SOCCER MONEY MATTERS

Dynamo rank last in 2018 MLS salaries with $5.2 million roster

Dynamo rank last in 2018 MLS salaries with $5.2 million roster
The Dynamo's "moneyball" approach saw them reach the Western Conference final in 2017. Courtesy of Wilf Thorne/Houston Dynamo

Major League Soccer player salaries were published Thursday - about one week after the close of the primary transfer window. Toronto FC came in with the highest payroll once again with three of their players making $5 million or more while the Houston Dynamo came in last among active teams for the second consecutive year.

Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco topped the list with a guaranteed compensation of $7,115,555.67 while 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger is the owner of the highest base salary of $6,100,000.08 as a member of the Chicago Fire. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who arrived from Manchester United in March, is revealed to be playing with the LA Galaxy for a $1,500,000.00 salary.

The Dynamo’s total payroll of $5.26 million was lower than the top five players in the league in both base salary and guaranteed compensation. The entire list can be found on the MLS Players Association website.

The highest paid player on the Dynamo roster is Honduran forward Alberth Elis, making $650,340.00 annually. Swedish defender Adam Lundkvist, who was signed about two weeks ago and participated in his first practice with the team on Thursday afternoon in Vancouver, ame in second in base salary with a $405,000.00 salary.

Nine players at the Dynamo make under $100,000.00 in base salary including Memo Rodriguez, who scored the 90th minute game winner against the LA Galaxy last Saturday. Rookies Michael Nelson and Mac Steeves are tied for the lowest salary at 54,500.04.

The low on-field investment - compared to other MLS teams - has been one of the leading concerns among Dynamo fans in recent years. Gabriel Brener became the majority stakeholder in the club after buying out AEG’s share in December 2015.

Following the Dynamo’s playoff elimination after a 5-0 aggregate defeat to Seattle Sounders FC in the MLS Western Conference final last November, Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera was asked about having a higher budget to which he responded, “Our budget is not going to change...We’re going to try and do the same thing with the budget and find the players we can afford."
 

Dynamo General Manager Matt Jordan was on Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis earlier this week and was asked about the rumors of signing 2010 FIFA World Cup winner Fernando Torres this upcoming summer. Jordan responded, “I think we’ve shown, we’re willing to make investments. We have an ownership group that shows that, especially this last offseason with some of the acquisitions that we’ve made and they were significant investments in players like [Alberth] Elis and [Juan David] Cabezas.

“Our ownership group is definitely willing, and obviously it has to be the right player, the right timing,” added Jordan on having the financial backing from the club's ownership group, which includes Brener's longtime business partner and former Boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya.

The Dynamo acquired Elis and Cabezas on permanent transfers in the offseason, although the purchase fees were not disclosed. The club also punted on the upwards of $7 million investment in forward Erick Torres - who commanded a 650,000.00 base salary in 2017 - by selling the player for a reported $2 million fee this past January.

The Dynamo are in action tonight at Vancouver Whitecaps FC (9:30 p.m. CT kickoff, KUBE 57).

MLS Salaries by team (rounded to the nearest dollar)

Team

Base salary

Guaranteed compensation

1. Toronto FC

$23,480,305

$26,167,499

2. Los Angeles Galaxy

$14,799,180

$17,502,008

3. New York City FC

$13,249,558

$14,147,633

4. Chicago Fire

$13,165,346

$13,824,204

5. Los Angeles FC

$11,254,869

$13,432,053

6. Portland Timbers

$11,209,418

$12,516,335

7. Montreal Impact

$7,230,911

$11,888,541

8. Seattle Sounders

$9,767,458

$11,376,125

9. Atlanta United

$10,369,120

$11,306,330

10. Colorado Rapids

$9,981,477

$11,001,331

11. FC Dallas

$8,239,754

$9,333,819

12. Sporting Kansas City

$8,825,490

$9,176,166

13. Orlando City

$8,230,668

$8,981,658

14. Real Salt Lake

$8,228,528

$8,975,666

15. Philadelphia Union

$8,492,604

$8,915,988

16. Vancouver Whitecaps

$7,531,016

$8,233,012

17. Minnesota United

$7,561,894

$8,152,683

18. San Jose Earthquakes

$7,116,235

$7,787,253

19. New York Red Bulls

$7,079,490

$7,689,314

20. Columbus Crew

$6,632,083

$6,971,083

21. New England Revolution

$6,139,674

$6,818,556

22. D.C. United

$6,325,797

$6,744,420

23. Houston Dynamo

$5,267,338

$5,673,472

 

Houston Dynamo 2018 Player Salaries

Note: The Dynamo waived Midfielder Charlie Ward, announced Wednesday afternoon.
 

 

First Name

Last Name

Position

Base Salary

Total Compensation

1.

Alberth

Elis

F

$650,340.00

$650,340.00

2.

Adam

Lundkvist

D

$405,000.00

$433,750.00

3.

Tomas

Martinez

M

$305,004.00

$487,929.00

4.

DaMarcus

Beasley

D

$275,004.00

$275,004.00

5.

Mauro

Manotas

F

$264,328.08

$264,328.08

6.

Eric

Alexander

M

$260,004.00

$260,004.00

7.

Juan

Cabezas

M

$255,156.00

$279,156.00

8.

Romell

Quioto

F

$240,000.00

$252,500.00

9.

Andrew

Wenger

M

$230,000.00

$230,000.00

10.

Darwin

Ceren

M

$225,000.00

$274,375.00

11.

Philippe

Senderos

D

$225,000.00

$242,500.00

12.

Adolfo

Machado

D

$220,008.00

$236,508.00

13.

AJ

DeLaGarza

D

$200,000.04

$207,500.04

14.

Leonardo

Da Silva

D

$157,504.50

$165,171.17

15.

Chris

Seitz

GK

$155,004.00

$155,004.00

16.

Arturo

Alvarez

M

$150,000.00

$157,500.00

17.

Oscar Boniek

Garcia

M

$150,000.00

$165,000.00

18.

Joe

Willis

GK

$124,999.92

$132,749.92

19.

Dylan

Remick

D

$105,000.00

$106,666.67

20.

Jared

Watts

D-M

$92,500.00

$92,500.00

21.

Alejandro

Fuenmayor

D

$85,008.00

$112,508.00

22.

Kevin

Garcia

D

$68,915.07

$68,915.07

23.

George

Malki

D

$68,254.20

$68,254.20

24.

Eric

Bird

M

$67,500.00

$67,500.00

25.

Luis

Gil

M

$67,500.00

$67,500.00

26.

Memo

Rodriguez

M

$55,654.20

$55,654.20

27.*

Charlie

Ward

M

$55,654.20

$55,654.20

28.

Michael

Nelson

GK

$54,500.04

$54,500.04

29.

Mac

Steeves

GK

$54,500.04

$54,500.04

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The Coogs are back in action Friday night. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images.

Sixteen may be sweet, but it isn’t the only relevant number as the NCAA Tournament heads into the regional semifinals.

Here are some other numbers worth knowing for each team. These statistics will help you learn more about each of the remaining teams and could explain how some of them got this far.

EAST REGION

UCONN: In UConn’s second-round victory over Northwestern, Donovan Clingan became just the third player in tournament history to get 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks in a game. The others to do it were Hakeem Olajuwon for Houston in 1983 and David Robinson for Navy in 1986. The blocks also were the most ever by a UConn player in a tournament game.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs’ Sweet 16 matchup with defending national champion UConn will mark the fourth time that two teams have faced each other in the tournament a year after meeting in the final. The losing team from the championship won the rematch in one of the three previous instances, when Duke beat UNLV in a 1991 semifinal. Cincinnati won two straight championship games over Ohio State in 1961-62. Florida beat UCLA in the 2006 championship game and in a 2007 semifinal.

ILLINOIS: Illinois has won six in a row, and Terrence Shannon Jr. has scored at least 25 points in each of those games. The 6-foot-6 guard has averaged 30.5 points and has shot 52.8% (56 of 106) from the floor during that stretch. He also shown an uncanny knack for drawing fouls during the streak. Over his last five games, Shannon has gone 51 of 58 on free-throw attempts.

IOWA STATE: Iowa State is allowing just 61.2 points per game to rank fourth among all Division I teams in scoring defense. Since falling 73-65 to Houston on Feb. 19, the Cyclones haven’t allowed any of their last 10 opponents to exceed 65 points. The Cyclones next face Illinois, which ranks ninth in points per game (84.6) and has averaged 91.3 points over its last four contests.

WEST REGION

ALABAMA: Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada were the first set of Division I teammates since 1996-97 to both have at least 410 points, 125 assists, 120 rebounds, 50 3-point baskets and 40 steals during the regular season. Sears is averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Estrada has 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

NORTH CAROLINA: Armando Bacot had seven straight tournament double-doubles and six consecutive tourney games with at least 15 rebounds before he ended up with 18 points and seven boards in a second-round victory over Michigan State. His seven straight NCAA double-doubles matched Tim Duncan and Olajuwon for the NCAA record.

ARIZONA: Arizona’s first-round triumph over Long Beach State marked the 19th time this season the Wildcats had five different players score in double figures. No other Division I team had that many games this season in which five different players had at least 10 points.

CLEMSON: Each of Clemson’s first two tournament opponents has shot below 40% against the Tigers. Clemson won its first-round game by limiting New Mexico to 29.7% shooting, the lowest percentage the Tigers had ever allowed in an NCAA tourney game. Clemson now faces Arizona, which shot 52.8% in its second-round victory over Dayton.

MIDWEST REGION

CREIGHTON: Baylor Scheierman is the first Division I men’s player in history to have at least 2,000 career points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 3-point baskets. Scheierman, who is in his second season at Creighton after playing three seasons at South Dakota State, has 2,208 points, 1,250 rebounds, 578 assists and 352 3-pointers.

TENNESSEE: Tennessee is making its 10th Sweet 16 appearance – including its seventh in the last 18 years – but the Volunteers have never reached the Final Four and earned their lone regional final berth in 2010.

GONZAGA: Gonzaga is in the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight time, the longest active streak of any Division I team. Going back to 1975 – the first year that all teams had to win at least one game to reach the Sweet 16 – the record for consecutive Sweet 16 appearances is owned by North Carolina with 13 straight from 1981-93.

PURDUE: Zach Edey is the first player since Kareen Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) in 1968 to have at least 50 points and 35 rebounds while shooting 65% from the field in his first two games of an NCAA Tournament. Edey has shot 67.9% (19 of 28) and has totaled 53 points and 35 rebounds in victories over Grambling State and Utah State.

SOUTH REGION

DUKE: Jared McCain has gone 10 of 17 from 3-point range through the first two rounds. In the Blue Devils’ second-round blowout of James Madison, McCain became the first freshman to score at least 30 points without committing a turnover in an NCAA Tournament game since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

HOUSTON: The Cougars showcased their depth by surviving a second-round matchup with Texas A&M in overtime even after four of their five starters fouled out. They became the first team to win an NCAA game while having at least four players foul out since 1987, when UTEP overcame foul trouble to beat Arizona.

MARQUETTE: Marquette owns a 75-29 record under coach Shaka Smart despite posting a negative rebound margin in each of his three seasons. The Golden Eagles have been outrebounded in each of their last eight games but have gone 5-3. They’re getting outrebounded by 3 boards per game this season. The only other Sweet 16 team with a negative rebound margin is North Carolina State (minus-0.8), which faces Marquette on Friday.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE: Mohamed Diarra has 6.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season, but he’s averaged 11.7 points and 13.5 rebounds over his last six. Michael O’Connell scored in double digits three times and totaled 14 3-point baskets in 31 regular-season games. He’s reached double figures in six of seven postseason games and has gone 12 of 22 from 3-point range during that stretch.

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