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Philadelphia Union 2017 player salaries as of September 15

The Union's payroll is the 16th-highest among Major League Soccer's 22 teams.

Jay Simpson is earning over $508,000 in guaranteed salary from the Philadelphia Union. He has scored one goal in 21 league games in 2017.
Jay Simpson is earning over $508,000 in guaranteed salary from the Philadelphia Union. He has scored one goal in 21 league games in 2017.Read moreMatt Slocum/AP

The Major League Soccer Players Union has released its latest set of salary data for the 2017 season. Let's dig into it.

You can look back at past salary data sets here.

Each name is followed by up to four numbers: base salary, guaranteed compensation, and any change in each figure from the previous release last April.

GK Andre Blake: $148,500.00 / $186,500.00 (no change)
GK John McCarthy: $86,500.00 / $95,750.00 (no change)
GK Jake McGuire: $53,004.00 / $53,004.00 (no change)

D Jack Elliott: $53,004.00 / $53,004.00 (no change)
D Fabinho: $159,759.00 / $167,759.00 (no change)
D Raymon Gaddis: $165,000.00 / $167,500.00 (no change)
D Aaron Jones: $53,004.00 / $53,004.00 (no change)
D Richard Marquez: $133,000.00 / $139,430.00 (no change)
D Oguchi Onyewu: $65,004.00 / $65,004.00 (no change)
D Keegan Rosenberry: $104,500.00 / $110,312.50 (no change)
D Ken Tribbett: $65,000.00 / $65,000.00 (no change)
D Auston Trusty: $75,000.00 / $104,100.00 (no change)1
D Giliano Wijnaldum: $65,004.00 / $78,337.33 (no change)
D Joshua Yaro: $130,000.00 / $194,000.00 (no change)

M Roland Alberg: $345,000.00 / $394,250.00 (no change)24
M Eric Ayuk: $65,625.00 / $65,625.00 (no change)
M Alejandro Bedoya: $1,131,000.00 / $1,197,250.00 (no change)3
M Brian Carroll: $132,000.00 / $140,000.00 (no change)
M Warren Creavalle: $125,000.00 / $138,000.00 (no change)
M Maurice Edu: $750,000.00 / $818,750.00 (no change)3
M Marcus Epps: $53,004.00 / $53,004.00 (no change)
M Anthony Fontana: $53,004.00 / $61,421.60 (new signing)5
M Fabian Herbers: $110,000.00 / $135,500.00 (no change)
M Ilsinho: $470,000.00 / $518,333.33 no change)2
M Derrick Jones: $65,000.00 / $70,900.00 (no change)
M Haris Medunjanin: $460,008.00 / $505,008.00 (no change)2
M Adam Najem: $65,000.04 / $65,000.04 (no change)1
M Fafa Picault: $114,999.96 / $128,666.63 (no change)
M Chris Pontius: $400,000.00 / $431,000.00 (no change)

F Charlie Davies: $108,960.00 / $114,684.94 (no change)
F C.J. Sapong: $300,000.00 / $300,000.00 (no change)
F Jay Simpson: $465,000.00 / $508,333.33 (no change)2

1 – Homegrown Player. Najem counts because the Union acquired his homegrown rights from the New York Red Bulls. A list of all homegrown players leaguewide is available here.
2 – Salary cap hit paid below Designated Player threshold due to "Targeted Allocation Money." A list of all such players leaguewide is available here.
3 – Designated Player. A list of all such players leaguewide is available here.
4 – In April, I listed Alberg as being among the players whose salaries are paid down with TAM. His salary is below the DP threshold of $480,625. MLS' website still him on the official list, so I have him here too.
5 – Fontana's salary is on the books even though he isn't officially joining the Union's senior team until next year.

Before getting into this, a reminder that the numbers can include players loaned out by the clubs in question even if those players aren't officially on those clubs' rosters at the moment.

In addition to the money figures, there's a note on how much each club has moved within the rankings since the last salary data release.

1. Toronto FC: $20,204,955.00 / $22,552,040.21 (+$51,258.00 / +$73,474.94, no change)
2. New York City FC: $17,499,125.72 / $18,108,132.39 (+$128,600.04 / +$177,766.70, no change)
3. Orlando City: $13,412,174.80 / $14,584,737.37 (+$1,030,121.00 / +$1,365,537.67, no change)
4. Chicago Fire: $12,492,628.00 / $13,089,573.84 (+$220,004.00 / +$137,295.67, no change)

5. Los Angeles Galaxy: $11,941,872.12 / $12,873,559.14 (+$2,173,209.48 / +$755,667.03, no change)
6. Seattle Sounders: $10,352,717.89 / $11,820,248.80 (+$1,058,185.85 / +$996,104.26, no change)
7. Portland Timbers: $9,779,202.68 / $11,369,315.18 (+$726,349.79 / +$997,014.70, no change)

8. Atlanta United: ($8,435,624.04 / $9,395,516.26 (+$477,012.00 / +$464,762.00, no change)
9. Real Salt Lake: ($7,858,794.44 / $8,581,167.92 (+$702,354.00 / +$846,812.48, up 2 places)
10. San Jose Earthquakes: $7,759,570.00 / $8,444,246.12 (+$1,330,004.00 / +$1,484,959.01, up 3 places)
11. Vancouver Whitecaps: $7,273,866.16 / $8,441,386.16 (+$233,500.08 / +$362,015.09, down 2 places)
12. Colorado Rapids: $7,428,748.79 / $8,256,505.21 (+$174,000.04 / +$215,885.46, down 2 places)

13. FC Dallas: $6,720,583.44 / $7,947,390.11 (+$1,030,004.16 / +$1,436,629.17, up 4 places)
14. New England Revolution: $6,865,564.29 / $7,496,217.04 (+$1,458,571.04 / +$1,696,098.71, up 4 places)
15. New York Red Bulls: $6,660,302.24 / $7,287,062.07 (+$346,320.24 / +$391,875.90, up 2 places)
16. Philadelphia Union: $6,569,880.00 / $7,178,431.71 (+$53,004.00 / +$61,421.61, down 4 places)

17. Columbus Crew: $6,329,232.48 / $6,771,044.98 (-$16,000.00 / +$23,499.99, down 2 places)
18. Sporting Kansas City: $6,173,172.50 / $6,409,758.62 (-$192,683.50 / -$320,600.16, down 2 places)
19. Montréal Impact: $5,845,679.12 / $6,324,616.30 (+$849,758.04 / +$1,108,760.41, up 2 places)

20. Houston Dynamo: $5,354,053.98 / $5,771,645.65 (+$516,154.00 / +$746,579.00, up 2 places)
21. Minnesota United: $5,300,685.04 / $5,753,434.88 (+$1,444,673.08 / +$1,694,297.92, down 1 place)
22. D.C. United: $4,408,135.48 / $4,814,549.07 (-$403,999.96 / -$457,898.87, down 3 places)

That D.C. is in last place seems surprising at first, as the club made a number of significant signings this summer. As the Washington Post's Steven Goff explains here, those contracts are back-loaded to kick in the big money starting next season.

Portland's payroll figure once again includes forward Lucas Melano ($790,000.00 / $1,010,000.00), who is on loan to Argentine club Belgrano.

Colorado's payroll includes forward Kevin Doyle ($1,000,000.00 / $1,045,000.00), who retired on Sept. 28. Because the salary data was finalized on Sept. 15, he is on the official list.

Counting Melano and Doyle, there are 31 players making at least $1 million in guaranteed salary now. That's an all-time high in MLS history. Here's the list:

1. M Kaka, Orlando City: $6,660,000.00 / $7,167,500.00
2. F Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC: $5,600,000.00 / $7,115,555.67
3. M Michael Bradley, Toronto FC: $6,000,000.00 / $6,500,000.00
4. M Andrea Pirlo, New York City FC: $5,600,000.00 / $5,915,690.00
5. F David Villa, New York City FC: $5,610,000.00 / $5,610,000.00
6. F Giovani Dos Santos, Los Angeles Galaxy: $3,750,000.00 / $5,500,000.00
7. M Bastian Schweinsteiger, Chicago Fire: $5,400,000.00 / $5,400,000.00

8. F Jozy Altidore, Toronto FC: $4,875,000.00 / $4,875,000.00
9. F Clint Dempsey, Seattle Sounders: $3,200,000.00 / $3,892,933.50
10. M Diego Valeri, Portland Timbers: $2,227,500.00 / $2,607,500.00
11. GK Tim Howard, Colorado Rapids: $2,000,000.00 / $2,475,000.00
12. M Miguel Almirón, Atlanta United: $1,912,500.00 / $2,297,000.00
13. M Jonathan Dos Santos, Los Angeles Galaxy: $2,000,000.04 / $2,000,000.04
14. M Maximiliano Moralez, New York City FC: $2,000,000.04 / $2,000,000.04

15. M Romain Alessandrini, Los Angeles Galaxy: $1,669,400.64 / $1,999,400.64
16. F Yura Movsisyan, Real Salt Lake: $1,750,000.00 / $1,973,750.00
17. F Nemanja Nikolić, Chicago Fire: $1,700,000.04 / $1,906,333.37
18. F Fredy Montero, Vancouver Whitecaps: $1,400,000.04 / $1,800,000.04
19. M Nicolas Lodeiro, Seattle Sounders:
$1,371,428.57 / $1,743,428.57
20. F Fanendo Adi, Portland Timbers:
$1,190,004.00 / $1,736,254.00

21. F Shkëlzen Gashi, Colorado Rapids: $1,575,000.00 / $1,668,750.00
22. F Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls:
$1,500,000.00 / $1,635,000.00
23. M Valeri "Vako" Qazaishvili, San Jose Earthquakes:
$1,325,004.00 / $1,454,042.36
24. M Alejandro Bedoya, Philadelphia Union: $1,131,000.00 / $1,197,250.00
25. M Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle Sounders:
$1,100,000.04 / $1,141,667.04

26. M Victor Rodríguez, Seattle Sounders: $999,999.96 / $1,087,499.96
27. M Sebastián Blanco, Portland Timbers:
$1,000,008.00 / $1,075,008.00
28. M Federico Higuaín, Columbus Crew:
$1,050,000.00 / $1,050,000.00
29. F Kevin Doyle, Colorado Rapids:
$1,000,000.00 / $1,045,000.00
30. F Josef Martínez, Atlanta United:
$924,000.00 / $1,041,310.00
31. F Lucas Melano, Portland Timbers:
$790,000.00 / $1,010,000.00

With changes from the last round of data.

Overall expenditure: $194,939,062.23 / $214,920,611.34 (+$12,000,776.32 / +$14,018,847.08)

Total players: 654 (+38)

Mean (average) salary: $298,071.96 / $328,624.79 (+$1,094.22 / +$2,485.56)
Median (middle) salary: $120,000.00 / $135,000.00 (-$5,000.00 / -$2.00)

The mean figures are new record highs.

Mode (most common) salary: $53,004.00 / $53,004.00 (no change)
Lowest salary: $52,999.92 / $52,999.92 (no change)

The same two players make the absolute minimum who did in April: Seattle's Nouhou Tolo and New York City's Sean Okoli.

For conversational purposes, the mode can be called $53,000.00 / $53,000.00, which is the minimum salary for this year in the collective bargaining agreement. Fifty-six players make that figure or within a few dollars of it, an increase of five from April

Four of those 56 are on the Union's roster: Jack Elliott, Marcus Epps, Aaron Jones and Jake McGuire.

(It's worth noting that Fontana is not in that group.)

Five teams have five minimum-salary players on their roster: Houston, Kansas City, the New York Red Bulls and Seattle. Another five teams have just one minimum-salary player on their roster: Chicago, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Montreal, New England and Vancouver.

As always, I save the end of these posts for players who spend the least time in the spotlight.

League-wide goalkeeper pool

Billy Heavner: $53,004.00 / $53,004.00

The 23-year-old signed with Minnesota United in preseason, but didn't stick on the roster. He has since trained with Sporting Kansas City. ESPN's Jeff Carlisle wrote this profile of him in May.

Unsigned players

For the first time in quite some time, there are none.

Here are the latest versions of the charts I use to show key MLS salary metrics and changes over time. I've removed the data from earlier this year, as I try to keep consistency across years by using only the last dataset issued each season.