05 December 2007

Salary Cap Implications of Veron: Someone's gonna go.

While yesterday I talked about how the money for Veron didn't imply much of a trade-off, there is a trade that needs to be considered: Adding a designated player $400K to the salary cap. Ridge Mahoney talks a bit about this today, so let's look closer. $400K salary cap hit for a designated player. United doesn't have the room for that right now. Now, I don't have 2008 Salary figures, but I think we can take a good guess as to how things stand. Let's take the 2007 Base Salaries, and add 5% as a rough estimate for built-in contract increases, and we'll adjust for the departure of Brian Carroll and the anticipated retirement of Josh Gros:


I've left in North, Crowe, and Mupier since while they're gone, those salaries will also likely go to new draft picks. Now, to afford Veron's $400K salary hit, United would need to get to about $1.85M, and right now they're almost $150K over that number before any negotiations with Christian Gomez or others about raises. Given that I think there's no way we keep Christian without at least $50,000/year more, that means DCU is probably in a position where to keep Veron, plus Gomez, plus Moreno, they need to trim about $200K, or acquire allocations to help pay those salaries and keep us under the cap. Looking at the list, do you see where cuts can get made?

Yeah, there's Vanney. A salary renogitation has long been rumored, but even if you get him down $100,000, there's still another $100K you need to find somewhere. Now, in my mind, it would not surprise me to see Vanney's salary renegotiated, then see Vanney traded (getting him almost entirely off the books) for allocation money that would help us stay within the cap providing some money to help bolster the salaries of Gomez and Emilio (assuming we don't get the benefit of L.A. salary cap rules).

Of course, if either Moreno or Gomez leaves, then the situation is largely moot. And perhaps there are other people that we need to consider renegotiation with: As much as it hurts me to say it, Ben Olsen and Jaime Moreno are both getting a lot of money, and perhaps you can save some there. Of course, that means we'd be threatening the soul of United, and I can imagine how that would be perceived by hyperactive bloggers like me...

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10 Comments:

At 05 December, 2007 12:21, Anonymous Anonymous said...

D-- you interviewing for a job in the DCU front office? ;)
-K

 
At 05 December, 2007 12:24, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pretty sure DCU still has some allocation $s remaining from previous deals - even after signing Fred & Emilio last year. I don't know if it's enough to account for your projected shortfall, however.

 
At 05 December, 2007 12:25, Blogger D said...

Anon K: Wouldn't that be wonderful? Sadly, no... I just wanted to see what the numbers looked like, and while they're manageable, there's still tension there. The way I figure it, we lose, or don't get, one of the following:Veron, Gomez, Moreno, Vanney, Emilio, or Fred.

...or we make a bunch of pay cuts among the 80K+ set. Anyone under 80K really doesn't affect the numbers that much.

 
At 05 December, 2007 12:26, Blogger D said...

RP: You're probably right (of course, MLS being what it is, we have no idea what the numbers are). The big issue is that while Veron is a manageable case, Veron + Gomez's new contract + Moreno = logjam, even with additional allocation money.

 
At 05 December, 2007 12:35, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I believe DCU got a large allocation/amount of cash resulting from the Adu-to-Benfica trade because he left within the season. Also, I remember A LOT of trades (Esky, Adu, Prideux) made prior to the 2007 season for immediately paid allocation money that may/may not have been used last season.

Ultimately, your breakdown does bring to light what the DCU Front Office will be doing over the holiday season.

 
At 05 December, 2007 12:42, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re: Veron - my bad vibe-meter is twanging. I mean TWANGING.

 
At 05 December, 2007 12:44, Blogger rke said...

This sharpens my fears about Veron, of course, especially when you bring up the specter of Olsen and Moreno taking a hit.

Maybe my head is too much in the business world and not in MLS Fantasyland, but you just can't hand out pay cuts in return for stellar performance.

Personally, I don't think things would fall that way. Your Vanney scenario seems more likely (not a great season, not the heart of the team) assuming we could bring in cheaper defensive talent from somewhere.

Which brings up another point -- your model doesn't include any other new signings (save the developmental spots).

Didn't Goff imply recently that Veron isn't the only player that might be coming up from South America?

-rke

 
At 05 December, 2007 16:23, Blogger Kinney said...

Um, don't we also need another defender? And another forward? And another winger? Where are we going to get better options than what we have now? The draft? Veron's cousins?

 
At 06 December, 2007 00:05, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am also getting bad vibes about Veron. He'd be a nice guy to have, but there's not a whole lot of value there. I much prefer the strategy of raiding poor(er) leagues, like the Aussies' and those in Central America.

 
At 06 December, 2007 08:18, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow. I think you turned everyone sour on Veron with a single post.
So, with the MLS MVPs from the past two years, plus the all-time goal leading goal scorer, plus Benny, United is spending a lot of money. Just to add more doom and gloom, there are also a couple of younger players improving who are probably going to want raises in the short term. With all of Burch's hype, I'd figure he's going to have other options and I'd hate to seem him wander off for more money. McTavish too seems to be in a starting role, which suggests a pay raise.
Of course, I'll admit my total ignorance on their contracts and when they might be able to leave.

 

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