Fredy Montero.

MLS could use a few more of these


As Jason Davis commented on yesterday, Don Garber has again been talking about the renewal of the designated player rule and the possibility of adding a second DP slot. I’d like to make a pitch to the Don if he or his people read this: Steal a page from the Aussies.


The A-League has the “Marquee Player” tag that is similar to MLS’ DP rule. Beginning in the 2008-09, the A-League also implemented the “Junior Marquee Player” rule. This Junior Marquee must be under 23 and $AU 150,000 of his salary doesn’t count against the cap. I would structure things a little differently, namely, I’d bump the age up to under 25 and have only the first $150,000 count against the cap. Because of the US college system, there is a smaller pool of U-23 players in MLS than in the A-League. Also the Generation Adidas program, fills some of that gap at the youngest end of the spectrum.


There are multiple reasons that I think this would be a better move than adding another DP slot, starting with the limitations of the current DP rule. Because of the size of the contracts necessary to invoke the DP rule, the players brought in under this rule will be older, established players that can be used for soccer and marketing purposes. When players like Schelotto, Joseph, Twellman, and De Rosario do not need to be DPs to be in the salary confines of the league, then a decent amount of high level talent can be bought without using the slot. Loading up on players at this pay level is impossible given the cap, but fielding a player of this caliber and a DP is already a possibility. For instance, Columbus’ movement of Schelotto out of the slot still makes me suspect that they will be one of those teams looking to grab a player after the World Cup.


The second limitation of the current DP rule is one of supply. Currently there are 16 DP slots, with that number rising to 18 or 19 next year. There are currently 5 DPs in MLS. Even if that number doubles this summer with teams like New York, Philly, Columbus, DC, and Chicago positioned to grab DPs this summer, at some point the pool of players worth the DP tag and willing to come to MLS starts to get shallow. While that number is likely more than the mid-teens, is it really anywhere near the almost 40 slots that would exist by giving every team a second slot?


A DP slot oriented to younger players counting $150,000 against the cap for a player like Davies, Altidore, Holden, Edu, Bradley, or Adu would certainly have made it easier for MLS to have attracted or kept these players for a few more years. The combinations of DPs and junior DPs in MLS leads to awesome potential tandems. Charlie Davies receiving through balls from Ljungberg, Altidore on the end of Beckham crosses, Adu learning from Henry.


Outside of attracting and retaining US nationals, a junior DP slot would incentivize clubs to go find and then retain the next Fredy Montero. While his base salary was $155,000 last year and not substantially over the limit that I’ve put forward, there are other young attackers in South and Central America and Africa that MLS could compete against European teams for with this structure. Also, a player like Montero could be brought in under normal rules for a year and then offered an increase using the junior DP slot if his performance warranted it.


While theoretically tradable, DP slots have rarely changed hands. The reason for this illiquid market is obvious, it’s difficult to imagine getting a DP slot back. While not every team wants to drop $700,000 on an impact player even if only $400,000 counts against the cap, few want to give away the ability to do it in the future. Paying $250,000 for a developing 23 year old and only have $150,000 count against the cap may be more enticing for some clubs. It’s not that hard to imagine a team like Dallas trade its DP slot to a team like LA in return for a package including LA’s junior DP slot. Also, as MLS continues to expand its commodity list to include reentry draft picks, more creative trades should be expected and a different type of DP would be another bargaining chip to get deals done.


The flexibility offered by having junior DP slots gives MLS clubs another way to build their teams. More flexibility means more personality in a league where clubs can have a generic feel. Incentivizing keeping American talent and scouting better young foreign talent would mean more in long term league growth than the ability to have 40 high paid players nearing the end of their careers. Finally, a move like this would fill a void for super-talented Americans in MLS: sign as Generation Adidas, graduate from GA and sign a junior DP contract, turn 25 and become a full DP. Currently that middle piece is missing which makes it hard for MLS to retain them. For all of these reason, if MLS expands it DP rules, it should seriously consider following in the footsteps of the Australians.
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