Possible DC Trade Targets

[Liverpool_SC]

As a sideline to the SuperDraft discussion, who are some potential trade targets that might improve DC's starting XI?

Here are some suggestions that I think would be useful signings:

Wide Midfielders

General consensus is that we need to upgrade this position to keep teams from clogging the middle, as MetroStars and Fire did last season towards the end of the year. Dema was afforded lots of space, but could not make opponents pay. Will Gros and Santino be effective enough two-way players to hold these spots down by themselves? Can we afford to wait to see if Nick Van Sicklen will pan-out? Is Freddy really strong enough to play this position the way that Earnie Stewart did so effectively two seasons ago (it really is a two-way position)?

There is a comparative lack of great wide players in MLS, but here are some guys that I think would provide good two-way athleticism with a technical upgrade/complement to Josh Gros:

David Testo - very athletic, quite a bit of skill and the tenacity and attitude of a goal-scorer. Testo may be a great asset in a wide position. Perhaps we could trade one of our surplus defensive midfielders to Sigi to get our hands on him.

Adolfo Gregario - before Josmar Altidore, Adolfo Gregario tore up the MLS Combine from a wing position. He has not really laid down a body of work commensurate with that performance (a warning perhaps against thinking that Altidore will be ready to contribute right away in MLS) in his 2 years as a professional, but after his seasoning at Darlington in the Football League, a completely unworkable situation last year at RSL might not have provided him with the opportunities to show what he can do. RSL might benefit from some defensive reinforcement, and the former UCLA product may be a great player in the future.

Hunter Freeman - with Terry Cooke, Dan Gargan and a few other players available to Fernando Clavijo, perhaps DC could come up with a package that would tempt the Rapids to trade their right-sided bomber. He may not be the best defensively, but he can support play well and he is very fluid up the right side of the field in the attack. I wouldn't mind having the former UVA player on our side. Colorado definitely needs help along the backline, after losing Richie Kotschau and seeing Nat Borchers casting a long eye towards Scandinavia. The loss of Pablo Mastroeni for six weeks may also see the Rapids interested in signing a backup for a defensive midfield role. DC has a bit of a surplus at each of these positions. What would be a fair trade that might tempt Clavijo?

Strikers

DC is blessed with excellent forwards - guys who see the field, attack defenders on the dribble, deliver pinpoint passes and score their share of goals when given time and a big enough opening. But DC really misses a direct-running, athletic foil for Santino Quaranta, Jaime Moreno and Freddy Adu. And sadly, Alecko Eskandarian may not be able to play again for DC United. Maybe Jamil Walker can dial in his finishing. But DC needs a guy who demands the ball so that he can see-the-goal and shoot-the-ball. Hopefully he will also spread the defense with some speed and give us a bit of an aerial threat to accompany the upgraded wing play that we all want to see. Here's to some players that can boost Jaime and Gomito's assist totals into double figures before the end of August!

Abe Thompson - questions about his durability downgraded the draft position of the former Maryland striker. But in his first season in MLS, he was more productive than almost every league striker on a per minute basis. Abe has great power, good anticipation and plenty of finishing nous. He could be a natural goalscorer in a lineup that provides the kind of service that DC's savvy passing midfield is famous for.

Jean-Phillipe Peguero - The Haitian bomber is not as technically refined as other MLS power-forwards and his finishing technique is not perfect. But he is hard-working and he would take a lot of the physically draining ball-holding burden off of Jaime and free him up to focus on attacking defenders with dribbling and passing. It might be tough to get Clavijo to give up this guy. But if they are missing Kotschau, Petke and Borchers next season (as rumors have suggested), they may need to draft in some defenders. Would it be worth it for DC to trade Bryan Namoff for a forward of J-P's pedigree?

Give me your comments and some other suggestions of guys who you think would be better fits. But please be realistic (and let me know if I am not being realistic).

[owendylan]

Testo seemed really slow the few times I watched columbus and he played. Freeman maybe but I wouldn't give up much for him, maybe a 4th round pick or a hunk of provolone cheese.

I like Abe Thompson. Always have since his days at Woodson HS. I would tak him over Pegeuro, but once again wouldn't give up much.

[Liverpool_SC]

Freeman maybe but I wouldn't give up much for him, maybe a 4th round pick or a hunk of provolone cheese.

Come on and be serious. He was a first rounder last year and he played alright. I would consider trading Prideaux straight up for him.

I like Abe Thompson. Always have since his days at Woodson HS. I would tak him over Pegeuro, but once again wouldn't give up much.

Why not? Is a damaged-goods Esky better than Thompson? Thompson costs very little and averaged a goal every 112 minutes last year. He could be the next Brian Ching. Why wouldn't you be willing to give up much? So you can have Shaun Kuykendall or Brandon Prideaux sitting on the bench while we have two overly deferential guys passing the ball to each other upfront, rather then shooting the d*#^ ball!?

What are your ideas for improving the team via trades?

[Claymore]

Adu for Eddie Johnson, straight up.

Aside from giving us some scoring power, it would also yield the much-desired result of Korholio's head exploding.


And no, I'm not completely serious.

[Dave Brother]

Adu for Eddie Johnson, straight up.

Aside from giving us some scoring power, it would also yield the much-desired result of Korholio's head exploding.


And no, I'm not completely serious.
That alone would be worth the price of admission. :D

[jason1551]

That's a pretty good list. Other possibilities would be:

1. Arturo Alvarez- He's young. left-footed, and did reasonably well with FCD. He seems like he's close to breaking through as a professional and likely wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg. Probably a decent draft pick or player trade (Prideaux? Wilson? Stokes?).

2. Chris Gbandi- Same as the above, plus he could play in the back. He seems to fade in and out of games, so you're not sure which player you're going to get, but he's worth a gamble. Maybe a draft pick or a player trade.

3. Shavar Thomas- Gets buried in KC's lineup behind some of their other defenders and midfielders, but I think he'd be a great acquistion. More defensive than the above, but a target I would love to pursue. I could see a Prideaux for Thomas trade as very realistic.

4. Chris Klein- You would think he'd be untouchable, but his past injuries may make him available, especially if KC looks to retool their lineup following a dismal 2005 season. It would take a high-profile player or pick to get him, though (probably at least a starter and a pick).

[JoeSoccerFan]

I like Jamal Sutton.

[doctorjim]

Wide Midfielders[/U]

General consensus is that we need to upgrade this position to keep teams from clogging the middle, as MetroStars and Fire did last season towards the end of the year. Dema was afforded lots of space, but could not make opponents pay. Will Gros and Santino be effective enough two-way players to hold these spots down by themselves? Can we afford to wait to see if Nick Van Sicklen will pan-out? Is Freddy really strong enough to play this position the way that Earnie Stewart did so effectively two seasons ago (it really is a two-way position)?


Dema certainly was not effective offensively at the wide position, but even with the best wide midfielders in the league, DC would still run the risk of being stymied in the middle of the field. None of DC's central midfielders --Gomez, Olsen, Carroll or Moreno (who really plays midfield in a 3-6-1 lineup) have the field sense and passing ability to get the ball outside at the right times and in the right places. Gomez and Moreno play a style of soccer that accentuates passing short and keeping the ball in the middle of the field. They rarely look wide and rarely make the long diagonal passes that often will free up an outside midfielder. Freddy is by far the best distributor among the DC midfielders. It was he, in many cases, who got Dema the ball in dangerous situations only to watch Dema put it into the stands.

[owendylan]

Come on and be serious. He was a first rounder last year and he played alright. I would consider trading Prideaux straight up for him.



Why not? Is a damaged-goods Esky better than Thompson? Thompson costs very little and averaged a goal every 112 minutes last year. He could be the next Brian Ching. Why wouldn't you be willing to give up much? So you can have Shaun Kuykendall or Brandon Prideaux sitting on the bench while we have two overly deferential guys passing the ball to each other upfront, rather then shooting the d*#^ ball!?

What are your ideas for improving the team via trades?
The reason I say don't give up too much, is these guys are unproven. They may have a lot of potential, but when it comes to trades you don't give up a lot for potential. Even if they were first round picks. So if they wouldn't cost much I would make the trade. Prideaux for Thompson I might make. If you think giving up Kuykendall is giving up a lot, you have a much higheropinion of him than I do. I would trade him for any player on your list. I'm thinking, don't trade away Gros, or Walker or Boswell and maybe Simms. that would be a high price to pay .

[benni...]

Hunter Freeman isnt a bad idea. Looked impressive to me. Also a great crosser.

[gocaps]

The reason I say don't give up too much, is these guys are unproven. They may have a lot of potential, but when it comes to trades you don't give up a lot for potential. Even if they were first round picks. So if they wouldn't cost much I would make the trade. Prideaux for Thompson I might make.
Thompson has actually proven, albeit in limited minutes, that he can score goals in this league. He's young, talented, big, American, cheap, and not going to go away for international duty. And if the rumors about Dallas trading Johnson for Guevara (http://metroempire.matchnight.com/metroindex.cfm?page=ARTICLE&show=277) are true, Dallas is obviously counting on Thompson to move into a starting role next season. It's going to take more than a serviceable but older defender like Brandon Prideaux to pry him away from them.

You don't want to deal Walker? I like Jamil and all, but if I could get Thompson for Walker, straight up, I make the deal and then ask the Dallas front office to pass me the nitrous they've been inhaling.

Can we get realistic here? Where do we have the most to offer in trade? Probably d-mid with Carroll, Olsen, and Simms. Simms seems like obvious trade bait to me. He's cheap with a lot of upside and thus should be able to bring in a solid player in return. Who needs a d-mid (well, besides the Metros)? Simms for Freeman makes a lot of sense...

Chris Klein would be perfect for this team - big and great on the right wing, thus solving two of DC's most glaring deficiencies by himself. But I can't imagine we'd be able to pry him away without giving up a lot.

[suppitty]

I don't think getting JPP from the Rapids is realistic, but I would trade anyone on the team other than Carrol, Jaime, or Gomito for him.

[suppitty]

I don't think getting JPP from the Rapids is realistic, but I would trade anyone on the team other than Carrol, Jaime, or Gomito for him.

[benni...]

Chris Klien could also do the job.

[owendylan]

Thompson has actually proven, albeit in limited minutes, that he can score goals in this league. He's young, talented, big, American, cheap, and not going to go away for international duty. And if the rumors about Dallas trading Johnson for Guevara (http://metroempire.matchnight.com/metroindex.cfm?page=ARTICLE&show=277) are true, Dallas is obviously counting on Thompson to move into a starting role next season. It's going to take more than a serviceable but older defender like Brandon Prideaux to pry him away from them.

You don't want to deal Walker? I like Jamil and all, but if I could get Thompson for Walker, straight up, I make the deal and then ask the Dallas front office to pass me the nitrous they've been inhaling.

Can we get realistic here? Where do we have the most to offer in trade? Probably d-mid with Carroll, Olsen, and Simms. Simms seems like obvious trade bait to me. He's cheap with a lot of upside and thus should be able to bring in a solid player in return. Who needs a d-mid (well, besides the Metros)? Simms for Freeman makes a lot of sense...

Chris Klein would be perfect for this team - big and great on the right wing, thus solving two of DC's most glaring deficiencies by himself. But I can't imagine we'd be able to pry him away without giving up a lot.
OK, Thompson for Walker is a trade I'd make also know that I've thought it over more. Although I wouldn't call 4 goals in 18 games "proven" So I guess Freddy is proven because he scored 5 goals in his first season. So if a player can score 1 goal, has he proven he can score in MLS?

I don't agree that we are loaded at d-mid for trade bait. I'm not sure I'd get rid of Simms just because he is our depth at d-mid and holding mid. I think that for trade bait we can dangle out there Wilson, Prideaux, Rimando, Walker and I would put out there Namoff and shockingly Quaranta for the right player. This isn't to say we trade all of these guys, but we could lose 1, maybe 2 of these guys for the right player(s).

[ursula]

I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing but one of the hallmarks of the Nowak era has been the almost complete lack of trading with other MLS teams, especially when it comes to getting players. Let me try to think of what United has done since hiring Nowak:

- Signed Jaime Moreno when the metro were letting him go anyway.
- Claimed Jamil Walker off waivers.
- Traded away Mike Petke for allocation money, eventually to get Erpen.
- Traded for Jason Thompson, giving up I believe, a 4th round pick (very little in other words). This, I think is the only transaction that got us an actual live physical body.

I think that's it. Considering that United traded a good deal more under Hudson, I can only think that that you can't lay the lack of trading to Payne and Kaspar.

Soooo.... this shows that so far at least Nowak doesn't like giving up bodies to other MLS teams to get the same in return. He's much more comfortable with the foreign signing route. In two years, Nowak has also not used draft day to deal, a marked contrast to Payne's normal behavior on such days in the past.

[Liverpool_SC]

OK, Thompson for Walker is a trade I'd make also know that I've thought it over more. Although I wouldn't call 4 goals in 18 games "proven" So I guess Freddy is proven because he scored 5 goals in his first season. So if a player can score 1 goal, has he proven he can score in MLS?

Thompson scored 6 in league games in 674 minutes. That is not 4 goals in 18 games. He scored a couple more in Open Cup IIRC. 6 in 674 is great production considering Freddy scored 5 in 1200 minutes his first season.

Thompson is also big, strong and reasonably fast.

I don't agree that we are loaded at d-mid for trade bait. I'm not sure I'd get rid of Simms just because he is our depth at d-mid and holding mid. I think that for trade bait we can dangle out there Wilson, Prideaux, Rimando, Walker and I would put out there Namoff and shockingly Quaranta for the right player. This isn't to say we trade all of these guys, but we could lose 1, maybe 2 of these guys for the right player(s).

I would not "get rid" of Simms, but I would trade him to upgrade a starting position. All the depth in the world doesn't help you if it is always on the bench. That is something we need to realize. Kuykendall and Simms have to be considered potential trades if it means upgrading a starting position. Unless Simms proves he deserves to be on the field more than Carroll and Olsen, that is the way it goes in MLS. Especially since we need to gun for another title since the players we have built around (Gomito, Moreno, esp) are not long in this league.

I think that for trade bait we can dangle out there Wilson, Prideaux, Rimando, Walker and I would put out there Namoff and shockingly Quaranta for the right player.

You have to be willing to trade more if you want to be able to get more. In the past we traded Jaime, Richie Williams, Raul Diaz Arce, etc. And it benefited the team when we did so. Don't be afraid to trade quality if you are getting quality in return.

And trading Santino makes no sense at all to me. He is like a Bobby Convey that actually is productive. By that I mean that he is being forced to play in a position that is not his best by a veteran player (Jaime) who really is not the future of the league. Jaime is still good, but he and Gomito really could not bring it when we needed it at the end of the season. What makes us think that they will be able to do it next season? Does it really make sense to get rid of the young, local guy (Santino) who is finally making good in favor of the good, albeit aging stars?

This isn't to say we trade all of these guys, but we could lose 1, maybe 2 of these guys for the right player(s).

Sure we could, but they have very little value. There is nowhere in MLS for Rimando to go unless another team ends up with an injury at goalkeeper. There is no big market for Wilson or Walker either, unless it is for some draft picks. Prideaux might be useful (I think) because there are still some teams that are a bit weak in defense. But even he has limited tradeworthiness.

[Liverpool_SC]

I don't think getting JPP from the Rapids is realistic, but I would trade anyone on the team other than Carrol, Jaime, or Gomito for him.

Why would you trade Quaranta before Jaime? If we could get a JPP for Jaime at this point in Jaime's career, I would probably do it.

I don't think it is likely either, though. JPP is the only outright striker (besides Noel maybe) that Rapids have, now that they traded Cunningham for Mathis. Mathis and Kirovski are more "tweener" attacking mids/forwards.

[Liverpool_SC]

I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing but one of the hallmarks of the Nowak era has been the almost complete lack of trading with other MLS teams, especially when it comes to getting players. Let me try to think of what United has done since hiring Nowak:

- Signed Jaime Moreno when the metro were letting him go anyway.
- Claimed Jamil Walker off waivers.
- Traded away Mike Petke for allocation money, eventually to get Erpen.
- Traded for Jason Thompson, giving up I believe, a 4th round pick (very little in other words). This, I think is the only transaction that got us an actual live physical body.

I think that's it. Considering that United traded a good deal more under Hudson, I can only think that that you can't lay the lack of trading to Payne and Kaspar.

Soooo.... this shows that so far at least Nowak doesn't like giving up bodies to other MLS teams to get the same in return. He's much more comfortable with the foreign signing route. In two years, Nowak has also not used draft day to deal, a marked contrast to Payne's normal behavior on such days in the past.


This is a good point.

I wonder what we would be like looking at 2006 if we had kept Hendo (in the Petke trade) rather than turning him around and signing Erpen.

[owendylan]

Thompson scored 6 in league games in 674 minutes. That is not 4 goals in 18 games. He scored a couple more in Open Cup IIRC. 6 in 674 is great production considering Freddy scored 5 in 1200 minutes his first season.

Thompson is also big, strong and reasonably fast.


According to MLSNet he scored 4 goals in the 18 MLS games he appeared in.


I would not "get rid" of Simms, but I would trade him to upgrade a starting position. All the depth in the world doesn't help you if it is always on the bench. That is something we need to realize. Kuykendall and Simms have to be considered potential trades if it means upgrading a starting position. Unless Simms proves he deserves to be on the field more than Carroll and Olsen, that is the way it goes in MLS. Especially since we need to gun for another title since the players we have built around (Gomito, Moreno, esp) are not long in this league.

So what do you do when Olsen goes down injured and Carroll is in Germany for 6 weeks? Then we either have to shuffle our people quite a bit or play a very inexperienced player. By keeping Simms you don't have that issue. Without a good backup for Olsen and Carroll it doesn't matter who we bring we won't playing for a championship should one or both go down for long absences. If we get a really good offer for Simms fine, but I don't think other teams will offer up enough to make that trade. Kuykendall is a different story because of his lack of MLS experience.


You have to be willing to trade more if you want to be able to get more. In the past we traded Jaime, Richie Williams, Raul Diaz Arce, etc. And it benefited the team when we did so. Don't be afraid to trade quality if you are getting quality in return.

And trading Santino makes no sense at all to me. He is like a Bobby Convey that actually is productive. By that I mean that he is being forced to play in a position that is not his best by a veteran player (Jaime) who really is not the future of the league. Jaime is still good, but he and Gomito really could not bring it when we needed it at the end of the season. What makes us think that they will be able to do it next season? Does it really make sense to get rid of the young, local guy (Santino) who is finally making good in favor of the good, albeit aging stars?
Who said anything about trading Santino for an ageing star? I said if the offer is right, and it would have to be a very good offer to do it. As you said we traded Moreno, Pope, Arce, Williams, and Goose. If we trade quality we would get it in return, hence why I throw Santino in there. It's is the enticement to make a big trade to improve the team. While Tino's play has improved he isn't making good yet.



Sure we could, but they have very little value. There is nowhere in MLS for Rimando to go unless another team ends up with an injury at goalkeeper. There is no big market for Wilson or Walker either, unless it is for some draft picks. Prideaux might be useful (I think) because there are still some teams that are a bit weak in defense. But even he has limited tradeworthiness.
These guys may only bring in draft picks but considering our weaknesses if they're the right draft picks, they can help improve the team. You aren't going to get much of player from any team trading someone like Simms, who you seem to think has considerable trade value. We aren't going to be pulling trades like the ones NY is rumoured to be making where they seem to be trading big names for big names. Guevara for johnson, gaven for Buddle and razov for an allocation.