GA's are like interest-only mortgages.... they're phenomenal for the first few years regarding the CAP hit and likely 1st-team abilities, but once they're deemed senior members the club has a huge salary to incorporate (as opposed to Shelton that can only rise so much over 3-4 years from $70K).Better yet GA players are excempt from the salary cap. So in theory you could draft a kid that could have gone to Bayern but MLS signed him to a $250k contract and he wouldn't count against the cap. I believe that's similar to what Cyle Larin at Orlando is signed to.
I'm not dismissing GA by any stretch - I think we blew it by not having one this year - but when the piper comes he's going to be paid handsomely.