2022 MLS PAL Rating and Value Rating: performance and contract value

Two scores from 0 to 100. PAL Rating measures the season's performance against regulars at the same position (goalkeepers, center backs, fullbacks, central midfielders, attacking midfielders and wingers, strikers): 50 is the median regular. Salary never enters it. Value Rating answers a different question: for what the player costs, does the return come in more or less than expected?

WAR, in wins →Payrolls →

Top goalkeeper98PALĐorđe PetrovićNE · Elite

Top center back99PALAndreu FontàsSKC · Elite

Top fullback99PALOlivier MbaizoPHI · Elite

Top central midfielder99PALJosé CifuentesLAFC · Elite

Top attacking midfielder or winger99PALLuciano AcostaCIN · Elite

Top striker

99PALHany MukhtarNSH · Elite

Value Rating is only computed for the most recent season.

The scale — PAL Rating

90–100 Elite
80–89 Excellent
70–79 Very good
60–69 Above average
40–59 Around average
20–39 Below average
0–19 Very poor

The scale — Value Rating

90–100 Exceptional value
75–89 Very good contract
55–74 Good value
45–54 Fair value
25–44 Poor return
0–24 Very poor return

Regulars only

#	Player
1	Hany MukhtarNSH · ST · 27	99	1.5	99	99	80	99	91	47
2	Taty CastellanosNYC · ST · 23	97	0.7	97	89	89	91	80	78
3	Romell QuiotoMTL · ST · 30	95	0.4	95	82	61	89	95	13
4	William AgadaSKC · ST · 22	93	0.5	86	97	97	24	86	34
5	Dejan JoveljicLA · ST · 22	91	0.1	93	93	57	80	70	5
6	BrennerCIN · ST · 22	89	0.5	89	95	78	72	13	93
7	Mikael UhrePHI · ST · 27	88	0.6	82	91	38	68	99	16
8	Jesús FerreiraDAL · ST · 21	86	0.5	84	68	9	88	97	95
9	Cristian ArangoLAFC · ST · 27	84	0.6	88	72	55	55	36	97
10	Cory BurkePHI · ST · 30	82	0.5	70	63	74	70	68	91
11	Gonzalo HiguaínMIA · ST · 34	80	-0.2	91	78	7	86	30	59
12	Brandon VázquezCIN · ST · 23	78	0.5	78	80	91	51	9	84
13	Jefferson SavarinoRSL · ST · 25	76	0.2	68	41	34	97	63	43
14	Julián CarranzaPHI · ST · 22	74	0.5	80	84	82	30	32	80
15	Jhon DuránCHI · ST · 18	72	0.5	74	51	84	59	59	72
16	Cucho HernándezCLB · ST · 23	70	0.6	57	88	41	45	93	66
17	Daniel RíosCLT · ST · 27	68	0.5	38	64	93	39	82	11
18	Josef MartínezATL · ST · 29	66	0.0	76	53	49	82	45	51
19	ChicharitoLA · ST · 34	64	0.7	64	66	72	28	76	24
20	Gustavo BouNE · ST · 32	63	0.3	41	61	59	64	84	68
21	Leonardo CampanaMIA · ST · 21	61	0.4	61	70	88	36	53	39
22	Kei KamaraMTL · ST · 37	59	0.1	66	38	45	66	88	63
23	Alexandre PatoORL · ST · 32	57	0.1	72	20	13	95	55	49
24	Gyasi ZardesCLB · ST · 30	55	0.3	43	45	76	57	41	88
25	Franco JaraDAL · ST · 33	53	0.2	32	28	99	32	49	26
26	Ola KamaraDC · ST · 32	51	0.1	53	74	70	9	57	1
27	HéberNYC · ST · 30	49	0.0	47	86	47	14	38	41
28	Ercan KaraORL · ST · 26	47	0.0	63	57	53	41	7	74
29	Lucas CavalliniVAN · ST · 29	45	0.2	49	59	64	34	34	22
30	Patryk KlimalaRBNY · ST · 23	43	0.2	59	30	51	74	43	18
31	Víctor VázquezLA · ST · 35	41	0.2	30	13	5	93	66	82
32	Jeremy EbobisseSJ · ST · 25	39	0.1	45	55	66	20	22	9
33	Luis AmarillaMIN · ST · 26	38	-0.1	51	14	24	78	61	45
34	Raúl RuidíazSEA · ST · 31	36	0.0	55	76	26	13	28	14
35	Ronaldo CisnerosATL · ST · 25	34	0.0	26	49	68	22	39	30
36	Kacper PrzybylkoCHI · ST · 29	32	0.1	22	24	43	63	78	38
37	Sergio CórdovaRSL · ST · 24	30	0.4	16	39	32	16	89	89
38	Brian WhiteVAN · ST · 26	28	0.1	14	22	95	49	5	36
39	Jaroslaw NiezgodaPOR · ST · 27	26	0.0	36	36	30	76	24	61
40	Sebastián FerreiraHOU · ST · 24	24	-0.2	39	47	22	26	74	32
41	Jesús JiménezTOR · ST · 28	22	0.0	34	16	36	61	51	70
42	Déiber CaicedoVAN · ST · 22	20	0.0	20	5	18	84	64	28
43	Fredy MonteroSEA · ST · 34	18	0.2	24	18	28	43	26	57
44	Karol SwiderskiCLT · ST · 25	16	-0.2	28	43	16	47	18	20
45	Dominique BadjiCIN · ST · 29	14	0.1	9	11	39	38	72	76
46	Tom BarlowRBNY · ST · 26	13	0.0	13	34	63	3	14	55
47	Bobby WoodRSL · ST · 29	11	0.0	11	32	86	5	11	3
48	C.J. SapongNSH · ST · 33	9	0.0	18	7	11	53	47	53
49	Maxi UrrutiATX · ST · 31	7	-0.3	7	26	3	1	3	99
50	Ayo AkinolaTOR · ST · 22	5	-0.2	5	9	20	11	20	86

How it's calculated

In MLS, salary follows a player's status (Designated Player, allocation money, draft, homegrown) far more than his output: the line linking performance to salary is nearly flat. Value Rating therefore measures surplus, as in baseball. The price of a win comes from regulars who produce (about $3.6M per win in 2026); the value produced is WAR × that price; the surplus, that value minus the season's guaranteed compensation. It is turned into a standard score within the position, then 0 to 100. It measures the sporting value of the contract: a very well-paid Designated Player can be excellent and still score low, because his pay exceeds the sporting value our WAR assigns him. His commercial value (tickets, subscriptions, sponsors, media rights) is not counted.

Data: American Soccer Analysis and ESPN; salaries updated daily.