All teams are looking for bargains at different positions. And there are plenty of players far outperforming their wage. Here is the MLS bargain best XI.
The MLS Players Association released an updated list of player salaries on Tuesday. Salaries continue to grow all around the league but, despite this, the wage bill gap is substantial within the league and within rosters themselves.
Toronto FC has the highest wages of any team with a wage bill of $26.6M, while the Houston Dynamo’s is the lowest with a $5.9M wage bill. Sebastian Giovinco is the highest paid player in MLS making a total compensation of $7,155,555.67 in 2018.
As the table shows, though, only 7% of MLS players are millionaires, while 79% of the league is in the $54,000 to $500,000 range. With the variety of mechanisms and salary rules in MLS, there are a number of players on almost every team that are outperforming their salary.
The @MLS Wages dashboard has been updated to reflect yesterday's new @MLSPlayersUnion salary release. Every year in these charts comes just from the last data from that season. https://t.co/q6xgXpPK6X pic.twitter.com/OywSQEQ41C
— Steve Fenn //\\ Mast: StatHunting@skrimmage.com (@StatHunting) October 24, 2018
All of the players in our “Bargain Best XI” could be due for a pay raise at the end of the season after providing serious value for their clubs this season.
Goalkeeper
Zack Steffen has had a career year in 2018, starting for the USMNT six times in his debut year. The young goalkeeper became Columbus Crew’s starting goalkeeper last season and has continued to be one of the first names on the team sheet this season. Steffen has made 28 starts for Columbus this season, with 66 saves. At only $145,000, Steffen is arguably the best goalkeeper in MLS at any pay rate.