It hit me when I read this Hinchey quote ... could Thomas be the DP player that Bravo referred to as coming from the East? As an example, resigning someone like Hendry Thomas from Wigan, 27 years old, been a captain for Honduras in the World Cup and Olympics, that’s the kind of player we want because not only does he come in right away and do a fantastic job, he wants to be on this side of hemisphere to get back in the national team.
I was kind of thinking that too, but I hope not. I don't think he fits the "attacking player" description Bravo used to describe what they're looking for in the DP.
That and Hinchey retweeted the link this morning. I don't think he would have done that unless it was new. It is annoying that the website doesn't have dates on it though.
I believe he would have to go through a the Waiver draft (Where we got Freeman last year) and not be chosen for us to do that. Jason- correct me if I am wrong.
Only if they actually waive him. They can resign him to a new deal before his current contract runs out.
It did, this is an option year, which as far as I know are take it or leave it deals Actually if we declined he would not go through a Waiver draft becuase that is only for guys under contract but waived. He would be a complete FA and Rapids or anyone could sign him.
Big Chil is essentially right. The Rapids have exclusive negotiating rights to him prior to the re-entry draft. They can decline his option and offer him a new contract. If he accepts then that's it. If he rejects the new contract then he goes into the re-entry draft where any team can claim him.
Also, since this is an option year for Casey, any team that selects him in Phase 1 of the re-entry draft is picking up his option. He would have to get to Phase 2 before a team (other than the Rapids) could offer him a new contract. The current team has exclusive negotiating rights with the player between now and Phase 1, as well as between Phase 1 and Phase 2 if he is not chosen in Phase 1 (essentially a period where the Rapids can say "See, nobody wanted you at your current price, now are you more interested in staying here at a lower number or taking your chances elsewhere?").
Wow, I'm surprised that is the way it is. I guess it sort of makes sense because he technically still has some contract left if someone else wants to pick up the option, but I would think that once the option isn't picked up he would be treated more as a Free Agent at that point rather than as a player under contract that was waived. I can see both side to it and in Casey's instance I think it is working against him because he would probably rather be allowed to become a free agent unless someone picks him up in Phase 1 and activates the option which seems unlikely to me.
Well remember that MLS is single-entity. There aren't 19 different corporate entities and a League Office corporate entity (like there are in the NFL, NBA, etc.), there's just one corporate entity headquartered in NY with branch offices in LA, Houston, Commerce City, etc. So MLS specifically doesn't want teams negotiating against each other in the league because at the end of the day MLS is going to be paying Casey regardless of which MLS uniform he wears (assuming he stays in the league) and they want to pay him as little as possible. Now as soon as Casey's contract for this year ends and the Rapids fail to pick up his option, he's free to go anywhere else outside MLS and play. If he wants to play in MLS though, he has to go through the re-entry drafts (and/or accept the lower contract from the Rapids).
Mobi Fehr (an ex US U-17 player) recently signed with MLS and will go through allocation. He had played with Wilmer Cabrera's 2011 U-17 US team as a CB (that's what caught my attention) but prefers to be a D-mid. He recently trialed for Portland but it sounds like they couldn't sign him because of the allocation process. http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110...cer?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Just wondering out loud if he's worth the gamble, assuming he would be allocated after the order gets reset. If he did our allocation spot is gone until 2014 if I got that right (Jason?). It would be a weighted lottery so we would have a shot if I got my rules right.
I don't know if he's coming in under the 2012 or 2013 lottery. If its under 2012 we don't have a chance to get him (due to the Kamani Hill "lottery"). If its 2013 we can participate but if we got him we'd lose any chance to any other 2013 lottery players. Allocation order is not affected by this (despite MLSSoccer.com's screw-up of this when referring to Kamani Hill)
I would think the allocation order would reset after the roster freeze ends (dec. 2nd) but I got nothing to back that up. It would be weird to think he would fall under the 2012 allocation order. If I got it right our spot is #6 (I'm assuming its the same order as the draft). I can't imagine that every team in front of us will try to get him. Is it possible to trade for another teams allocation spot without sacrificing our own?
Not allocation order, lottery. Despite MLSSoccer.com's best attempt to merge the two this season they are two separate player acquisition methods. Lottery - All teams who have not won a lottery in the current season are eligible if they want to be, with their percentage chances being based in reverse standing order over the last 34 games. Once you win a lottery you're out until next season (or the rare possibility that 20 lottery players are signed in a season, meaning everyone won one and they need to start over). Allocation - Reset at the beginning of each season (or end of the last one, need to check) in reverse standing order. Once you use your spot you move to the back of the line. You can sign more than one allocated player a year if everyone in front of you passes on the player. Reports are that Fehr will be a lottery player, as was Kamani Hill (per the Rapids on Sept. 12th). If he falls under the 2012 lottery we're out due to getting Hill in a lottery. If he falls under the 2013 lottery we have a shot if we want to take it.
Not arguing with you at all (I always appreciate your insight, thanks). The rules you posted above are spot on as far as I can see, but I'm lost when I read the official rules as to what sort of players go into each process. According to what I read I don't understand how Fehr (and Kamani Hill for that matter) go through the lottery and not allocation. Basically it sounds like that the lottery system is meant for ex-college or GA types that sign with MLS after the draft is over. Per MLS official rules: I fail to see how Fehr qualifies for either of these criteria. Seems to me he should be draft eligible for 2013. I don't see how Kamani Hill fell into the lottery process either. According to what I'm reading allocation seems strictly for returning USMNT pool players. I don't mean to hijack the thread so I'll stop questioning the rules, but this doesn't make sense at all...
Oh, that I'll agree with you on. Even the other diehards over in MLS: N&A are questioning why Fehr is going into a lottery instead of just next year's draft or an allocation. I think the reason that he's not an allocation player is that he's only ever played with the National Youth teams, never gotten a full cap (unlike Hill). The best answer we could come up with on Hill was that nobody else (reportedly) wanted him but the Rapids. So rather than send him through an allocation process they just made him a "lottery" with only one entrant, Colorado. MLS has always been somewhat Calvin-ball with these type of players though, so its hard to know for sure.
I'm wondering if this is the answer to both of those questions. If both Hill and Fehr were previously offered contracts with MLS before and passed on it this would make a lot more sense
Surprised no one has mentioned the SI article on Stan Kroenke in Nov 19, 2012 issue. Finally got around to reading it and it is quite a work, I am sure you most of you would find more inaccuracy's then I can. Some of my favorites: Stan "genially explains soccers subtle charms to neophytes" He can bench press 225 pounds 12 times Rapids and Facilities are worth $150M Wow, I feel dirty after reading it, time to hit the shower.
Warning: long rant to follow. I haven’t posted on Big Soccer in a month. That’s because I took a full month off from the Rapids after this miserable wretch of a season finally ended. I skipped the RFO’s spam e-mails. I didn’t follow the Rapids news releases. And I didn’t read any of the posts on Big Soccer. I didn’t watch or follow any of the playoff games and I really don’t care about the MLS Cup this year. Frankly, this season was so unpleasant that I needed the time away from following the team to keep me from becoming completely jaded about the Rapids. Yesterday, when I heard the words “the turkey’s almost done” I thought about the Rapids organization and decided to see what has been happening since the 2012 season mercifully ended. I’m a passionate soccer fan. I grew up playing the game (as a below-average right back) and generally enjoy watching soccer played at any level. I’ve been a Rapids fan since 1996 and have had season tickets individually or part of a group of friends since 1997, except for one year (the swan song season for the coach who will not be mentioned again). Frankly, 2012 was the most miserable season I’ve endured, and I needed some time to decide if I even want to go through another season as a ticket holder. I’ve already bought the 2013 season tickets, and I’ll be there again, but I’ve about had it with the lack of commitment to winning. The Rapids organization is dysfunctional, from top to bottom. The absentee landlord owner doesn’t care about the team, results, fans or the game itself. The technical director and coaching staff can’t articulate a cohesive vision for the team. The RFO has a well-deserved reputation as the Ministry of Truth, dispensing ridiculous misinformation out of ignorance or intent. The ill-trained security employees at DSG are more of a nuisance than a help, from needlessly annoying the visiting team fans to incessantly pestering me for proof of my ticket and seat assignment when my hands are full with concession food and my butt’s in the same seat every match. Commerce City Police Department traffic control randomly directs me to outer Kansas, adding 15 minutes to my postgame escape. The “authentic soccer experience” included annoying high school bands that became more of a nuisance as the season progressed, incessant repetition of the same blathering videos about how great the season would be long after it became evident that it was a lost season and an empty routine of excuses and bland promises by the coaching staff and RFO after each loss. The quality of play is amateurish at times, minor league often and on a few exciting occasions actually good. It isn’t that the team missed the playoffs. As poorly as the team played all year, playoffs wouldn’t have been deserved. I thought about the cost of my season tickets. On top of the actual cost, I have gasoline expense and vehicle wear and tear for the round trip from Fort Fun to the games, concession expenses and occasionally extra tickets for friends. Over a season, that adds up to more than two car payments. Am I getting my money’s worth for my entertainment dollars? This season, the honest answer was “no.” If a new product that I bought for that much money had performed like the 2012 Rapids, I would have returned it for a refund or exchange. If my car had performed like the 2012 Rapids, I would have dumped it on Craigslist or consigned it to the Denver Auto Auction. Why should the fact that this was a sports entertainment expense require a different answer from me, a customer? The Rapids organization has the burden to convince me to keep spending my hand earned money to watch them play a game. Next season will be their chance to keep me or lose me as a paying fan. What do they need to do? Here’s a checklist for starters: + Quit feeding me baloney when I want substance. Quit pretending that everything is fine when anybody watching a match can see that the players aren’t on the same page, the coach is lost in space and the other teams are clearly better. For once, be honest about the quality of play. For once admit that you don’t know how to fix it if you really don’t know how to fix it. Stop pretending that certain players are essential when the same players are being shopped to every team in the league. Stop pretending that a certain formation or coaching style is the answer, when it’s obvious that the talent on the pitch can’t play that style. Stop claiming a sellout when half the seats are empty. Lose the “everything’s rainbows and butterflies” press releases and spam emails. Quit promising jersey sponsors and great happenings when nothing is happening. I can handle truth. I’m an adult. + Get rid of the garbage. Stop trying to “create an authentic soccer atmosphere” and simply figure out how to put a winning team on the pitch. The atmosphere will solve itself if the team wins. Ditch the stupid high school bands. Ditch the gaggle of mascots. Ditch the dumb videos that could bore a dead person. Just figure out how to win. + Lose the needless annoyances. Tell the police department to allow a right turn onto 56th after games and if they can’t figure out how to do that, hire private security to direct traffic. It works for construction sites. The way the team is playing, frankly there aren’t that many cars to contend with. Get rid of the robotic stadium security thugs and replace them with people who actually like it when people show up and pay real money to keep them employed. Fix the stupid ticketing system so it actually works. Figure out how to let season ticket holders into the stadium early and let season ticket holders exit and reenter. Figure out how to put accurate game times and dates and accurate information on the website. Say “thank you” every now and then. It would be nice to know that paying fans are the reason for the business rather than an interruption. End of rant. I’m looking forward to seeing the RFO earn my ticket money in 2013.