Harvey Signs Contract Extension

Bad news for those of you still holding out hope that Carl Robinson would spin some wizardry and bring back Alain Rochat to play the left fullback position; Whitecaps FC announced on Thursday that Jordan Harvey has re-signed and/or extended his contract. (Considering how those two phrases mean different things, it would be nice to get some clarity so we know if Harvey is on the same terms as his previous contract ("extended his contract") or has negotiated himself a raise ("re-signed").)

In keeping with MLS' mantra these days - "No, You Can't Know How We Do Business; Just Trust Us" - no terms were released, though Province writer Marc Weber noted in his blog that Harvey is set to make $124,000 this season, or roughly $2,300 a week before taxes. As an amateur salarycapologist, I have to hope Harvey's signing an extension and not a new deal. His price range compared to other defenders puts him almost dead-on with Sporting Kansas City's Seth Sinovic ($125,000) and in the neighbourhood of LA Galaxy's A.J. DeLaGarza ($135,000). Sure, Harvey is serviceable at left-back and is having arguably his best year at both ends of the pitch since joining the 'Caps but is he worth more than either of those two proven, reliable defenders? What about Houston Dynamo's Jermaine Taylor ($185,000)? Even if you forget the direct player-for-player comparison, there's still the rest of the team to consider. Raising Harvey's salary is not exactly conducive to opening space for a bigger signing at, oh, say, for example, top of my head, striker.

But, again, since we have no concrete details on this deal, we can only blindly speculate. Boy, wouldn't transparency be nice right around now?

Jordan Harvey (30y.o.) - 5'11", 170lbs.
2011 Salary: $61,875
2012 Salary: $100,000
2013 Salary: $112,500
2014 Salary: $123,750