It all depends on what it will cost to get them but I would like Wynne, Opara, and take a flyer on Gavin. CUSA is ass backwards in pretty much everything so I think Gavin, if he can stay healthy, can be a productive MLS player. Opara seemed to be turning into an MLS defender but suffered a concussion. He has been prone to mental mistakes. Wynne is a veteran and I think could fill the RB role nicely.
I don't think that BB's comments had anything to do with our wage budget. We've got all sorts of money to work with right now. Luthy would probably sign for the league minimum (33,400?) because its more than he is going to be offered elsewhere in MLS and it is more than he would make in USL/PDL. I think what BB was referring to was the possibility that Barson may not want to play professional soccer, they may have a different option other than Luthy as a #3 goalkeeper, and Trapp may want to stay in school.
It looks like his option is $55k-ish. I think this is a no-brainer for the Crew. He knows the system, is responsible and he is cheap. It looked like he was injured early in Montreal and then he never "fit the system." He was a good defender, pretty good crosser and great on dead balls. Has anyone heard of injury concerns?
I would take Segares (in round 2) or Gardner (in round 1 or 2) at LB. Paulo Jr. (in round 1 or 2) or Maicon (in round 2) at forward. Opara would be a huge gamble given his injury history, but he and Wynne are intriguing options as well.
I instantly want Paulo Jr, Opara, Gardner and Birchall. We have freed up almost a million in salary. For those 4 players you are looking at $250ish (give or take) That's a pretty good purchase for occasional starters and experience. Where is the Barbasol money McCullers?
More on why I want Maicon: He made $116k last year (I'll remind everyone that Vargas was making $170k). He's coming off a career year in goalscoring, is still only 28, and he can actually score with his head, which is something we are in dire need of. He's also proven that he can score at least 4-5 goals a season in MLS.
Past the first round I'd consider Rodney Wallace as well. He's better in mid-field but we could use some depth all along the left.
We're not selecting any of these players. I want some of them too, but we are going to be college kids + Gaven, Arrieta, Higuain, Andy G next year. It's the cheapest option available, ergo the club will select it.
He scored 7 last year, which would have helped us out nicely. We're not grabbing an everyday starter here, we're taking a guy to spot start or sub in because he has a specific ability that no one else on our team has.
The problem I see with taking Santos is that he wouldn't be a starter and even renegotiated he'd probably be too expensive as a backup. Even if I think Higuain would be good as a roaming AM with two forwards in front of him I don't think we'll see that happen. Higuain will play as a withdrawn forward with Danny and Miro behind him and Arrieta up top. Rent probably isn't going to play wide so he'll be one option off the bench. Yes I'm assuming some of the guys we don't have signed right now will reup but I think that's what's going to happen. Any forward we get will be competing with Rent to come off the bench so I like Paulo Jr. as a speed option/super sub but Santos to me would just be too expensive to sit on the bench. If we played a different was or I thought it was likely we'd change the way we play slightly I'd look at him but I don't think the likelihood of that is high.
What ZipSix said is correct so brace for it. We're not bringing in shit. If anything, we'll renegotiate with some of the players we cut loose for less money. Otherwise, it is going to be cheapo college kids and USL players. You all fail to realize us fans and the club itself have very different aspirations.
I thought we would be conservative last offseason but we brought in Vargas and Milo who were by no means cheap. Add Higauin and Arrieta and we had some pretty big acquisitions. We chose Mendes the first round of the re-entry draft last year. This club has surprised me with their signings recently and I don't think they only sign USL and college players. I'm not saying we won't bring in rookies and homegrown players, but what I am saying is that we probably will bring in a couple veterans. I hope they do because we can't win without an experienced team, at least not in the near future.
So trade Renteria for draft picks. Problem solved! I think he has outlived his usefulness here, and he makes more than Maicon.* *We would never do this because Renteria can play on the wing if needed.
It's not that I don't agree with you I'm just going by whats been said in Jardy's articles. It sounds like Rent and Danny are more than likely to come back at a reduced price. Miranda is a maybe but I think he'll be back; everyone else seems gone.
Duka is the tradebait. I sincerely hope we do NOT trade him for a draft pick though. That is crap. Lots of Allocation money or a player please.
MLS roster/wage structure rules are too complicated for me. I give up trying to make sense of everything.
Depends on the pick for me. I doubt we get more than we paid for him (8th overall), but I wouldn't settle for less. On the surface of it, a young, technically gifted attacking player with USMNT aspirations should garner a nice return. As skilled as he is, Duka hasn't really added much in his time here. He's injury-prone, he isn't a goalscorer, and he hasn't been able to consistently create chances like we need a starting winger to. His crossing accuracy is average, and his defensive numbers were down in 2012 from 2011. I sense there's a lot of friction between him and the FO cabal, too. On the other hand, he's only 23. He still has a few years before his development is really over.
I would love to see Duka go on loan somewhere for a full year. He has such potential, and I don't want to trade that away just yet. Loan him somewhere he will get plenty of playing time, and reevaluate him in a year. Loan would have to be overseas somewhere, maybe the Bundesliga 2 or the Championship.
There's no way a Championship side takes a guy on loan who's injury-prone and hasn't even produced in MLS. I hear Stevenage is looking for attacking players.