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After roughly one-third of the 2013 MLS season has been played, I decided to compare the Galaxy midfield and forward player salaries against their Match Impact Ratings so far this season (part two of this series will look at MLS in general). The Galaxy's Designated Players have held up their end of the bargain so far although Robbie Keane did not make the 500 minute mark to be eligible for the MLS leaderboard. However, as you will see below, when Keane has been on the pitch (450 total minutes) this season he has well surpassed his MIR of 43.6 from 2012 which saw him finish ninth in MLS MIR.
| Player | 2013 Guaranteed Compensation | Points/90 Mins | MIR |
| Robbie Keane | $4.3 million | 1.0 | 53.2 |
| Landon Donovan | $2.5 million | 0.79 | 44.2 |
| Jack McBean | $101k | 0.73 | 43.7 |
| Gyasi Zardes | $173k | 0.73 | 40.6 |
| Marcelo Sarvas | $184.4k | 0.38 | 36.5 |
| Mike Magee | $191.7k | 0.61 | 34.1 |
| Charlie Rugg | $35.1k | 0.71 | 34.1 |
| Jose Villarreal | $48.4k | 0.37 | 33.6 |
| Hector Jimenez | $46.5k | 0.60 | 32.1 |
| Colin Clark | $80k | 0 | 21.8 |
| Rafael Garcia | $46.5k | 0 | 17.4 |
| Michael Stephens | $106k | 0.54 | 16.1 |
| Juninho | $290k | 0.10 | 12 |
The immediate problem with the chart above is that it is not adhering to the 500 minute rule or else it would be very short: Donovan, Sarvas, Magee and Juninho. One thing that stands out is that the Galaxy have gotten some bang for their buck from younger players even if they haven't been first-choice selections. Seeing Juninho at the bottom of the list is disconcerting after his seven-goal campaign last season. The Brazilian has no goals in 2013 and is attempting almost nearly a half a shot less per 90 minutes this season compared to 2012. Juninho's rate of fouls committed is up slightly this season while his rate of fouls suffered has remained virtually the same as 2012.
While there might have been some concern with Donovan's fitness after his sabbatical (ahem, Klinsy), he is only slightly off his MIR of 45.3 from 2012, which was second in MLS only to Thierry Henry (47.8). Sarvas has stepped up his game offensively from last season with 0.20 more points per 90 minutes and 0.30 more fouls suffered per 90 minutes.
The most unfortunate thing about this list is what could have been for McBean. The 18-year-old was off to a flying start this season with a goal and two assists in 370 minutes of MLS play before fracturing his left clavicle against Real Salt Lake late last month. One is also left wondering when and where more minutes can be found for Zardes who has been a spark plug as a substitute, averaging 5.1 shots and 2.2 shots on target per 90 minutes.
Stay tuned for part two when we find out how the Galaxy compare to the rest of the league in value.