Questions, Questions : High-Priced Players Plus a Salary Cap Equal Problems for Galaxy

Forget the rock and the hard place, Lothar Osiander these days finds himself trapped between two far more immovable objects--a tank and a salary cap.

The Los Angeles Galaxy coach, only two weeks away from the start of training camp and less than two months shy of Major League Soccer’s second season, needs to strengthen the Western Conference champions, but can’t.

Osiander has four legitimate “stars”--goalkeeper Jorge Campos of Mexico, winger Cobi Jones of the United States, midfield playmaker Mauricio Cienfuegos of El Salvador and striker Eduardo “El Tanque” Hurtado of Ecuador.

Campos, Jones and Cienfuegos have no-trade clauses in their MLS contracts, so they are all likely to be back. Hurtado does not. But “the Tank” was the team’s leading scorer last season, netting 23 goals.

Would the Galaxy possibly trade Hurtado so they could sign a new player or two?

“You wouldn’t want to,” said Kansas City Wizards’ Coach Ron Newman. “He’s the franchise at the moment out there.”

Said Osiander, pointing to the league’s salary cap of $1.3 million as the culprit in this mini-drama, “If I have no choice, then I’ll probably have to get rid of Hurtado.

“In order to improve the team from last year, I need at least one solid defensive player in midfield. I could also use another defender somewhere. Whether I get one or not depends on how generous the league is with paying the salary of that particular player, because I don’t have any budget left.

“Or I must trade one of my big-timers to make room for that particular player. Hurtado’s the only one I could [trade], and I’d like to keep him. It’s a difficult situation right now, and as it stands I have no choice but to wait on what decision the league comes up with.”

The league is not likely to budge. It is intent on establishing parity among its 10 teams, and if that means the Galaxy has to lose a player such as Hurtado to strengthen the team in another area, so be it.

The salary cap was hiked to $1.3 million this year, from $1.13 million, but the difference was swallowed up in player raises, Osiander said.

“There’s, like, four teams in the league that have nothing,” he said. “Washington has nothing, Tampa has nothing, New York has nothing. The other ones, they have a little bit, but not a hell of a lot, either. Nobody has a lot. Most players got a 5% raise and the two teams who were in the final [the Galaxy and D.C. United] got a little bit more, so I’m at the limit right now.”

Losing Hurtado would be a serious blow to Los Angeles. He was the league’s third-leading scorer.

“Not only that, he’s an attraction to the crowd,” Osiander said.

Hurtado currently is playing in Ecuador and was not available for comment.

Danny Villanueva, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, has insisted that Hurtado is not going anywhere, saying, “He’s the type of player you build a team around.”

Osiander, however, already has begun considering where to find a replacement.

“The player who would replace Hurtado is a foreigner, I would assume, somebody who has a history of scoring goals,” he said. “I need somebody like Hurtado, but for less money. . . .

One player who wants to join the Galaxy is Guatemalan national team midfielder Martin Machon, and Osiander would snap him up. But to get him, someone will have to go.

“I’d take him, not only because he’s a decent player and he’s the type of player I need, but he’s a nasty little blighter and he’ll bring people in,” Osiander said. “There’s a big population of Guatemalans in the neighborhood.”

Making Machon even more attractive is Guatemala’s elimination from World Cup ’98 contention, meaning he will be available for the entire season.

The Galaxy also faces other problems, with starters such as Campos, Jones, Cienfuegos, Hurtado and, possibly, defenders Dan Calichman and Robin Fraser and Armenian forward Harut Karapetyan likely to miss as much as a third of the season while on World Cup qualifying duty with their national teams.

“[Getting Machon] would be great for me because I lose everybody else,” Osiander said.

Under FIFA rules, national team coaches can call up players five days before each World Cup game. Mexico, the United States and El Salvador each have 10 qualifying games this year, eight of them during the MLS season. Ecuador has nine qualifying games remaining and Armenia has six.

Depth is not a Galaxy strong point, and the team is likely to be hurt more by the loss of World Cup players than other MLS teams, although all will be affected.

Compounding Osiander’s woes, Jones has had virtually no time off in almost a year and comes into the season tired. Campos comes in late and possibly injured.

The flamboyant goalkeeper hurt his knee while playing for Atlante in the Mexican League. He has rejected surgery and is hoping rest will cure the problem.

“Jorge does what Jorge wants to do,” said Octavio Zambrano, the Galaxy’s assistant coach.

Even if rest accomplishes what arthroscopy would have, Campos will miss the first few games of the MLS season because of the Mexican League playoffs.

Then there is U.S. national team defender Paul Caligiuri, who has sued MLS to join the Galaxy. Caligiuri, of Diamond Bar, says the league promised him he would be placed in Los Angeles but instead assigned him to the Columbus Crew last season.

Caligiuri played for Osiander on the U.S. team at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and would be a solid addition. But his age--he turns 33 next month--is not in his favor. He also is likely to be at or close to the league-maximum salary of $192,500, making him unaffordable unless someone else leaves.

Despite such difficulties, Calichman, the team captain who returns this week from China, along with Jones and the rest of the U.S. national team, believes the Galaxy can be competitive in 1997.

“I’ve been hearing rumors [about trades], obviously, but I haven’t been there so I can’t tell you who’s in the deal or whatever,” Calichman said. “But I think we’re coming back with a very strong team again.

“You look at the starting keeper, Campos is injured, so there’s a problem, possibly. But you’ve got the starting defense back after a year of playing together, so I think we’re only going to get better. Then we have Cienfuegos coming back, he’s our main playmaker. Cobi’s going to be back. As far as I know, Hurtado’s going to be back.

“So I can’t help but think that in the West, people are going to say we’re the favorites and I think we should be. Certainly, we have a solid corps coming back. We’re the team to beat.”

Last year, the Galaxy came within 20 minutes of winning the MLS championship, losing, 3-2, to Washington in the final after leading, 2-0. The defeat still rankles Osiander.

“I haven’t digested the final,” he said. “That will take a while. But I’m ready to start a new season and it’s exciting and I’m having a good time. Hopefully, we as a team will have a good season again.”

Even without Hurtado and with Campos injured and Jones tired and all those World Cup commitments?

“We’ll still be competitive, no matter who we have,” Osiander said. But he looked grim. Like a man with tank tracks across his future.