Steven Beitashour @ Toronto FC | 2015/16

[aenima_8]

"Steven Beitashour 'excited' about move to LAFC
01-28-2018
The new MLS franchise has brought in 2017 treble-winning defender Beitashour, whose said he's "excited" about the new season with his new club.

Steven Beitashour's 2017 campaign couldn't have gone any better, as he won the domestic treble with Toronto FC.

This was the first time in history that a team had won everything the MLS had to offer, but going into the close season, Beitashour was a free agent.

Toronto asked Beitashour to take pay cut
The full-back, who played every minute of Toronto's MLS Cup win, was expected to take a pay cut for the 2018 season, despite being part of that team that won the treble.

“I told Toronto before the season, similar to what happened in Vancouver, if you want me to stay here, let’s just get a deal done before all the teams start calling in to my agent. Unfortunately, they wanted me to take a big pay cut,” Beitashour told LAFC's official website.

“Having a good year and winning MLS Cup, with everything that we did, it’s tough to justify."

Defender excited about team's prospects
Beitashour was drafted by San Jose Earthquakes back in 2010 and spent four seasons with the Western Conference outfit and in the process, he made quite a name for himself.

The defender went on to play two seasons for Vancouver Whitecaps and then onto Toronto, and made 22 appearances last season.

Although the player was happy in Toronto, there were several factors for his move to Los Angeles FC. Beitashour spoke with Bob Bradley and John Thorrington and knew that a move to his native California was right for him.

He added: “They are genuinely good people, and they expressed what they wanted for this Club and this city.

“Obviously, it’s an expansion team and it is going to be different from what you’re used to. They had this picture in mind. It was a good picture and I wanted to be part of it. And that’s the exciting part about this whole process.” "

https://www.vavel.com/en-us/soccer/m...e-to-lafc.html

[naderb94]

Let's close this thread and start a new one for him now that he is on LAFC

[Team Melli Fan]

"Beitashour left bitter, 'insulted' after Toronto FC's proposed pay cut"
https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comment...nsulted_after/

LOS ANGELES — Steven Beitashour said he misses his “baby.”

It’s been a chaotic few weeks for the former Toronto FC defender, who officially signed with the expansion Los Angeles FC last week. Lost in the shuffle of moving across the continent and beginning training camp with a new team was his beloved car, a Lexus RC. It was bought and registered in Canada, so it's proving to be a hassle to move to L.A. The self-confessed car guy laments the duties and taxes that he’ll have to pay. So for now, the car sits in the parking lot of his Toronto home while he debates its future.

“I just don’t want to say bye to it,” said Beitashour last week.

It’s an extra hassle the 30-year-old didn’t see coming after being an integral part of TFC’s MLS Cup win last December. Beitashour wanted, and expected, to stay with the club before negotiations went south. The reliable defender started in every one of TFC’s playoff games in 2016 and 2017.

He ended up being TFC’s most notable off-season loss.

As Beitashour prepares to suit up with his fourth different MLS club since he entered the league in 2010, the way his time in Toronto ended has left a sour taste in his mouth.

Beitashour said the club indeed offered him a contract, but felt “insulted” when they asked him to take a pay cut.

“I don’t know if you can justify anyone on our team to take a pay cut that’s a regular starter,” Beitashour told The Athletic. “Especially when guys are getting pretty big pay raises, so if everyone’s getting pay increases and your (contract) is the only one not, there’s something fishy about it.”

Beitashour earned a base salary of $250,000 last season and only the club’s Designated Players, Chris Mavinga and Victor Vazquez had higher base salaries than he did.

Toronto FC does not announce terms of contracts but the MLS Player’s Union, as it does every season, releases the entire league’s salaries in the spring.

Last season TFC led MLS in total salary. And knowing that has left Beitashour bitter.

“If I knew guys were strapped up for money and multiple guys were like ‘Hey we’re just making the same amount, we’re not getting any increase or maybe we’re taking a little bit of a cut, and we’re all in it together,”’ I would’ve said, “Hell yeah, I’m in it together too.’ But when you’re the only one singled out, it’s a little tough to swallow and it hurts a little bit.”

Beitashour said he went to club management before the season ended to express his desire to stay with TFC. He said he would have accepted a one or two-year contract and was looking for a “tiny little increase.”

He points to the fact that he contributed to the success of the club in both of his seasons at TFC. The club traded for him from the Vancouver Whitecaps before the 2016 season as part of a club-wide attempt to shore up the team’s then leaky backline.

In just 1589 minutes played this season, the second-lowest total of his career, Beitashour still logged five assists, the most of any of the club’s defenders. He suffered a laceration in his pancreas after a collision with Montreal Impact defender Kyle Fisher during the Canadian Championship on June 27 and was told by doctors he wouldn’t play for three months. After three short appearances through August, and was back in the starting lineup again on Sept. 9.

Beitashour likens his plight to that of an sales associate who helped his company achieve some of the most profitable years in that company’s history.

“And now your manager comes to tell you that you have to take a pay cut, but all your colleagues are getting raises,” said Beitashour. “How would you feel about that?”

TFC GM Tim Bezbatchenko said the club was “fairly close” in negotiations with Beitashour.

“We had a hard line number in terms of what we were capable of bringing him back on, in terms of position, age, experience and just where we’re at with our roster. Unfortunately there’s obviously different budgetary limitations on the other club’s side in terms of LAFC. That’s the reality of the situation with Steven,” said Bezbatchenko.

Bezbatchenko added that Nicolas Hasler can offer coverage in the right-back position.

Beitashour’s frustration is compounded by the rumoured signing of Dutch right-back Gregory van der Wiel at TFC. Van der Wiel is expected to be a big money signing for the club and Beitashour said he heard the club was shopping around for a right-back early in the off-season, but he had no choice but to remain patient.

That patience did not pay off.

For Beitashour, the movement was eerily familiar. In 2012, he was a regular starter for the San Jose Earthquakes that won the Supporters’ Shield and set a club record for points in a season with 66 points before being shipped to Vancouver in exchange for allocation money. During the 2015 season with the Whitecaps, Beitashour helped the team allow just 36 goals, tied for fewest in MLS. The Whitecaps registered 53 points that season, the most in franchise history.

At the end of the season, his option was declined by the team.

“So I don’t get it,” said Beitashour of constantly being moved despite consistently strong seasons. “It’s not like I didn’t play, not like I was 18 and not dressing. I’m your starter. I’m getting called up to the U.S. men’s national team, called up to Iran national team. I don’t get it, maybe I’m crazy.”

Beitashour understands these types of moves are part of the business. Now, he has a chance to put to rest his end with TFC and start fresh on a young LAFC squad, but not before facing off against his former team in a pre-season friendly on Friday at UCLA. When he sees his old team, those hard feelings could re-emerge.

“It is frustrating, because I felt like we had a true family bond on that team and guys were always putting in the work, always competing every weekend so I’m going to miss that aspect of it,” said Beitashour. “It’s tough leaving the best team in league history.”