A team struggling for offense rolled the dice on a 30ish striker struggling to regain his form after a nasty spell with injuries. At one time the player was a regular scorer, but the form dropped off so much that he no longer was a regular starter for his European club. Actually the stock has dropped so much that he did not command a transfer fee. However, a former teammate now with the team made the club think that he could regain something in MLS.
Does the above describe failed TFC DP Mista, or the Vancouver Whitecaps first attempt at a designated player, Eric Hassli?
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The correct answer is both. Mista was a couple years older, but he played at a much higher level than Hassli. So, it’s a bit of a wash. Hassli is only the second non-international DP in league history and the only one without a significant likelihood of ever being capped (at 30 and playing in MLS it doesn’t seem likely that the French are going to come calling).
It’s also a good thing that the Caps don’t really need an attendance boost because Hassli wouldn’t give them one. Joe Casual MLS fan barely knows the players on West Brom Albion let alone FC Zürich.
So, it’s a risk. Vancouver, as they are apt to do, has gone way outside the box again. Caps fans have to hope that the club knows what it is doing because the way they are building it is not conventional.
The exact terms of the deal will not be known until the player’s association releases the first salary list, but there are references that it is a four year contract. Based on his history it’s safe to guess that he’d be paid somewhere in the $1 million range. What matters to fans, however, is the cap hit of $335,000. Is Hassli worth a max cap hit?
We won’t know until the season is well under way, of course, but we can draw some conclusions based on the company he keeps. In 2010 there were nine MLS forwards paid more than $335,000. They were:
- Thierry Henry -- $5,600,000.04
- Landon Donovan -- $2,127,777.78
- Juan Pablo Angel -- $1,918,000.00
- Mista -- $987,337.50
- Blaise Nkufo -- $480,000.00
- Taylor Twellman -- $459,500.00
- Brian McBride -- $403,333.33
- Conor Casey -- $350,000.00
- Brian Ching -- $350,000.00
Even the most wide eyed Whitecaps observer must admit that it’s a stretch to compare Hassli to most of that list. If he is in at about $1 million (and if it’s less it would be likely that Vancouver would use allocation to pay it down rather than have him as a DP) then the comparisons become even more ludicrous.
Maybe Vancouver knows something the rest of us don’t, but the evidence suggests that they’ve over paid – even if he is successful. Succeeding in MLS is about finding value in players. Other than an historically good season by league standards it’s next to impossible to get value out of Hassli. Based on his history and pedigree the Caps should not be spending max dollars on him, period. It’s highly unlikely that there isn’t an equal talent out there that could have been found for half the cap hit.
In case the point hasn’t been made clear yet, this is a move that you could see Mo Johnston making.