Crew Roster Dec. Snapshot

According to the lastest info I have, Columbus have 22 players on the roster. Three total "DP's" (one "young DP") and four official international players.

As far as the team budget goes? I'm not going to take time digging into it right now with the next CBA agreement coming soon. I will say that the core part of the team is basically in place. I'd expect one more notable signing before the season starts, but that's about it.

It looks like, to me at least, that Caleb Porter will let Nagbe do the heavy lifting this year in the middle and run with a 433 type look that looks more like a 4141 in possession.

Diaz is a valuable piece for this team, but I think inconsistency will keep him on the bench for long spells.

MLS teams carry between 26-32 players at any given time. I think Columbus will keep a short roster around 26-28 this year to save money leading up the opening of the stadium next year. I'll note that there are a lot of contracts ending this year. The team will likely look completely different before long, so we are looking at a lumpy season ahead.

All I got for now.

Crew SC Roster Moves

The deadline for MLS teams to pick up player options passed last week on December 1st. Teams making the final were given extensions (although it looks like a handful teams used the extra week to decide / announce).

Columbus posted theirs yesterday, less than 24 hours after they hosted the MLS Cup Final. Mile high view: ~20% was trimmed from both the overall budget as well as the "cap."

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$5.6m : Total Budget YE 2015
$4.5m : Total current Budget

$4.2m : "Cap" number
$3.4m : Current "Cap" after roster moves
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Options Not Exercised:

Matt Lampson, GK, $60k
Emanuel Pogatetz, CB, 263k
Kristinn Steindorsson, MF, 119k
Ben Speas, MF, 68k

Out of Contract, Negotiating:

Jack McInerney, F, $334k
Kevan George, DM, 60k
Aaron Schoenfeld, F, 60k

NOTES: Four down-roster players from the previous ownership group (Lampson, Speas, George, Schoenfeld) and three "in the 18" from the current (Pogatetz, Steindorsson, McInerney) appear to be moving on their way. It's strange to see George and Schoenfeld under the "negotiating" category as they are already at the league minimum. McInernery's contract (likely prorated this past year) is one they might be trying to work down. Something that doesn't happen often in MLS.

Players Currently Under Contract, 2016:

Federico Higuain - $118k
Gaston Sauro - 600k
Kei Kamara - 537k
Michael Parkhurst - 300k
Cedrick Mabwati - 254k
Tony Tchani - 195k
Steve Clark - 188k
Justin Meram - 175k
Waylon Francis - 170k
Wil Trapp - 165k
Harrison Afful - 150k
Ethan Finlay - 143k
Mohammed Saeid - 110k
Hector Jimenez - 90k
Chris Klute - 88k
Ben Swanson - 80k
Romain Gall - 63k
Brad Stuver - 60k
Chad Barson - 60k
Sergio Campbell - 53k

NOTES: So far so good for Gregg Berhalter and team in regards to maintaining a solid core from the successful 2015 team. The only risks I see between now and the start of next year come in the form of the January transfer window. MLS is notorious for not allowing free movement of players to other leagues, but Crew SC could have a few players in that group. Sauro, Kamara lead the list. Meram, Mabwati, Francis and Afful are internationals that likely have some options. In the youth category, you've got Swanson and Gall who have value.
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What's next for MLS rosters are a series of drafts (waiver and re-entry) throughout the month of December. A new twist this year is there is a class of "free agents" out there that meet the most recent CBA qualifiers of being 28 years old and have 8 years experience. MLS is a single entity so it is certainly a strange mechanism they have introduced.

First MLS "Free Agent" Class:

Looking over the list, I can see why the league agreed to it. It's mostly durable US based players who are overpaid mainly due to the fact they have survived and still pull a check in the single entity system (incremental increases year to year). My hunch is that these guys will be negotiating down, which is sort of the opposite of what the union expected.

"Rating" (far right column) comes from my own player rating system I've used since 2011. It's driven by (but not just) playing time and team results - obvious theory being; playing more on good teams means you are good. It's scaled 0-10, so a score of 5 is average, 10 is best. It is based on this season only.

January Crew Roster, Budget Update

January's updated Crew budget / roster is up over at Massive Report.

Crew Roster + Budget Snapshot, January

Quick highlights:
• Five open roster spots
• Crew probably have between $700k and 1 mil free
• Top needs still another Forward, CB

The main takeaway from this month's analysis is that the team has more money than roster spots to fill. Close to a million dollars is great but it sort of puts the team in the proverbial no-mans land.

Three (or even four) of the five spots left will probably be college draft players with the 1st pick pulling in $70-100k.

There are needs all over this team in terms of quality, experienced players and after the draft it still appears the might only be able to pick up one or two.

The remaining possibility is to bring in a number of quality trialists to camp in a few weeks and force a few players currently not tethered down for 2014 to compete for spots.

Outside of that, it's looking like the next significant move might not be till we are into the 2014 regular season.

Barson Signs, Crew Cap and Roster Update

Chad Barson, a 6'10" 170 lbs Defender and multi-year starter from The University of Akron has joined the 2013 Crew roster as a Homegrown signing. For more information of the player check out the Akron website or the Official Columbus Crew outlet (which includes a rather awkward locker room picture).

With the addition of Barson the Crew roster ticks up to 22 players. Once the club roster fills up to 28-30 players I do not believe he will count towards the cap given the available information out there (roster spots 21-30 don't hit cap so this puts him in the $35-47k range).

Here are estimates by position, to date:
$860k : Midfield
$680k : Forward / Attacking
$630k : Defense
$85k : Goalkeeper
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$2.25 : TOTAL CAP HIT TO DATE

$645k : OPEN CAP SPACE

Here is a chart with the same information:

There are rumors that the club is close to two international signings (news via various twitter accounts including the Dispatch's Adam Jardy, who also quoted GM Mark McCullers addressing the office staff with, "We can win with this group." Implying that the Crew are comfortable with current roster going into the season. Key phrase, "can win" needs to change to "will win".