Is this an American thing?

If you can’t even win ugly, at least lose cheap.

Maybe it is Win Ugly’s uglier cousin.

Here’s the back drop:

The San Jose Earthquakes, rebuilding their franchise in their 2nd year back in the MLS, are at the bottom of the table. Out of a dozen games they’ve lost 7 and only picked up 9 points. This was most definitely not the plan or expectation. They started the season with high hopes.

They have some relatively good talent: some real crack midfielders, some promising forwards, and most of a defense which was extremely hard to break down last year. Results? That’s what they don’t have.

This week they started to shed players, and though they were traded, it’s clear this was not about bringing in better talent, at least not as part of the trades. This appears to be about the money, about the salaries being paid for a team that is not delivering.

When you’re determined to win, it is all about how you get the team to where they need to be, and how you afford any moves required. But if you’ve figured out you’re in a losing season, well, you can lose cheap just as easily as you can lose expensively.

Centerline Soccer talked to General Manager John Doyle about the recent trades

Salaries are a sensitive topic in the MLS, for several reasons. First, team revenues are not on the scale you would find in a top European league, so profitability is an even bigger concern with MLS teams. Second, the MLS mandates a salary cap at the team level, but encourages bringing in marquee players. This means there is a very broad range of salaries in the league and on a team.

Sometimes the contributions on the pitch are not in line with the salaries, and this is more offensive when you consider you’ve got some contributing players making less than bartenders. You find examples of college educated soccer players turning pro and making some impact, but making less than they could have if they had taken a UPS truck driver’s job out of high school.

This week the Quakes shed Nick Garcia, a center back of renown who has not been having a good season, and who makes about 3x what the other Quakes center backs make. Nick is largely beloved by Quakes fans, but there is some sense of restoring equity.

Let’s look at some Quakes salaries.

These Quakes aren’t getting rich. Remember this is in California dollars.

These Quakes are making nice pocket change for a losing team in the MLS. Are they earning it?

Data on MLS player salaries from USA Today

Are more changes to come? And what will the Quakes do with their salary cap headroom?

There is a wishful rumor that the Quakes will try to bring in Sol Campbell to fill the center back spot that Nick Garcia is leaving. Sol is a great player, but it’s a bit hard to see him being tempted by the Quakes & MLS. Ironically, a player of that caliber would likely cost the Quakes much more than Garcia. Quakes fans will nevertheless hope for such a move.

What seems certain is that the Quakes front office won’t be giving salary raises to the rank and file team members they are keeping. With results like the Quakes have been delivering, you expect the players won’t be asking either.