And it doesn't sound like Casey is coming back. Casey Edu Ian Joyce Tyrone Marshall Joseph Nane Scott Palguta Tyson Wahl Luis Zapata
Holy crap! Conor, if this is the end, thank you! Despite all the cheers, you were still under-appreciated.
And Marshall didn't provide the play we hoped for out of the 3rd CB. But he's to be commended for how personable he was. He seemed to give a lot of time to various fan activities--always saying hi to kids who were doing "watch warmups from the bench" thing, etc.
"But after having a conversation with him about his future, we all decided that it was the right time to move on" equals "I don't think he is worth what he wants to be paid." Sad to see Casey go, but I can't argue with the decision based on his health over the past couple seasons. As far as the others go, at least Bravo and/or OP are willing to admit their mistakes. Wahl was worth taking a chance on, but was a non-factor. Nane had improved, but it isn't surprising either. I do worry about continuity though. Teams take time to mesh.
I feel bad for Ian Joyce unless he asked to be cut. I imagine that they were planning on bringing in a younger guy to compete for #3 like last year, but whoever that is wasn't going to make any less than Joyce, so why not let him stick around and fight for his spot. Maybe he didn't want to go through that again though, so maybe he did ask for it. Sad to see Casey go. He probably will find someone willing to sign him for more than Rapids were willing to pay. It will be interesting to see what he ends up getting. With Zapata getting cut, it makes me think that Wallace has been looking healthy and strong in practice and they are also really impressed with Klute. Also, how big of a sigh of relief is Freeman feeling right now? With about 5 games to go I thought he was done here for sure, but then he started getting minutes again. I think he played himself back onto 2013 roster in those games. I'm also a little surprised that we didn't hold on to Nane. Not that he was in plans for 2013, but I think he possibly had trade value. Not much, but think we could have gotten something out of him.
Yeah but out of these 8 you could only really say Casey, Zapata, and Marshall were seen as major contributors to the team. Nane could maybe be included in that list.
Blah. If this organization were any good, they'd at least have traded Conor, and written an article like they did about Wells to explain the move. Now we get absolutely nothing for the best forward we've ever had. Interesting that 3 of the players let go were Pareja/Bravo signings. Not that I disagree with them, I'd just like to see the RFO own up to it, too. Our left-back depth chart is now Klute and Wallace. A USLer, and a guy coming off an Achilles tear. I hope the club has someone clearly in mind to pick up at left back, because we've got a total of 1 game out of those 2 in the last 18 months. We now have just 12 players left on the roster from Gary Smith's days. Smith and Pablo likely to follow this group out the door would put us down to 10. And would be just 7 starters from that Cup-winning team. In this roster move, we got rid of 5 hard-working, blue-collar-type grinders, a goalkeeper, and 2 attack-minded players that the FO is apparently saying they shouldn't have signed last year. In particular with Casey's loss, I want to see who the Rapids think is going to do the work up top, because that answer is not found in a guy currently on our roster. Or, at least, no one on our roster has yet demonstrated they can put in that level of work at that quality.
Why all this now? What good is a clearance like this before season is totally over? We cannot trade Casey for a pack of chips?
Hard to trade somebody when everyone knows you don't want to pick up the contract. Plus, nobody else probably wanted to pick up the contract. The time to trade would have been the mid-season deadline not now. I wonder if Smith has restructured his deal? Without that I would have thought it hard to keep him around, but I do think that he started to really impress Pareja towards the end of the season before they shut him down. Was getting more and more minutes.
Today was that last day of training before the team broke up for the year. Most teams who didn't make the playoffs have made similar announcements this week as they break up for the off-season.
Casey IIRC was at the end of his deal - whoever acquired him in a trade would've been able to renegotiate. Now, whoever signs him can negotiate whatever contract they want and don't have to give anything up. And "everyone" wouldn't know we wanted to get rid of Casey if our team president weren't airing dirty laundry on Twitter.
Yea. I would have thought they might keep Zapata given his at-least acceptable performance this season and not-too-big price tag. I'm guessing at 33 they only expected similar or less performance for next season. Casey was predictable as a reduced-salary off-the-bench player...or as a release. That is now clarified. I agree, most of these guys did not factor into the on-field mesh so much. That also takes place off the field, but no one here was a consistent starter, 'cept maybe Zapata.
zapata surprises me because well i thought he was fantastic. yeah he got caught out but what left back who charges forward don't get caught out? i thought nane looked like a good replacement in-case Thomas get's injured. easily fit the bill. very curious what were doing tho. lost two center backs 2 left back a cdm two strikers and a useless gk. honestly we only need too goalies. i think wallace should been gone an acl tear and a Achilles in a 25 year old player yikes
Ah, that slightly changes things. Last I saw he had a three-year deal signed in '10, which would've made this last season his 3rd year. If he makes it to the 2nd round of the waiver draft (likely, because of his contract), any other team can still renegotiate without having to give us anything. Still, if a player is traded, is the other team forced to pick up his option? Or is it just if he's picked up in the waiver draft?
Just tallied up how much money we freed up with these cuts, according to guaranteed compensation from 2012: $985,607 and change. Add in a possible departure of Mastroeni and Smith: $1,389,599 and change. I know salaries for some of these players would be different for 2013 but it gives you an idea what we have to play with under the cap this year.
Well, at this point I've gotta say next year is a referendum year: you've already had 3 failed acquisitions by Bravo/Pareja who were let go (who combined were paid $260k), and you let go of Casey, a semi fan-favorite, our all time leading scorer and a guy who was integral to the team's success. You've traded away Kimura, another fan favorite, and yet to find an equal or better replacement. Pablo's injury has left a huge leadership void that was not filled or picked up by neither a single nor a combination of any of the signings last year. If the system (and whatever players are brought in with all this free cap space) fails again next year, at least one of the 3-headed braintrust needs to find their head on the chopping block.
I don't know a better way to "own up to it" than to cut them. What do you expect? A press conference apologizing to the fans for bringing in three guys that didn't work out?