FC Dallas deals Carlos Ruiz to LA Galaxy for Allocation and draft pick

The Los Angeles Galaxy has found an accomplished forward to latch on to David Beckham's dangerous crosses.

The Galaxy has acquired Carlos Ruiz from FC Dallas in exchange for an allocation and 2009 second-round draft pick, Major League Soccer announced on Tuesday.

Ruiz returns to the team he led to the 2002 MLS Cup title. Ruiz scored 24 goals that season, and also netted the game-winning goal in Los Angeles' MLS Cup final victory against New England.

Comments

[John]

How do they pay for Donovan, Beckham and Ruiz (three very high priced salaries)?

[David Martinez]

I am with John.

And then the eventual FIGO. Wow. This grandfathering rule stinks to high heaven.

Thankfully, the rest of the team will now earn about 25K a year.

[derek]

How is that all they got from LA? Shouldn't he be worth a lot more. How does FC Dallas replace him upfront? Cooper is unhappy and wants to leave and Ruiz is gone?

[PanchoMiguelMoralesdeConejo]

Unreal. As a Galaxy supporter, I really was hoping these rumours were untrue. I'm not a fan of Ruiz, I do not think he and Donavon will combine well.

John, they are able to pay the 3 because they earn more than the other teams. They are more savvy marketeers, something the MLS could and should take note of. Ruiz will drive some Guatemalans to the gate, and L.A. is the 2nd largest city of Guatelmaltecos after Guatemala City.

[Dannyc58]

Seriously, does Garber care about thoses of us that are already fans? Because the MLS "rules" make it hard to stay emotionally invested in the league.

[Monty]

As I watch the Revs continue to dig deeper and deeper under the cap, it's rather pathetic to see LA going exactly the opposite direction.

[TK]

One - I would think the cap space for signing another SI is more important to FCD than players/allocations in return.

Two - I think Ruiz was just barely, like 15-30K, over max salary. I wouldn't doubt he reworked that number down to get to LA.

Three - Ruiz hasn't been that good for the last couple of years. Nowhere near the player he was 3 to 4 years ago. Especially for th eprice.
FCD can now keep Cooper happy, and maybe give him a bit more cash, and sign another SI. Also, they just resigned Alvarez.

Not a bad move for FCD in my opinion overall.

Ives, correct what I screwed up please, if I did.

[Bill]

How much do Donovan's and Ruiz's contracts count toward the cap? 400,000? I feel really bad for the others on the team.

[Dave Martinez]

Pancho - marketing or not, no amount of cash will be able to compensate for a player when ALL teams are under a salary cap.

All it means, as I said before, is that the rest of the team will make 25K or less a year.

[John]

I believe MLS still has a salary cap. Unless Dallas ate a "BIG" chunk of his salary, Donovan, Ruiz and Beckham take up $1.2 million a year on the salary cap (if you figure each is $400K against the salary cap - not their real salaries). That leaves how much for the rest of the squad ($1 Million)? No wonder they got rid of Cannon. They resigned Chris Albright (I'm assuming he makes more than $100K a year). I can't wait to hear the spin on how this all works.

[Joe]

No way FCD is paying any of his salary, that would defeat the purpose of recieving an allocation.

Ives - any guess on how much the allocation $$ is?

[CACuzcatlan]

Damn, I can't stand Ruiz and I really like Alvarez, too bad we couldn't get him from Dallas.

[tsingletonvt]

This makes me wonder what LA's next move will be? I know, LA trades four superdraft picks to my Revs for the Revs DP spot AND three international spots. You know, DPs and internationals can cost a lot more than college kids.

[JC]

Cooper is unhappy because he thought he could get a pay increase after his first season and FCD denied it because of cap reasons. He'll get a pay increase because of that space cleared by Ruiz leaving. Dallas has the obvious advantage of their partnership with CAP that will allow them to find a possible striker to replace Ruiz.

LA on the other hand is going to be up against it in terms of cap space. I'm not sure how much allocation money they have because that will help them buy down some of their non-DP players cap space. Assuming Ruiz re-works his contract and comes in between 250k and 300k LA will still be in trouble (though Ruiz basically eats the cap space vacated by Cannon).

[TK]

Quote - John, they are able to pay the 3 because they earn more than the other teams. They are more savvy marketeers, something the MLS could and should take note of...

Dubious. AEG has sunk big money into their team since Day One over their other teams. Stadium from scratch and an area of the country where soccer is huge. If they did this with all of their teams they would have made money, just like Chicago is now.
Just like NY would have. They also would have spent more on marketing to fill the stadium. IMO, AEG isn't all that savy, they just supported their product there more than anywhere else.

Then, sign Beckham (once in alifetime coup) and bam, it looks easy, as it would be in any market after that.

Kudos to LA for supporting that market big time, but many of their moves have been very questionable tot ay the least, marketing or otherwise. That 800 pound DB gorilla could make anyone look smart.

People, don't fret about LA. Ruiz is way past it, and they will be so thin that one injury here or there and they will be playing with a college team out there.

Only reason the league is doing this is DB. He is that important. Still won't save LA.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Ruiz (whom i hate with a passion) better be taking a pay cut or this trade stinks ot high heaven of favoritism. Id love to hear the leagues reasoning behind this...

[jeeves]

how can the Galaxy field a decent team with three players taking up about 55-57% of the salary cap?
World Cup qualifying could kill this team, as they'd lose their three best players.
Not to mention injuries.

Lalas is taking ways of assembling teams in non-capped leagues and using them in a capped league, which is insane.
I guess he just wants to build the brand while losing.

[kpugs]

This is a joke, I'm cursing out everyone in my office right now. They currently have three DP's and want to sign a fourth. Unbelievable.

Jeeves, the answer to your question is that the the Galaxy are the league's favorite team, and the league will do everything it can to make them champions.

[TK]

Quote -This is a joke, I'm cursing out everyone in my office right now. They currently have three DP's and want to sign a fourth. Unbelievable.

Jeeves, the answer to your question is that the the Galaxy are the league's favorite team, and the league will do everything it can to make them champions.

All take this bet with anyone. Anyone. You guys need to get a clue. The previous psoter said it best. Lalas is doing more brand building than actual team building.

Also, just wait and see what Ruiz is actually making first. He is not even close to DP material anymore. Barely was in the first place.

I expect outbursts like that from the teens but come on dude. Take a step back. That team isn't going anywhere.

[Felix]

So the Galaxy will have Carlos Ruiz, Landon Donovan, and David Beckham in the attack, which is nice. But who'll be defending? Whose going to boss the midfield? What the in the he double hockey sticks does Lalas cares, as long as he's making a splash.

[ruscien]

prediction:
Lalas still finds a way to have a losing record with all these high profile players. Gullit leaves the galaxy mid-season after punching Lalas in the face.

[BK]

I agree with everyone else. This is garbage.

How long til we see Blanco to LA?

[Dannyc58]

This deal doesn't upset met because I'm afraid LA is building some powerhouse of talent. It bothers me because the MLS still is the Wild West when it comes to rules. If they also get a 2nd DP, and somehow are able to have a 25 man roster (or 28, whatever it is) thats a complete joke.

[BK]

I agree with everyone else. This is garbage.

How long til we see Blanco to LA?

[Squard]

Are MLS Rules written on a fcukin dry erase board?

How can LA get away with blatantly disregarding the salary cap? How can any team pay Xavier, Donovan, Ruiz & Beckham (he's supposed count 400G against the cap) and stay below the cap?

I think ever other team should do the same: Put their players in four star hotels, chartered flights and simply say "LA's doing it."
If NY ever did this, you would hear everyone single team owner complaining.

[tsingletonvt]

When EJ moves to Europe in the coming days the Ruiz trade to LA will really make the favoritism case. MLS exempted three players salaries after LA, KC, and Dallas failed to acquire DP spots for their over-the-cap players with a year to do so. Now, one player is on his way out of the league and the other two play for LA.

Shenanigans!!!

[inkedAG]

The favoritism that LA receives is pathetic!!

[Dominghosa]

Inevitable and unbelievable at the same time.
Not a surprise.

[JH]

I know all of the talk with this post centers around the Galaxy side of the trade, but as an FCD fan I'm glad to get rid of a first class jerk, regardless of what was received in return.

His in-game antics started to really wear on FCD fans last year, to the point where people in my section actually laughed when Rico Clark kicked him in the face.

Good riddance!

[Amit]

The Galaxy have just found a new a way to become a complete mess. I think all non- Galaxy fans should calm down and realise that the tandem of Ruiz and Alan Gordon isn't going to be that lethal.

[Clayton]

Does this bring an end to the Figo rumors? As most others have said that's a lot of money tied up in 3 players

[cosmic]

From an FCD season-ticket holder: "thanks for the memories". Ruiz played hard in maybe a third of the games; never hustled to get back on-side; paid the price for years of diving by never getting calls even when mugged, etc. We need another striker but with our draft picks we should find one. The defense is a serious issue though...

[andrew]

Ives,

Can you explain what "allocation money" actually means. What exactly do FCD gain out of this deal, any idea what amount of allocation that they will get etc

Thanks

[emilio]

This should end the speculation that the Galaxy were going to acquire another DP slot, it will be too obvious that MLS is bending the rules if that occured. They had to get ride of their keeper in order to get allocation money for this manuever, and they didnt have to sign Mathis so it opened up money for them to make this manuever.
Names dont win games and Ruiz is not the player he once was.

[Crew Guy Ty]

I just threw up in my mouth a little

[Pat]

Ives,

What the hell are the Revs doing? They continue to get rid of their best players without replacing them. Dempsey, Dorman, they didnt get rid of Twellman but they pissed him off, and now Noonan, and no replacements in sight.

[SeaOtter]

You guys shouldn't get so worked up.

L.A. doesn't have to meet any rules as far as their roster is concerned until the beginning of the season.

There's more offseason action to come from these guys. Write it down.

[Pat]

MLS wants the Galaxy to be 10x better than everyone else. That's why they dont make them play by the rules, they want them to be the dominant franchise because they think that legitimizes the league for some reason.

[KingSnake]

Military intelligence
Jumbo shrimp
MLS Salary Cap

[Zungazan]

Congratulations to the Galaxy on a good move. This will make the Quakes vs Gals rivalry that much better. (Go Quakes!)

BTW: He's still a good player and I hear he's one of the nicest guys off the field.

[No cap]

Being Generous and only counting Donovan and Ruiz at $325K each to the cap which is what a 2nd DP would count as. That would still be $1.02 mil tied up in three players. If you go to the MLS players union web site and add up the next highest 13 players and accout for the last 2 at $30K each you still come up to a cap # of about $2.32 million if no one reduced their 2007 salary or got a raise.

So no Figo, no anyone else LA. If MLS allows another high profile signing in LA, then they might as well just come out with a press release that LA does not follow the cap and everyone else must. because it is becomming blatantly obvious they do not if there is another high profile signing this year.

[Steve T.]

Every league needs a Yankees/Patriots/Lakers type of franchise. Parity just creates ho hum. They are modeling the galaxy after the most successful teams in the most successful leagues. Rules be damned.

[nicholas skyles]

finally something exciting happens. very curious to see how this plays out.

[Andrew]

FCD played better last year when Ruiz was out. He continually missed open chances and I am glad he is gone. You would think if the league was trying to bend the rules for LA they would be doing so to help them out. LA needs to get rid of Lalas immediately.

[Elliott]

SeaOtter is right. I will withhold judgment until Opening Weekend. LA could still drop several players to make more room. For evidence: they already re-negotiated deals with Albright, Gordon, and Cronin while dropping Pavon, Mathis, and Cannon.

There is lots of offseason yet to be "played".

[Marc]

LA also has allocation money that they can use to offset the salary cap figures of players on their team. but nobody knows how much allocation money they actually have. remember, though, they got a "You stink" allocation this year from not making the playoffs.

[strago]

I'm convinced that LA will do something to make it appear they are below the cap. All those friendlies they play on the "World Tour"? Yeah, I'm willing to bet, they sign players for ~30k a year and "somehow" give them incentives to play these exhibition games where they can make a huge chunk of change in the offseason to compensate for the shitty salary they make.

[Henduso]

If you think about it, Ruiz was costing FC Dallas $435,000. The Galaxy let go of Cannon ($192,000), Cobi retired ($95,000), and from what I hear they are releasing Pavon (??$141,000??). That's a total of $428,000 that the Galaxy just got rid of. Only a difference of $7,000.

[jake]

What about Kenny Cooper now. Hopefully he has less desire to be traded. He can be a featured guy at FCD now. Can they pay him more $ too?

[jake]

What about Kenny Cooper now. Hopefully he has less desire to be traded. He can be a featured guy at FCD now. Can they pay him more $ too?

[Joe]

"If you think about it, Ruiz was costing FC Dallas $435,000. The Galaxy let go of Cannon ($192,000), Cobi retired ($95,000), and from what I hear they are releasing Pavon (??$141,000??). That's a total of $428,000 that the Galaxy just got rid of. Only a difference of $7,000."

Yes, but they need to replace Cobi, Pavon and Canon too.

[Henduso]

"If you think about it, Ruiz was costing FC Dallas $435,000. The Galaxy let go of Cannon ($192,000), Cobi retired ($95,000), and from what I hear they are releasing Pavon (??$141,000??). That's a total of $428,000 that the Galaxy just got rid of. Only a difference of $7,000."

Yes, but they need to replace Cobi, Pavon and Canon too.

Posted by: Joe | January 15, 2008 at 12:14 PM

You're right, we will need to be replaced as far as Cobi and Cannon. LA needed an "upgrade" and by dumping Pavon and acquiring Ruiz, they did that.

[Laurie]

LA is screwed. Ruiz isn't the right player for the team, and this move guarantees that they won't be able to pay for any other quality players. Hello to the third year in a row without playoffs.

[nicholas skyles]

I don't understand the comment that Ruiz won't sync up well with Landon.

No offense, but how (in even the most pessimistic views of Ruíz) does that not signify a huge upgrade in talent for LAG? Let's be honest -- the Pavon/Buddle/Gordon show was a mess up front. Ruíz is an increase in potential, experience, and proven goal-scoring ability.

Outside of what this means for LAG in terms of cap and roster, I don't believe there is any chance that this is a downgrade in their attack. Beckham made Pavon look like a hero in Jersey last year... PAVON! Things can only get better for LAG, last year was the lowest of low.

[A.S.]

Don't forget whatever Mathis was making comes off their books.

Seriously, people need to chill. Even with the bending of the salary cap rules by LA, MLS is far more fair than every other league on the planet.

[Joel]

Everyone wants to hate ruiz so much. Glad Ives had this up, otherwise I would have missed it. I really just want to read his take though.

Kyle and I put together two different sets of thought on the topic for http://www.brownpocket.com/

I'm kind of on the fence, but he's more "the Galaxy are becoming the NY Cosmos, oy!" kind of thing.

Can't say if this is good for the MLS till we see where the Galaxy end up roster-wise when the season starts. Who know other madness is left to come. (Figo?)

[Henduso]

But Mathis was on their books, then off their books. He only played in an LA jersey in Austrailia.

[VictorM]

Wow, let's all blame LA for wanting to improve their team.

MLS voted to grandfather 3 players who were making more money than the max, Ruiz and Donovan being 2 of them. They are not DPs. THAT'S A LEAGUE RULE! Does anyone know how much Ruiz is going to make at LA? No! So don't jump the gun on doing math until you know. And stop saying MLS rules were broken -- doesn't look like they were!

[satan]

whether or not any rules were bended, LA still is paying too much for three guys. Ruiz ain't gonna take a pay cut. His contract isn't going down.
The rest of the team will be chumps.
Once Beckham gets injured again, and Ruiz dives again and injures his brain, this team will fall apart. I can't wait to watch the implosion!

[cbr]

calm down haters....if you're pissed off your home team exists in a small market then MOVE. I'm not a LAG fan but I do recognize what a flagship franchise can do for a sports league. .....ruiz and donovan won a cup together I'm sure their chemstry up top will be fine.

[quakes fan]

Now the Galaxy has 2 top notch divers in Donovan and Ruiz. Let the flopping begin!

[Ted]

Lets get this out of the way: MLS favors LA.

Other than that, I don't see how this helps LA that much. Yes, Ruiz is an upgrade over the mess between Buddle/Gordon/Glinton, but why didn't they go after Cooper instead.

I understand the brand building aspect, but Cooper could be good for 20+ goals easy with Landycakes and Beckham combining with him. And they would have money for a defender not named Chris Albright or Mike Randolph. Why can't winning championships be considered brand building?

Lalas has two of the top five players in the league and he is running it into the ground.

[Joamiq]

I don't think Ruiz is a bad fit for the Galaxy. Reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated. He's 28, two years removed from a 15 goal season, and actually had more SOG in fewer games last season than the year before. He'll be far better for LA than any forward they had last year.

According to my calculations, the Galaxy are just about at the cap now (I don't know what Xavier is making so I estimated 100k). Unless they have some huge allocations, there's no way they can sign another DP without finding a way to get rid of guys like Klein, Buddle, Vagenas, etc. Ultimately this roster is still pretty weak, but if some of the young guys step up and they avoid injuries, LA could make some noise.

[nicholas skyles]

"Why can't winning championships be considered brand building?"

It most definitely can. But I don't see where the difference between a championship and a failure is the difference between Cooper and Ruíz. How many Championships does Cooper have so far? (not saying he's not good, just don't agree with your assertion).

Chance are more likely that Cooper was off-limits to LAG, whereas Ruíz was not. There aren't a lot of goal-scorers in the MLS that are available right now.

In MLS is not bending the rules for the Galaxy. The Galaxy is taking advantage of the MLS rules. Extending the grandfathered players helped 3 teams, FC Dallas being one of them. They've made the choice, however, to trade that player to the Galaxy.

[Mikemike]

Hey Ives,

I have some allocation inquires.

Does allocation money come out of a team's salary cap or is it separate? I know allocation money can be used to increase cap, can it only be used one year? Is there an experation date on money?

Could say NY bring in a constant stream of say Colombian players and sell them for allocation money to other teams, there by effectively increasing their cap space permanently? If so, is this MLS's plan to promote scouting ("if you can find good players that you don't need, sell them for more cap space.")?

If you could do a piece explaining exactly what allocation money is and how teams use it, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Mike

[Hincha Tim]

First of all I'm not an Galaxy fan. But how are they bending or breaking the rules by signing Ruiz? NYRD or any other team could have signed him under the current rules, and chose not to, so I see it as sour grapes from NYRB fans. NY has 2 DPs, which is two more than most other teams have. The Galaxy want to aspire to be the marquee team of the league. You don't have to like them, but I don't see how having a marquee team, whether you root against them or for them (think of the Yankees or Manchester United or the Dallas Cowboys) hurts a league. As the Yankees know just because you spend by far the most money does not guarantee championships. It does increase interest in the league generally.

[green]

Hahahahahaha. . .

Total football > El "Gordo" Ruiz

I can't wait to see this play out.

[d_vegas]

First off what is the actual number of this years salary cap is?? and what is the total roster per team..18?

With 1.2 going to 3 players its leaves maybe a million for the others It's no surprise that this deal was made and there is nothing fishy about it. When these guys were grandfathered it was made mention that any team could do it. LA made a point of doing it!

I don't think it point of favortism as much as its LA's savviness to play with loop holes and grey areas. I can't imagine the legal rammifications of saying a team couldn't do something if they found a loophole. which is why its seems as though everything is written in pencil. They have to allow it proceed and then write the new rule. MLS doesn't have all angles covered, this is obvious.. LA is exploiting this fact... doesn't stop other teams..

I'm wondering what the MLS rules are for added bonuses for players against the cap?? do they count it?

[d_vegas]

On a side note.. if the remaining galaxy players choose to stay fight over the remaining 1 mill and play for peanuts (perhpas less if another DP is signed).. then its there choice.

[Nathanhj]

You know, this trade was killed once earlier this year, when they tried to give Cannon to DC and get someone from DC to FCD. It doesn't smack of favoritism to have your first try denied.

Having said that I really do not know anything about how the league operates on a day-to-day basis. I don't know anyone in NYC and I don't talk to anyone in NYC, so what do I know really?

Also, looks, the Gals have missed the playoffs twice with the best US field player and once with one of the best midfielders in the game. This new trio eats up at least $1 million of a $2.7 million cap. That cap is going to make it very difficult to get other quality players on the field and lord knows the Gals really need help at the back and on the wings.

So I don't think this spells MLS Cup on the face of it and is a serious gamble on the part of the front office.

Finally, like other people said, this is only January and we've got 2 months before lots of things need to be finalized, so more stuff is going to happen with this team.

You can hate on the Gals, but the fact is they suck and they have sucked and this isn't necessarily going to make them suck any less. So I wouldn't be worried about their won-loss record yet.

In the, doesn't this now make any Galaxy game a rivalry for every other team as their aggrieved, conspiracy-theory-loving fans go to the park just to hate on LA? Isn't that part of what makes it fun?

[papa bear]

I 'get' extending the grandfathered DP rule, but allowing another team to acquire a second one is pretty shady at best.

Guys, the cap is actually about $2.6 million this year (up from $2.4 last year) not that it leaves a ton of cash, but there is more than enough when you consider allocations (which don't count against the cap and I'm sure they'll stockpile if need be) and that at least 5 of those spots are going to be taken by Dev players which means $80K total, which leaves about $1.3 million+ allocations. I bet that's about what the Revs spend on their entire team. They will have enough to field a decent team if they their tactics are on straight and something tells me Gullitt will be able to handle that.

[Javier Padilla]

Trade him now!! I'm a Galaxy fan but I think this is a terrible move. They were better off keeping Mathis. All Ruiz does is dives, take cheap shots on other players, and whines when calls don't go his way. And he's not as good a goal scorer and his record indicates. He'a a poacher and not a true goal scorer. And he's never done anything with his national team to prove he's a great goal scorer. If they Galaxy is going to trade him than fire Lalas for making another bone head move.

[Jeffrey]

Could this be part of a bigger deal with the Galaxy moving Ruiz for a DP slot?

[Scott]

Everyone needs to relax; LA got Ruiz for a pick and an allocation. Ruiz is a big cap hit and has really underperformed in the last couple of years... and I think most MLS teams agree if that's all Dallas could get for him...

Still, Ruiz did play his best soccer in LA...