As the playoff run was winding down, we started to hear rumbles that Dave van den Bergh's future with RBNY was not safe. One would think otherwise; the Walking Dutchman was the team's most consistent, if not best, player this season, and without his contributions, the team would not even sniff the playoffs, lest make the final. Seven goals, five assists, team leader on and off the field, does everything ever asked of him without complaining... What more can one ask for?

And then, when van den Bergh scored the biggest goal in franchise history, in the semifinals to beat Salt Lake, on a play he started and finished, we thought, maybe the brass will see the light. Maybe they'll realize that they actually have an excellent player in left midfield -- arguably, the toughest spot on the field to fill. Maybe they'll reward van den Bergh for all he's done with a fair offer and keep him in New York for at least a couple of years. In fact, we thought that keeping the Dutchman in the fold would be the team's top priority.

We should have known better. According to BigAppleSoccer, van den Bergh, now a free agent, is not happy with the deal offered by RBNY. And why would he be -- the offer is supposedly less than what he was making last year.

Preposterous, isn't it? Only a year ago RBNY tried to get van den Bergh to play for a lower figure. He fought, saying that the team should honor the contract he signed. Amidst many rumors that pointed to his exit, he stayed, and proved to be worth every penny.

And now this.

Now, granted, van den Bergh's 2008 salary of $275,000 was the largest for any Metro not named Juan Pablo Angel or Claudio Reyna. But his contribution to the team was the largest of any Metro... Period. (Angel might have an argument, but during the first half of the season, van den Bergh carried the team, and then teamed up with Angel to carry it through the second half.) And what's more important, van den Bergh's cap number last year was less than his salary, only $240,000. For comparison, Juan Pietravallo's number was $192,000.

Preposterous indeed. So yes, RBNY can play hardball with van den Bergh. Yes, they might think that the so-often-invisible Jorge Rojas might fill that left wing spot. Yes, they might think that the salary cap space freed up by van den Bergh's departure could be used to sign a good player or two (although with the recent track record of Oscar Echeverry, Gabriel Cichero, Rojas, and Pietravallo, that's to be debated). Yes, the lowball might work if van den Bergh can't find a better deal in Europe, or decides he wants to stay in the US, even with a reduced paycheck.

We'll take keeping van den Bergh, at a fair salary, over any of those options.