Editorial – The biggest question of the LA Galaxy off season has officially been answered. The Galaxy have transferred Omar Gonzalez to C.F. Pachuca of Liga MX.
This Omar Gonzalez transfer may come as a surprise to some, considering MLS announced $800,000 in Target Allocation Money (TAM) would be given to each club in 2016 and 2017. The TAM investment seemed to be the mechanism to allow the LA Galaxy to keep Gonzalez while having their three DPs in Robbie Keane, Giovani dos Santos, and Steven Gerrard. The money was always going to be complicated and the Galaxy were going to have to use nearly all their TAM allotment to make it work.
This is the biggest off season shakeup to the LA Galaxy since Landon Donovan retired. It’s certainly the most disruptive move to the Galaxy’s back line since Gonzalez was drafted in 2009. What then does this Omar Gonzalez transfer mean for the LA Galaxy?
Financial Flexibility:
Money wise, it was going to be all or nothing. Either the Galaxy double down on Gonzalez and have limited financial flexibility, or they move him and gain lots of flexibility. With Gonzalez gone, the Galaxy’s entire 2016 and 2017 TAM is freed up. The club can now use that money to go after a lesser DP, a $600,000 international center back for example.
The club now has a significant amount of cap space freed up as well. Gonzalez was taking up $436,250 in cap space as a DP. All of that is now free for the Galaxy to use elsewhere. Again, they could use it to sign a new center back. Gyasi Zardes is supposedly close to a new deal that will involve a pay increase. Juninho might as well. Other rising players might also want a raise and now LA has the room to provide in ways they didn’t previously.
Lastly, the Galaxy (hopefully) got a good amount of General Allocation Money (GAM) in the transfer fee from Pachuca for Gonzalez. This number hasn’t been made public yet. Typically with player transfers, MLS teams try to buy low and sell high. The Seattle Sounders got $4 million for DeAndre Yedlin after the World Cup. Sporting KC has historically gotten good money for players they sell: Oriol Rosell comes to mind.
Gonzalez finished 2015 with a disappointing thud. If the Galaxy were going to sell him, after the 2014 World Cup would have been the time. There’s been European interest in the past. The fact that a Liga MX side bought him indicates demand was low. MLS clubs get about two thirds of the tranfer fee back as GAM. I’d hope Pachuca spent at least $1 million for Gonzalez.
If nothing else his experience and physical skill set are valuable. A $2 million fee or higher would have been nice. Anything more would have been a great deal, but I wouldn’t expect it considering Gonzalez’s run of form. I do expect him to bounce back in 2016 for club and country.
Replacing Him On The Field:
Even though a center back isn’t the best use of a DP slot in MLS, Gonzalez has been one of the best defenders in MLS. Replacing him will be no small feat. Bruce Arena still has four center backs on the roster in Leonardo, A.J. DeLaGarza, Dave Romney, and Daniel Steres.
Leonardo will retain his starting spot. DeLaGarza was Gonzalez’s center back partner up until the middle of the 2013 season. Some may think DeLaGarza would return there, but I still think Arena likes having tall center backs who are good in the air. DeLaGarza’s primary role will still be right back probably. Romney is a back up plan and bench option. Steres will probably spend a significant amount of time with LA Galaxy II in 2016.
I think the Galaxy could and should pursue another center back signing. While Gonzalez has been one of the best center backs in MLS since 2012, there are cheaper options. Matt Besler makes less than $700,000 as a DP for Sporting KC. Nat Borchers makes $245,000 and Lauren Ciman, who just won Defender of the Year, makes just over $400,000. Center backs like Bobby Boswell, Chad Marshall, and Drew Moore all made less than $300,000 in 2015.
See all 2015 MLS player salaries here.
Other MLS teams have found center backs close to Omar Gonzalez in skill for much less money. Besler is one of only two DP center backs in the league. There are several All Stars, Defender of the Year award winners, etc who are not as expensive.
The Galaxy have international roster spots to spare. They have some allocation money, tradable young assets, and TAM. Go find the next Ciman and get him. Trade for a player equivalent to Kendall Waston. Go use some TAM and get a rock solid international center back for $700,000 a year. Heck, go re-sign Tommy Meyer for $70,000 and see if he can replicate this.
It will take some time for this new back line to gel, especially with a new starting goalkeeper. The continuity of the defense has been one of LA’s biggest strengths since 2011, something few other MLS teams have replicated. This will be a big test for the coaching staff and players this year. It might take till the end of the summer to work out. Bruce Arena gets paid the big bucks to solves puzzles like this.
Good Move Or Bad Move:
I don’t know that keeping Gonzalez would have been a bad idea. Personally, I want the Galaxy to make a serious run at the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). In that, I would have gone all in on Gonzalez with TAM to try and win the tournament this year. The only bad part about this move is winning CCL is now a serious long shot.
In the long term, I think this was a good move. The club now has lots of flexibility. My main concern is the transfer fee. Anything less than $1 million and the move wasn’t worth it financially.
I also think that selling Gonzalez now is an admission by the front office that they were a bit naive in using TAM on Gonzalez to sign Dos Santos. The big question when that move was made was “what are they going to do after 2015 regarding keeping these four players?” Many shrugged it aside figuring Arena would figure it out in the off season: either how to keep Gonzalez or how to replace him.
Even with the league handing out more TAM, LA wasn’t able to keep Gonzalez around. Arena now has two months to replace Gonzalez prior to February 24, the first leg of the CCL quarter finals against Santos Laguna. We’ll see what happens.
