Here is the roster breakdown as of today. Looks like Ben Spencer has been loaned down to the USL to make room for yesterday's two additions.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/rosters/2018/toronto-fc
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
So with Mino signed, he takes up our last international slot meaning no summer additions and no endoh (unless they find a way to make him domestic)
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Taintor was a one-game loan. He's back to Sacramento, per himself
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh4YgV2Fjj6/
Based on his tweets today, Auro isn't going anywhere. Bought into the program.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/AuroJr02/status/989635798676004864
Yah. He looks to have bought in
Sounds good to me. Great addition to the team.
From Google translate:
I'm glad he likes it here. Hoping for the best for him as he grows into his position.Being champion was our main objective of that championship, we fought, we warred and we arrived at the dispute of the title.Unfortunately we did not achieve this goal but we were certainly champions for fighting to the end to get good results.
It was not easy to get here in a different country, play in low temperatures and different language, all different from what I was accustomed to adapt so fast in a few months.
The important thing is that I am happy playing, working and giving my best as always.
Auro Jr has been a revelation. Probably had the lowest expectations due to Euro bias.
Looks like Moor will be out for a few months now. When is the signing deadline. I think we need to sign a CB to reinforce.
Made a huge mistake signing Dunn instead of a CB that's actually ready to contribute. I know they were likely pushing against the cap so can only fill out the roster with league minimum signings.
Now at 30 so if wanting to bring in a CB (as they should) will need to move a roster player. Hopefully Bez is busy working out a trade.
A player I would be sad to see leave but happy to see have more opportunity to play regularly is Hamilton. Would think he holds some decent trade value. Whitecaps could use him hes much better than Hurtado who somehow keeps getting contracts and games.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/rosters/2018/toronto-fc
Our rosters page says we're at 29 of 30 slots filled because Spencer has been permanently loaned to TFC II.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
With so many centrebacks out, how have we not made some sort of play to bring an experienced guy on loan for a bit just to shore us up?
Disappointed we didn’t make a move for a decent striker to challenge/back up Jozy and Seba. Ricketts and Hamilton are just not up to the task. If we lose either main striker (The return of Altidore’s hamstring issue isn’t good) for any length of time we’re in trouble. We may be short of defenders at the moment but we have more than enough on our books. Same goes for midfield. Up front however we need some strengthening. I think the chances missed in the CCL series, particularly in the 1st leg against Chivas showed the need for all to see. If only we hadn’t wasted that money on Aketxe...
Hindsight is 20/20. At the time I think we all felt a midfield upgrade was more crucial than a forward upgrade. I don't think any of us anticipated Osorio's form this season for an extended period. We all thought Aketxe was going to come in and take Oso's spot and up the level of play. Maybe Oso even thought that himself and came out with a vengeance and raised his level, eliminating the need for Aketxe (who has been a little underwhelming, granted his time with the first squad has been limited) and we expected more from Ricketts
Last edited by rydermike; 05-03-2018 at 08:23 PM.
Jozy out until late June at the earlest
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/993951871256559616
Not the hamstring - bones in the foot
what is it with the med staff this year.so late on the diagnosing injuries..jozy could of had surgery 2 wks ago and mavinga 6 wks ago.
We desperately need another quality forward to be added to the team!
Club Brugge (who Vazquez played for) want bono: https://www.wakingthered.com/2018/5/...ansfer-rumours
So, I've been frustrated lately thinking about what we have left to work with this season in terms of TAM and decided to try my best to figure it out. Enjoy the musings of someone with way too much time on their hands. Also, apologies to people on phones as it probably looks trash and confusing for you.
Assumptions
1. The only TAM available to us is the TAM allocated for 2018 and 2019 by MLS.*
2. That all players budget charge would be bought down as much as possible (to 150k).*
3. That the Total Compensation numbers released by the MLSPU in the Salary Guide are accurate** in determining what that number looks like against the salary budget.***
4. That contracts going into 2019 remain the same or similar, given it is impossible to predict increases/decreases from one year to the next without having the contract in hand.
5. That Kurt Larson's reporting of VDW's transfer fee^ and Auro's potential transfer fee^^ is accurate.
*Source: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/...ment-2018-2019
**Notable that Timbers Owner, Merritt Paulson, has publically disputed the idea that the MLSPU numbers are even accurate. Source: https://twitter.com/MerrittPaulson/s...10442643509248
***Source: https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide
^Note that 'roughly' is used to describe the figure in question. Source: http://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/...y-van-der-wiel
^^Note that 'roughly' is used to describe the figure in question. Source: http://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/...from-sao-paulo
This Year
- 2.8m Discretionary in 2018 and 2019 (cannot pull forward next years)
- 1.2m General 2018 and 1.2m in 2019 (can be pulled forward)
Total: 5.2m
| Mavinga - 563.300k | Aketxe - 1.295m | VDW - 835k + Transfer Fee of 200k | Vazquez - 1.5m | Trades: 287.500k* |
If we paid down all of them the maximum amount possible (150k), it would have cost us roughly 3.793,330m. Add in the amount we used in trades and we reach 4.080,830m in TAM used. We probably used the Discretionary TAM first considering it's use-it-or-lose-it this year. Then we most likely used all of this year's General TAM, plus dipped into next years to cover the extra 80k or so.
That would leave us sitting at 1.119,170m in TAM available this season, though it wouldn't necessarily be wise to use it this season considering it would be needed next year.
*Source: https://www.mlssoccer.com/transactio.../trade-tracker
Next Year
- 2.8m Discretionary TAM
- 1.119,170m General TAM
Total: 3.919,170m
In salary budget terms we'd be sitting at 3.79333m - 200k for VDW's transfer fee TAM used (if contracts remain the same, which they usually don't, but it's useless to speculate). So, 3.593,330m used in total before other considerations (future acquisitions, etcetera).
In that scenario, we would have 325.840k left to spend in TAM.
If we act on Auro's option-to-buy (750k) and he keeps a similar contract of 272.504k (which, again, doesn't usually happen) his budget charge to pay down would be 1.022,504m - 150k. Total: 872.504k.
So, adding in Auro's charge the amount becomes 4.465,834m to pay down.
In the end, we're actually 546,664k behind being able to pay down everyone fully if Auro's option-to-buy is exercised, though this whole scenario assumes that TAM players need to be / would be bought down as much as the rules allow.
Conclusions
We have TAM left to spend if we want to this season, but it would require finding at least 150k of budget space (so moving a player or acquiring GAM) and it would likely force us to offload a contract next season given that under the current (and very rough) projection we would only have around 325k after dealing with budget concerns. Realistically, that 325k will probably be used to cover salary increases next season. So, using more TAM this season would appear to be foolish.
When it comes to trading players in order to create room for others (TAM or otherwise) if we used discretionary funds to pay them down then there is nothing we can receive back in the trade. The only gain would be receiving the budget relief, which would be whatever their budget charge is (i.e. If Player X makes 700k paid down to 150k with Discretionary TAM and is traded then his former team only receives 150k in budget relief)*.
I can imagine a few people on this forum wondering what can be done with Aketxe and since it is likely that his charge is paid down entirely with Discretionary TAM** it would be hard to justify moving him within the league. Moving him within the league would also pose an issue since supposedly Bilbao has a right of first refusal to any transfer Aketxe makes, though since MLS is single entity and contracts are held by MLS it likely wouldn't be an issue, but to truly determine that would require a more in-depth look at the workings of the transfer/contract. The other option would be a transfer given that there were so many Spanish teams interested, but only GAM would be received in return at a maximum of 750k and a rate of 3/4 of the transfer fee***.
The hardest thing to fathom overall is the Vazquez extension. I understand why you would extend his contract even though you have openly stated he is being replaced by a player you have just signed (Aketxe) because it's also been stated that it will happen over the course of a couple years. However, the salary increase is so drastic. If you have his replacement already at the club (and you believe in him) then that should be the tremendous amount of leverage you need to keep his salary from inflating. Prior to the extension buying down Vazquez to 150k cost 550k in TAM. Doing the same with his contract now costs 1.35m in TAM or an 800k increase. In other words, by re-signing Vazquez we have committed an extra 1.6m in TAM over the next two years, for a player the FO has claimed to already have replaced. This single move means that we've been hurt in the present and the future. Before this move if we found 150k in budget space it's likely that a reasonable upgrade could be made (Back-up striker, quality centreback, etcetera). Next year, in order to sign Auro permanently, we will absolutely have to find more TAM. The substantial Vazquez raise doesn't seem to make much sense aside from the perspective of rewarding a fantastic player, so there has to be something I'm missing.
Anyways, that's all I have. Sorry for clogging the board.
*Source: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/...location-money
**I say this because of the unusual amount of involvement from upper management (MLSE private jet, etcetera) involved in his acquisition, likely due to the fact that Discretionary TAM draws from teams own funds and not from the pool of money MLS gives out. Though this is speculation.
***Source: https://www.mlssoccer.com/league/off...nd-regulations
I wouldn't worry about the amount of TAM available. It'll likely get increased again in the off season.
I'd worry about budget and roster space.