MLS union reveals salaries

Adu tops money list; Cobi Jones, Agoos out of contract

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By Ridge Mahoney, Soccer America

A list of MLS player compensation figures for 2004 being circulated by the Major League Soccer Players Union and obtained by Soccer America lists Freddy Adu as the highest paid player at $500,000 in 2004, although his base salary is listed at $300,000.

The $500,000 figure includes guaranteed bonuses and other forms of compensation such as loyalty bonuses, marketing bonuses, car/housing allowances, etc. It does not include performance bonuses.

This is the first time an extensive list of MLS player salaries has been published.

The top salary is $350,000 for Kansas City forward Josh Wolff, closely followed by Columbus striker Brian McBride at $341,250. Rounding out the top five in salary, in order, are John Spencer of Colorado ($311,272.50) and Ante Razov of Chicago ($300,000) and Adu.

These numbers are not the same as those calculated by the clubs for salary-cap purposes. Salary-cap figures are topped by a $280,000 maximum and include achievable bonuses as well as surcharges tacked on for licensing agreements.

Behind Adu on the guaranteed list are Wolff ($418,571.43), Landon Donovan of San Jose ($367,500), Eddie Pope of the MetroStars ($350,331.66), and McBride ($341,250).

According to the list, 16 players top $200,000 in guaranteed compensation, including these who might be considered overpaid: Earnie Stewart of D.C. United ($285,000 in salary and guaranteed compensation), Hong Myung Bo of Los Angeles ($234,999.96/$289,999.96), and Darryl Powell of Colorado ($229,999.92 $239,999.92).

On the bottom end of the scale, more than 80 players earn less than $50,000 in salary, including Los Angles forward Carlos Ruiz, the league's 2002 MVP.

Ruiz is listed on a base salary of $30,000 and has a contract guaranteed for $50,000. Those figures do not include any sums paid by Municipal, his former club, to retain a share of his rights.

If Ruiz is transferred, Municipal would receive a share of the transfer fee.

The list includes players whose options were picked up or had signed MLS contracts as of Dec. 31.

Cobi Jones, Jason Kreis and Jeff Agoos head a list of high-salaried players whose options were not been picked up as a prelude to MLS offering them contracts at a much lower salary.

Other players, such as Alexi Lalas, Ezra Hendrickson, Chad Deering, Jaime Moreno and Oscar Pareja, have not been renewed and may not be offered new deals at all. MLS had a Dec. 31 deadline to tender those offers; otherwise, players become free agents, although under the MLS single-entity system they are not free to negotiate new deals within MLS. Only if they go abroad are they free agents as the term is commonly used.

Kreis has reportedly been offered a new deal at about $150,000 per year. Jones has been asked to take a sharp cut from the reported $350,000-$400,000 he has earned since signing a deal with MLS several seasons ago. Agoos, too, has been offered considerably less than the reported $260,000 he earned last year.

The list of 2004 player salaries does not include players such as Lalas, Agoos, Kreis, etc. who as of Dec. 31 had not come to terms. Also not on the list are players whose MLS contracts have expired, as per Brian West, Clint Mathis and Carlos Bocanegra.

Ridge Mahoney is a senior editor at Soccer America magazine.

Project-40

PLAYER, BASE/GUARANTEED*
Adu, Freddy: $300,000/$500,000
Marshall, Chad: $45,000/$68,000
Cochrane, Ryan: $30,000/$45,000
Dempsey, Clint: $30,000/$40,625

Pool

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Baumstark, Clint: $24,000/$24,000

Chicago

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Armas, Chris: $250,000/$325,000
Razov, Ante: $300,000/$300,000
Beasley, DaMarcus: $150,000/$153,000
Brown, C.J.: $105,000/$106,250
Marsch, Jesse: $100,100/$101,600
Whitfield, Evan: $54,862/$55,487
Curtin, Jim: $55,000/$55,000
Perez, Orlando: $53,000/$53,750
Gray, Kelly: $33,075/$35,575
Mapp, Justin: $33,075/$35,575
Jaqua, Nate: $31,500/$34,000
Pause, Logan: $30,450/$32,950
Capano, Craig: $29,767.50/$32,267.50
Ring, Henry: $27,783/$27,783
Selolwane, Dipsy: $26,460/$26,460
Ralph, Damani: $25,200/$25,200
Spiteri, Curtis: $24,000/$24,000

Colorado

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Spencer, John: $311,272.50/$311,272.50
Powell, Darryl: $229,999.92/$239,999.92
Mastroeni, Pablo: $200,000/$203,750
Chung, Mark: $160,000/$160,000
Henderson, Chris: $147,000/$147,000
Roberts, Zizi: $120,000/$145,000
Cannon, Joe: $125,000/$125,000
Kotschau, Richard: $60,000/$60,750
Carrieri, Chris: $55,125/$55,125
Vallow, Scott: $37,800/$37,800
Beckerman, Kyle: $30,561/$31,811
Trembly, Seth: $29,172/$30,422
Stewart, Jeff: $26,460/$26,460
Kingsley, Zack: $26,460/$26,460
Schmidt, Casey: $25,200/$25,200
Crawford, Matt: $25,200/$25,200
Borchers, Nat: $24,000/$24,000
Foss, Bryan: $15,000/$15,000

Columbus

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
McBride, Brian: $341,250/$341,250
Cunningham, Jeff: $175,000/ $190,701
Hejduk, Frankie: $165,000/$176,000
Maisonneuve, Brian: $130,000/$130,000
Paule, Ross: $90,000/$90,000
Clark, Mike: $86,625/$86,625
Buddle, Edson: $75,000/$78,125
Garcia, Freddy: $69,300/$70,550
Martino, Kyle: $67,500/$70,000
McCarty, Chad: $66,150/$66,150
Walsh, Diego: $34,125/$44,750
Busch, Jon: $38,587.50/$38,587.50
Oughton, Duncan: $31,256.40/$31,256.40
Akwari, Nelson: $25,200/$26,450

Dallas

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Countess, D.J.: $100,000/$128,000
Garlick, Scott: $95,000/$120,000
Johnson, Ed: $75,000/$86,250
O'Brien, Ronnie: $60,000/$62,125
Rhine, Bobby: $60,000/$60,750
Davis, Brad: $50,600/$60,600
Gbandi, Chris: $44,550/$59,550
Vaca, Joselito: $50,190/$50,190
Thomas, Shavar: $34,125/$44,125
Cassar, Jeff: $37,800/$38,425
Thompson, Jason: $28,350/$29,600
Curtis, Ali: $28,980/$28,980
Stone, Jordan: $26,460/$27,710
Glinton, Gavin: $26,460/$26,460
Behncke, Matt: $24,000/$24,000

D.C. United

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Stewart, Earnie: $285,000/$285,000
Kovalenko, Dema: $150,000/$176,000
Petke, Mike: $135,000/$165,000
Cerritos, Ronald: $147,000/$162,000
Olsen, Ben: $135,000/$161,000
Convey, Bobby: $140,000/$143,000
Reyes, Milton: $108,900/$112,650
Quaranta, Santino: $85,000/$95,000
Nelsen, Ryan: $80,554/$90,554
Rimando, Nick: $80,000/$86,000
Barclay, Devin: $75,000/$83,916.66
Eskandarian, Alecko: $60,000/$80,500
Prideaux, Brandon: $66,550/$69,050
Quintanilla, Eliseo: $54,000/$54,000
Carroll, Brian: $31,500/$34,000
Martins, Thiago: $32,500/$32,500
Stokes, David: $28,350/$30,850
Alegria, Jose: $27,783/$27,783
Namoff, Bryan: $27,780/$27,780
Warren, Doug: $25,200/$25,200

Kansas City

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Wolff, Josh: $350,000/$418,571.43
Meola, Tony: $250,000/$264,000
Preki: $148,837.50/$148,837.50
Klein, Chris: $132,000/$145,500
Gutierrez, Diego: $107,992.50/$111,742.50
Harris, Wolde: $92,400/$93,650
Garcia, Nick: $79,413/$83,163
Zavagnin, Kerry: $66,150/$66,900
Conrad, Jimmy: $60,000/$63,125
Gomez, Francisco: $52,250/$55,687.50
Zotinca, Alex: $44,000/$44,000
Armstrong, Stephen: $31,256/$31,256
Burciaga, Jose: $27,783/$29,033
Arnaud, Davy: $25,200/$25,200

Los Angeles

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Hong, Myung Bo: $234,999.96/$289,999.96
Hartman, Kevin: $140,000/$180,000
Elliott, Simon: $120,750/$120,750
Califf, Danny: $92,565/$95,065
Gonzalez, Guillermo: $55,000/$79,500
Marshall, Tyrone: $66,150/$66,150
Broome, Paul: $53,500/$54,125
Victorine, Sasha: $51,975/$53,850
Vagenas, Peter: $49,612.50/$51,112.50
Ruiz, Carlos: $30,000/$50,000
Lewis, Ricky: $31,500/$37,125
Suarez, Ryan: $34,728.75/$34,728.75
Moreno, Alejandro: $26,460/$26,460
Popik, Dan: $28,000/$28,000
Torres, Arturo: $24,000/$24,000

MetroStars

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Pope, Eddie: $286,165/$350,331.66
Guevara, Amado: $225,000/$243,750
Walker, Jonny: $100,000/$100,000
Gaven, Eddie: $55,000/$78,000
Lisi, Mark: $59,692/$69,692
Clark, Ricardo: $42,000/$52,625
Bartolomeu, Edgar: $40,000/$40,000
DiGiamarino, Joey: $30,000/$30,000
Wolyniec, John: $30,000/$30,000
Ziadie, Craig: $27,783/$27,783
Leitch, Chris: $26,460/$26,460
Magee, Mike: $25,200/$26,450
LeBlanc, Jacob: $25,200/$26,450
Addo, Joe: $25,200/$25,200
Regan, Tim: $25,200/$25,200

New England

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Moore, Joe-Max: $260,000/$280,000
Ralston, Steve: $190,000/$202,000
Brown, Adin: $140,000/$145,833
Cancela, Jose: $144,000/$144,000
Twellman, Taylor: $108,600/$115,266
Llamosa, Carlos: $115,000/$115,000
Franchino, Joe: $79,860/$81,110
Noonan, Pat: $39,375/$50,000
Pierce, Rusty: $46,856.25/$48,522.91
Kante, Daouda: $44,625/$45,875
Reis, Matt: $38,205/$38,830
Moore, Jason: $31,500/$31,500
Joseph, Shalrie: $25,200/$25,200
Leonard, Marshall: $24,000/$24,000

San Jose

PLAYER BASE-GUARANTEED*
Donovan, Landon: $280,000/$367,500
Mulrooney, Richard: $150,000/$161,000
Dayak, Troy: $100,000/$100,000
Onstad, Patrick: $93,500/$93,500
DeRosario, Dwayne: $69,457.50/$69,457.50
Corrales, Ramiro: $69,457/$69,457
Russell, Ian: $65,000/$66,250
Dunivant, Todd: $42,000/$52,000
Faria, Rodrigo: $47,250/$48,625
Robinson, Eddie: $45,000/$45,625
Alvarez, Arturo: $28,350/$41,550
Conway, Jon: $40,000/$40,750
Mullan, Brian: $34,728.75/$34,728.75
Waibel, Craig: $33,571.65/$33,571.65
Levesque, Roger: $28,350/$33,350
Ching, Brian: $32,550/$32,550
Roner, Chris: $25,200/$25,200
Walker, Jamil: $24,000: $24,000

*Guaranteed compensation includes a player's base salary and all guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player's contract, including option years. For example, if a player has a base salary of $50,000 for 2004, has a two-year contract with two one-year options and received a $10,000 bonus when he signed, his annualized guaranteed salary would be $52,500 (base salary plus signing bonus ($10,000) divided by number of years covered by the contract (4)).

Guaranteed compensation also includes any loyalty bonus, annual marketing bonus and car/housing allowance to be received in 2004 and any agent's fees annualized over the term of the contract. Guaranteed compensation does not include performance bonuses because there is no guarantee that the player will hit those bonuses.