Sporting KC Salaries Out

The MLS Player's Union has released player salaries for this year, as of May 1. There are certainly come surprises on KC's list. Here is the list, at the end I'll have my thoughts on the salaries. For those wondering why there are two numbers, the first number is the player's base salary, meaning what counts against the cap. The second number includes any signing and guaranteed bonuses, annualized (meaning the bonus divided out over the length of the contract). Here is the list.

Club Last Name First Name Pos 2011 Base Salary 2011 Guaranteed Compensation
KC Aiyegbusi Olukorede D $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00
KC Arnaud Davy M $ 250,000.00 $ 258,750.00
KC Auvray Stephane M $ 170,000.00 $ 208,125.00
KC Besler Matt D $ 58,410.00 $ 69,660.00
KC Bravo Omar F $ 120,000.00 $ 170,000.00
KC Bunbury Teal F $ 85,000.00 $ 183,000.00
KC Cesar Julio D $ 210,000.00 $ 213,750.00
KC Collin Aurelien D $ 185,004.00 $ 191,254.00
KC Diop Ibrahim M $ 60,000.00 $ 64,250.00
KC Ellis Kevin D $ 32,604.00 $ 33,354.00
KC Espinoza Roger M $ 100,000.00 $ 133,750.00
KC Harrington Michael M-D $ 110,000.00 $ 136,833.33
KC Jones Mychel D $ 32,604.00 $ 32,604.00
KC Kamara Kei F $ 200,000.00 $ 202,500.00
KC Kempin Jonathan GK $ 42,000.00 $ 49,083.33
KC Kounenakis Nick D $ 110,004.00 $ 120,004.00
KC Kronberg Eric GK $ 62,500.00 $ 62,500.00
KC Lorenz Scott D $ 32,604.00 $ 32,604.00
KC Myers Chance D-M $ 72,000.00 $ 87,666.67
KC Nielsen Jimmy GK $ 200,000.00 $ 241,666.67
KC Rocastle Craig M $ 110,000.00 $ 116,062.50
KC Sapong Charles F $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00
KC Sassano Luke M-D $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00
KC Smith Ryan M-F $ 140,000.00 $ 144,375.00
KC Stojcev Milos M $ 90,000.00 $ 99,000.00
KC Thomas Shavar D $ 160,000.00 $ 174,375.00
KC Warzycha Konrad M $ 32,604.00 $ 32,604.00
KC Zusi Graham F-M $ 42,000.00 $ 42,000.00

Thoughts. Omar Bravo's salary appears to be a misprint based off of the way that all the other designated players in the league read on the list. All the rest that are paid over $1,000,000 have the 7 figures there. So I'm thinking it's likely that there is a zero missing off of Bravo's salary and he's getting closer to $1,200,000. The listing of him counting $120,000 against the cap is likely wrong. It's the standard $385,000 for a DP.

We're still paying Nikos Kounenakis? According to the salary list we are. Either that's a misprint, or KC gave a 2 year guaranteed contract to a player who made the bench only 2 or 3 times during his time here and never played in a game. Yeah, rumor is he had some kind of medical condition, possibly a stroke, but the move seems to reinforce a lot of people's thoughts that it was a desperation move for a defender.

Julio Cesar is our third highest paid player? Seriously? After Davy Arnaud, who's making a quarter million, and Bravo's $385,000 cap hit, the Brazilian defender who has really failed to impress is the team's next highest paid player at $210,000.

Based on my understanding of the roster rules, I've removed Teal Bunbury (GA), Jon Kempin (HG), and the four players making under $40,000 (Kevin Ellis, Mike Jones, Scott Lorenz, and Konrad Warzycha) from the team's total salary. Counting Bravo's cap hit as $385,000, KC is currently using around $2,840,918 of their salary cap this year. The salary cap for players 1 through 20 is $2,675,000, so there is other stuff going on not mentioned that gets us down below the cap. Either way it appears unlikely that we have as much cap space as we may have thought...

Are we paying all of Shavar Thomas' salary this year? Last year when we traded for him from Philadelphia, the Union picked up a large portion of his salary. I wonder if they're doing the same this year. If so that knocks the cap hit down a little bit.