Salaries

The MLS Players Union just released the annual salary figures for the league. For easy reference, below are the guaranteed salaries for each DC United player currently under contract as of 3/31/08:

DC Barlow Jeremy D $ 12,900.00
DC Burch Marc D $ 33,000.00
DC Carreiro da Silva Fred M-F $ 242,000.00
DC Carroll Jeff D $ 12,900.00
DC Carroll Pat D $ 12,900.00
DC Carvallo Jose GK $ 49,250.00
DC Cordeiro Ryan M $ 12,900.00
DC Dyachenko Rod M $ 33,000.00
DC Emilio Luciano F $ 313,125.00
DC Gallardo Marcelo M $ 1,874,006.00
DC Kirk Quavas F $ 136,500.00
DC Martinez Gonzalo D $ 244,750.00
DC McTavish Devon M $ 33,000.00
DC Mediate Domenic M-F $ 33,000.00
DC Moose Justin M $ 17,700.00
DC Moreno Jaime F $ 275,000.00
DC Namoff Bryan D $ 98,750.00
DC Niell Franco F $ 152,500.00
DC Olsen Ben M $ 215,000.00
DC Peralta Gonzalo D $ 199,000.00
DC Quaranta Santino M $ 35,000.00
DC Simms Clyde M $ 59,000.00
DC Stratford Dan M $ 17,700.00
DC Thorpe James GK $ 12,900.00
DC Wells Zachary GK $ 52,920.00

Some comments... I think it's far too easy to look at this list and say that McTavish is underpaid at $33K and Niell is overpaid at $152K. Realistically, there's a lot more to it. Franco Niell was probably earning around the same amount or less while playing in Argentina last year. So it costs more to bring him to the team than it does McTavish, who joined the league straight out of college.

Plus, (they'll probably hate me for saying this but...) you also have to consider the age/experience of Devon McTavish and Marc Burch, and the fact that DC United *could* have left them on the Developmental roster last year if they wanted to. But no, out of good faith, respect, and appreciation, United rightly gave promotions to these players who were making significant contributions. So what I'm getting it is... it *could* be worse...

It's also way too easy to say that Marcelo Gallardo ($1.874M) isn't worth four times as much as Christian Gomez ($430K). We've been through this and if you've ever read my blog before, then you know what my answer is going to be. Gomez couldn't get us anywhere in international tournaments, or in MLS Cup Playoffs the past two years. Gallardo was brought here to make the team more competitive internationally. So if DC United were to somehow manage to win the Champions Cup (seems unlikely at this point), then yes, Gallardo would be worth all that money and maybe more.

The Developmental salaries are kind of hard to follow too. All the rookies seem to be earning the minimum $12.9K, except for Dan Stratford at $17.7. I'm fine with that because it seems clear that he will be earning more playing time than the other rookies this year. But what jumped out at me was Justin Moose earning $17.7 while Jeff Carroll is still at $12.9. The answer here is easy too. Like Stratford, Moose started out earning $17.7 as a rookie last year, so United just decided not to give him a pay cut to come back.

Lastly, why did Gallardo insist on an extra $6 in his contract? $1,874,000 wasn't enough? I'm not sure if $6 will even buy you a beer at RFK anymore.