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The MLS Players Association released the salary information for their members on Thursday, the first such release of that information in about a year and a half.
Given the time gap and some big changes to the San Jose Earthquakes’ roster in the meantime, that means we got to see some information for the first time for many of the players, and without further ado, here’s the rundown:
San Jose Earthquakes 2021 Salaries
| Player | Base Salary | Guaranteed Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Base Salary | Guaranteed Compensation |
| Judson | $360,000 | $365,000 |
| Luciano Abecasis | $380,000 | $394,000 |
| Jacob Akanyirige | $105,000 | $107,000 |
| Oswaldo Alanis | $630,000 | $730,000 |
| Tanner Beason | $90,000 | $110,000 |
| Matt Bersano | $106,375 | $106,375 |
| Eric Calvillo | $170,000 | $188,000 |
| Cade Cowell | $120,000 | $130,000 |
| Cristian Espinoza | $1,150,000 | $1,265,000 |
| Carlos Fierro | $850,000 | $908,800 |
| Gilbert Fuentes | $160,000 | $178,750 |
| Siad Haji | $95,000 | $104,000 |
| Florian Jungwirth | $525,000 | $567,667 |
| Benji Kikanovic | $63,547 | $69,322 |
| Marcos Lopez | $330,000 | $370,250 |
| Chofis Lopez | $860,000 | $860,000 |
| JT Marcinkowski | $165,000 | $177,000 |
| Paul Marie | $81,375 | $87,908 |
| Emi Ochoa | $65,000 | $75,080 |
| Eric Remedi | $450,000 | $450,000 |
| Andy Rios | $870,000 | $939,250 |
| Shea Salinas | $280,000 | $280,000 |
| Jack Skahan | $66,274 | $66,274 |
| Tommy Thompson | $265,000 | $265,000 |
| Daniel Vega | $220,000 | $225,000 |
| Casey Walls | $85,000 | $88,000 |
| Chris Wondolowski | $390,000 | $400,000 |
| Jackson Yueill | $600,000 | $636,875 |
Some immediate notes on what we see here:
- Cristian Espinoza is the highest-paid player, little surprise considering he’s the only Designated Player on the books at present, and he’s also the only player on more than $1 million.
- Four additional players fit in the Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) zone: Oswaldo Alanís, Carlos Fierro, Chofís Lopez and Andy Rios. Three of those players came from Chivas, so you can gather the price point from Mexico and Chivas in particular remains high, while Rios is a bit of an interesting case — he’s Argentine but really doesn’t have the top-line resumé to make you think he would be paid quite this high. At any rate, these four players are above the maximum salary budget charge of $612,500, so the rest of their salaries are paid down with TAM.
- Jackson Yueill may also be in this TAM zone, but his base salary is below the maximum salary budget charge while his guaranteed compensation is above it. He’s the highest-paid domestic player on the team.
- San Jose’s payroll is 22nd in the league, at $10,145,001. That’s probably in line with what we expected, especially considering the Quakes have two open DP slots and say they’re shopping as we speak. And believe it or not, but the Earthquakes are spending roughly $1.5 million more than the smallest payroll in the league, the Vancouver Whitecaps.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.