They’re always late. Seriously. In my five years covering the club, they’ve always been one of the last in the league to report their options/declines decisions, and always after the deadline for submittal.
I’ll admit I’m probably the only person who cares about this. The three-ish hour wait was excruciating for me.
Anyway. The release, when it came out, was fascinating to me, as someone who follows my hometown club’s roster moves religiously. I’ve updated my (in)famous salary spreadsheet. If you care about whether or not my analysis is credible, feel free to compare it to the post I wrote after the season finale about what was likely to transpire.
First off, I’ll decode what the roster release told us that we didn’t already know:
- Andrew Tarbell is in the third guaranteed year of a contract extension that the team never announced (probably in early 2018), which explains his continued presence on this roster at a hefty salary for a backup GK.
- Matt Bersano, Paul Marie, and Jackson Yueill had their options picked up.
- Shea Salinas, Tommy Thompson, and Daniel Vega presumably had their 2020 contracts automatically vested based on performance targets (probably appearances), since everyone else in the “new contract/options vested” category had new contracts announced. That likely means the last year of their current deals.
- Jimmy Ockford, Kevin Partida, Francois Affolter, and most notably, Harold Cummings, were deemed surplus to requirements and cut loose, saving a total of a bit more than half a million in salary per year, one international slot, and 2 senior slots.
- Apparently Luis Felipe’s 2020 is fully guaranteed, which means he got an unexpectedly long contract for a USL player back in 2018. He had a great 2018 run down the stretch, and could be a useful 4th central midfielder in 2020.
Now, let’s get to implications:
- As I predicted, Jackson Yueill is in the last 12 months of team control, and given how his stock is rising, that’s potentially trouble for the club. They need to lock him down to an extension, like yesterday. If he hits the end of his deal, they do have a fair amount of leverage if he elects to stay in MLS, but given his centrality to the US National Team, why would he? He has “Europe” written all over him. And if he leaves for abroad? The Quakes get nothing. I’ll be following developments on this one apprehensively until it’s resolved.
- There are only two senior center-backs on the roster, which is about as clear of a sign as you can get that the club intends to invest in that position. Most teams carry around four, and one will be from the draft/USL/other cheap mechanisms. But the other addition, I would predict, would be a starting-level CB to upgrade on Kashia, and one who is quite a bit younger. This is likely the most “exciting” new face to be on the roster in 2020.
- 5 goalkeepers on the roster, 4 of whom are in prime first-team years, 3 of whom make a lot of money. That’s a bad situation to be in. I therefore presume Jesse Fioranelli doesn’t intend to keep it that way. Tarbell’s extension was actually defensible at the time, since he was an incredibly hot trade commodity, and looked to be taking over for David Bingham. Now, it’s an albatross. My guess is he is traded (if they can find a taker) or bought out using the one-time buyout option each MLS team has per season. That’ll leave a much more manageable 3 senior GKs, one of whom is likely to stick in Reno (Bersano), and I can only hope that homegrown US Olympic team starlet JT Marcinkowski is given an open shot at winning the starting job ahead of 36-year-old and merely serviceable Daniel Vega.
- They wouldn’t have specifically mentioned ongoing negotiations for Espinoza’s transfer unless there was at least a chance it was realistic. That doesn’t mean it’s a sure deal (Yamil Asad was in a similar situation with DC United and it didn’t get done), but it means it’s not definitively off. It’ll be a big figure, and his salary will be too, but he was an elite chance creator last year.
- I remain doubtful there is a major move to make in the attacking areas. Too many rostered players up there, making too much money. There would need to be exits, which aren’t outside the realm of possibility: Danny Hoesen clearly never convinced Almeyda, for example.
Quick thoughts on other roster moves that have transpired since my end-of-season predictions article:
- The Eric Calvillo extension presumably means they have some belief in him, and he has belief the club intends to use him. That’s good, since he’s 22 now, and needs regular playing time. Given that the club only has three central midfielders on the senior roster, perhaps he’s being slotted in as Jackson Yueill’s backup?
- Exercising Judson’s purchase option was a no-brainer. He was one of the most productive players on the team in 2019, serving an underrated role covering for Jackson Yueill’s defensive limitations and letting him be the midfield orchestrator that wowed us all year.
- The fact Carlos Fierro was left unprotected in the expansion draft (even though the club had negotiated a “hands off” deal with both expansion clubs) is such a brutal vote of no-confidence in what I believe to be the worst deal in the Almeyda era.
- Trading Drake Callander to Miami for up to $150k in GAM and the first pick in the second round is a good haul: he is a non-elite GK prospect (may have been picked around that slot if he was on the open market) and it’s at a completely over-stuffed position. Then again, it kindof depends on how aggressive the performance triggers are for whether or not this is a good deal.
- Signing two homegrown teenagers is always impossible to predict, but it’s fun to see a growing army in that category. Of course, it will be years before we see whether or not those moves pay off.
