MLS Salaries: Top 3 Vancouver Whitecaps over & under paid players
By Gareth Wolff
Top 3 Overpaid Players
3. Matías Laba: The Designated Player
Guaranteed Compensation: $885,500 ($725,000 Base Salary)
This one might be controversial. There’s no doubting that Matías Laba is an important part of this Whitecaps team, nor that he is a very good player. He’s started the season well, and has even scored two goals.
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However, the MLS system creates two tiers of players. And Laba is in the top tier. He occupies one of the three Designated Player spots, makes close to $1 million, and so there are higher expectations. Based on those expectations, Laba’s performances and role in the team don’t really justify his salary.
Laba and Brek Shea were both considered here, suggesting that the Whitecaps are not making the best use of their DP spots. However, as a new signing, Shea hasn’t yet had the opportunity to show what he can bring to the team.
2. Russell Teibert: The Homegrown Tax
Guaranteed Compensation: $194,000 ($126,500 Base Salary)
Russell Teibert’s story is not a happy one. A few years back, the young Canadian midfielder was a creative player with attacking flair and amazing potential. He seemed destined to be one of Canada’s best players and proof that the Whitecaps’ academy could produce young stars.
But his national career has been hampered by a falling-out with former Canadian MNT coach Benito Floro, and his club career has suffered due to injuries. Teibert seems to have lost most of his creativity and regressed into a defensive midfielder with a strong workrate, but not much else to show.
Teibert has the 11th-highest salary in the Whitecap squad, which seems unreasonably high for someone who struggles to make the starting XI. His salary owes more to his length of time with the club and his homegrown status than to anything he has show on the field over the last couple of seasons.
1. Christian Dean: The Generation Adidas millstone
Guaranteed Compensation: $202,000 ($121,000 Base Salary)
Generation Adidas is an MLS program sponsored by Adidas which was intended to identify young, talented players and fast-track them into becoming professionals.
Christian Dean was one such player, drafted by the Whitecaps in 2014. His salary didn’t count against the salary cap while he was in the GA program, allowing the ‘Caps to pay him substantially more than other young players.
However, Dean graduated from Generation Adidas prior to the start of this season. That means his salary now counts against the cap. As a result, the second highest-paid defender in the ‘Caps squad has made a total of 12 appearances in his entire MLS career.
That’s not to blame Dean. Last season was a complete write-off for him after tearing his meniscus. He looked good in the season opener this year, although his two appearances since then were unimpressive. And now he’s been sidelined again through injury, this time a cracked bone in his foot. Under different circumstances, Dean’s career progression could have been more like Parker’s. But given his role in the team, his salary definitely stands out.
Next: Subs pay off as Whitecaps pick up win in Colorado
What players deserved (or didn’t deserve) a spot on one of these lists? Leave your comments below.