Off-Season Player Rumors & Movement 2013

over/under on Ruiz?

if this happens be interesting to see the fans who ripped him to shreds if he comes in scoring goals like a striker does on most teams....ya know something we aren't used to seeing here....

 

Carlien Le Chooch? I'd sign him.

 

Forget about "blasts from the past", forget about the "IRS issues" and forget about the fact that some fans didn't "like" Ruiz. The only question is this: Would Carlos Ruiz make the Union a better team? There is no doubt that the answer is: YES.

 

May have been the only Union fan to not have a problem with either Ruiz or LeToux...but my offer to the Goats still stands:

Take the hired gun (Carlos)
Leave the Cannoli (Agudelo)

*agree totally with acquiring 2 forwards

 

so was the news of ruiz not enjoying his time here all part of nowak bullcrap machine? or does he really hate it here?

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/Carlos-Ruiz-leaving-the-Philadelphia-Union.html

 

Agreed, but there is also another question - are there better, realistic options?
It would be foolish to ignore the baggage issues Dills mentions, too.

 

Would Carlos Ruiz be a good scorer? Yes. That doesn't necessarily mean he makes the Union a better team.

 

The team is more likely to win more game with him than without him.

I agree that there may be better options out there, but as it currently stands, the team would be better off with him that without him. If we also had the opportunity to get Grafite or Keane or Messi, then the question might change.

I know that this is too simplistic, but from 2010 through the present, what was the Union's record when Ruiz played and what was their record when he did not play or was not on the team?

 

Like I said, he'll score goals for the Union. That's great. That doesn't make the Union a better team because he's on the roster, though.

 

TBG's piece on the Brazilian did spark a bit of thought for me.
What if Grafite is a legit summer option? Do they move on the Argentine and wait it out?

 

If Grafite is a legit summer option, then he should be a legit winter option as well as long as the transfer fee is reasonable.

 

Very few teams have the ability to wait until July to start their playoff run. The Chicago Fire and Sporting Kansas Cityare the only ones that spring to mind recently. The Union needs help immediately. If they wait for something that might come to fruition during the summer, it will probably be too late for a playoff push. So to answer the question, if we can sign anyone of value now, it MUST be done!, independent of what is done in the summer transfer window.

This is the one way that Al O' Cayshun might actually help the Union.

 

In a salary cap league, with a limited senior roster, this is never the only question. There is an opportunity cost to signing any player.

The question is, is Ruiz the best way the Union can use a senior, international roster spot and the amount of cap space he'll demand?

 

while i was a big fan of both of these players when they were on the team, bringing them back is the FO reaching. there time here is over, we need a REBUILD not a MAKEOVER.

 

What baggage with the Union. Didn't he just leave because of the money?

 

Maybe I'm a bit misunderstood. Not talking about tanking first half. I'm saying Union have a number of needs. Given they're in negotiations for an international South America signing up front currently, and we're talking about significant assets for a "known" 2nd in Ruiz, IF Grafite is legit about wanting to come.........

and can't get out of UAE before summer............

Couldn't Philly make that signing(Armani) and bypass Ruiz to make the second move(on a F ) in July ?

 

I'd take Ruiz back again. But like all MLS deals, it only makes sense for the right money. $150-175k? Sure, welcome back Carlos. >$200k? Um, sorry, we're good!

As for the FO, if they would bring him back, I sure would hope that someone down there on the water front apologizes to the fans for the way things went down when they got rid of him the 1st time. Although we still have a group of numb-nuts who still believe to this day that their supreme leader (Nowak) was right in that is was the fans fault for why they sold Carlos, I would hope someone has the balls to say the truth. That Nowak was an idiot willing to blame anyone for his dumb moves that destroyed this team and the rest FO just went along with it.

 

Pretty hard to believe anyone out there in our community is supportive of Nowak or his player/personnel moves that tore up a playoff team. As for the FO, I think they wanted a stable club structure (i.e. NOT TFC) and thought supporting their coach was the way to make that happen. Then they realized the coach was destabilizing things, arguably defrauding them, and had to about face. Just my two cents there.

I agree with you that Ruiz is an option but only at the right price (that's everyone, right?) He's a great MLS poacher, but with Jack Mac developing his talent, I wouldn't be as willing to pay a lot for a Ruiz.

Anyway, glad to hear all the positive discussion on the transfer front. It's good to feel that the Union have options. I'm encouraged by Hack's trip to Argentina. Shows there is at least some interest in building this team back up to competitiveness.

 

Do you want the truth, or do you just want validation of your bias?

From my personal experience over the few months he was here, a league legend was thrown racial epithets from his own fans in multiple parts of the stadium as he was leading the team in scoring and single handedly winning points for the team in the standings. What do you think is more realistic, a player wanting to take a step down to the 2nd division in Mexico for a small raise, or saying "fck this" and skipping town. Maybe he hopes now you all realized the error in your ways when your idol Le Toux led this team to flop big time in the second half of the season.

Agreeing with Nowak's statement that it was mostly the fans fault doesn't seem too farfetched from what my experiences in the river end and in other sections was. That said, Nowak did a lot of stupid shit and made a mess of things that could have been avoided. Doesn't make me a fanboy to believe a statement I have first hand evidence to back up.

 

Maybe if he wasn't so lazy.