Time to spend

Chivas USA supposedly has a lot of money. The club has bragged about its sponsorship deals in the past and will announce a new multimillion dollar sponsorship deal on Wednesday. And then of course there is the connection to Chivas de Guadalajara, who seemingly has bottomless pockets.

It's time now to invest some of those funds on the senior roster. Chivas USA has the least amount of players making more than $100,000 a year.

Here's a breakdown of the number of players per team that make six figures or more:

Chicago -- 7
Chivas -- 4
Columbus -- 7
Colorado -- 10
FC Dallas -- 8
DC United -- 7
Houston -- 11
Kansas City -- 9
Galaxy -- 11
New England -- 7
New York -- 8
Real Salt Lake -- 8
Toronto -- 11

The Galaxy figure does not include Abel Xavier who likely commands a six-figure salary (I'm guessing around $200,000).

Chivas USA has the lowest payroll in the league, even with Amado Guevara. The above figure does not include the now-departed Guevara. The four Chivas players who make north of $100,000 are Ante Razov (248,750), Claudio Suarez (146,991.60), Jesse Marsch (109,375) and Sacha Kljestan (103,000). Panchito Mendoza is about six thousand short of six figures, incidentally.

So what gives? Why has Chivas USA not spent more money on its senior roster? A year ago, the club had two of the five highest-paid players in the league in Francisco Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia but both players bolted and were essentially not replaced, certainly not with their salaries.

Unless Chivas trades for a DP slot, the club will have to bring in a player under $400,000 or whatever the max salary is. But if clubs like the Crew and the Galaxy can bring in guys like Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Abel Xavier without using a DP slot, Chivas USA should do the same and should do soon.

Now, I might be willing to give Chivas USA the benefit of the doubt just a little. It's difficult to bring in players in the middle of seasons oversees. But if Chivas USA fails to bring in a player during the summer transfer window worth a relatively hefty salary (say around $200,000), when they could get someone on a free transfer, then the questions will only get louder.

It's not say that the guys on the team are no good because they aren't highly paid; not at all. But there needs to be some infusion of talent on the team, the type of talent that needs to be lured with good old-fashioned cash.