I'm guessing the fact that they listed the allocation money first is why CrazyJohn made this assumption. May be a fair assumption to make IMO. "Putting it to use immediately" is a bit of a guess I suppose. This Cummings trade, if followed by a JL trade would probably signal a DP type move in the near future (no, I have nothing to point to in RFO recent history as "evidence" for my opinionmaking on this). I am guessing most in the RFO know that a Cummings-for-Sturgis trade looks bad so I will be optimistic and believe they have a few moves to make yet and this was more about $ than players, and piece to a larger move. I will wholeheartedly agree that if we continue to aquire players like Harris, Sturgis and Avila (even Buddle) after getting rid of players like Casey, Cummings, (possibley JL) and to some extent Freeman, what we have is a floundering soccer management team that, even after a losing season, cannot find it's way into putting together a competetive team.
This. I am happy for Omar. It will be painful if 2010 Omar shows back up, but I don't think he was coming back if he stayed here, so I am happy for Omar that he gets a fresh start. I'm happy for us too because we can finally move on from constantly wondering when he will get his mojo back while playing him out of position. Considering they are listing the allocation money before Sturgis, does hint that it is a significant sum. Which should imply there is a big signing coming. Farewell and good luck Omar.
Sorry to see Omar go but the writing was on the wall given Hichey's twitter posts this season. I'll defer judgement until we see what they put the allocation money towards.
Or it could just be that the spin doctors at the RFO realized some fans wouldn't be happy with just "Sturgis and cash" for Omar, so they play it as "allocation + Sturgis", fully aware that no one outside of the RFO's inner circles will ever know how much cash that is and what it will be used for, milking the unknowable to create false hope. Again, I'm fine with the Rapids trading Omar at this time, but you don't trade him for 50 cents on the dollar. I have no confidence that the organization got enough cash to make the deal better than that.
Much like the Koz trade, my fiest instinct is that this was a decent trade but this trade can't be really judged until we know what the allocation money brings us. Omar hasn't been the same player the last 2 years and I didn't see anything that made me believe that would change in 2013, so it was probably time to move on. And just a data point, we wasted the international slot we got for Koz but we also got allocation money in that trade, which we used when we signed Thomas. So we gave Koz away for dirt cheap but not quite free.
I should know this, but where was the international slot we got for Koz wasted? Edit: So it looks like we gave it to Vancouver for Harris, no? So, IMO it was not wasted so much as we used it in another aquisition. Wasted applies as long as one thinks Harris is not worth his salary and/or the slot. But...minimally, we did get something for it.
What do you think we would try to obtain with Jeff? I would love tempt skc with jeff and allocation money. chance was only paid 82 k last year and correct me if i'm wrong his was in his last year and has not resigned? or is under contract till 2013? either way... first draft pick imo the best right back in the league and would really bring balance to the backline for the rapids.
When has he played as a centerback? The MLS site has him at midfielder for 13 of his 15 starts the past two seasons. One of those centerback starts was the last game of the 2012 season against the Rapids. The MLS site doesn't have formation diagrams for 2010, but has him listed as a midfielder. Parke, Ianni and Hurtado were on that team as well, so it seems he played more midfield that season, too. This trade is definitely about the allocation money. They may be planning to trade Larentowicz, but they can do that with or without Sturgis. You can always pick up guys like that. I wonder if the allocation money is further trade bait. They cleared quite a bit off the roster so you'd think they wouldn't need it to fit more players under the budget. I suppose it's possible they broke the bank for Thomas and Wynne.
After watching Omar's struggles the past two seasons, it's a wonder to review his outrageous 2010 season:
The slot we got for Koz was just through the end of 2012, a week later we cut an international, then we signed one international (Thomas), the rest of the season. So we never used the slot we got in the Koz trade in 2012, and now it reverts back to Portland.
Also, sorry to keep hammering on this, but: who here believes we got more allocation cash for Omar from Houston than what we had to shell out to LA to get Buddle? I know everyone would like this to result in a big signing, but I have a feeling that cash didn't even get us back to square one.
I will miss Omar just like I'll miss Conner. And even still miss Joe Cannon and Colin Clark too. But there comes at time when change is best. Looking forward to the rest of the roster moves as many have noted.
I'm very thankful for what Omar, Koz & Conor did for this franchise, but I'm extremely happy to see all of them go, both for the future of this team and their future. In 2012 we worked with Gary Smith's leftovers that were personnel choices based off of his philosophy, which totally revolved around Casey and Cummings. And when we didn't get to see them much on the field together recapturing that fabled 2010 magic that we so desperately cling to we were awful, go figure. I don't put much blame on Pareja for that terrible excuse for a roster we had last season, its pretty hard to argue that our bench players were nothing short of awful (Wells, Palguta, Marshall, zero depth at fullback, etc.). Which is why I'm happy to see players added for depth so far this offseason. FWIW, as bad as last season was, it wasn't nearly as bad as 2011, which to me was some of the most boring soccer I've ever watched. I for one am glad to part ways with almost all of the hoopla and nostalgia that surrounds that 2010 team. So long as we get at minimum a replacement of at least the caliber of 2012 Omar, I'm happy. I don't consider anyone we've picked up so far in the offseason a replacement so far. But we still have 3+ months until the season begins.
Ahh yes, that is in fact a waste. But seems to me Portland had to give something to CO for Koz and his expressed desire to leave the team, lest it look like we simply "gave" him away (our end of the bargain was a token offer and not having to pay Kimura's salary) . Seems obvious that OP/Bravo were not too thrilled with his contributions to the Rapids in 2012. Didn't work out too well for Portland either.
Speak for yourself. 2012 had some of the worst soccer this club has ever produced. I personally resent watching a team regress to a level of play comparable to 1996 MLS.
You are assuming there is enough intelligence within the FO to be that conniving. I don't think there is. I think it was probably much simpler thinking than you suggest.
Let me put it this way - I don't think the RFO is all that soccer smart, but I do think they're business savvy. They found a way to cut $1million in losses while barely raising attendance from last year. They found a way to nudge their way into micromanaging the team 6 months after winning the Cup and forcing out Gary Smith a year after winning the Cup. They play the social media fiddle and hand-pick reporters, so that they can control the message on all stories while appearing "transparent". And as Jon pointed out, they did make a point of putting "allocation" at the front of the story, which is never just a happy accident. If you want to think their motives are less calculated, that's fine, we can agree to disagree. But I don't think they don't know what they're doing on the business side of the equation - well, at least in matters not concerning shirt sponsorship.