I think the trading deadline is approaching soon. Most years there are a few player for player deals the last day or two. Haven't heard much about any potential deals. I think this might be a record for MLS for the longest time into the season since opening day without a player for player trade. I don't remember many in the offseason either though I'll have to check my records that are currently on another hard drive.
So far no player for player deals. http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20040831&content_id=13232&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp COL traded a 6th round 2005 pick to LA for Ricky Lewis http://www.coloradorapids.com/News/newsdetails.asp?ID=563 http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/MLS/new...ent_id=13218&vkey=news_lag&fext=.jsp&team=lag CHI reportedly traded a natural 3rd round pick in 2005 to DAL for a discovery option (used on Andy Herron) http://www.thefirealarm.com/tfadefault.cfm?page=ARTICLE&show=541
Can you say stagnation? No one wants to trade for someone else's crap. This is an endictment of how shallow the talent pool is here.
I think it's just the fact that the league is so close, especially in the west. no team is willing to give up a player to another team for fear that he will come back and end their season. Were there 16 teams with 8 in the playoffs, the bottom 3-4 that were virtually or statictically out of the playoffs would dump their better players to the teams really striving to make a run in the playoffs. With only the bottom two teams missing the playoffs, right now those two teams are one point each away from a spot. They can't dump a good player to make room for the future. Also, with the expansion draft coming, any new player is potentially up for grabs at the end of the season. It's a risky year to make a move for a lot of different reasons.
That's a judgement call I won't make. I do believe the league is leaps and bounds ahead where it was 8 years ago.
Agreed but what often results is tactical battles where we end up seeing very unentertaining soocer between closely matched team. The league hs to make an effort entertain those who are not part of the hard core. People like me will watch no matter what but others need a little spice to keep them interested (and they do want to be interested). We only have 3-4 teams in this league that are even marginally entertaining to watch (SJ, LA, Metros - DC sometimes) the others are really painful to watch. The great Chicago team of last year was decimated when they lost their two best players and by injuries. MLS should have stepped up and said "You know what, the quality you bring to this league is an asset. We need to make sure that this level of quality remains. Go out and find the players you need (within the cap constraints) and we will make sure you geet those players." But they simply let this team wither. Its as if they don't even know its a problem. Most of the teams in this league are a pain to watch. We also need to address the piss poor officiating that makes creative attractive football impossible in this league but thats for a whole other thread.
I always thought this was Peter and Dave's Job not Don and Ivan's. We got allocations for DMB and Boca. We have signed Boucicot and Herron. We may still sign Caballero. We haven't yet used any of those allocations although if we sign Cab the smaller Boca allocation will probably go to him. The larger allocation from DaMarcus will wait until next year. So who is it that isn't doing anything?
The problem is the whole allocation/discovery/draft nonesense. They need to take the shackles off (keep the cap) and give these teams freedom to do what they need to do to entertain the fans. Why should a team need to trade a draft pick for a discovery pick just to sign a player no one else wants? It unecessary.
I believe LA was the last team not to have made a roster move during the regular season. They still haven't added a player but likely will in Gordon. I think I remember one year when SJ was the only team not to make a roster move and they won it all (maybe more of a result of a good team than a cause of winning). I like giving players a chance to bond together and think it's bad for attendance when players are constantly shuffling in and out. In a 10 team league you see other teams often and fans shouldn't have to cheer for a bunch of guys one day and then soon have them come back on other teams they're supposed to have some great rivalry with.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding things, but both of the Quakes championship teams made moves ... 2001 Carrieri for Agogo, Krakowiak cut 2003 Allocation for Faria, Maliza signed, cut
