By Ridge Mahoney
Senior Editor, Soccer America
RUIZ REDUX. Negotiations continue between MLS and agent Richard Motzkin and his client Carlos Ruiz, whose contract with MLS has expired but his deal with Guatemalan club Municipal continues.
''As he's a proven goalscorer there are teams in Mexico and Europe who are interested in Carlos,'' said Motzkin. ''He's also said he'd like to stay in MLS and those discussions continue. But because Municipal is involved it's a little more complicated than your typical situation.''
Motzkin said Ruiz is in Guatemala and the pair speaks almost every day. Ruiz is reportedly seeking a salary comparable to that of teammate Eddie Johnson, who signed a new deal last year for a $750,000 base. When asked if such a sum would rule out a return to FC Dallas because of salary-cap restrictions, Motzin replied, ''That wouldn't be an issue.''
NEW NUMBERS. MLS has taken a small step to mitigate objections from teams regarding Eddie Johnson and Landon Donovan, whose salaries exceed the official maximum salary ($285,000 last season) by far greater margins than any player signed in the past two seasons. They object that those players give their teams an unfair competitive advantage, yet with the league tabling any plans to waive its salary-cap rules for one marquee player per team the issue is clouded.
Many foreign players — Alain Sutter, Lothar Matthaeus, Roberto Donadoni to name a few — earned more than the maximum salary in past seasons but didn't count for anything extra against the cap.
Francisco Palencia of CD Chivas USA is supposedly going to earn nearly $1 million this season and if the team signs Claudio Suarez he would command a high salary as well.
According to a team source, Johnson and Donovan will count against the cap at a figure of $330,000. The cap is projected to be $1.91 million this season, a slight increase from last year. What isn't known is if this figure will be used for all players who earn more than $330,000 or only for very high-salaried players. Josh Wolff, Eddie Pope and Ramon Ramirez all earn a base salary more than that figure.
QUAKE SHAKE. Resigned as they are to playing in Houston this season, several former San Jose players have objected to AEG's pronouncement that they wear San Jose Earthquake attire during the preseason until their Houston garb is ready.
An AEG executive, dispatched last month to oversee the closing of team offices and make sure nobody snuck out with so much as a paper clip, informed the players that new Houston uniforms wouldn't be ready in time for the preseason, so for the first couple of months in 2006 they would be wearing San Jose Earthquakes gear. Players objected. A few had requested to be traded, but those willing to play in Houston weren't inclined to further besmirch the memory.
According to a source, only two of the 17 former Quake employees were offered jobs in Houston, and those same two employees were assigned the job of cleaning out of team offices. When they informed AEG more hands were needed, two more former employees were added. Whether any of the four will accompany the team to Houston isn't yet known.
The San Jose City Council has postponed discussions regarding a proposal that the city bequeath land valued at roughly $30 million, construction costs, and subsidies against possible losses toward a soccer stadium. The cost to the city could be as much as $80 million under the proposal, which was originally drawn up to persuade Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, operators of the NHL Sharks, to purchase the team and keep it in San Jose.
SVS&E declined, but MLS executives contacted the City Council and bargained a letter-of-intent that if the City Council would provide the same guarantee they would help find an owner.
Not addressed by the City Council is where the money would come from and several council members have objected to use of the city's general fund. Any proposal would also have to be approved by voters, either at the next general election November or in June 2007.