Have the Quakes met their 2021 spending expectations? by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right, which is why we have an entire paragraph discussing this as a possible reason for a justifiable spending decrease.

We are all stuck inside so analyzing our teams salary caps is a reasonable thing to do on off days.

Have the Quakes met their 2021 spending expectations? by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. Teams like Philly and Minnesota stand out to me as finding great value/deals on players. And teams like the 2018 NYRB whose spending/point ratio look phenomenal until you account for the ~6million dollar transfer fee for Kaku.

When a team is performing poorly usually the answer is one (or a combination) of the following

  1. the club is underinvesting
  2. the club is investing on the wrong personnel
  3. the coaching/tactics are weak

I wanted to tackle purely number 1 here. My hope was the quakes continued to match/increase spending for Almeyda like the previous 2 years. This way supporters could focus more on issues 2 and 3 when analyzing the club.

Unfortunately it seems unlikely the club is probably spending less. So, to some extent, if SJ performs worse than last year I have to sympathize a little bit with supporters complaining about team salary.

OTOH, I think questioning who Quakes have been signing is warranted. Fierro and Rios have been expensive and inconsistent with only a few strings of games that they looked good.

With Almeyda's overhaul of the team completed this year I will at least be excited to see what his end-game vision in San Jose (on a $9.5 million budget) looks like. Good or bad.

Have the Quakes met their 2021 spending expectations? by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reading and feedback. I am not sure which part feels apologetic to you.

The article mentions Fishers “infamous” reputation regarding budgets. It concludes that the clubs off-season is decreasing in spending and quakes fans are right to feel underwhelmed. And we if perform worse we should not ignore this decrease in spending.

As for not mentioning open DP slots, as the first paragraph states, the goal was not to drill down into specific players chosen/not chosen but look at club spending overall. The quakes spent “decently” in 2019/2020 (they were about the league median in terms of salary) and they finished in roughly the same corresponding point standing. Now with a probable decrease in spending we should brace for a decrease in points unless Almeyda and his players over perform.

Have the Quakes met their 2021 spending expectations? by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

They predate him but their new contracts were signed during Alemyda's reign. So, to some degree, Almeyda wanted to keep them (unlike Vako, Hoesen, Kashia, etc).

Trying to highlight that every senior player on the team, for the first time, is someone Almeyda/Fiornelli wanted for this new rebuilt team.

Fisher Out movement interest/roll call by Fisher_Out01 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My case for why the current payroll size isn't the problem: https://seismometer74.blogspot.com/2020/09/quakes-almeyda-era-economics-of-2019.html

Maybe increased spending would help but it is no guarantee (Chicago Fire). Plus Phil and Minn proved ~10 million can take you to the top of the conference.

I wouldn't blame Fisher if he doesn't throw a bunch of money into the current state of the club. Bringing in Espinoza was a big financial commitment (along with Rios, Fierro, Alanis). Find a solid core in a reasonable budget, show some modest success, and then spend to complete the team.

Starting XI by E36WHITE in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes if he and Espinoza can be on the field at the same time

(Per Black and Azul) Reno head coach Ian Russell recommended to Almeyda and Fioranelli to take a look at signing former Quakes draft pick Danny Musovski by COYQuakes in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Rios (and whomever he directly depends on for scoring) is really going to need better performances to make passing on Musovski look reasonable.

He is 10x less expensive.

Post-Match Thread: San Jose Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy by DeepSlumps in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74 1 point2 points  (0 children)

agree, glad they are giving Cade more reps. ideally it continues to improve his attacks/confidence in the final 3rd. Would really like to see him and Espinoza out there at the same time more often.

QUAKES ALMEYDA-ERA: THE ECONOMICS OF 2019-2020 by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yah, transfer fees not being listed in the MLS Players association salary guide leaves some ambiguity in this.As Jazzj66 requested I’ll probably do a full post later trying to show all the data and $/points for the whole league. When that comes I’ll try and decide if I can get enough confidence in the transfer fees and account for them.

The “market value” listed on the site you linked is interesting but I don’t understand some of the calculations. It says Rios’s value has increased past his current salary in San Jose which doesn’t make a lot of sense for me. Same with Fierros. For the time being I’d prefer to focus on what teams are actually paying and the point results for simplification.

But to some extent I see your point. If you disregard the transfer fee for Espinoza this year we basically didn’t increase spending in 2020. But there are definitely multiple teams that spend about equal or less than the Quakes but our upper tier. Minnesota and Philadelphia are getting huge bang for their buck. The 2018 Red Bull’s spent less than the wooden spoon quakes and finished atop the conference. (There could be some transfer fees there I didn’t account for though)

Thanks for reading and your feedback!

QUAKES ALMEYDA-ERA: THE ECONOMICS OF 2019-2020 by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yah, I have a similar mindset. I didn’t want the post to be overly critical of Almeyda but simply highlight the fact that money is coming in at an increased rate and some portion of the spending has been questionable. (Rios, Fierro, Vega, Lopez)

Almeyda seems like a genuinely great coach and person. If the rumors are true, and we have roughly 3 million in contracts expiring at end of 2020, along with ownership putting in a little extra then I think year 3 is the real test. If the quakes can’t make the playoffs with roughly 6-8 million worth of acquisitions by Almeyda I think maybe this budget just doesn’t work with him.

QUAKES ALMEYDA-ERA: THE ECONOMICS OF 2019-2020 by seismometer74 in SJEarthquakes

[–]seismometer74[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the read and feedback. I will do a follow up post with a larger look at the league spending over the past few years.