2018 Roster Discussion

[sammy3469]

I don't think we can use TAM to buy down Maxi. He would need to be making less then 1.5 million. And wouldn't he need to be resigned to a new contract?

• Targeted Allocation Money may be used to sign new or re-sign existing players whose salary and acquisition costs are more than the maximum salary budget charge but less than $1.5 million.

This is MLS, so who knows what they really mean, but the PR also says:

• Targeted Allocation Money may be used to convert a current Designated Player to a non-Designated Player by buying down, on a prorated basis, his salary budget charge to at, or below, the maximum salary budget charge. If Targeted Allocation Money is used to free up a Designated Player slot, the club must simultaneously sign a new Designated Player at an investment equal to or greater than the player he is replacing.

One would presume that that bullet would be in conflict with the "new or re-sign" in the previous clause, but who knows. On can read the release as saying that any DP can be bought down with TAM money, but a team can only spend 1.5 million of TAM money to acquire a new or re-sign a current player.

 

[adam]

This is MLS, so who knows what they really mean, but the PR also says:

• Targeted Allocation Money may be used to convert a current Designated Player to a non-Designated Player by buying down, on a prorated basis, his salary budget charge to at, or below, the maximum salary budget charge. If Targeted Allocation Money is used to free up a Designated Player slot, the club must simultaneously sign a new Designated Player at an investment equal to or greater than the player he is replacing.

One would presume that that bullet would be in conflict with the "new or re-sign" in the previous clause, but who knows. On can read the release as saying that any DP can be bought down with TAM money, but a team can only spend 1.5 million of TAM money to acquire a new or re-sign a current player.

Anyone making over $350k (+\- whatever the DP charge is that year) qualifies for DP possible status. So there are DPs in the league making less than $1.5mm. It doesn’t conflict. But Maxi doesn’t qualify.

 

[ZYanksRule]

You need to buy a TAM back-up Striker, a TAM back-up CM, and a TAM RB

Backups? Hell no. If we're using TAM, those should be the best 4-5 non-DP players on the roster. Theoretically this means if we're using all 3 DPs, at least 7 of our starters should be TAM players. We're kidding ourselves if we're overpaying TAM-level money for guys that are going to sit on the bench. Time to vastly -- vastly -- improve our starting XI.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Backups? Hell no. If we're using TAM, those should be the best 4-5 non-DP players on the roster. Theoretically this means if we're using all 3 DPs, at least 7 of our starters should be TAM players. We're kidding ourselves if we're overpaying TAM-level money for guys that are going to sit on the bench. Time to vastly -- vastly -- improve our starting XI.

But I guess the point is, where do they go?

Lets go through a presumed starting XI with current players and a few assumptions

DP LW - Villa - Harrison
----------Maxi------------
-------Ring--Herrera----
Mata-Callens-Chanot-TAM RB
---------Johnson----------

Outside of the TAM RB above, where do the other TAM guys fit into the starting XI? Callens and Chanot are both arguably top CBs in the league. Ring was amazing this last year. Perhaps Harrison, but he just had a productive year and what could he do with a TAM-level RB overlapping??

Last year showed us quite a bit that we really, really need depth. There are going to be games where Ring/Herrera/Maxi and others will be missing, and we should be more prepared to fill those with quality players rather than TMac or Wallace (though I do like Wallace off the bench).

 

[LionNYC]

Confirmed that Maxi Moralez CANNOT be brought down given he makes over the $1.5M threshold for TAM to be used on players.

 

[Bane]

Confirmed that Maxi Moralez CANNOT be brought down given he makes over the $1.5M threshold for TAM to be used on players.

Lame, but whatever. Get us a good DP and spread the wealth on players.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

But I guess the point is, where do they go?

Lets go through a presumed starting XI with current players and a few assumptions

DP LW - Villa - Harrison
----------Maxi------------
-------Ring--Herrera----
Mata-Callens-Chanot-TAM RB
---------Johnson----------

Outside of the TAM RB above, where do the other TAM guys fit into the starting XI? Callens and Chanot are both arguably top CBs in the league. Ring was amazing this last year. Perhaps Harrison, but he just had a productive year and what could he do with a TAM-level RB overlapping??

Last year showed us quite a bit that we really, really need depth. There are going to be games where Ring/Herrera/Maxi and others will be missing, and we should be more prepared to fill those with quality players rather than TMac or Wallace (though I do like Wallace off the bench).

I would like to see us target at least 1 Generation Adidas player in the draft.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

I don't think we can use TAM to buy down Maxi. He would need to be making less then 1.5 million. And wouldn't he need to be resigned to a new contract?

• Targeted Allocation Money may be used to sign new or re-sign existing players whose salary and acquisition costs are more than the maximum salary budget charge but less than $1.5 million.

We wouldn't be signing or resigning him.

 

[Fake Jew]

I would like to see us target at least 1 Generation Adidas player in the draft.

I'm 99.9 percent sure that we will.

 

[Kjbert]

Backups? Hell no. If we're using TAM, those should be the best 4-5 non-DP players on the roster. Theoretically this means if we're using all 3 DPs, at least 7 of our starters should be TAM players. We're kidding ourselves if we're overpaying TAM-level money for guys that are going to sit on the bench. Time to vastly -- vastly -- improve our starting XI.

Great. So does Harrison go to the bench? Does Maxi go to the bench (my vote)? Does Callens go to the bench?

Fact is, we have 7-8 locked in starters. 2 of them are already TAM players. We may have already used all of our $1.2 Million TAM for 2018-2019 on their contracts plus the raise for Matarrita.

$2.8 Million buys you a RB, a goal scorer and depth in the midfield where it is sorely needed. Use the DP spot to find a LW.

 

[Kjbert]

I would love to see us find a TAM #10 and play the two best of Herrera, Maxi and a new #10

 

[adam]

Great. So does Harrison go to the bench? Does Maxi go to the bench (my vote)? Does Callens go to the bench?

Fact is, we have 7-8 locked in starters. 2 of them are already TAM players. We may have already used all of our $1.2 Million TAM for 2018-2019 on their contracts plus the raise for Matarrita.

$2.8 Million buys you a RB, a goal scorer and depth in the midfield where it is sorely needed. Use the DP spot to find a LW.

Don’t want to beat a dead horse. But if we’re signinng a TAM player to push Maxi to the bench, doesn’t it make sense to use our cut on him and find a DP who STARTS???

 

[Kjbert]

Don’t want to beat a dead horse. But if we’re signinng a TAM player to push Maxi to the bench, doesn’t it make sense to use our cut on him and find a DP who STARTS???

No one here has been more respectfully anti Maxi than me. It's a miss by the Club at a position of significant depth in this league.

I would go so far as to say it's as big of a miss in its impact as Nemec was. Kreis built his entire formation around a guy who could knock down balls for Villa and it crushed us when he didn't work out. There's no doubt in my mind that if Maxi was Higuain or Valeri that we are hosting MLS Cup tomorrow.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I know we all fell in love with our front 6 of Wallace-Villa-Harrison, Ring-Herrera-Maxi, but the way this team fell off the map offensively in the second half of the season, maybe we can use the TAM to improve that. I loved how Ring played, but can they do better? Certainly we should make Wallace a reserve and bring in a DP/TAM player there.

Here's another option: What if we move Maxi to the wing and sign a better DP or TAM #10? Maxi was a winger in Mexico, perhaps he can do that for us next year? Maybe that's the way you improve the team. He was pretty good in front of goal and has enough speed for it. I think you use DP/TAM on winger/#10, then use TAM on a RB

Maxi-Villa-Harrison
New DP-Herrera-Ring
Mata-Chanot-Callens-New TAM

Unless, of course, Harrison leaves in January. Then you'd have another spot for a TAM winger without moving Maxi -- maybe you'd do DP-Villa-TAM, Maxi-Herrera-Ring, Mata-Chanot-Callens-TAM.

 

[Fake Jew]

All of you are crazy for saying we should be using all of this TAM on backups. Yes guys like Jack, Callens, Johnson, , and Herrera are top MLS players but with all of this new TAM will they continue to be? The best way to creat depth is to get the starters on the bench.

 

[canchon]

So am I understanding this right that MLS just authorized an additional 2.8M of TAM...isn’t the whole basic salary cap around 4.5M or so (before GAM and prior TAM)?

This is huge and should raise the level of play in the league significantly, you shouldn’t have guys filling out the roster anymore for 70k...you can now pay $200k for a guy to sit on your bench.

 

[Gotham Gator]

One thing to remember about TAM is that it can be used on salary and/or acquisition costs. For the 3 players that we used TAM on in 2016 and 2017, the TAM was used for acquisition costs only because their salaries are below the league maximum. We don’t yet know for Matarrita’s new deal.

The point being that you can go acquire a player for $500,000 and give him a salary of $300,000 and use TAM in the first year only to cover the acquisition cost. I think this is how most teams use TAM and why it might make sense to bring forward the $1.2 million from 2019 since spending it on acquiring a player in 2018 can have benefits for several years.

 

[Gotham Gator]

So am I understanding this right that MLS just authorized an additional 2.8M of TAM...isn’t the whole basic salary cap around 4.5M or so (before GAM and prior TAM)?

This is huge and should raise the level of play in the league significantly, you shouldn’t have guys filling out the roster anymore for 70k...you can now pay $200k for a guy to sit on your bench.

Yes. Salary budget for 2018 is $4,035,000. So this TAM increase means the cap is basically doubled.

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

Whose Louis Nganioni and why should we be interested?

 

[gbservis]

All of you are crazy for saying we should be using all of this TAM on backups. Yes guys like Jack, Callens, Johnson, , and Herrera are top MLS players but with all of this new TAM will they continue to be? The best way to creat depth is to get the starters on the bench.

Maybe backup is the wrong word. We need a TAM winger and a TAM CM that are talented enough to force PV into a choice each week. The competition would be good for Jack/Wallace and it doesn't seem like it would be bad to have a bit of a rotation after both appeared to wear down over the season. Same goes for Herrera/Ring with an added bonus of not having our on field talent fall of a cliff every time they get called up internationally. Between call ups, suspensions and injuries 4 starter level CMs are a minimum. If we don't sign a starter level CM and Wing we are going to be watching TMac 8-12 times a season every time one of the guys goes out or PV decides he's unhappy with them and wants to bench them for a game to send a message.