2024 Player Salaries

Sosa and Ibarra are both U22s where the cap hit is only $200K each whereas we're still carrying most, but not all, of Etienne's salary for 2024. So, the new spending power that we'll actually free-up for next year is probably about $500K (total guess estimate) for the portion of Etienne's salary that we're still paying, plus the $200K in GAM we got in the transfer deal, plus two U22 slots with a cap-hit of $150-200K each regardless of what we actually pay them. So, that's not $2 million in new budget, but it certainly gives us some flexibility going into next year.

That said, Gregersen will probably be converted to a TAM deal at some point and, when that happens, we'll also be able to sign another DP.

Plus, I seriously doubt we'll retain Abram or Hernandez at their current salaries.

Not sure what to predict on Guzan who I think has 1 final option year on his contract.

Watch Cincy's goal from last night again (if you have the stomach for it). Acosta gathers the ball (under the watchful eye of Abram), with zero pressure (Abram continues watching), has the time to take a couple touches (Abram makes sure he's not unwatched), surveys the field (with Abram surveying him in return), starts carrying the ball toward goal (by this time Dax McCarty is screaming at Abram to do something), and finally as Fortune decides to belatedly cover for the apparently comatose Abram, Acosta lifts an easy ball toward goal for the uncontested header.

Not the kind of effort you want to see for the fifth highest paid player on the team.

Abram is an oof as is Hernandez. Thiare being more than Muyumba is interesting. And spending $300k for a backup GK is a bit much.

One thing I wanted to put at the top, because it's my #1 takeaway:

• Cohen was available on a free and is only earning $300k. That makes him the 28th-highest paid GK in the league and gives him what is effectively a backup GK-level budget charge. Unless his contract is structured to give him a very significant raise starting next year (which I tend to doubt), what we know is: 1) we did not spend anything more than backup-level money for him, and 2) he hasn't been able to beat out Guz, who currently ranks 28th out of 33 qualifiers in shot-stopping according to FBRef. For quite a while now, I've felt that he was not necessarily the locked-in "starter of the future" that everyone assumed him to be when we signed him, and I would not at all be surprised if we were shopping for a higher-quality Guz replacement this offseason, when we presumably will have more money to throw around than we have in past windows.

Some other thoughts:

• Abram is guaranteed through 2025 and needs to be bought out. If you ballpark his amortized transfer fee and add it to his comp, he's costing us near $1M per year to be a mediocre depth piece. Another big miss by Bocanegra here.

• Hernandez hits the budget at close to a max charge when you account for his transfer fee. That's a pretty bad one too. His guarantees are up after this season, and I fully expect his option to be declined.

• Sosa's and Ibarra's options will be declined at the end of this year, and those u22 spots will finally be freed up again.

• I know we're still paying for part of Etienne's contract, but I'm not entirely clear how much and for how long.

• Assuming the pending roster rule changes are implemented and we'll have 2 buyouts this offseason, I'll be interested to see if we use one on Mosquera (he's guaranteed through 2026). He's shown flashes of potential at times, but 2025 will be his age-24 season, and he hasn't really developed at all since we signed him. While we won't necessarily need the u22 spot freed up anymore, it's still a valuable roster designation, and it's getting harder to argue that Mosquera is the best use of it.

• Guz's budget charge isn't quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be. He's the 11th-highest paid GK in the league. When you consider there's no transfer fee component of his charge, and some of the keepers paid less than him do have that, I'd guess he's probably closer to ranking around 20th in terms of cap hit. It's still not great, but it's not brutally terrible either.

• On-field performance has obviously been mixed lately, but Garth's major signings so far all feel like very shrewd pieces of business. Between Stian, Saba, Slisz, Silva, Muyumba, and Williams, it does feel like we're adding quality pieces without saddling ourselves with potential bad contracts.

• We're spending a lot of money on backup strikers. I have the feeling this was a very deliberate move by the club, understanding that GG's play style lends itself to him picking up knocks, and going cheap on backup strikers is how you end up starting Adam Jahn or Miguel Berry for extended stretches. At first glance, it seems like poor roster construction to spend TAM on backups, but in this case, I'm OK with it.

So many bad contracts it’s funny. Boca needs to be gone with Pineda. It’s time to switch things up and let Garth fix his mess

Paying Dax that fairly decent salary for a veteran only to give Fortune way more minutes is definitely a choice.

There are a lot of players here who I think we could be shifting on at some point, who I’m not excited about. But the one position where I really think we should target a move in the summer is CB.

I think Williams has been surprisingly good, and he’s cheap. I think Gregersen is good. We’ve been unlucky with injuries. I think Cobb and Morales are both good as cover, young guys with the potential to become starting quality. I’d be looking for a 3rd senior CB to replace Abram, who just has disappointed me to be honest. He reeks of last season. So hesitant, so unenthusiastic in his manner of defending. If he’s not picked it up by summer, I’d hope we would try to sell and bring in someone else.

There’s some cleaning up to do. I don’t see a real spot at the club for Ettiene, Sosa, Ibarra, Mosquera.

My main problem is that I look at our squad, and I feel that without injuries I can construct what is actually a really good matchday squad.

Guzan, Brooks, Williams, Gregersen, Wiley, Slisz, Muyumba, Almada, Xande, Saba, Giakoumakis is a stupid strong starting XI. Cohen seems to be strong cover in goal, Cobb and Morales are good youth options with good potential. Rios and Thiare haven’t had a lot of time to show us much, but seem to provide something interesting in their own respects as backups. Firmino, Fortune and Wolff are short of it right now but could be good players in the near future. McCarty is a great veteran presence backing up the midfield.

This team, if it reflected what its individual parts have shown, would be top 10 quality at least. Injuries leave it a bit sparse in places. But IMO, Pineda has failed to conjure the potential of this team, and this team under Pineda has routinely failed to fulfill its potential.

Mosquera, hernandez and Abram straight up robbing the club

Cut Mosquera now please