2014 Salaries And A Trade

The union released the player salaries today, here are the Rapids.  The first number is the base salary, the second is the guaranteed 2014 salary.  The cap hit number is generally between the two.

Berner John               $36,500.00 $36,500.00
Brown Deshorn         $75,000.00 $123,000.00
Buddle Edson            $325,000.00 $325,000.00
Burch Marc               $85,000.00 $85,000.00
Chavez Marvin           $200,000.00 $200,000.00
Eloundou Charles       $48,825.00 $53,825.00
Griffiths Brenton         $36,500.00 $36,500.00
Hairston Marlon         $70,000.00 $93,000.00
Hill Kamani                $48,825.00 $48,825.00
Irwin Clint                   $75,000.00 $87,000.00
Klute Chris                  $75,000.00 $80,144.10
LaBrocca Nick           $135,000.00 $153,333.33
Mari Jose                    $230,000.00 $261,000.00
Moor Drew                 $235,000.00 $247,000.00
Mullan Brian                $48,500.00 $48,500.00
Mwanga Danny           $130,000.00 $171,250.00
Nasco Joe                   $50,000.00 $52,693.83
O'Neill Shane              $56,250.00 $67,750.00
Piermayr Thomas         $70,008.00 $74,429.56
Powers Dillon               $95,150.00 $127,650.00
Sanchez Vincente         $210,000.00 $286,666.67
Serna Dillon                  $52,500.00 $65,500.00
Sturgis Nathan              $114,000.00 $120,333.33
Torres Gabriel              $250,000.00 $262,500.00
Van de Casteele Grant $48,500.00 $60,000.00
Watts Jared                  $36,500.00 $36,500.00
Wynne Marvell             $200,000.00 $285,000.00

• Only 3 guys making the league-minimum $36.5K, Berner, Griffiths, and Watts.  No surprise given that they're 2 second round picks and a mid-season depth pickup.
• Mullan is only at 50K.  Apparently the Rapids have set aside a roster spot if needed each year for a player who's made a big contribution to the club and is transitioning to his post-playing career.  Last year it was Smith, this year its Mullan.  A loud round of applause for the FO for doing this.  #OneClub
• Buddle + Chavez + Mwanga = 700K who didn't play in last week's win in Vancouver.  I have hopes for Chavez and his 200K but Buddle and Mwanga continue to look like too much salary for not enough production.
• I'm surprised to see both Sturgis and LaBrocca making over $125K as they both tend to slot into the same spot next to Jose Mari and it will be odd to see them both on the field at the same time.
• Both Moor and Wynne we re-signed using the league's retention fund so their cap hits aren't as large as these numbers make it look.
• Last year's RapKids (Brown, Irwin, Klute, Powers) all got deserved raises.
• Our salary cap hit is somewhere between 2.5 and 3 million dollars, depending on how much of Moor and Wynne aren't counted against our cap.  That gives us some room to play with since the MLS cap is about 3.1 million this year.
• Because it was of interest, Hendry Thomas is making $180K in Dallas this year.  It appears that he wanted to leave Colorado to be with Pareja and it wasn't really about the money.

Along those lines we have another Pareja acquisition moving to join up with an ex-coach.  Wilmer Cabrera's Chivas USA has traded for the rights to Martin Rivero, giving us a 4th round pick next year in return.  With Powers' Rookie of the Year campaign and Sanchez's addition the pressure to sign him dropped so getting anything for his rights is a good move.  Maybe he'll turn into the DP we all hoped he'd be at Chivas, but it wasn't worth the Rapids investing the time in him when he was passed by Powers.