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Spent about four hours on the phone yesterday afternoon/evening talking through this Gio thing with different people around the league. It was a doozy of a day. Gonna thread this out...
It sounded legitimately like no clear decision had been made as of last night. However, people familiar with the thinking inside the Galaxy said LA was confident they would get their way. "Basically daring the league to say no."
The funny thing is that there is a very clear, easy decision to make with Gio dos Santos: Force the Galaxy to either buy out or trade a DP. Every other solution is being tailored as a way to allow the Galaxy to keep four DPs.
GMs rightly upset, but also feeling like this is the moment where the system really starts to fall apart. "How can you have roster compliance after this?" one asked. For example, why should a team like the Fire trade for two int'l spots if the Galaxy can keep four DPs?
The sentiment was that the league just lacks the spine to say no to AEG and the Galaxy. And there are GMs who are going to feel more empowered to push things through. I expect you will see multiple teams play around with contracts going forward.
But again, if a "restructured" contract is announced tonight, it's exactly what it looks like: MLS is allowing the Galaxy to play the 2019 season with four Designated Players, and it is doing so despite no other team in the league being allowed to do so.
At a time when MLS looks like it's all grown up (I wrote it here this week!: theathletic.com/840100/2019/02…) they fall back on old, bad habits. Can't get out of their own way. It's embarrassing and actually quite frustrating as someone whose job it is to cover MLS like a serious league.
The Fire are signing a good player, Gaitan, because in China you can only have four foreign players. Dalian Yifang was over the limit, so they moved Gaitan at big financial hit. Says something when the Chinese Super League is miles ahead in league admin and rule enforcement, eh?
LASTLY: The league HQ will be responsible for this. They cannot push responsibility on to the Galaxy. They have a department that administers all contracts. They vetoed multiple TAM deals last year. They could veto any new deal with Gio. They have to approve it. Ok, I'm done.
If you want to see all of the Giovani dos Santos scenarios, including the idea of restructuring his deal and him walking away from millions of guaranteed dollars, you can get it here: theathletic.com/818279/2019/02…
