Bieler could either be paid down with allocation money, or his Designated Player status comes from a transfer fee that KC paid.

Zusi comes in as the highest paid player on Kansas City, with a base of $365,000, with Benny Feilhaber second at $325,000, and Aurelien Collin in third at $275,000. Bieler is fourth at $225,000, Paulo Nagamura is fifth at $220,000 and Besler is sixth at $200,000. After Besler comes one of KC's new signings, Toni Dovale, who sits at $180,000.

KC's other new signings are on the lower end. Andy Gruenebaum is making $85,000 which is a drop from his $92,200 he made last year with Columbus. KC's other acquisition from within MLS, Sal Zizzo, saw his salary increase, but only slight, from $76,781 to $77,000. The other new acquisitions this year are near the low end of the salary scale, Igor Juliao is making $48,500, while the two players that were drafted in the 2014 MLS draft, Alex Martinez and Victor Munoz (by DC) make $36,504.

When it comes to the players that stayed with KC, there was plenty of movement. The biggest move was Chance Myers, who with his new contract increased from $105,000 to $165,000. After Myers the biggest mover was starting goalkeeper, Eric Kronberg, who made a big jump himself of over $43,000 to $120,000. Oriol Rosell jumped up $40,000 himself, and Seth Sinovic made a jump of $35,000. The biggest drop, Nagamura, whose salary went down $40,000 this year.


Here is the full list.

Player - Base Salary - Guaranteed Compensation
Matt Besler - $200,000 - $200,000
Claudio Bieler - $225,000 - $225,000
Aurelien Collin - $275,000 - $281,250
Toni Dovale - $180,000 - $185,000
Christian Duke - $36,500 - $36,500
Dom Dwyer - $80,000 - $92,500
Kevin Ellis - $48,825 - $49,575
Benny Feilhaber - $325,000 - $337,187.50
Andy Gruenebaum - $85,000 - $85,000
Peterson Joseph - $51,150 - $51,150
Igor Juliao - $48,500 - $48,500
Jon Kempin - $70,000 - $77,083.33
Eric Kronberg - $120,000 - $120,000
Mikey Lopez - $85,000 - $157,000
Alex Martinez - $36,504 - $36,504
Jimmy Medranda - $48,504 - $48,504
Victor Munoz - $36,504 - $36,504
Chance Myers - $160,000 - $185,000
Paulo Nagamura - $220,000 - $220,000
Lawrence Olum - $48,825 - $48,825
Ike Opara - $97,500 - $103,705
Erik Palmer-Brown - $48,500 - $49,000
Jacob Peterson - $110,000 - $114,833.33
Oriol Rosell - $150,000 - $158,750
Soony Saad - $51,150 - $51,150
CJ Sapong - $95,000 - $112,000
Seth Sinovic - $125,000 - $131,750
Sal Zizzo - $77,000 - $91,045.71
Graham Zusi - $365,000 - $398,250

New Players Salaries

The MLS Players Union has released updated salaries for the MLS players. Included in the list are all the players that were signed since the transfer window closed and the roster deadline.  For Kansas City there are three additions to the list. Jimmy Medranda and Brendan Ruiz, the two players signed on the day the MLS transfer window closed, and Federico Bessone, who the team signed on the roster freeze date are included.

Medranda and Ruiz are both making the league minimum, $32,125 both base and guaranteed compensation. Bessone, is not making a ton more, he is on $46,500 a year under both categories as well.

Updated Salaries

Today the MLS Players Union released updated players salaries. When it comes to Sporting KC, there were only two changes to the salaries from the ones that were released earlier in the year. The first was the addition of Erik Palmer-Brown to the list.  Sporting KC's new home grown player is making $35,125 as a base salary and $35,625 in guaranteed compensation.

The big one though is Graham Zusi and his new contract. Zusi's new contract sees him get a big jump in pay. .His base salary goes from $140,000 in the release earlier this year to $350,000 now. Guaranteed compensation goes from $173,812.50 to $383,250. Zusi is now the teams highest paid player according to the players union release. Although it lists Sporting designated player, Claudio Bieler's salary as only $200,000.

2013 Sporting KC Salaries

The MLS Players Union today released salary figures for the players for the 2013 season today.  As always there are plenty of quesitons regarding the salaries.  The biggest one on this year's is the salary of Claudio Bieler's salary.  The players union site lists the designated player as having a base of $200,000.  Which is tied for the 5th highest according to the list released today.  The highest according to the list is a tie between Benny Feilhaber and Kei Kamara, both of whom have their base salary at $300,000.  Paulo Nagamura at $265,000 and Aurelien Collin at $250,000 round out the players ahead of Bieler salary wise.

Here's the full list.

Matt Besler - $180,000 - $180,000
Claudio Bieler - $200,000 - $200,000
Teal Bunbury - $110,000 - $208,000
Aurelien Collin - $250,000 - $250,000
Bobby Convey - $200,000 - $200,000
Christian Duke - $35,125 - $35,125
Dom Dwyer - $65,000 - $77,500
Kevin Ellis - $46,500 - $47,250
Benny Feilhaber - $300,000 - $312,187.50
Josh Gardner - $60,000 - $60,000
Peterson Joseph - $46,500 - $46,500
Kei Kamara - $300,000 - $302,500
Jon Kempin - $60,000 - $67,083.33
Eric Kronberg - $76,835 - $76,835
Mikey Lopez - $75,000 - $147,000
Mechack Jerome - $35,125 - $35,125
Kyle Miller - $35,125 - $35,125
Chance Myers - $105,000 - $120,666.67
Paulo Nagamura - $265,000 - $270,500
Jimmy Nielsen - $200,000 - $220,000
Lawrence Olum - $46,500 - $46,500
Ike Opara - $90,000 - $96,250
Jacob Peterson - $100,000 - $104,833.33
Oriol Rosell - $110,000 - $118,750
Soony Saad - $46,500 - $46,500
CJ Sapong - $75,000 - $92,000
Seth Sinovic - $90,000 - $96,750
Yann Songo'o - $35,125 - $35,125
Michael Thomas - $57,750 - $60,713.21
Graham Zusi - $140,000 - $173,812.50

The biggest mover this year salary wise is Feilhaber.  He took a $100,000 cut from his salary last year wtih New England.  Kei Kamra had the highest increases and second biggest move, adding $90,000 to his salary to hit the $300,000 mark.  Percentage wise, Matt Besler was the highest increase, almost doubling his salary from last year to now start making $180,000 a year.  Here's the full list.

Matt Besler - +$88,249
Claudio Bieler - N/A
Teal Bunbury - +$10,000
Aurelien Collin - +$40,000
Bobby Convey - no change
Christian Duke - N/A
Dom Dwyer - +$5,000
Kevin Ellis - +$2,500
Benny Feilhaber - -$100,000
Josh Gardner - +$5,880
Mechack Jerome - N/A
Peterson Joseph - +$2,400
Kei Kamara - +$90,000
Jon Kempin - +$13,00
Eric Kronberg - +$6,985
Mikey Lopez - N/A
Kyle Miller - +$1,375
Chance Myers - +$19,000
Paulo Nagamura - +$15,000
Jimmy Nielsen - no change
Lawrence Olum - +$2,400
Ike Opara - -$10,000
Jacob Peterson - +$19,000
Oriol Rosell - +$20,000
Soony Saad - +$2,500
CJ Sapong - +$10,000
Seth Sinovic - +$30,000
Yann Songo'o - N/A
Michael Thomas - +$2,750
Graham Zusi - +$35,000

Another Look at Sporting KC and Herculez Gomez's MLS Rights

Today during the Bayern Munich vs Barcelona Champions League semifinal today, Don Garber got on Twitter and was ready to take questions from fans.  During this though he received a question from former KC player and US national team forward Heruclez Gomez.  Gomez asked how Kansas City still had his rights.

@herculezg Because they tried to sign you and you declined. We would love to have you back.
— Don Garber (@thesoccerdon) April 23, 2013

As shown above, Garber explains that Kansas City still holds the first right of refusal on him because they made him an offer at the end of the 2009 season after his contract expired.  The "bona fide offer" which Gomez rejected.  Gomez was 27 in 2009 and had 6 years of MLS experience, which would put him in the over 25 with at least 4 years experience.  According to the league's collective bargaining agreement Gomez's bona fide offer would be at least the $54,408.38 that he was slated to get in 2009.  But according to Gomez, he was offered $20,000 more.

@thesoccerdon you mean that $20k (a year) raise (while so enticing) was a legit offer? I’m aware of the CBA, was a player rep. Saludos.
— herculez gomez (@herculezg) April 23, 2013

That would have put Gomez close to $75,000 a year. That's more than even the 5% raise he would have needed for a bona fide offer if he was 30 with 8 years experience (the next level up in the bona fide offer category).

While I understand the criticism of the CBA that Gomez has with the "bona fide offer" process, KC has met the requirements to retain Gomez's MLS rights should Gomez choose to return to MLS.  If a team wants to bring Gomez back to MLS they'll need to make a deal with Kansas City to bring him in.  While it's certainly frustrating, with Gomez being a US international, if KC didn't have his rights, Gomez would be put into the allocation process.  That would mean that unless the team that was wanting Gomez was number 1 in the allocation order (which I believe right now is Toronto), they'd potentially have to make a deal with that club. Although how a potential designated player contract would work into that would be another thing.  But really that's all hypothetical since KC does hold his rights.

And before people jump on the bring "Gomez back to KC" or the "imagine if he never left" bandwagons, take a breath.  First, from other comments Gomez has made over the years on Twitter and stories that make the rounds over beers, Gomez's parting from Kansas City wasn't really the smoothest break up in history.  Unless Peter Vermes is gone I don't ever expect Gomez back in a KC uniform. As for if he'd never left, if Gomez had never left I don't think he's the player he is now.  His departure from Kansas City and his move to Mexico was really the kick that his career needed to rejuvenate. If he'd have stayed in KC he probably would have been a decent pro here, maybe played another couple seasons, but like many of the players originally brought in under Curt Onalfo, would probably have left the team some time between the 2010 and 2011 season.

Salaries and 2013 Preseason

Today, the MLS players union released another update to the player salaries again.  Only one new addition on the list for Sporting KC, the addition of former Barcelona B player, Oriol Rosell.  The Spaniard is making $90,000 for his base salary and $98,750 in guaranteed compensation, the salary is prorated since he didn't sign until midseason.

In other salary news, Scott Angevine, who had been under contract to Sporting for a short time is on the list as a pool keeper, making $33,756, along with Steve Spangler, who trained with Sporting is making $33,750.  Former player, Luke Sassano isn't listed under Sporting's salaries any more, but he is at the bottom of the October list without a team since he's now in the NASL with Carolina.

2013 preseason back in Florida

Buried at the bottom of an article from Steven Goff today is the news on where at least a portion of KC's 2013 preseason will be.  Sporting has apparently agreed to return to Orlando again this year with 5 other MLS clubs (one of which is DC).  They'll once again participate in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer classic, scheduled to take place from February 9th through the 23rd.

Open Cup Final and Player Salaries

For those of you that don't already have tickets for the US Open Cup final a week from today against the Seattle Sounders, you may want to get them.  Today it was announced that the US Open Cup final for this year (and the next two after that) will be shown on Gol TV.  The station that most people have to get another tier on their cable provider to be able to watch the game.  Needless to say not too many people are happy about this.  Most people would even rather have an online stream readily available instead of having to deal with figuring out how to get Gol TV on their plan.  Word is that Fox Soccer (also a channel on another tier under most cable providers) was also trying to get the game for a national broadcast and that KSMO was trying to get local rights, along with 810AM trying to get radio rights but apparently the asking price from US Soccer was not one that they were willing to meet.  So instead soccer fans in KC (and around the US looking to watch the final) will either be contacting their cable provider, or finding an illegal stream.

While I understand US Soccer wanting to make as much money as possible, the US Open Cup final on Gol TV could be a bit of a step back for them as they look to continue to try to give the tournament more legitimacy.

The good news for Sporting fans?  The last time Gol TV had the finals was the 2004 and 2005 finals, and we remember how the 2004 one finished up.  If not, enjoy this great video that Sporting put out today.



Update Player Salaries

The players union today released updated salaries for all the MLS teams.  Sporting KC only had 3 changes to their list from the previous one in May to this release.  Gone from the list is Shawn Singh and his $33,750.  On the list now are new signings, Neven Markovic, who is making $90,000 and Kyle Miller who is making $33,750.  KC is still on the hook for Luke Sassano's salary at this point which is why he still appears on the list.  So far from Markovic I like what I've seen although I'd like to see a little bit more in competitive games instead of friendlies before making a decision.

2012 Salaries Released

Today, the MLS Players' Union released the player salaries for this year on their website.  Once again it's full of information regarding the player salaries for Sporting KC and the rest of the teams around the league.  The league has made big strides in making the salary of the players improve and making a much more liveable wage for the players. 

Here is the list of salaries for Kansas City, the first number is the 2012 base salary.  The second is the guaranteed compensation.

Aiyegbusi, Olukorede	D	$44,100.00	$44,100.00
Besler, Matt	D	$91,751.00	$103,001.00
Bunbury, Teal	F	$100,000.00	$198,000.00
Cesar, Julio	D	$252,000.00	$255,750.00
Collin, Aurelien	D	$210,000.00	$216,250.00
Convey, Bobby	M	$200,000.00	$215,000.00
Dwyer, Dom	F	$60,000.00	$72,500.00
Ellis, Kevin	D	$44,000.00	$44,750.00
Espinoza, Roger	M	$125,000.00	$158,750.00
Harrington, Michael	M-D	$125,000.00	$151,833.33
Hedrick, Cyprian	M	$33,756.00	$33,756.00
Joseph, Peterson	M	$44,100.00	$44,100.00
Kamara, Kei	F	$210,000.00	$212,500.00
Kempin, Jonathan	GK	$46,500.00	$53,583.33
Kronberg, Eric	GK	$69,850.00	$69,850.00
Myers, Chance	D-M	$86,000.00	$101,666.67
Nagamura, Paulo	M	$250,000.00	$255,500.00
Nielsen, Jimmy	GK	$200,000.00	$220,000.00
Olum, Lawrence	M/D	$44,100.00	$44,100.00
Peterson, Jacob	F	$81,000.00	$85,833.33
Saad, Soony	F	$44,000.00	$44,000.00
Sapong, CJ	F	$65,000.00	$82,000.00
Sassano, Luke	M-D	$81,000.00	$83,025.00
Singh, Shawn	D	$33,750.00	$33,750.00
Sinovic, Seth	M-D	$60,000.00	$66,750.00
Thomas, Michael	M	$55,000.00	$57,963.21
Warzycha, Konrad	M	$33,750.00	$33,750.00
Zusi, Graham	F-M	$105,000.00	$138,812.50

Some thoughts on the salaries.

- Graham Zusi had the biggest salary increase, going from $42,000 last year to $105,000 this year, a nice increase of $63,000 per year.  Not a bad jump.

- Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic also saw nice jumps.  Besler jumper $33,341 and Sinovic jumped $27,396.

- Paulo Nagamura may be one of the most expensive back ups in the league, making a quarter million.  Combine that with Michael Harrington's $125,000, Jacob Peterson's and Luke Sassano's $81,000 each KC has over half a million, $537,000, on four players that are regularly on the bench.

- CJ Sapong and Sinovic are probably still the best deals on the roster.  Sapong got a raise this year of $23,000 and between the two, they're making as much as Harrington is.

One more final thing, here's a look at the change in players' base salary between last year and this year.  Only two players, Bobby Convey and Peterson had their salaries drop from their salaries last year.

Aiyegbusi, Olukorede	$2,100.00
Besler, Matt	$33,341.00
Bunbury, Teal	$15,000.00
Cesar, Julio	$42,000.00
Collin, Aurelien	$24,996.00
Convey, Bobby	($113,500.00)
Dwyer, Dom	$60,000.00
Ellis, Kevin	$11,396.00
Espinoza, Roger	$25,000.00
Harrington, Michael	$15,000.00
Hedrick, Cyprian	$33,756.00
Joseph, Peterson	$2,100.00
Kamara, Kei	$10,000.00
Kempin, Jonathan	$4,500.00
Kronberg, Eric	$7,350.00
Myers, Chance	$14,000.00
Nagamura, Paulo	$25,000.00
Nielsen, Jimmy	$0.00
Olum, Lawrence	$44,100.00
Peterson, Jacob	($61,500.00)
Saad, Soony	$11,396.00
Sapong, CJ	$23,000.00
Sassano, Luke	$29,400.00
Singh, Shawn	$33,750.00
Sinovic, Seth	$27,396.00
Thomas, Michael	$55,000.00
Warzycha, Konrad	$1,146.00
Zusi, Graham	$63,000.00

Updated Salaries

The MLS Players' Union released updated player salaries today. Five players have been added to the list for Kansas City while 3 players are gone from the list. One other player has seen their salary increase.

Added to KC's salary list are Daneil Cyrus, Jeferson, Joseph Peterson, Soony Saad, and Seth Sinovic. Jeferson, KC's third ever designated player is the highest paid of the 5, with a $429,996 base salary ($484,996 guaranteed) that is prorated for the rest of this season, as are the other salaries. Cyrus and Joseph are both making $42,000 in base, although Cyrus makes $44,991.56 in guaranteed money. Saad and Sinovic both bring up the end of the scale, making $32,604. For the amount of playing time that Sinovic has played this season, he's an absolutely steal for the league minimum. Once again it just begs the question of why the Revolution waived a guy that's become an important part of the team.

Gone from the list are Stephane Auvray ($170,000.00 base, $208,125.00 guaranteed), Mike Jones ($32,604.00 base and guaranteed) and Nikos Kounenakis ( $110,004.00 base $120,004.00 guaranteed) who was a surprise to be on the list to begin with. The other interesting thing is that Ryan Smith, whose season is over, and his $140,000 base salary is still on KC's list.

Luke Sassano is the one player to see an in-season pay raise this year, increasing his salary from $42,000 to $51,600 base, $55,025 guaranteed. This game from Sassano's short term deal being extended by Sporting KC earlier this year.

With only a few games left in the season, it's interesting to look at who is underpaid/overpaid at this point. The two most obvious underpaid players on the team are CJ Sapong and Graham Zusi who both make $42,000. Zusi seems set to get a raise, possibly a new contract with one year left to go on his current deal. Sapong could also possibly see himself get a new deal with his play this season. As mentioned above Sinovic is another player that is playing well above his pay scale. Matt Besler is another that is underpaid currently making under $60,000 guaranteed.

On the other end of the spectrum, Shavar Thomas is the prototypical overpaid player on KC's roster, getting paid $160,000, that's $53,333 a game for his 3 appearances this season, or $4,571.43 per minute for his 35 minutes. One would hope that Philadelphia is still covering a portion of his salary. While Julio Cesar has done much better than I think anyone thought he would earlier this season, I'm not positive that he's worth his $210,000 base salary. That's not to say Cesar hasn't been good, I just don't think he's been THAT good.

Deeper Look at Salaries

I just got beaten in posting this by Gooch over at the Star who basically posted some of the same information. But I spent enough time working on this I'm going to post anyway.

Over the weekend, the MLS Players' Union put out the salaries for players through May 1st. When the list was released there were certainly a few questions about the list. Some of my original questions were based on the roster set up for the team. I've had some time to go through the roster rules again and I have a bit better understanding, but I still have some questions.

One of the questions is wondering how much cap space KC still has available for potential summer purchases to help SKC should they need it. This is based off of how many of the players are “Salary Budget Players” as the MLS rules call them. KC can have up to 20 of these players on their roster. The other 10 roster spots are “Off-Budget Players.” From looking at the roster and the salaries I see 17 players that are “Salary Budget Players” and 6 players that are “Off-Budget Players.” There are still 3 more players that I'm not sure of where they fit.

Just looking at the salaries of the 17 players, KC is using $2,407,918 of the $2,675,000 salary cap. That includes the $110,004 for Nikos Kounenakis. That would leave around $267,000 in cap space. But I think at least one of the 4 questionable players (Korede Aiyegbusi, Luke Sassano, CJ Sapong, and Graham Zusi) is on the “Salary Budget Players” list. This is because KC would be charged a fee for not filling at least 18 of those roster spots. All three make $42,000, so KC would have around $225,000 of cap space if all the numbers on the players union list are correct.

But that leads to another question, Omar Bravo's salary. Gooch at The Full 90 is trying to look into it, but has not been able to get a response from the players' union. The union's list says that Bravo's salary is only $120,000, which doesn't make sense as a designated player. Designated players cap hit is supposed to be $385,000. Now the cap hit can be lower if a transfer fee is used to bring the player to the league. But all the information back in August seemed to point to Bravo being a free agent, which would mean he should likely have a salary of $385,000. If Bravo is making the DP salary, then KC only has about $2,000. That's before factoring in one of the 4 questionable players.

With all four players making over that amount though, it would seem to point to KC being over the cap. But there are other things that likely knock KC below the cap again. 1) KC still has allocation money that they could use to pay down the salary to get people in under the cap hit. 2) Philadelphia could still be covering a portion of Shavar Thomas' salary. Last year when KC traded for Thomas, the Union covered a portion of his salary. It's possible that the Union is still covering a portion of Thomas' salary making it possible for KC to fit one of the other guys in under the cap.

If Bravo is on the designated player level, then KC doesn't really have much of any cap space left at all. So with that information, I would be more inclined to believe the listing on the players' union website. Which is still surprising.

Here is how I believe the players are divided up on Salary Budget vs Off-Budget

Salary Budget players

Davy Arnaud
Stephane Auvray
Matt Besler
Omar Bravo
Julio Cesar
Aurelien Collin
Birahim Diop
Roger Espinoza
Michael Harrington
Kei Kamara
Eric Kronberg
Chance Myers
Jimmy Nielsen
Craig Rocastle
Ryan Smith
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas

Off-Budget

Teal Bunbury
Kevin Ellis
Mike Jones/Seth Sinovic
Jon Kempin
Scott Lorenz
Konrad Warzycha

Unsure (1 is on the Salary Budget the other three are on the Off-Budget list)

Korede Aiyegbusi
CJ Sapong
Luke Sassano
Graham Zusi

Sporting KC Salaries Out

The MLS Player's Union has released player salaries for this year, as of May 1. There are certainly come surprises on KC's list. Here is the list, at the end I'll have my thoughts on the salaries. For those wondering why there are two numbers, the first number is the player's base salary, meaning what counts against the cap. The second number includes any signing and guaranteed bonuses, annualized (meaning the bonus divided out over the length of the contract). Here is the list.

Club Last Name First Name Pos 2011 Base Salary 2011 Guaranteed Compensation
KC Aiyegbusi Olukorede D $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00
KC Arnaud Davy M $ 250,000.00 $ 258,750.00
KC Auvray Stephane M $ 170,000.00 $ 208,125.00
KC Besler Matt D $ 58,410.00 $ 69,660.00
KC Bravo Omar F $ 120,000.00 $ 170,000.00
KC Bunbury Teal F $ 85,000.00 $ 183,000.00
KC Cesar Julio D $ 210,000.00 $ 213,750.00
KC Collin Aurelien D $ 185,004.00 $ 191,254.00
KC Diop Ibrahim M $ 60,000.00 $ 64,250.00
KC Ellis Kevin D $ 32,604.00 $ 33,354.00
KC Espinoza Roger M $ 100,000.00 $ 133,750.00
KC Harrington Michael M-D $ 110,000.00 $ 136,833.33
KC Jones Mychel D $ 32,604.00 $ 32,604.00
KC Kamara Kei F $ 200,000.00 $ 202,500.00
KC Kempin Jonathan GK $ 42,000.00 $ 49,083.33
KC Kounenakis Nick D $ 110,004.00 $ 120,004.00
KC Kronberg Eric GK $ 62,500.00 $ 62,500.00
KC Lorenz Scott D $ 32,604.00 $ 32,604.00
KC Myers Chance D-M $ 72,000.00 $ 87,666.67
KC Nielsen Jimmy GK $ 200,000.00 $ 241,666.67
KC Rocastle Craig M $ 110,000.00 $ 116,062.50
KC Sapong Charles F $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00
KC Sassano Luke M-D $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00
KC Smith Ryan M-F $ 140,000.00 $ 144,375.00
KC Stojcev Milos M $ 90,000.00 $ 99,000.00
KC Thomas Shavar D $ 160,000.00 $ 174,375.00
KC Warzycha Konrad M $ 32,604.00 $ 32,604.00
KC Zusi Graham F-M $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00

Thoughts. Omar Bravo's salary appears to be a misprint based off of the way that all the other designated players in the league read on the list. All the rest that are paid over $1,000,000 have the 7 figures there. So I'm thinking it's likely that there is a zero missing off of Bravo's salary and he's getting closer to $1,200,000. The listing of him counting $120,000 against the cap is likely wrong. It's the standard $385,000 for a DP.

We're still paying Nikos Kounenakis? According to the salary list we are. Either that's a misprint, or KC gave a 2 year guaranteed contract to a player who made the bench only 2 or 3 times during his time here and never played in a game. Yeah, rumor is he had some kind of medical condition, possibly a stroke, but the move seems to reinforce a lot of people's thoughts that it was a desperation move for a defender.

Julio Cesar is our third highest paid player? Seriously? After Davy Arnaud, who's making a quarter million, and Bravo's $385,000 cap hit, the Brazilian defender who has really failed to impress is the team's next highest paid player at $210,000.

Based on my understanding of the roster rules, I've removed Teal Bunbury (GA), Jon Kempin (HG), and the four players making under $40,000 (Kevin Ellis, Mike Jones, Scott Lorenz, and Konrad Warzycha) from the team's total salary. Counting Bravo's cap hit as $385,000, KC is currently using around $2,840,918 of their salary cap this year. The salary cap for players 1 through 20 is $2,675,000, so there is other stuff going on not mentioned that gets us down below the cap. Either way it appears unlikely that we have as much cap space as we may have thought...

Are we paying all of Shavar Thomas' salary this year? Last year when we traded for him from Philadelphia, the Union picked up a large portion of his salary. I wonder if they're doing the same this year. If so that knocks the cap hit down a little bit.

Money To Burn

Last night after posting about the Jack Jewsbury trade, someone posted about the allocation money we were getting for Jewsbury. During my response I realized that along with explaining the allocation money process it'd be interesting to look at how much money KC had available under the cap. Well Gooch over at the Star beat me to both punches in the same post last night. With his explanation of the allocation process using the MLS rules I'm not sure I need to explain it more. If you feel differently, let me know and I'll work on breaking it down more.

But in regards to the salary cap space that the team has I want to look further into that. With the departure of Jimmy Conrad ($232,750), Josh Wolff ($220,004), Zoltan Hercegfalvi ($168,000), Jack Jewsbury ($145,000), Sunil Chhetri ($100,008), Nikos Kounenakis ($70,000), Jamar Beasley ($40,000), Aaron Hohlbein ($40,000), and Jonathan Leathers ($40,000), the Wizards have created $1,055,762 in cap space to use this season, and that's before taking into account how much money KC was under the cap last year.

To break down how much space KC still has to work with let's take a look at the players that have come in. Omar Bravo as a designated player will count $335,000 against the cap. There's also been the signings of Kevin Ellis, Mike Jones, Scott Lorenz, CJ Sapong, and Luke Sassano. Sapong and Sassano seem the most likely to be making the most money (Sassano made $40,000 last year). Those two are likely making in the $40,000 to $50,000 range most likely. The other three are likely making either the senior roster minimum of $40,000 or possibly the $32,600 limit for players 25-30 on this year's roster (see the roster rules here). I'd think Ellis and Jones are potentially in the later group, maybe Lorenz as well based on comments that he's on an apprentice contract. So when it comes to new players, KC hasn't added a whole lot in total salary outside of Bravo, with those other five players KC has probably added around or less than $200,000 to the cap. So with those six players there's about $520,762 left to spend.

But before we think we have that remaining for signings there's a little more to remember as well. First, Chance Myers and Roger Espinoza have both graduated from the Generation Adidas program, meaning their salaries now both count against the cap. Meaning Espinoza's $75,000 and Myers' $70,000 both count against the cap. That leaves $375,762 left to spend on new players.

Again we have to wait though for other reasons. First, last year when KC traded for Shavar Thomas, there was word that Philadelphia was picking up a good chunk of Thomas' salary for the season. We don't know what amount that was, but Thomas' salary was $145,000 last year. So let's say we have to add another $100,000 for Thomas' salary fully being under KC this year. Finally, the other thing to remember is that Michael Harrington has signed a new contract. Harrington made $78,516 last year. We can be safe to assume that he's making over $100,000 now. Add that $100,000 plus for Thomas and Harrington and we're probably closer to about $250,000 or so left from the amount that was made available with all the players that left.

I'm sure my numbers aren't anywhere close to exact, but when you look at it, the $1 million plus in camp space is already going to use in other places for the team currently, but there is still room under the cap for some good signings, plus with the allocation money it can be used to help pay down a salary to max salary levels.

State of the League

Today Don Garber spoke on the State of the League in a conference call that was streamed on MLSsoccer.com. There was plenty of interesting information coming out of the conference, and at least one thing that makes you just shake your head thanks to Paul Gardner. Some of the key points for me at least are below:

- Garber announced in the next 30-40 days there would be more jersey sponsorship announcements, with KC's announcement tomorrow, one would think that when Omar Bravo walks out in the new jersey there will be a sponsor on the front of the jersey.

- He officially announced the removal of the home grown player rule.

- Salary cap will be $2.67 million.

- The official announcement of the increased roster size was also announced. The 6 new roster spots have to be for players 24 or under and will not count against the cap.

- Also the reserve league is officially back, the season will be 10 games long, and teams will be divided into 3 6-team divisions. Teams will play each team in their division twice. The top 8 teams will make a reserve league play off. There are new eligibility rules, making games only available to the first team roster, trialists, and youth team players. A good move that will avoid front office people suiting up for the teams' reserves.

- Next season will have a 34 game schedule, they haven't finalized the format for next season and whether the schedule will be balanced or unbalanced. They are looking to possibly change and possibly expand the playoff format. MLS Cup will be November 20th, and they are looking at possibly having MLS Cup at the site of the highest seeded playoff team. Most of this is going to be decided at the Board of Governors meeting coming up soon. Garber did say the first game should be announced soon and that the full schedule should be out in January or early February. He also said that the league will never do away with the playoffs.

- The league is looking to potentially increase the salary cap for teams that make the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champion's League.

- Garber basically gave away who the MVP was this year it seemed like saying that the Golden Boot winner was in MLS Cup, but then backing up and saying there was an announcement coming later this week on an award. This seems to point to David Ferreira being the MVP, which is a great call in my opinion, he was my selection.

- New York 2 is still the leading candidate for the 20th expansion slot. Garber thinks we'll see the league expand over 20 in our lifetimes and included Atlanta, Florida (Tampa and Orlando), and San Diego, among others that were looking to get into the league.

- Finally the head shaking came when Paul Gardner from Soccer America was given the chance to ask a question and then proceeded to rant about the playing style in MLS until he was cut off by Garber asking him what his question was. Gardner continued to rant his opinion only shaping it as a very lopsided question that I thought Garber did well to answer. Gardner embarrassed himself more than anything in that exchange and has been laughed at and mocked quite a bit since the press conference.

New Salaries Out

The MLS Players Union has updated their list of salaries for the 2010 season for the players in the league. The Wizards added two players since the salaries came out, as the Wizards added Nikos Kounenakis and Shavar Thomas. Kounenakis is making a $60,000 base and $70,000 guaranteed. Not a horrible salary for a guy that has yet to make an appearance for KC. Thomas is making $145,000 base and $159,375 guaranteed. That certainly sounds like it's a bit high for the Jamaican defender, but the good news from what I've heard is that the Wizards aren't paying all of Thomas' salary. Word is that Philadelphia is paying a portion, if not a large portion of Thomas' salary this season which makes the move appear better.

2010 Wizards Salaries

Today the MLS Players' Union released this year's player salaries which means it's time to take a look at who is over paid, under paid, and just about right. First, here's the Wizards players' salaries.

KC Aiyegbusi Olukorede D $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00
KC Arnaud Davy M $ 220,000.00 $ 228,750.00
KC Auvray Stephane M $ 140,000.00 $ 148,125.00
KC Beasley Jamar M $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00
KC Besler Matt D $ 50,600.00 $ 61,850.00
KC Bunbury Teal F $ 65,000.00 $ 163,000.00
KC Chhetri Sunil F $ 100,008.00 $ 110,008.00
KC Conrad Jimmy D $ 232,750.00 $ 244,000.00
KC Diop Ibrahim M $ 57,000.00 $ 58,250.00
KC Escobar Pablo D $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00
KC Espinoza Roger M $ 75,000.00 $ 108,750.00
KC Harrington Michael M-D $ 78,516.00 $ 97,266.00
KC Hercegfalvi Zoltan F $ 168,000.00 $ 168,000.00
KC Hirsig Santiago M $ 75,000.00 $ 75,000.00
KC Hohlbein Aaron D $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00
KC Jewsbury Jack D $ 145,000.00 $ 154,125.00
KC Kamara Kei F $ 180,000.00 $ 182,500.00
KC Kronberg Eric GK $ 56,000.00 $ 56,000.00
KC Leathers Jonathan D $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00
KC Myers Chance D-M $ 70,000.00 $ 142,000.00
KC Nielsen Jimmy GK $ 100,000.00 $ 141,666.67
KC Rocastle Craig M $ 96,000.00 $ 102,062.50
KC Smith Ryan M-F $ 125,000.00 $ 129,375.00
KC Wolff Josh F $ 220,004.00 $ 220,004.00
KC Zusi Graham F-M $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00

The first amount is the players' base salary, which counts against the cap. The second is the players' guaranteed compensation salary, which is basically their base salary plus their guaranteed bonuses annualized. For a better break down, read the information on the players' union website.

Here's a bit of a break down.
Jimmy Nielsen is making $100,000 base salary, that's compared to Kevin Hartman's $70,000 at Dallas currently. My understanding that Hartman's contract negotiations were not as much about money as it was about length of contact. Still it's hard to argue with the move now anyways as Nielsen has proven himself to be more than capable of replacing Hartman.

Some of the other players who are earning their money are Ryan Smith and Stephane Auvray. Although both are making over $100K, they're definitely earning it for their play this season. Some lower level pay earners that are playing above their pay level are Pablo Escobar and Graham Zusi. Escobar has had some up and down moments, but has definitely been worth his $40,000 a year with some solid performances against the likes of Seattle, LA, and Columbus. Zusi has contributed plenty in the absence of Auvray and has done a good job, improving each time he's gotten on the field.

As for some players that aren't exactly earning their salary. The biggest one that comes to mind is Josh Wolff who is making just over $220,000. Wolff has one goal and one assist this season and has been frustrating to most fans when he's out the field. Another one making more than I think many fans think he should is Craig Rocastle who is making close to $100,000. Rocastle could already have 3 red cards this season if different referees were in the game. It just seems like quite a bit for a player who was playing in the 5th division in England before coming to KC. Sunil Chhetri is another one that would appear to be over paid, as he's only played 45 minutes for the Wizards in a US Open Cup qualifier and has yet to make the bench for the first team, even when they were struggling to score goals.

Overall, adding up the base salary of all the players on the roster (not counting Teal Bunbury, Roger Espinoza, and Chance Myers who are roster exempt as Generation Adidas players) and the Wizards are using about $2,283,878 of the $2,550,000 cap. That leaves the Wizards with about $266,000 of cap space left. Not enough at the moment to bring a DP, but with allocation money, and the potential extra space from a waived player to make roster room and there's space for a designated player.

Nielsen's Salary Leaked?

Since the signing of Jimmy Nielsen, people have been wondering what the Danish keeper would be making this season. Some rumors had been that he was making under what Kevin Hartman made last year. If word out of Denmark today is true, then not only is he not making less than what Hartman makes, but he's making quite a bit more. If that article is correct, Nielsen is making 1.3 million in Danish dollars, which converts to about $235K, $70K more than what Hartman made last year. If true, and I stress the if part because I still have my doubts over that amount, I really don't like this move. Only 1 keeper in the entire league makes over $200K, and that's Kasey Keller, who has experience not just in his home country, but in every league he's played in, which is more than people can say for Nielsen. Every other keeper in this league, guys with tons of experience like Matt Reis, Joe Cannon, and Pat Onstad are all making less than $200K. There aren't many keepers that would come to KC that I can see giving more than $200K to, and Nielsen isn't one of those keepers. If this turns out to be true I'm even more disappointed in this move.

Updated Salaries

Back in the middle of March, the MLS players union updated the list of salaries that MLS players receive. Included in the list are all but one Wizards' player, Graham Zusi. Other than him, the entire Wizards roster is listed. There is one change from the last time I posted the salaries, and that is Michael Kraus who is actually a senior development player instead of a senior roster player, meaning his salary is $20,100 instead of $34,000 as it was originally listed. Three players were added to the salary list.

Added to the roster (first number is base, second is guaranteed):
Santiago Hirsig $75,000.00 $ 75,000.00
Rauwshan McKenzie $34,008.00 $34,008.00
Nelson Pizarro $15,300.00 $15,300.00

Getting Hirsig for $75,000 would appear to be a bit of a steal for a player who was regularly in the team for San Lorenzo down in Argentina. A little surprised that McKenzie is getting a senior roster spot this year, but maybe there's a plan for something in the future. Pizarro is the team's lowest paid player, he's also the only regular developmental player.