Jermaine Jones - should he get re-signed?

This.

As someone who has pretty much given up on this franchise (at least until we get rid of that buffoon Mike Burns), the fact that people are complaining about the fact that we traded a guy who wasn't even on our team for a 1st round pick is nuts.

Like absolutely, insane. Like would I want to have JJ here for $550K? Absolutely, but he made it pretty clear he didn't want to be here unless we were paying him like 2x what anyone else wouldAmazi pay him.

Amazes me that people are actually complaining in this situation. Like my mind is literally blown. We basically just got a free 1st round pick for absolutely nothing.

 

I just wanted to come in and say this trade, IMO, is one of the smartest things this team has done in their 20+ year history. They turn an aging declining player who had <1% chance of playing for us this year into $$$ and a top 5 draft pick. Colorado is very bad and probably won't be much better in a very tough West. I say this pick could be top 3.

And Jones is reportedly getting $550K, less than the Revs lowball offer, for ONE year. He has been whining all along how he wants a long term deal and he got ONE year with one of the worst franchises in the league. The man is desperate.

So when his contract is up and he has to go through all of this again next offseason, the Revs will be sitting pretty with a potential top 3 pick.

I don't know if I've ever said this before but well done Mr. Burns. (Goes to wash mouth out with soap)

 

The trade itself, given where things had ended up, that was a good thing.

But if you only look at where they ended up, you are leaving a lot of context out of the mix.

The abysmal performance of "How To Retain a Difference Maker" - the part of this whole s_itstorm that was the leadup to the trade - is very much worthy of complaints. The fact that, in the end, the Revs approach to retaining a difference maker instead landed them, in the words of another poster, a "handful of magic beans" is also difficult to fathom. Not quite "literally" mind blowing, but close.

 

Well, considering Jones is only taking a 1 year deal worth $550K (less than the Revs offer to him according to Grant Wahl), it seems like he decided he'd rather be closer to his family in LA than stay in New England, unless the Revs were willing to pay him twice as much and give him plenty of term (which would have been a pretty risky move considering his age and injury struggles). I mean, it's not like he's taking a discount to play for one of the bigger teams like the Galaxy or the Sounders. So the ways the Revs could have retained Jones would have been to take a pretty big gamble and give him a lot of money and term (which it seems like no one else was willing to do, based on his deal), or to relocate to the West Coast. Not doing either of those things is how they "ended up" here.

And full disclosure: I am a huge JJ fan, loved him as a Rev, and will be sad that he's gone. But it seems like in reality he just wanted to be closer to his family.

 

The Rapids finished 2015 with 37 points (tied for second worst) and scored 33 goals (worst in the league). Going into this year they've lost key defenders Drew Moor and Maynor Figueroa and traded away starting GK Clint Irwin. They've lost Vicente Sanchez, Gabby Torres and Marcelo Sarvas among others on the offense. Those 3 players alone accounted for 10/33 goals last year. Outside of Jones, they've really only added a new DP forward, who could be a nice addition, and Eric Miller.

I would be SHOCKED if they don't finish in the bottom 3.

As for what Jones could add, he certainly can make a positive impact for that team in a leadership role. But this isn't 2014 coming off a superb World Cup performance Jermaine Jones. This is 34 year-old coming off 2 surgeries Jermaine Jones.

We'll see how good (or bad) this trade ends up being but my initial reaction is that we just committed highway robbery.

 

When they signed a DP to play Jones' position, and they traded for Koffie to do the same, we all knew Jones wouldn't be back, despite Burns' moronic comments saying there was still a chance. Right up there with "a new stadium is our top priority".

As usual, they continued to measure nine times while his traded value dropped. I'm surprised they were able to get that much for him at this point.

They had to do something.
They got as much as they could at this time of the year.
I'll miss him in a Revs jersey.

 

Re: Colorado's first round pick, even if they finish with the worst record in the league, the highest it can be is #3 overall, right? Because Atlanta and Minnesota will be drafting top 2 no matter what. Damn you, expansion.

 

It looks like there will be two expansion teams next year no matter what. Right now, Atlanta and LAFC have logos along with the 20 MLS teams at the top of the MLSsoccer.com website. Apparently Garber has stated that if LAFC isn't ready until 2018, Minnesota will take their place in 2017.

 

Colorado wanted the clock to start. Sadly the Revs seem to have gotten nothing close to even 1/2 of a 600k per year player in trade (assuming they valued him correctly).

 

Sat, Sep 3rd, 7:30pm Colorado at New England.

I may just have to go to that one.

 

Ditto

Glad the Revs got something in return. Disappointed they have not gotten a true replacement for Jermaine in terms of ability, credibility and recognizability

 

That was very clear from the beginning when he said he would take a paycut for a longer term deal that would enable him to move his family to the Boston area.

 

I like the deal.
Once it was clear that the waters here had been fouled and he was not going to be resigned moving him for a first round pick and money is a best case result. Burns has made it clear the team isn't finished with signings for this year and they are actively after another DP so the allocation money will come in handy. While I don't have any confidence in the Revs ability to find and sign non-US players I do respect their ability to make back room deals.

 

I suppose Jones will be mad if he travels for that game.

 

Devil's Advocate...

Let's say that instead of Houston in the Season Opener, you're playing Columbus on the road in a knock out game in October.

You want Gershon Koffie on the field, or Jermaine Jones? I'd want Jermaine Jones. You could easily make the case that the lineup we'll field tomorrow is not as good as the lineup we fielded in the playoffs last year that wasn't good enough to accomplish anything.

This is only a good move if there's another shoe that's yet to drop this summer. No excuses. No "we tried, but couldn't find the right fit." Mike Burns needs to either sign a player that can bring this franchise to the next level, or he needs to get out.

 

Tim Howard is joining them after the EPL season.

 

Random thoughts on the trade:
I think part of the timing was the Revs and MLS trying to do right by Jones. Everybody in MLS wanted him signed somewhere in MLS before the games started so he could start the clock on his suspension.

He could make a big difference for the Rapids, then again, maybe he will not. I think he can help protect their defense the same way he did here. Could they also add Tim Howard? Is that still a possibility? It will be interesting to see how high this pick ends up.

How will this whole deal impact other aging veterans who might come back/come to MLS and their desire to sign in New England? Cameron?

 

I'm not in the habit of quoting myself, but this is my post from February 23, with emphasis on the bolded part. I'm surprised the Rapids went for Howard, but at least if we got a returning Nat, it could be the kind of difference maker we need. Then again, it could have been like our last two allocation additions--Benny Feilhaber and Juan Toja, who turned out to give us nothing...

 

A likely top-5 pick is a nice magic bean!

I've heard it's about $600K - basically what the Revs offered. We'll see, but I don't expect him to be worth that much in 2016.

It'll be interesting to watch, but expecting improvement from a player, well into his 30's, coming off a season with a major decline in production and going to a really bad team with a coach on the hot-seat? I don't think it bodes well for anyone. Stupid deal for the Rapids, but if it's only one year, the damage is limited.

He totally gave a crap in 2014, but I'm not at all convinced he did last year. Even if his dropoff was due to injuries: 1) he ain't getting any younger, and 2) that injury was one he postponed dealing with for his own personal priorities - not his club's or teammate's. IMO Revs' fans should be b###$+++ about his choosing to play in friendlies to try and maintain his spot in the USNT, rather than preparing for "our" season. People can complain all they want about Burns (and he deserves a lot of criticism for not getting anyone for 2015), but as far as I'm concerned, Jones deserves the lion's share of the blame for a lost season.

If the CRapids win the cup this year, you won't be the only one laughing. They have a much better chance of finishing last.

Getting what will likely turn out to be a top-5 pick IMO, is a fantastic return. Who even knows what Jones will produce in 2016 - coming off a terrible season, missing all of pre-season, facing a suspension, likely to miss time for USNT (and always giving that his top priority), going to a team that's been turned upside down and a coach on the chopping block?

Totally agree. This isn't the Jones from 2014 - he's 34 now, playing a position that asks as much as any physically. I don't get why anyone would be confident that he's turned the corner on injuries at this point.

When we acquired him, just about everyone agreed that he had a limited shelf life at his age and injury history.

Not re-signing him was just a smart business move. Yes, he could still bring things that no one else is able to, but the price for that is just unacceptable. Add to that, he's already proven in the clearest terms that the team is not his #1 priority.

In a league where teams with a consistent core almost always are the best performers, the Rapids are a bad team that's scrambled the roster again. And then they add two aging USNT vets in a year with plenty of USNT games. All these signings will do is attempt to blunt the fan revolt.

Actually its not moronic, but smart. Burns did the best thing possible to maintain Jones' trade value and ended up getting an excellent pick (and allocation $) for him.

I wouldn't be thrilled with just getting any #1 pick for him, but if you had to look around and pick which team's #1 to get, this is among the top 2-3 to go after IMO.

The kind of reminds me of what happened a few months ago when we were in that situation. The legend pulled a nutty and killed off our last (admittedly slim) hopes of surviving that round (FWIW, it was a one-goal game!).

Jones was not very good in that game - I think it's very likely that Kouassi or Koffee will be a better player next fall than JJ was in our last playoff game. Add to that our defense should be better (more options, talent on the right side, more experience for Farrell in the middle) and deeper - and we still have all the same attacking options.

I don't think this is about the Revs not doing right by Jones. In every sport, contract negotiations are going to hinge on your last year's performance and how you are expected to perform in the future. Jones had a piss-poor year and only had himself to blame for that.

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I think everyone who thinks this wasn't a great deal, should think back and try to remember when the last excellent game Jones had was (because excellence is what should be expected for a $600K player). What date? Hint: 12/07/14.

 

Unfortunately, there is a WCQ game the day before. Mostly likey Jones keeps getting call ups, and will miss this game.

 

Why Colorado? For Jermaine Jones, it's "the challenge" of lifting the Rapids
March 9, 2016
Marco Cummings
MLSsoccer.com

 

MoVaughn "It's not about the money" /MoVaughn