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Philadelphia Union 2014 player salaries as of April 10

The first batch of salary information for the 2014 Major League Soccer season was published late Wednesday morning by the MLS Players Union. We now know how much the Union's major offseason signings - Maurice Edu, Cristian Maidana, Vincent Nogueira and Fred - are making.

The first batch of salary information for the 2014 Major League Soccer season was published late Wednesday morning by the MLS Players Union. We now know how much the Union's major offseason signings - Maurice Edu, Cristian Maidana, Vincent Nogueira and Fred - are making.

We also can try to deduce a few things about where the Union's payroll lands relative to the league-mandated maximum salary budget of $3.1 million. In past years, I've just listed the players alphabetically. This year, I've taken a guess at which players fit in which roster slots.

MLS rules permit teams to carry up to 30 players on its roster, with 20 roster slots counting towards the budget cap. A team can leave a maximum of two of those 20 roster slots open if it wants to.

(As you might imagine, there's an incentive to do that.)

Players who do not count against the cap are broken into two categories. Slots 21-24 are paid at least $48,500 in salary, and slots 25-30 are paid at least $36,500.

Generation Adidas player salaries and up to two Homegrown Player salaries are exempted from the cap in full. Designated Player salaries are exempted for the portion above the leaguewide threshold of $387,500, but any transfer fee paid to sign a DP counts towards the budget charge.

This applies to the Union in the case of Cristian Maidana. He reportedly cost a $400,000 transfer fee when he moved to Philadelphia, and that money counts towards his DP status.

Each player listed below has two salary figures. The first is base salary and the second is guaranteed compensation. Where applicable, I've noted increases and decreases from last season's final round of salary figures.

You'll see Keon Daniel's name on the list below, and you might wonder why. I am pretty sure that the data was compiled by the Players' Union before he agreed to a contract termination by mutual consent on Monday.

It's not clear yet how much of Daniel's salary is coming off the books, and how much of a cap hit the Union have to take for his departure. I will update this when I find out for certain.

(One factor to keep in mind: it would be an incentive for teams to dump players whenever they want if doing so freed them from the cap consequences.)

I do know for sure, though, that the Union are not at all on the hook for Carlos Valdés' salary while he's on loan at San Lorenzo.

So to be totally clear: the salary figures are factual, but my listing of who counts against the cap and who does not is an estimate.

Main Roster Slots 1-20 (19 players)

GK Zac MacMath: $120,000.00 / $120,000.00 (+$10,000.00 / -$35,000.00)

D Austin Berry: $86,994.00 / $101,994.00 (+$23,569.00 / +$23,569.00 from Chicago)
D Fabinho: $96,000.00 / $100,500.00 (+$18,000.00 / +$18,000.00)
D Amobi Okugo: $145,000.00 / $228,000.00 (+$43,750.00 / +$43,750.00)
D Ethan White: $80,000.00 / $80,000.00 (+$5,000.00 / -$11,000.00 from D.C.)
D Sheanon Williams: $ 125,000.00 / $130,500.00 (+$20,000.00 / +$20,000.00)

M Fred Carreiro da Silva: $65,460.00 / $65,460.00 (n/a)
M Brian Carroll: $185,220.00 / $185,220.00 (+$8,820.00 / +$8,820.00)
M Danny Cruz: $125,000.00 / $131,666.67 (+$5,000.00 / +$5,166.67)
M Keon Daniel: $88,004.00 / $90,891.50 (+$8,000.00 / +$8,000.00) 1

M Maurice Edu: $650,000.00 / $650,000.00 (n/a) 2
M Michael Lahoud: $99,000.00 / $102,333.33 (+$9,000.00 / +$9,000.00)
M Sébastien Le Toux: $250,000.00 / $262,812.50 (+$50,000.00 / +$50,000.00)
M Cristian Maidana: $185,000.00 / $198,750.00 (n/a) 23

M Jimmy McLaughlin: $66,000.00 / $75,000.00 (+$6,000.00 / +$6,000.00) 45
M Vincent Nogueira: $330,000.00 / $330,000.00 (n/a)

F Conor Casey: $192,500.00 / $192,500.00 (+$17,500.00 / +$17,500.00)
F Andrew Wenger: $140,000.00 / $242,000.00 (+$20,000.00 / +$20,000.00 from Montréal)
F Antoine Hoppenot: $54,450.00 / $54,450.00 (+$6,050.00 / +$6,050.00)

Slots 21-24 (4 players)

GK Brian Holt: $48,500.00 / $48,500.00 (n/a)
D Raymon Gaddis: $52,313.00 / $52,313.00 (+$5,813.00 / +$5,813.00)
M Corben Bone: $48,825.00 / $51,325.00 (+$46,500.00 / +$49,000.00 from Chicago)
F Aaron Wheeler: $ 48,825.00 / $ 48,825.00 (+$2,325.00 / +$2,325.00)

Slots 25-30 (6 players)

GK Andre Blake: $75,000.00 / $113,000.00 (n/a) 6
D Richard Marquez: $36,504.00 / $36,504.00 (n/a) 5
M Leo Fernandes: $48,500.00 / $48,500.00 (+$13,375.00 / +$13,375.00)
M Cristhian Hernández: $72,500.00 / $74,375.00 (+$10,000.00 / +$10,000.00) 45
M Zach Pfeffer: $75,000.00 / $85,000.00 (+$10,000.00 / +$10,000.00) 4
M Pedro Ribeiro: $36,504.00 / $36,504.00 (n/a) 5

Not counted

D Carlos Valdés: $295,000.00 / $295,000.00 (-$26,000.00 / -$26,000.00) 7

1 - See explanation above on his cap hit still counting.
2 - Designated Player.
3 - See explanation above on how a transfer fee is factored into a Designated Player cap charge.
4 - Homegrown Player.
5 - Loaned to Harrisburg City Islanders via USL Pro affiliation.
6 - Generation Adidas.
7 - Loaned abroad for the full season.

All in all, the Union are paying out a total of $3,626,099.00 in base salary and $3,936,924.00 in guaranteed compensation this year. Those figures include Daniel because his cap status is unclear.

The totals being paid to players whose salaries count against the budget cap are $3,135,941.00 in base salary and $3,394,391.00 in guaranteed compensation.

You will notice that those figures are officially over the cap limit. Keep in mind that they do not include allocation money being used to pay down cap hits. The Union are certainly close enough to the limit to assume that they did not have to use much allocation money to reach compliance.

And for the record, Jack McInerney is making $230,000.00 / $294,166.67 this year. He made $125,500.00 / $189,666.67 last year. That's a raise of $104,500.00 / $104,500.00.

Here's how the Union's payroll stacks up against the rest of Major League Soccer. In parentheses I have noted how much each team's payroll has changed since August, and changes in the payroll ranking.

Note that these numbers include the salaries of all players in the Players Union's pool. So Carlos Valdés counts, as do others on loan from MLS to clubs abroad.

Ranked by current guaranteed compensation:

1. Toronto FC: $15,609,766.50 / $16,648,857.85 (+$11,999,316.64 / +$12,299,220.67, up 7 places)
2. Los Angeles Galaxy: $12,291,473.00 / $13,054,243.83 (+$3,085,043.00 / +$3,142,584.67, up 1 place)
3. Seattle Sounders: $9,633,959.00 / $11,787,586.54 (-$133,141.00 / +$1,304,632.38, down 1 place)
4. New York Red Bulls: $10,195,154.00 / $11,245,783.87 (+$213,214.58 / +$306,452.70, down three places)

5. Vancouver Whitecaps: $5,411,558.00 / $6,150,437.09 (+$1,132,049.96 / +$1,358,265.82, up 2 places)
6. Montréal Impact: $4,578,914.00 / $6,067,139.00 (+$315,598.00 / +$348,181.42, down 2 places)
7. FC Dallas: $4,130,404.00 / $4,645,279.00 (+$54,060.50 / -$147,456.17, down 1 place)
8. San Jose Earthquakes: $3,975,580.00 / $4,327,175.87 (+$416,838.50 / +$550,864.39, up 3 places)

9. Philadelphia Union: $3,921,099.00 / $4,231,924.00 (+$598,157.00 / $588,282.00, up 3 places)
10. D.C. United: $3,634,922.00 / $4,098,050.02 (+$402,784.00 / +$465,018.78, up 4 places)
11. Portland Timbers: $3,773,918.12 / $3,922,328.23 (+$307,917.12, +$102,739.42, down 1 place)
12. Real Salt Lake: $3,486,519.00 / $3,831,634.84 (-$17,123.00 / -$98,289.66, down 3 places)

13. Sporting Kansas City: $3,499,462.00 / $3,731,611.87 ($294,377.00 / $199,256.04, up 2 places)
14. Columbus Crew: $3,245,007.50 / $3,687,507.51 (+$75,339.50 / +$45,506.17, down 1 place)
15. Houston Dynamo: $3,224,869.00 / $3,660,714.83 (+$40,035.50 / +$107,182.99, up 1 place)
16. Chicago Fire: $3,390,567.00 / $3,631,411.41 (-$1,074,603.00 / -$1,331,945.92, down 11 places)

17. Colorado Rapids: $3,037,058.00 / $3,488,900.82 (-$29,843.20 / -$11,612.16, no change)
18. New England Revolution: $2,884,403.00 / $3,432,422.06 (+$141,970.37 / +$212,153.93, no change)
19. Chivas USA: $3,095,241.04 / $3,292,674.37 (+$685,433.54 / +$715,253.24, no change)

Fifteen of the 19 teams in MLS increased their spending on player salaries during the offseason. Thirteen increased their guaranteed compensation outlay by at least $100,000; seven did so by at least $500,000; and four did so by at least $1 million. Just four teams in MLS decreased their spending.

If you take Carlos Valdés' salary out of the equation, the Union's payroll would rank No. 11 instead of No. 9. But as I said above, the above data aggregates all players in the pool, whether loaned out of MLS or not.

It's worth highlighting - indeed, it's impossible to escape noticing - that Toronto FC's offseason increase in payroll is more than the entire outlays of 15 MLS teams.

It's also worth highlighting that Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley each make more in annual salary than the entire payrolls of 15 MLS teams. Jermain Defoe makes more than 15 teams' payrolls; Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry each make more than 11 teams' payrolls; and Tim Cahill makes more than three teams' payrolls.

That's a total of seven players who get paid more as individuals than some teams spend on their entire rosters.

1. F Clint Dempsey, Seattle Sounders: $4,913,004.00 / $6,695,189.00
2. M Michael Bradley, Toronto FC: $6,000,000.00 / $6,500,000.00
3. F Jermain Defoe, Toronto FC: $6,000,000.00 / $6,180,000.00
4. F Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy: $4,250,000.00 / $4,583,333.33
5. F Robbie Keane, Los Angeles Galaxy: $4,500,000.00/ $4,500,000.00

6. F Thierry Henry, New York Red Bulls: $3,750,000.00 / $4,350,000.00
7. M Tim Cahill, New York Red Bulls: $3,500,000.00 / $3,625,000.00
8. F Marco Di Vaio, Montréal Impact: $1,500,000.00 / $2,600,000.00
9. F Obafemi Martins, Seattle Sounders: $1,620,000.00 / $1,753,333.33
10. M Pedro Morales, Vancouver Whitecaps: $1,190,000.00 / $1,410,900.00

11. D Omar González, Los Angeles Galaxy: $1,000,000.00 / $1,250,000.00
12. F Gilberto, Toronto FC: $1,145,000.00 / $1,205,000.00
13. F Kenny Miller, Vancouver Whitecaps: $930,000.00 / $940,000.00
14. M Federico Higuaín, Columbus Crew: $580,000.00 / $744,000.00
15. M Maurice Edu, Philadelphia Union: $650,000.00 $650,000.00

16. F Chris Wondolowski, San Jose Earthquakes: $600,000.00 / $650,000.00
17. F Andres Escobar, FC Dallas: $625,000.00 / $647,000.00
18. F Eddie Johnson, D.C. United: $505,000.00 / $613,333.33
19. M Diego Valeri, Portland Timbers: $500,000.00 / $500,000.00
20. D José Gonçalves, New England Revolution: $450,000.00 / $479,375.00

21. F Álvaro Saborío, Real Salt Lake: $360,000.00 / $453,333.33
22. M Mauro Rosales, Chivas USA: $450,000.00 / $450,000.00
23. M Nigel Reo-Coker, Vancouver Whitecaps: $400,000.00 / $446,500.00
24. F Mike Magee, Chicago Fire: $350,000.00 / $417,500.00
25. M Mauro Díaz, FC Dallas: $325,000.00 / $411,000.00

Gonçalves is the highest-paid player in MLS who is not a Designated Player. A total of five players earn more money than the DP threshold of $387,500 but are not DPs: Gonçalves, Reo-Coker, Magee, Graham Zusi (Kansas City), and Brad Davis (Houston).

Major League Soccer maintans an up-to-date list of all DPs in the league here.

For those who keep track of this sort of thing, eight of MLS' top 25 salaries are paid to Americans, including three of the top five; and seven of MLS' 36 DPs are Americans. I don't have trend data for how that has changed over time, but you can click here to see all of my past salary compilation posts in one place.

Here are some items of note from across Major League Soccer. Numbers in parentheses reflect changes from the last salary release in 2013.

Total salary expenditure: $103,373,691.16 / $115,346,337.51 (+$18,564,492.01 / +$20,268,195.19)
Total number of players: 555 (-21)

Mean (average) salary: $186,258.90 / $207,831.24 (+$39,020.71 / +$42,765.02)
Median (middle) salary: $80,000.00 /  $91,827.00 (+$5,000.00 / +$4,493.66)
Mode (most common) salary: $48,500.00 / $48,825.00 (+$2,000.00 / +$2,325.00)

Highest salary: Clint Dempsey, $4,913,004.00 / $6,695,189.00 (+$0.00 / +$1,656,622.50)

(I have no idea if any of his pay last year was pro-rated, since he joined MLS mid-season.)

Lowest salary: 26 players, $36,500.00 / $36,500.00 (-34 players, +$1,375.00 / +$1,375.00)

Finally, as always, here are a few spare thoughts for players who often go unrecognized.

Goalkeeper pool

Daniel Withrow: $36,504.00 / $36,504.00

Unsigned players

Carlos Borja: $52,313.00 / $52,313.00
Josh Gardner: $70,000.00 / $70,000.00

Borja played for Chivas USA last year. Gardner played for Sporting Kansas City last year.

Orlando City players

Although Orlando City does not officially join MLS until 2015, the club still exists in USL Pro and has already signed four players to MLS contracts. They are:

D Tommy Redding: $36,500.00 / $44,000.00
M Yordany Alvarez: $48,500.00 / $56,000.00
M Darwin Ceren: $50,000.00 / $80,437.50
M Kevin Molino: $60,000.00 / $71,400.00

You might recognize Alvarez's name, as he played for Real Salt Lake in 2012.

In total, Orlando has laid out $195,000.00 in base salary and $251,837.50 in guaranteed compensation so far.