2019 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

cover photo by Craig Mitchelldyer

What is Goals Saved Above Replacement? Click here to find out.

Following last year’s goalkeeper race, this year’s battle for best goalkeeper in the league has been highlighted by underdogs and coming-off-the-bench goalkeepers. Early into the season, Maxime Crepeau (6.27) broke away from the pack as the lead candidate but Steve Clark (8.45) and Matt Turner’s (6.82) furious back half of the season saw a close finish between the three goalkeepers. Ultimately Steve Clark earned top of the chart honors, averaging out to an outstanding +.35 per 90 minutes and clearing second-place Matt Turner by 1.63 goals.

Clark and Turner weren’t the only goalkeepers who saw a strong second-half performance during the season. After a lackluster start, both David Bingham (5.55) and Luis Robles (4.36) displayed a dramatic improvement in goal, saving their teams multiple goals in the closing months. National team goalkeepers were mostly positive in MLS play. Sean Johnson (3.43) and Tim Howard (3.13) were consistently above average while Brad Guzan (0.59) and Nick Rimando (-1.91) bounced around the 0 mark for most the season.

Lastly, teams that made the biggest bang for their buck were, to no surprise, found with the top three goalkeepers. New England’s Matt Turner and Portland’s Steve Clark performed at a rate that warranted $1.4 million dollar salaries but were on $75,398 and $140,000 contracts, respectively. Maxime Crepeau gave a $740,000-worthy season as well, but only received $94,083 guaranteed compensation. Inversely, Bill Hamid, Vito Mannone, Andre Blake and others struggled to make up their six-figure contracts, playing at a fraction of their cost.

For more detail statistics on each goalkeeper, click here to view the web page which breaks down each goalkeeper’s contributions into seven categories, week-by-week performances, and how much they deserve to be paid.

RankGSARKeeperTeam Mins GSAR/90
1 8.21 Steve Clark POR 2160 0.34
2 8.02 Matt Turner NE 1766 0.41
3 7.18 Maxime Crepeau VAN 2340 0.28
4 5.60 David Bingham LAG 2970 0.17
5 5.18 Luis Robles RBNY 2970 0.16
6 4.97 Sean Johnson NYC 2610 0.17
7 4.04 Tim Melia SKC 2880 0.13
8 2.99 Tim Howard CLR 2205 0.12
9 2.81 Tyler Miller LAFC 2520 0.10
10 2.23 Evan Bush MON 2880 0.07
11 2.17 Brian Rowe OCSC 2880 0.07
12 2.06 Brad Guzan ATL 3060 0.06
13 1.33 Bill Hamid DC 2970 0.04
14 0.18 Vito Mannone MIN 3060 0.01
15 0.02 Quentin Westberg TOR 2520 0.00
16 -0.25 Kenneth Kronholm CHC 1800 -0.01
17 -0.85 Daniel Vega SJ 3060 -0.03
18 -1.34 Stefan Frei SEA 3060 -0.04
19 -1.42 Spencer Richey CIN 1710 -0.07
20 -1.55 Jose Luis Gonzalez FCD 2880 -0.05
21 -1.90 Nick Rimando RSL 2610 -0.07
22 -2.84 Andre Blake PHI 2286 -0.11
23 -3.93 Joe Willis HOU 2430 -0.15
- 2.77 Zac MacMath VAN 720 0.35
- 2.09 Clint Irwin CLR 945 0.20
- 1.34 David Ousted CHC 1260 0.10
- 1.34 Carlos PHI 319 0.38
- 1.03 Brad Stuver NYC 450 0.21
- 0.94 Pablo Sisniega LAFC 540 0.16
- 0.79 Eloy Room CLB 1080 0.07
- 0.32 Andrew Putna RSL 450 0.06
- 0.21 Adrian Zendejas SKC 90 0.21
- 0.19 Jimmy Maurer FCD 180 0.10
- 0.10 Jeff Attinella POR 900 0.01
- -0.14 Chris Seitz DCU 90 -0.14
- -0.14 Matt Lampson LAG 90 -0.14
- -0.22 Greg Ranjitsingh OCSC 180 -0.11
- -0.38 Eric Dick SKC 90 -0.38
- -0.42 Jon Kempin CLB 270 -0.14
- -0.44 Clement Diop MON 180 -0.22
- -0.48 Ryan Meara RBNY 90 -0.48
- -1.17 Zack Steffen CLB 1170 -0.09
- -1.16 Brad Knighton NE 664 -0.16
- -1.38 Alex Bono TOR 630 -0.20
- -1.46 Matt Freese PHI 455 -0.29
- -1.73 Tyler Deric HOU 630 -0.25
- -1.88 Cody Cropper NE 630 -0.27
- -3.24 Joe Bendik CLB 540 -0.54
- -4.84 Przemyslaw Tyton CIN 1350 -0.32

Goalkeepers not given a rank in the first column (starting with Zac MacMath and Clint Irwin) were excluded from the rankings for not playing half the games in the season.