MLS Offseason News and Rumors Thread I

Exploitable loophole alert. Can the FO change the Medical Staff's job descriptions to drive more in-your-face-complaining time?

Same salary of course.

 

DRINK!

 

For those that missed it:

 

MLS is going to "Train" Supporters!!

Oh, so that's what the GESTAPO were doing on Fort Gate night...my bad! =)

 

Danny Mwanga will be traded to Colorado. Compensation has yet to be announced.

I'm frustrated that we so often stand pat on the trade front. He could have been a great addition at the right price. We'll have to wait and see what Portland is getting in return...

 

A lot of the time it seems that teams are willing to trade players for non-player things like allocation money or draft picks, especially lower ones. I would like to see us do more of these kinds of deals, where we can pick up a useful player who can contribute right now, instead of rolling the dice on a "project" who might (or might not) pan out later, or to maybe use the money on a signing from outside the league who won't be here for a while and might (or might not) work out in the 9 games he's here...

 

2013 Season Roundtable - Commissioner for a Day
The experts (Twellman, Waibel, Lalas, Saghini, and Wiebe) discuss what they would do as Commissioner.
Video
2/28/2013
mlssoccer.com

Love Twellman's take: Transparency, let every allocation amount be public knowledge.

 

Mwanga's play has fallen off a cliff since his rookie year and he commands a huge (for MLS) salary, so I'm good with the Revs not getting in on that deal. I agree in principle though - earlier in the offseason there were a lot of relatively inexpensive, productive players who went for very little (2nd round/Supplemental picks, allocation money). But hey, why get a solid, proven league player when you can draft Gabe Latigue (watch him win the next 10 MVP awards because I typed this).

 

I would have gladly taken on Mwanga and his salary for a second round pick. He makes $250k and has loads of potential. He have so much cap space it's stupid, salary concerns should not exist given the current state of our roster and spending.

 

More from Jersey Week:

Los Angeles: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/02/27/jersey-week-la-galaxy

Seattle: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/02/27/jersey-week-seattle-sounders

Vancouver: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...hitecaps-new-home-kit-has-more-whitecaps-feel

Montreal: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...pay-homage-1998-team-black-and-blue-third-kit

Kansas City: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...kcs-new-kit-makes-clear-theyre-two-state-club

 

This makes me mad. It's good to see that MLS is (at least according to Driver) on par with the majority of SPL clubs, but the fact that one of my favorite players from one of my favorite clubs is heading to one of my least favorite MLS clubs angers me. Hearts' complete financial collapse is another issue all together.

Driver was a highly touted youth player. He had loads of potential, but injury and battles with his various managers limited his playing time. I think he will be a force in MLS. This is a great signing. I've always said, and I will continue to say, that as the SPL sinks further into the financial doldrums MLS should make strong offers to the league's disgruntled players. The league is very similar to MLS, and the players have a better first touch and often more skill. Every time an SPL player signs for an MLS club i'm going to complain like this. Just a warning.

 

Do you ever just wish the Revs would sign him, just once, so he'd stop scoring against them?

 

Only if they signed him and sent him to Rochester. I can never cheer for a team with him on the roster.

 

I'm annoyed about the giant amount of cap space (again) too, but I'd rather use it well, than use it for the sake of using it, which is how I classified that move. I was annoyed when teams grabbed guys like Will Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Espindola and Olave for very little - these are guys who have shown they can play in this league for multiple seasons.

Mwanga was good for a season and change and then went to crap - very expensive crap. Generally, I've noticed in MLS once guys start regressing they don't pull out of it (see also Alston, Kevin or outside the Revs, Bunbury, Teal) and you don't want a $250k anchor on your rebuild.

 

I'm with you...

Chad Barret had better screw his feet on the right way and score some goals. I'm dreading his patented, "Right in front, no one around, here comes a clear goal...shanked" Barret run at goal...

 

Colorado is getting jobbed left and right--first Buddle, now Mwanga.

I actually like the Ruiz deal--isn't he making about the same money as Barrett? I would take Ruiz as a 3rd forward any day over Barrett.

 

Toronto just signed free agent Robert Earnshaw. 31 yo striker from Wales who has bounced around the Championship.

 

Guy can't score anymore. Not even in Israel. I doubt he'll do much here other than eat up salary and a roster spot.

 

He had 2 goals in 217 minutes in Israel. Not bad. He couldn't get minutes at Cardiff, but that's hardly something to knock him for, as they'll be heading to the Premier League next season.

It looks like he wasn't a free agent though, not sure if they had to pay a transfer fee.

 

Not bad? That's 217 minutes over 10 games. He can't even start for an Israeli team.

 

You said he can't score goals. I was just pointing out his goal rate is fine.

Why he wasn't getting more minutes is a different question. I have no idea what his fitness levels were before or after his move to Israel. Let's also not act like Maccabi Tel Aviv is an easy club to walk into. They're Israeli champions with some good players and the best attack in the league. That he didn't become a starter in his 3 month loan isn't all that shocking to me. I have no idea how he'll turn out, but it seems like a signing with some potential. It wasn't long ago he was making the Welsh National Team.