My thoughts on Deuce to MLS Part 3: the part that scares me

If Grant Wahl's article is to be believed, the biggest issue with Dempsey's transfer in my opinion is the fact that MLS paid for the transfer fee. $9 million dollars was fronted by MLS in order to secure Dempsey's rights, which, in and of itself, is fine, he's easily worth that much to the league. The problem is that you cannot spread Clint Dempsey equally among 19 MLS teams. He only plays for the Sounders. MLS claims to promote competitive balance. There is a salary cap which restricts teams from simply overspending on the whole squad to become better (the designated player rule allows for wiggle room on top end talent, but you already knew that). Then there is the draft system, which rewards teams at the bottom of the table by giving them access to the best talent available from the NCAA.

Uncle Don seems mighty pleased with his little transfer coup

The problem is that the MLS just blew it up to make this deal work, and it reeks of partisan decision making. The MLS salary cap is $2.95 million per season. So MLS just gave the Sounders a full 3 seasons worth of value, in terms of real money spent, in the gift that was paying for Dempsey's transfer fee. In a league that preaches parity, that is a load of crap. I get that Deuce is an exceptional case for many reasons, as detailed in part 1, and that his acquisition, when taken from a big picture view, is nothing but a boon for the league, but bending rules and offering monetary gifts to individual teams to make it happen is not justifiable. If MLS wants to be among the top leagues in the world by 2022 they are going to have to cut out this sort of crap. If you have standards of parity, allocation, and fiscal responsibility, then adhere to them. If you want to play favorites because its in the best interests of the league then come out and say so, but don't claim to be a champion of certain causes if you drop your moral high ground at the first opportunity. The product on the field is no doubt better for the acquisiton of the Deuce, but MLS turned off a lot of fans and had to drag its reputation through the mud to get it done. Perhaps the ends justify the means, but my opinion is that a more transparent methodology and a little more accountability is in order than was shown here.