Photo: Earl Gardner
The MLS Players’ Association published its fall 2019 salary guide last Friday.
Below in “Senior Roster,” “Supplemental Roster,” and “Reserve Roster,” I correlate salaries with the Union’s 9/25/19 roster structure. My “Unavailable/Loaned Out/Future” covers the exceptions.
Union Senior Roster - Salaries
Salaries - MLS Players Association; Roster structure and categories - MLS website| Slot | Player | Position | Salary | Total Compensation | Roster Category 1 | Roster Category 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco Fabian | M-F | $2,000,727 | $2,274,087 | INT 1 | DP 2 |
| 2 | Alejandro Bedoya | M | $1,200,000 | $1,266,250 | DP 1 | |
| 3 | Jamiro Monteiro | M | $618,000 | $671,200 | INT 2 | |
| 4 | Sergio Santos | F | $600,000 | $668,500 | INT 3 | |
| 5 | Haris Medunjanin | M | $550,008 | $595,008 | INT 4 | |
| 6 | Andrew Wooten | F | $510,000 | $595,833 | ||
| 7 | Andre Blake | GK | $500,004 | $550,004 | ||
| 8 | Ilsinho | M | $330,000 | $357,000 | ||
| 9 | Kai Wagner | D | $318,000 | $360,150 | INT 5 | |
| 10 | Jack Elliott | D | $250,000 | 265,000 | INT 6 | |
| 11 | Kacper Przybylko | F | $240,000 | $277,000 | INT 7 | |
| 12 | Ray Gaddis | D | $190,000 | $190,000 | ||
| 13 | Aurelien Collin | D | $175,000 | $175,000 | ||
| 14 | Warren Creavalle | M | $162,000 | $175,300 | ||
| 15 | Fafa Picault | M-F | $160,000 | $173,666 | ||
| 16 | Joe Bendik | GK | $144,000 | $144,000 | ||
| 17 | Fabinho | D | $120,000 | $120,000 | ||
| 18 | Olivier Mbaizo | D | $70,875 | $70,875 | INT 8 | |
| 19 | ||||||
| 20 |
Supplemental Roster - Salaries
Salaries - MLS Players Association; Roster Structure and Categories - MLS website| Slot | Player | Position | Salary | Total Compensation | Roster Category 1 | Roster Category 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Auston Trusty | D | $95,000 | $124,100 | HG | |
| 22 | R. J. Allen | D | $70,250 | $70,250 | ||
| 23 | Brenden Aaronson | M | $70,000 | $98,309 | HG | |
| 24 | Matt Freese | GK | $70,000 | $77,650 | HG |
Reserve Roster - Salaries
Salaries - MLS Players Association; Roster Structure and Categories - MLS website| Slot | Player | Position | Salary | Total Compensation | Roster Category 1 | Roster Category 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Mark McKenzie | D | $72,225 | $82,225 | HG | |
| 26 | Anthony Fontana | M | $70,260 | $78,677 | HG | |
| 27 | Matt Real | D | $57,225 | $57,225 | HG | |
| 28 |
Unavailable/Loaned Out/Future
Salaries - MLS Players Association; Roster Categories and Structure - MLS website| Slot | Player | Position | Salary | Total Compensation | Roster Category 1 | Roster Category 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Cory Burke | F | $75,937 | $79,720 | Unavailable | P1 Visa |
| 30 | Derrick Jones | M | $75,000 | $80,900 | Loaned out | Nashville SC |
| 31 | Michee Ngalina | F-M | $56,250 | $56,250 | INT 9* | Loan - USLC |
| 32 | Jack De Vreis | M-F | $90,000 | $120,556 | Academy | Union 2020 |
| 33 | Cole Turner | M-D | ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? | Bethlehem 2019 | Union 2020 |
Miscellaneous
In “Senior Roster” notice the high but imperfect correlation between being a “not-domestically-developed” player and higher salary. The pattern is an issue going into the impending Collective Bargaining Agreement talks.
Note that Jamiro Monteiro’s salary is $100,000 higher at the end of September than it was when reported at the beginning of June.
I have guessed that Michee Ngalina occupies the 9th international roster slot. The MLS website’s Union roster lists him as “unavailable,” and the ninth slot as unoccupied. The ninth slot was acquired from Columbus on May 7th. Ngalina was signed to the first team May 8th. The Union’s own website lists him as an international. I doubt that Ernst Tanner and Chris Albright traded for the slot only to leave it empty. My conclusion is nonetheless unconfirmed guesswork.
A readers’ question will be why there is a salary for Jack De Vries but not Cole Turner. Think about the legalities of medical insurance coverage and other such issues. Turner graduated from the academy in June and so needs a professional contract with Bethlehem since he is no longer with the academy. De Vries is still enrolled in the Academy, so when playing or practicing can be covered by an Academy “zero dollar” contract. Why the players association chose to list De Vries’s future salary I cannot guess.
I would infer that salary variations among the young might reflect degrees of interest from sources outside MLS. By so doing, I speculate.
I have eliminated the cents from the Players’ Association salary data and rounded to the nearest dollar.
MLS lists Cory Burke on the Senior roster, Derrick Jones on the Supplemental, and Ngalina on the Reserve. I consolidated those listings to a fourth category to try to avoid confusion.
Overall I’m pretty happy withe the way the roster has come together this year. I think Tanner has put together a good group.
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That being said we have $3.4mil sitting on the bench so there is room for improvement for next year.
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Hopefully Wooten is the next Kacper and comes alive next year if he’s still around. Sergio needs to find a way to stay healthy. Fabian… has certainly shown sparks. Just not sure if he’s ever going to be our go-to $2.2 million dollar guy.
Right on. Fabian is a solid player, but he hasn’t met expectations. Even my subjectively low ones after Dockal took time to settle in last year.
Can you imagine this team with Dockal?
Monteiro and Fabian’s contracts are funny to see. I hold no ill will toward Marco but we keep Monteiro and sell Marco at all costs. I think Monty deserves to be paid like a top 3 midfielder in the league.
Need More Foreign Aid from Germany……………..
Marco has got to go. Kai and Kascper have earned substantial raises. Elliot too. Montiero needs to be paid substantially more if they want to keep him. Use the savings on Marcos salary and upgrade at right Fullback. Heard Kai has a cousin ripping up the second division at Dortmond. Get on the horn Tanner.
Tim Jones did not conduct the most important analysis: 1) total team compensation vs overall results and 2) profit the owners are taking in and franchise value. The answers: 1) $8.9 million and no metal to date after 9+ years and 2) too much whatever it is (based on total franchise 2018 value of $175 million — excluding stadium & other real estate — after he paid $20 to 25 million for it years ago — you do the rest of the math).