Salary Cap and clarify this LA Galaxy stuff
What is the plan for the current salary cap? It seems reasonable to me that unless you are willing to spend money on elite players, you are only going to get average players at best. Attendance numbers across the league look good enough to support higher salaries so when will we see significant changes? Also, I was reading in the TFC vs. Houston thread about the LAG, how are they able to do skirt the cap? Why do we not hear other teams complaining?
Hi Jason!
Basically this is the MLS and they have 0 transparency regarding salary cap or what roster rules its cooking up. So they try and make owners happy by keeping the cap low, and the players release their salary info in order to pressure the league to raise them.
When TFC started the minimum a player earned was ridiculously low - around 15000 a year. Now its in the 70000 range I believe.
The reason why the LAG are always attributed with skirting the cap is it seems the league makes rules to accommodate their wishes - the DP rule was known as the Beckham rule, the targeted allocation money (TAM) basically was used to let LAG sign a fourth DP. The rules always seem to benefit that team...
Hope that helps!
Road Trips: July 7 2007 Chicago, July 22nd 2007 Columbus, August 11 2007 NY, October 13 2007 LA, March 29 2008 Columbus, May 24th 2008 DC, May 26 2008 Montreal, June 28th 2008 NE, March 7-11-14 2009 Charleston, March 28 2009 Columbus, April 10 2010 New England, May 12 2010 Montreal, April 7 2012 Montreal, March 16 2013 Montreal , June 3 2014 Montreal, March 14 2015 Columbus
Twitter: @RPBPhil
The league won't raise the cap significantly mainly because they don't want to keep paying the same players more but they will keep adding different mechanisms (Targeted Allocation Money) to allow teams to bring in players that they previously couldn't (500-800K per year or 500-1M transfer fee players).
I don't buy that the Galaxy have circumvented the cap this season but I do think they have gamed it really well, the selling of players adds to your allocation money as long as the player isn't a DP. They have structured players contract to go all in this season as it very well could be Bruce Arenas last season. I also think they will have a very large amount of turn over next season.
The biggest beneficiary of TAM was Portland. They were able to buy down Adi bring in Melano, have essentially 4 DPS and they won MLS cup.Originally Posted by Phil
They then were able to use the second wave of TAM to re-sign Adi and Nagbe to long term extensions.
Funny that
Ya but initially it was done so that LAG could keep Gonzalez and sign Dos Santos, looking back they would have been smarter to sell Gonzalez and get some GAM for instead.
No it wasn't.
You really think the owners are pumping $40m of the tv deal money into players salaries just to please the Galaxy?
And if everything was done to please the Galaxy, Gonzalez would still be there.
Its just the perception that rules seem to go through to benefit the Galaxy. You didn't see queues of clubs with DP's first year - it was the Beckham show.
It probably does boil down to freakishly amazing roster massaging and players wanting to be in LA (who wouldn't right?) but it always comes across like the LAG have the ear of the MLS.
Counter point to that is NYRB - they should too but it was a terrible franchise for a long time.
Road Trips: July 7 2007 Chicago, July 22nd 2007 Columbus, August 11 2007 NY, October 13 2007 LA, March 29 2008 Columbus, May 24th 2008 DC, May 26 2008 Montreal, June 28th 2008 NE, March 7-11-14 2009 Charleston, March 28 2009 Columbus, April 10 2010 New England, May 12 2010 Montreal, April 7 2012 Montreal, March 16 2013 Montreal , June 3 2014 Montreal, March 14 2015 Columbus
Twitter: @RPBPhil
Angel, Blanco, Reyna and Barros Schelotto were all signed as DPs in 2007 post Beckham
A number of the LAG players are being paid by their former teams - the guy who let the ball past him on the post last night for example. Buyouts, not loans.
They didn't have TV shows LOL, point taken. Its was named the Beckham rule by many and people tell the folk tales that the only reason the rule was brought it was to appease the LAG. Who knows if it was true though, its just optics.
Road Trips: July 7 2007 Chicago, July 22nd 2007 Columbus, August 11 2007 NY, October 13 2007 LA, March 29 2008 Columbus, May 24th 2008 DC, May 26 2008 Montreal, June 28th 2008 NE, March 7-11-14 2009 Charleston, March 28 2009 Columbus, April 10 2010 New England, May 12 2010 Montreal, April 7 2012 Montreal, March 16 2013 Montreal , June 3 2014 Montreal, March 14 2015 Columbus
Twitter: @RPBPhil
I mean we could have used some TAM funds when we were stuck with Laba as the 4th DP but I didn't see the league rushing in to save us. The rule changes benefit everyone but there is a clear pattern of them being implemented at extraordinarily convenient times for LA.
Last edited by notthesun; 08-11-2016 at 11:15 AM.
People can make excuses but notthesun is right. These changes never happen until the Galaxy need them much like us getting stuck fielding coaches and retired players to fill out a starting XI against RSL and at the beginning of the next season when the Galaxy were down a few players they invented the 'extreme hardship' rule to allow them call ups.
Weren't these things years apart? And as a result of USL B/II sides coming along in between?
Also around the time of the Laba fiasco, TFC were fronted cash by the league for Defoe and Bradley's transfer fees and weren't subject to the allocation order to sign Bradley.
It swings both ways.
I thought TFC paid for the Defoe transfer and Bradley went through the same way Dempsey did to Seattle.
The TAM mechanism was very likely in the works but the $ amount being nearly exactly what LAG needed to keep Gonzalez and add Dos Santos is a little convenient
Cathal Kelly wrote at the time of the signings that Leiweke got MLS to front some of Defoe's fee due to increased tickets sales of other teams when TFC came to visit.
Yea,Bradley was the same as Dempsey in that they both by passed the allocation order as they were players "over acertain threshold" which was a case of MLS changing/making new rules to suit certain teams/players.
I'm about to head into a meeting but I'll expand on the second part of your post when im done.
Didn't Kansas City want Bradley but he wanted to come here? We're they higher in the allocation order than us?
If anything we benefit from the league pushing things in this direction. Long story short, at this juncture TFC is a spender while the vast majority of clubs in this league are not.
I just think rather than making up rules at every juncture they would be better served by having a clean and clearly disclosed process. People want to feel like their watching sport, not professional wrestling.
He never went through allocation. It was a bidding process. Reports I've seen was they were willing to do 3 million a season - Toronto was 6 million. And don't forget at the time Bradley was the secondary prize of the month.
So to address your second point
Garth Lagerwey said to the Seattle Times after the first wave of TAM was announced “This concept has been in circulation for over a year. Given that timeline it’s hard for me to speculate that this is targeted towards one specific club and one specific player”The TAM mechanism was very likely in the works but the $ amount being nearly exactly what LAG needed to keep Gonzalez and add Dos Santos is a little convenient
This is the same Garth Lagerway that bought down Ossie Alonso, signed Valdez as a DP then signed Roman Torres with TAM after the first wave. Sounds like a guy prepared, right?
So whats more likely?
A) The Galaxy went to the league and said “we want to sign Gio Dos Santos, make something up so we can do that”
B) As a result of the new TV deal where the networks stipulated that the league use the money to sign big names and increase the playing level (Jonathan Tannewald confirmed this) they came up with TAM to pump that money into the league when the players union went for free agency instead of a higher cap? As a result, all FO’s knew the influx of cash was coming and the smarter ones were well prepared for that. LA knew what was coming, like everyone else, so used their financial resources, prestige and location to wrap up a deal for Dos Santos sharpish?
I would rather have a lobotomy than try to figure out any of MLS's salary rules.
It's ever changing gibberish.
I totally get your point Areathrasher, but its always been the whisper that the LAG get the leagues ear on moves and changes. Just trying to explain some of the mystery surrounding OP's questioning of it. Not provide a case study on the accuracy of it - just my perspective here.
Road Trips: July 7 2007 Chicago, July 22nd 2007 Columbus, August 11 2007 NY, October 13 2007 LA, March 29 2008 Columbus, May 24th 2008 DC, May 26 2008 Montreal, June 28th 2008 NE, March 7-11-14 2009 Charleston, March 28 2009 Columbus, April 10 2010 New England, May 12 2010 Montreal, April 7 2012 Montreal, March 16 2013 Montreal , June 3 2014 Montreal, March 14 2015 Columbus
Twitter: @RPBPhil
It all started when Dempsey was available. Lots of MLS teams wanted him but he wanted Seattle and their financial package was the most tempting to him. As a result Dempsey got what Dempsey wanted and he ended up in Seattle. Portland were #1 in the allocation order at the time and got fucked over with the "above a certain threshold rule" Seattle didn't have to pay anything to move up/get Dempsey and Portland weren't compensated.
As for Bradley. When he knew he was on his outs with Roma, his agent reached out to Bez first. TFC had a headstart on the rest of the league and when it got to league level other teams wanted in on the negotiations. SKC wanted him and were rumored to have offered close to the same financials, Philly and the Crew also made bids for him In the end he wasn't subject to the allocation order and chose TFC over SKC.
Since then, after outrage from other teams and fans, returning USMNTers have been subject to the allocation order regardless of salary, transfer fee, stature etc. Jozy was subject to the allocation order when he signed for TFC but conveniently/obviously nobody tried to claim him as they didn't have Defoe to offer up in exchange. Philly had to pay a ransom to the Fire to jump to the top of the allocation order to sign Bedoya last week. The Rapids got Howard because they were top and didn't have to negotiate with anyone.
The whispers had truth ten years ago now not so much or at all. People still clinging to that narrative are ignoring the facts and it drives me fucking crazy. It's lazy as fuck and TFC fans complaining about the Galaxy as if they are a small market team is rich beyond belief.
C) The rule was in the works and the fact that it was the Galaxy trying to make a big move was enough to finally push it through.
There is not some sinister Garber-devised plot to help the Galaxy cheat the rules. They simply have more influence towards the league office than any other MLS club, and this often leads to them being the first to take advantage of rule changes, or benefit from rule changes when it's particularly helpful to them.
Let's run through the timeline.
December 2013: TFC sign Gilberto. 2nd DP after Laba.
January 2014: TFC sign Defoe and Bradley, now stuck with 4 DPs. Big market team signing two extremely marketable players but are constrained by roster rules. Nothing happens.
February 2014: TFC send Laba to Vancouver for nothing to fit under roster rules.
May 2014: League signs new TV deal.
January 2015: TFC signs Altidore and Giovinco, now stuck with 4 DPs again. Again, big market team signing not one, but two extremely marketable players, but are constrained by roster rules. This time after the new TV deal has been signed and within the time-frame confirmed by Lagerway that new roster rules were already well in discussion. Nothing happens.
February 2015: TFC loan Gilberto to Brazil in order to comply with roster rules.
July 2015: Galaxy want to sign Dos Santos, who would be their 4th DP. Big market team signing an extremely marketable player but are constrained by roster rules. This time the league introduces TAM funds, allowing the Galaxy to buy down Gonzalez to free up a DP slot for Dos Santos. Gonzalez and Gilberto were on nearly the same salary.
December 2015: Galaxy have used all their TAM funds to buy down Gonzalez for the previous half-season, are back to 4 DPs. League introduces a new round of TAM funding, nearly four times the initial investment. Gonzalez sold to Pachuca two weeks later.
I personally think that the Galaxy initially planned to buy down Gonzalez again, but after looking at it and comparing to what they could do with the TAM on other players, decided it was better to sell Gonzalez. They then went out and signed Van Damme and De Jong using TAM.
Regardless, I will let the above speak for itself.
This is just the TAM saga, mind. I could also point out the league shooting down our deal for Mellberg in the summer of 2012 because they didn't want teams signings DP defenders that don't sell tickets. The Galaxy signed Gonzalez to a DP deal a year later. There are probably other examples.
I'm aware other big market clubs, including TFC, have been given preferential treatment at times with player acquisitions, but I don't really see allocation order shenanigans as being comparable. When it comes to DP signings, the player is going to go where the player wants to go. All that allocation stuff is the league trying to navigate through the self-imposed parity it's tried to construct, and every time a team trades for the top allocation spot to sign a player, it's just a big song and dance where ultimately the league tells the small market team to take their money or draft pick and like it because despite the rules, the process is not actually "fair".
What I will say is that if the league is going to operate this way then so be it, but they should at least start spreading the love a little bit. This might actually be happening now as they introduced the additional Homegrown Player funds at the start of the year, a.k.a. the Get Jordan Morris To Sign With Seattle fund. If more big market teams seem to have the ability to get things done and push the league ahead going forward, I have less of an issue with it.
The Galaxy didn't have to do anything to push TAM through. It was always going to happen. Before and during the labour talks there was talk of the "4th DP" "Targeted DPs" and other ways they were going to shoot the cap up and or make another DP spot available.
Yes, it was always going to happen... when the Galaxy were ready. I'm not arguing that it wasn't planned. It just went through when it was useful to LA, as most rules or policy changes tend to.
No. It couldn't have been brought in until the CBA was done as that would dertmine what it would have actually been(cap rise v other mechanism).
Summer 2015 was the first chance for it to be implemented.
CBA was ratified after the first wave of TAM was introduced.
CBA was agreed March 4th 2015.
Once it was agreed and the salary budget was fixed till 2020, TAM got sorted out.
If you really believe that they waited to implement it until the Galaxy had a move lined up as opposed to doing it in the winter window when the CBA and budget was still up in the air and where doing so would weaken the owners hand in negotiations with the Union, then fair enough.
(You may also remember that once the CBA was done a whole host of sponsorship and international broadcast deals were announced too)
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