The MLS Players Union has released the latest salary information for every player in the league, and perhaps more than ever it shows the disparity between the league's highest- and lowest-paid players and how little money can mean to team success within the league. Seattle's Clint Dempsey is the league's highest paid player with guaranteed compensation of $6,695,189 in 2014, but he's trailed closely by Toronto's two big offseason signings, Michael Bradley ($6.5 million) and Jermain Defoe ($6.18 million). With those two additions, Toronto now has the highest payroll in the league at $16.6 million, dwarfing that of current MLS Cup holder Sporting Kansas City ($3.7 million), which has the seventh-lowest payroll in the league — just behind Real Salt Lake, the club it beat on penalties in the 2013 MLS Cup final. Only 12 players will make at least $1 million this season in a league in which the minimum salary is just $36,500. To show the disparity between those outliers to the league's salary cap and the majority of clubs that live within their modest means, ESPN put together a table that shows that the seven highest paid players make as much or more than entire teams. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/socce...olders--entire-roster-combined-040555259.html About 10 teams (including the Timbers at 3.9) have a team salary of 4 million or below If it helps, all of the league's players combined aren't making as much as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo put together.
