Of Millionaires and Minimum Wagers: Galaxy 2008 Salaries Revealed

By: Laurie | April 7th, 2008

One of the things that happened while I was gone was the release of the 2008 salaries, courtesy of the MLS Players Union. Daryl covered the MLS top ten over on The Offside’s main page last week. For those of you who missed it, here’s the link. As we all know, Beckham’s #1, with the same total compensation as last year: $6,500,000.04

(I would really like to know the story of that 4 cents. Anybody?)

But the real story is: How are the other Galaxy guys faring? Who’s relying on mom and dad and top ramen, and who’s doing okay?

Here are the dollars and cents for our boys.

A few thoughts:

– Michael Gavin and Mike Randolph make the same bucks. What’s up with that?
– I am still hugely offended by the developmental players’ salaries.
– Greg Vanney took a big pay cut to come to LA.
– On the other hand, Steve Cronin got a big pay increase this year.
– Alvaro Pires’s deal wasn’t finalized in time for him to make the list. My guess would be that Bryan Jordan and Josh Wicks are in the same boat.
– Ummm… Where is Josh Tudela? Did I miss something? He’s still on the roster. Is he out of contract? Did they just not finalize his deal yet?
– Who wants to bet that Ante Jazic is outta here as soon as he’s better? I’m guessing a trade to Toronto.
– How stupid of me was it to not copy all of last year’s end-of-year salaries onto my own computer so I could compare the lists? I have it as of May of last year, but that’s only helpful for the nine players who are still around.

And here are the numbers. First dollar figure is salary, second is total compensation including things like bonuses. The numbers don’t add up to the (rumored) $2.3 million salary cap due to squishy figures like “allocation money.” Also, developmental salaries and Generation Adidas salaries (which now includes only Israel Sesay) don’t count against the cap.

LA Alamo Charles GK $ 12,900.00 $ 12,900.00
LA Allen Ely F $ 36,000.00 $ 44,750.00
LA Beckham David M $ 5,500,000.08 $ 6,500,000.04
LA Buddle Edson F $ 147,000.00 $ 157,000.00
LA Cronin Steve GK $ 75,000.00 $ 75,000.00
LA Donovan Landon F $ 900,000.00 $ 900,000.00
LA Franklin Sean M-D $ 36,000.00 $ 48,500.00
LA Gavin Michael D $ 33,000.00 $ 33,000.00
LA Gordon Alan F $ 72,504.00 $ 72,504.00
LA Jazic Ante D-M $ 114,000.00 $ 120,250.00
LA Klein Chris M $ 190,000.00 $ 197,250.00
LA McDonald Brandon D $ 12,900.00 $ 12,900.00
LA Randolph Michael D $ 33,000.00 $ 33,000.00
LA Roberts Troy D $ 33,000.00 $ 33,000.00
LA Ruiz Carlos F $ 350,000.00 $ 460,000.00
LA Sesay Israel F $ 45,000.00 $ 57,083.33
LA Vagenas Peter M $ 137,812.50 $ 138,437.50
LA Vanney Greg D $ 91,800.00 $ 91,800.00
LA Xavier Abel D $ 156,000.00 $ 156,000.00

Some Related Galaxy Posts:

Category: 2008 Season, MLS Money Matters

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Box

what do you say of Beckham leaving US and MLS altogether after this season or in the mid-season this year? that way..there'll be no salary problem again for both MLS and the youngsters!!

okay..okay..just kidding there! but seriously, do you think cutting off Becks' salary would be the better solution? i think not. coz Becks just isn't any kind of player, he's one of the best in the world. for me, $6.5 million per year is already a low standard for a player of his rank (that's why i found it a bit weird and irritating that ppl said he went to US for the money) when he used to get so much more while playing for Madrid and Man U. cutting off his salary to an amount lower than he got now would be a little bit of insult..you know. unless Becks himself agrees to cut-off his salary, than his salary should stay that way, without increasing more of course.

instead..i would love to see the MLS raising their salary cap, this year would be a very good year to start, to at least $3 million. then, after they got the revenue of ticket sales and merchandising, which i'm sure will continue rising this year, the salary should increase to $4 million next year, or $3.5 mil, or s/thing like that. we don't want to rush things, but we cannot be so slow either - otherwise good players will fly away..you know.;>
David

I think Randolph is very good and totally underpaid. He was a real hero for the team last year. And they very generously upped his salary to nearly double what it was last year. Which still leaves him earning around the poverty level and what can hardly be described as a living wage in Los Angeles. I know things are tight, but can't they at least give the kid $40k?
CACuzcatlan

Lalas dropped Randolph's name like 5 times on Fox Football Fone-in today. I hope that's a good sign. He deserves a raise. If Randolph is still here and still doing well at midseason I might just get his name and number on my Galaxy jersey. With all the turnaround, I've been paranoid of getting a player's name put on the jersey, only to have them traded the next week.
RHYbread

Gordo is killing us... Hopefully we can fleece off Buddle during the summer transfer and pick up some cheapo Argentines or the like.
jen

Here are 2007's Salaries http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Los Angeles Galaxy
M Beckham, David $5,500,000 $6,500,000
F Donovan, Landon $900,000 $900,000
GK Cannon, Joe $192,000 $192,000
D Marshall, Tyrone $142,000 $149,500
M-D Albright, Chris $142,500 $142,500
M Vagenas, Peter $131,250 $131,875
F Jaqua, Nate $112,500 $119,525
D-M Jazic, Ante $108,000 $114,250
F Kirk, Quavas $75,000 $111,500
F Quaranta, Santino $100,000 $105,313
M Sturgis, Nathan $70,000 $103,000
M Jones, Cobi $95,000 $95,000
D Thomas, Shavar $70,000 $73,750
M Martino, Kyle $52,500 $55,297
F Glinton, Gavin $50,000 $50,000
F Findley, Robert $36,000 $48,500
M Russell, Ian $47,040 $48,040
GK Cronin, Steve $34,729 $42,229
M Harmse, Kevin $40,800 $40,800
F Gordon, Alan $30,870 $30,870
D Roberts, Troy $30,000 $30,000
M Tudela, Josh $30,000 $30,000
D Harden, Ty $17,700 $17,700
D Randolph, Michael $17,700 $17,700
D Veris, Kyle $17,700 $17,700
GK Friesz, Lance $12,900 $12,900
jen

What I'm wondering is if someone foots the bill if McDonald gets a yellow or red card ($100/$250 respectively). Because even $100 is a lot when you are making $12,900 a year. Maybe some of the other guys will chip in for those.

And that .04 cents was a mystery to me too. :)
Laurie

Diane, one of the arguments the ownership made for the low developmental salaries was that they could be supplemented by appearance fees. So my understanding is that these appearance fees are a salary addition.
Diane

Less people needing to work 3 jobs than last year...still ridiculous salary structure to begin with. Hope the big earners are finding ways to provide some assists.
Are appearance fees included in 2nd figures?