Wild guess

I think Guillermo is going to move to a DP contract before the end of this season. There’s too much grinning for me to think otherwise. If it takes using the DP spot to secure Schelotto for 2009, I say go for it.

Schelotto came to Columbus on a 2 year, ~ $2 million contract. The Crew charged $150,000 to salary last year, and are charging $375,000 this year. Mathletes in the audience will notice that these numbers don’t add up to $2,000,000. The front office signed a DP-level player without using the DP spot with accounting tricks that created a $850,000 off-the-books payout last year. They were only able to hide $625,000 this year, and chances are the voodoo economics are tapped out by year’s end. (Note to Crew accountants: Bear Sterns needs your help.)

It’s probably going to take using the DP spot to keep Schelotto for next year anyway, and doing it this year has some benefits. With Nico Hernandez and Guillerme So waived the Crew has two open slots on the roster going into the transfer window. Hernandez was contracted at $100,000. So was on contract for $73,000. The Crew could report up to $415,000 of Schelotto’s fee as a salary charge under the DP rule, but it looks like they could also choose to report less, maybe even none. That creative accounting would free up as much as $548,000 under the salary cap. That really improves the kind of shopping we could do in July.

Bank like that covers DeRosario and Ching down in Houston and almost covers Joseph and Twellman in New England. I’m not sure who’s been scouted, or who’s available, but now I can see Sigi and Bliss making two quality additions that fit with Schelotto where I had been nervous about whether they could really find a DP that could play well with Schelotto this year and make up for his absence next year.

I’m being a little generous to myself by calling this a wild guess. It’s probably more like baseless, rule-defying conjecture. Sue me.

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Category: Trades, analysis

Tags: analysis, Designated Player, Front office, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Salary, Salary Cap, Team News, Trades

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