So, on the heels of the Rumor That Won’t Die – Ronaldinho to LA Galaxy – I got to pondering the actual economics of such a move. Not the economics of paying a guy like Ronaldinho – and his gut – the full amount of whatever it is the parties agree to, or even the relatively modest transfer fee AC Milan are said to want for him (10 million Euros). Let’s face it, AEG is effing loaded. No, the economics here are those of the MLS salary cap. So first, a quick recap of the salary cap and the DP rules.

(1) Salary cap for 2010 is $2.55 million per team. Total.
(2) Each DP counts $325,000 towards that cap.
(3) Each team gets two automatic DP slots.
(4) A third spot may be “bought” by a team paying $250,000 in allocation money to all teams who have chosen NOT to exercise their right to a 3rd spot.
(5) Allocation money, not cold hard cash. So you have to have accumulated that $250K from previous trades, sales of players, “you suck” money, etc.
(6) Allocation money can also be used to buy down player salaries against the cap, so that their “cap hit” is less than their actual cap-eligible salary.
(7) This includes DP’s.
(8) Players who join mid-year count for only half of their annual salary for that first year. This includes DP’s.

With me so far? I know, MLS rules are a study in arcana.

So in order for the Ronaldinho thing to work, not only do the Galaxy and MLS need to shell out serious bucks to the player, pay a transfer fee much larger than MLS is used to paying (Beckham’s transfer fee was a grand total of $0 as was Thierry Henry’s), they also have to figure out how to fit the new player into the salary cap.

So where is the salary cap right now for the Galaxy? Glad you asked. I did a little research and, thanks to the MLS Player’s Union, came up with the following facts:

Total 2010 LA Galaxy players compensation (in total, real, dollars): $11,100,724.61
Total 2010 LA Galaxy base salary (in total, real, dollars): $9,766,039.08
Total estimated 2010 LA Galaxy salary cap hit (in fake, MLS dollars): $2,886,039.00
Total 2010 MLS Salary Cap: $2,550,000.00
Total estimated 2010 LA Galaxy allocation money used: $336,039.00

I don’t know enough about how much each team has stockpiled in allocation money, mostly because (1) I’m lazy and (2) MLS doesn’t really publicize this stuff, but I have a feeling that $336,000 is actually quite a lot of it. (But one has to remember that Generation Addidas players are cap-exempt until they graduate from the program.) This is before we start dealing with the cap hit for a 3rd DP (around $162K for a mid-season player).

A mid-season addition is easier to absorb, but the first full season will cause serious decisions to be made. Complicating this picture are GA graduations, salary increases for cheap players who’ve done well (Michael Stephens is making $40,000 a year and AJ DeLaGarza is making $45,000.), and purchasing players currently on loan (Juninho being my favorite here – he’s only making $70,000). Anyway you slice it, there are budget machinations to go through.

And here’s a final complicating factor. The Galaxy have 26 people on their roster, though I’m sure there are some rules about people on IR not counting (David Beckham) and maybe something about Academy products as well (Tristan Bowen). But the league max is actually 24. So you also have to create some roster space by cutting someone. At least we know that due to the new CBA, players cut at this point in the season get paid for the rest of the year.

Having laid all this out, its still clear that the Galaxy have at least tried to buy Ronaldinho in the recent past, which means they think they can make it work.

But how? How would you make it work? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

A week or so ago, one of our readers hit us up with a private email on the transfer rumor with nine lives, the one that claims that Ronaldinho is definitely on his way to the LA Galaxy and definitely during this transfer window – the one that officially opened today.

Specifically our confidante, who says he can’t come out right and say how he exactly knows for sure that the player in question will be in Galaxy uniform, lays it out like this:

“Ronaldinho will join the Galaxy in August. This is no longer a rumor.

The obvious question is how I could know this. I cannot “tell you”, but I believe that the two of you are smart enough to connect the dots.

I am partners in a garment factory in Thailand. Our two biggest customers are, of course NIKE and Adidas. We have been the preferred contractor for LA Galaxy gear for many years now.”

And he tells us that he is sharing his nuggets of goodness with us because,

“I guess the Americans run in the WC has peeked my interest in the Galaxy even more than usual.”

Which is awesome. The Galaxy’s own Landon Donovan’s stirring performance against Algeria pays off on the rumor front! (I should also say that in America we spell “peeked” as “piqued” but then I’m known for living La Vida Pedant.)

Frankly, I don’t know what to make of this rumor. For one thing, I don’t see how the Galaxy can deal with the salary cap issue. They’ve essentially got two DP’s in David Beckham (you remember him, right?) and Landon and will need to be offering enhanced salaries to guys like Omar Gonzalez, Sean Franklin, and AJ DeLaGarza even as they contemplate how to buy Juninho from Sao Paulo. The almost $800K hit that Donovan and Beckham put on the $2.4-ish million salary cap combined with those other factors leaves basically no room for another DP hit.

Unless you, I don’t know, decided to, say, sell Landon Donovan to someone. And he is never going to be worth more than he is right now. He’s 28, he’s now proved himself in the EPL and had a decent World Cup, plus was the MLS MVP in 2008. If he’s going to sell for his max value, then now’s the time.

But today, as reported by ESPN during halftime for the DC United – Seattle Sounders FC game, MLS Commissioner Don Garber went out of his way to state as categorically as he could that MLS was NOT entertaining any offers for Donovan’s services. Too valuable to MLS he says.

That strikes me as staking out a hard bargaining position, looking to clear out all the offers from clubs that are trying to see if they can pull one over on a young league just happy to have a few obviously talented players. But maybe Garber and the rest of the MLS brain trust really see Donovan as unsellable. Maybe. But I doubt it.

And just through some fire on the rumor mill more than our confidante already has, folks are using their Twitter feeds to stoke the Ronaldinho to LA idea. Craig Stouffer, who writes for the DC Examiner, and can be found on Twitter here, @criagstouffer, tweeted this on Wednesday July 15 at about 4:52 PDT:

“Am still hearing that Ronaldinho to #lagalaxy remains a possibility. One issue: #acmilan needs to land a replacement to satisfy its fans. about 3 hours ago via HootSuite”.

This was also retweeted by the folks who write @mlsdaily.

UPDATE: Frank, one our frequent commentors, notes that he saw a comment today on an RSL-oriented site, “On the Bill & Spence show this afternoon, Dave Checketts just hinted of a big Galaxy DP signing of a world renowned Brazilian! Ronaldhino??”

UPDATE TWO: Speaking of Dave Checketts and this fab rumor, the folks at ESPN’s Soccernet have written it up. You can read it here. And the fine folks at, umm, Peace FM Online (no I’ve never heard of it either) also have a story about Ronaldinho definitley leaving AC Milan, though they play up his relocation to Flamengo in Brazil.

By my count that makes it:

–Anonymous oversees garment industry dude
–Online newspaper sports writer
–MLS newbits website echoing online newspaper sports writer
–Anonymous RSL fan paraphrasing RSL owner Dave Checketts on a local sports show
–ESPN Soccernet
–Peace FM Online

It’s a preponderance of sources, but not so many with a lot of journalistic cred. Though, you’d like to think that Soccernet is more journalistic than, say, some random LA Galaxy fan blog. But then, you have to trust the Checketts is being straight with us. This is why rumors are so awesome. You can really dig into all kinds of dark places and come up with all kinds of scenarios. They are like little conspiracy theories.

So, now it’s up to you folks to figure out how real this rumor really is. Is that enough people with enough gravitas? Or is that just a lot of “heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend”?

Can the Galaxy come up with the cap space they need to sign what would be a third DP? (And, technically, they need to spend $250,000 in allocation money to get the third DP slot. Do they even have that for starters?) Are they going to drop Landon and/or Becks come 2011? What do you think? Leave your answers in the comments below.

So now I can’t help but investigate crazy rumors of Big Name player acquisitions because, well, you never know.

The latest rumor goes like this:

*Beckham has achilles injury which is now reported to have him out the entire season (through November at least).
*MLS might allow the Galaxy to obtain a DP in place of Beckham during the summer window transfer.
*Supposedly, both Raul and Ronaldinho (AC Milan teammates of Beckham’s) have previously expressed vague interest in coming to MLS.
*A new DP would replace Beckham for this season; then under the new Double DP rule that new DP could join Beckham on the squad next year once the grandfathered-in DP Landon Donovan is traded to Everton FC for a hefty transfer fee.

(Did you follow all of that?)

Sound implausible? Perhaps. But it is all spelled out here.

UPDATE from NathanHJ: In fairness to Grahame Jones, who, for all his curmudgeonliness, is one of the better futbol reporters around, I’m posting this link to the full article in the LA Times that The Soccer Room ripped off without attribution. Also it has a picture of Becks with a buzz cut, so extra-special bonus.

I don’t think this plan has legs. At least not Raul’s or Ronaldinho’s legs. But I have been wrong before. What do you say?

Spinelli states that his transfer fee wouldn’t be a problem, but his actual wage requirements might pose an issue.

It seems as though Landon’s days of being courted have arrived.

The Three’s Company theme song keeps running through my head. “Come on knock on our doooooor. We’ve been waiting for youuuuuuu . . .”

Arena’s comments from the press release:

“Chris is a player that I’ve tracked for a number of years. He is an experienced midfielder with good qualities on both sides of the ball who I feel he will be able to contribute immediately as we push for a playoff position.”

If he works well for us this could be a HUGE signing — he is only 25 and still has many years left in his legs. It looks as though Arena is building a new generation of Galaxy players after all.

Bruce Arena denies the rumor.

What do you think? Is he too old? Can we afford him? Do we even want him?

Additional article here — thanks Laurie.

EDIT:

Laurie has pointed out that I missed a little sumpin’ sumpin’. In my defense, I did see the photo, but decided to take on a more journalistic air. I was obviously very, very wrong.

So without further ado, does this remind you of anyone else we may know?

The Galaxy have signed Gregg Berhalter.

From the official Galaxy site.

ESPN’s article.

Nick Green from 100 Percent Soccer.

Luis Bueno’s take on it before it was official.

Steve Goff at the Washington Post drops this whisper of a rumor on us via his excellent Soccer Insider blog:

…..according to MLS sources, USA defender Gregg Berhalter is close to being released by 1860 Munich, which would clear the way for the New Jersey native to sign with the U.S. league. A few teams expressed initial interest in him weeks ago, but it’s unclear how many remain in the chase. Los Angeles is believed to be at the top of the allocation list.

Ooookaaayyyy. Maybe. Berhalter is a former National Team player who had a big role in the team’s great 2002 run, stepping in for an injured Jeff Agoos and helping solidify a backline that played above itself for most of that tournament. He’s played top flight and second flight futbol around Europe including in the Dutch and English leagues as well as 1 and 2 Bundesliga in Germany. He likes to play in the center.

He’s also 35 years old and will turn 36 during the course of the season.

So. Sitting at the top of the allocation list, do we claim Gregg (that extra “g” is going to slow him down as he gets older, you watch) if he becomes available or do we wait for the next option? If we grabbed him, who would sit? Gonzalez? Sanneh? If Gonzalez, do we want a central tandem that is old enough to remember when bell bottoms, striped jeans jackets, and those hideous hideous giant disco sunglasses were cool the first time ’round? If Sanneh, then is that really an upgrade? And could the Galaxy actually afford him?

Of course, it’s not really that much of a rumor, more a whisper of what could happen given two facts: Berhalter being released and the Galaxy having the top allocation choice.

What do you guys think? Is this something Arena should pursue? Or are we okay in the back until something better comes along? Give your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

For a round-up of this story from the LA metroplex you can read the Grahame Jones story I linked to above, or check in with Nick Green at his 100 Percent Soccer blog (complete with snarky commentary). For some reason (sanity?) Luis Bueno is concentrating on some other team that plays futbol at the HDC. Some team named after a nationalistic herb or something – Chives USA? But I digress.

Everyone is reporting what we already knew: Becks stays with Milan until June, comes back the G’s in July, and then splits for good to the Rossoneri in November (though AEG continues to say “if” not “when” on this point). But there are two interesting pieces for the fans here.

(1) July 17th 19th friendly between the Galaxy and AC Milan at the HDC.
(2) 10% across-the-board reduction in ticket prices with refunds to be given to people who have already purchased tickets.

In this entire saga, these two things are the most fan-respectful things that the Galaxy have done. Besides canning Alexi Lalas, that is. It’s almost as if AEG is trying to get beyond the recent years of fan abuse and try to reconcile with us.

To which I say, “It’s a good start, but its just a start.” I fully expect that the AC Milan game will be a bonus game for season ticket holders. I except that the Galaxy will use the cap and roster space this deal creates to shore up the weak points in the team (take your pick here, but I’m hoping for a solid holding midfielder or a Michael Parkhurst-type centerback).

And I expect that they will stop this ridiculous “Superclub” self-promotion and remember that we play in a young league with a salary cap that is the equivalent of the minimum salary of the lowliest benchwarmer on real Superclubs. Let’s just win some games in MLS, maybe make the CCL and beat some Mexican teams, and maybe win the domestic treble before we get all knicker-twised about the possibility of playing a dinar-dripping friendly in Dubai or whereever. I’m just sayin’.

So. That’s all done. Good.

Let’s play some futbol.

Well, kids, it looks like we are going from rumor to reality in the Becks-to-AC Milan sweepstakes. David Beckham has now said publicly that he wants to stay at AC Milan and has directed his lawyers to work out a deal between MLS and Milan. The good folks at MLS Rumors have the video.

The press coverage has been building (I did my part two days ago, though I’m sure no one would mistake these modest postings for “press”) on this story for a little while now and over the last two days many of the soccer journalists in the US have weighed in.

Here at ground zero, Grahame Jones did a surprisingly snark-free piece for the Los Angeles Times and Nick Green did a straight-forward news report for The Daily News, (which I found posted at his blog 100 Percent Soccer). The real gem from Nick, though, was his next post called The Failures of David Beckham. And, sad to say, I really couldn’t find a way to disagree with his thesis.

And now Beckham has failed in MLS, playing no small role in transforming what was the league’s flagship franchise into its worst. A player who was supposed to bring star power and credibility to MLS instead merely exposed the inherent weaknesses of a league with a relatively low salary cap and small squads.

In the end, Beckham proved he’s no Pele or even a Juan Pablo Angel.

Sadly, yes.

But at least I enjoyed him when he actually played well for us. And I’m not saying that SoCal’s resident thrower of brick-bats and channeler of Groucho Marx mixed with WC Fields and Will Rogers, Galaxy season ticket holder Dan Loney, thought he couldn’t make a fine pass now and again, but he sure isn’t sucking down cans of happy juice.

David Beckham was on “Sesame Street” this morning. My daughter saw him, and started crying.

What a bright, perceptive, intelligent little girl I have. Me and Tim Leiweke should listen to her more often. Turns out Ben Olsen was right to beat the crap out of Dawson for wearing that douchebag’s jersey.

Now, let’s get one thing straight. If you think I’m just going to go off on some poisonous, semi-literate rant calling into question Beckham’s desire, class, integrity and honor – boy, have you come to the right place. My only mission right now is to make Nick Green look like Simon Fuller.

For my part, I’m kinda glad this David Beckham thing is winding down, both on the field of the Home Depot Center and in the never-ending soap opera of his next move. Just leave already, though we’d better make Milan pay a pretty penny. Sell it while it’s hot, son, to phrase some paras.

Buuuuut, that’s just some people with some media platforms talking (though, just so you know, that does, in fact, make us better people than you). What do you guys think? Are you ready for this things to just be done? I know that Charles and Diane and Justin and Trent and George and Rusty and Eugene and David and Steve were all going on about this a couple of days ago. (And all while I was at work – what is it with you people, don’t you have jobs?) Oh I kid, I kid.

Actually you all had way more insights into this than I do and you make some pretty compelling arguments as to why this was just fine. And some about why this wasn’t so fine. So now I’m confused. And since I’m confused and you know more than I do, I’m just going to turn this locomotive back over to you. Becks to Milan. Good or bad for Becks, the Galaxy, AC Milan, MLS, and Posh and the kids?