Ah, really?! I stand corrected, if so. But my nearly shredded 1993 Nederlands-Engels translation dictionary notes "cockpit" as well. Oh well. From The Dick to The Bath then.
Difference being that Honduras will likely be eliminated by the end of this window, which will make it a lot easier for the Rapids to (gently) push back on Honduras in the summer and such if we need to keep him around for MLS.
Just to clarify this—Colorado Rapids did not announce Bryan Acosta as a DP. The fee F.C. Dallas paid for him on top of his salary made his acquisition cost too high to be bought down by TAM/GAM, so DP status was necessary. If his salary is over the max budget charge, there's a chance they could categorize him as a DP (just like they could for Jack Price who has guaranteed earnings over the max). One reason to do this might be because the amount of TAM is decreasing over the coming years, and you are now able to use allocation buy-down a DP's typical max-charge impact to $150,000 anyway. If the Rapids aren't going to use all three of their slots (which we all know is likely), it's not like they are hurt by throwing him in that category. I've said elsewhere on this board that the FO views the DP mechanisms as just another accounting mechanism. Without knowing the new salaries of players, there's no way to know exactly how the Rapids could benefit by doing this. The website currently lists Acosta as a DP, but I'm confident that the status listed there is just a carry-over from the previous years (several other players have inaccurate roster categories given what we know). I've sent emails/texts to everyone I have contact with at the FO, but I have yet to hear back explicitly that he will or will not retain DP status. It's worth noting that every DP announcement in the history of the league has said that the player will count as a DP and Acosta's announcement didn't, so I'm probably hedging here for nothing. That said, I can't deny that there is a possibility he could be thrown into the category to skirt the cap, just like they could theoretically do for Price (assuming he didn't get a pay cut in his new contract). I tried to make this clear in my post analyzing Acosta's play (his DP status "will not inherently carry over to his new deal"), but I realize that my tweet announcing the decision to sign him did not make this clear. My “roster update” post said that the deal was not announced as a DP, and I should have used the same language on the socials. That was an oversight on my part, and I really apologize if I misled anyone.
Remember that interest in a Uruguayan forward that was teased? Well, Orlando just signed a Uruguayan forward today: NEWS: #OrlandoCity acquires Uruguayan forward Facundo Torres. @facutorresss | #VamosOrlando— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 24, 2022 He will join them as part of the U22 initiative as another DP. Orlando paid $7.5m transfer fee + $1.5m in bonuses for the 21 year old who’s starting to break into the national team. Methinks the Rapids are gonna have to drop some bigger coin than the $1m for Max, or the $1.7m (or whatever it was) for Namli if we want to sign anything other than a truly ‘undiscovered’ Uruguayan forward with the way this offseason market is looking right now. Man I hope we sign someone as a #9 in the coming days. That would just be the cherry on top of this offseason. I know they’re playing moneyball, and don’t like to have “big numbers” guys. But strikers who put up consistent numbers are expensive, they have to know that. Maybe, since Kroenke was at the Rams game, Padraig can catch him on a good day after their dramatic win and we can nab someone that will score consistent goals eh?
This is what it really hinges on, I think. Padraig Smith is no dummy; he's gotta realize that Moneyball can only take you so far. But ultimately he either has permission to spend some millions of dollars on a transfer fee, or he doesn't. I know that I'm not contributing some great insight here. I'm just eager for some news, as my social media timeline is just chock full of this or that MLS team announcing a big attacking signing (and not just the usual big money suspects like Atlanta and Toronto).
Yeah same here. It seems like everyone is making moves. Yes, I know we won the West last year. But uh, we got a lot of help from other teams dropping results to put us to the top slot. I think the Rapids roster right now is one of the strongest it’s ever had. But I’m worried how long it can sustain it’s success. Sure, a rising tide raises all ships, but not all ships can go out to sea when the time comes.
2 confirmed departures now. Tom Eaves has joined Colorado Rapids and Richie Smallwood has joined Portuguese outfit Arouca after they hijacked the deal. Best of luck for the rest of your careers lads.— Pieface23 (@HullCityNews8) January 25, 2022
Rapids going HUGE on the striker signing! HUGE! LOL! Tom Eaves looks set to join Colorado Rapids after a fee of around £700k was agreed.— Pieface23 (@HullCityNews8) January 25, 2022 [sarcasm, cynicism, etc. intended]
A just-turned-30 year old striker with 11 goals in 84 appearances with Hull? If that's our big #9, god help us.
Take a look at the rest of that account. It claims Jesse Marsch has already been named manager of Hull City. They sacked their manager this morning and as far as I can tell Marsch hasn't even been linked to the job. They're just making up things to tweet.
I realize you’ve already debunked this rumor, but I believe the Rapids have learned from Joe Mason / Yannick Boli. If they were to truly go that route again….oof. Might be time for the whole front office to hang it up and retire. HIGHLY doubt that Padraig - with everything he’s learned - would try to dip his toes back into that pool, and pretty sure Fraser would be holding him back with every fiber of his being. On this same note, I think the Rapids have really lightened up on scouting Europe for transfers in. They really seem to be going the South American route. Reports said that Namli had been scouted for quite some time, so I’m not weighing him to heavily, but look at our non MLS transfers in since 2020: Max Esteves Namli Galvan
Precisely. This rumor (or perhaps blatant fabrication) had all the flavor of a Joe Masonesque "7th option on our striker target list after we low-balled the first 6" pursuit. And frankly, that's exactly what makes something like this so believable (i.e., we've seen this too many times before). But yes, I agree, if the RFO is still in that game while the rest of the league is signing big name and/or big money strikers, we're done and the RFO might as well pack it up. But the thing is... given the window-after-window inaction on the #9 DP pursuit (despite a glaring need for years), and given the revolving door of subpar strikers since Kevin Doyle, I think many of us are managing our 2022 signing expectations by assuming that we shouldn't expect much more than another Joe Mason... until Padraig proves otherwise. I certainly don't have faith that'll he'll make a big move for a #9. And, even if Padraig is smart enough to know NOT to go down that path again as the league moves forward into casual $4-5 million dollar signings, if the club purse strings are so tight, he may not have much of a choice... which gets back to the "I'll believe it when I see it" feeling.
Yep. And you know what? Even without a striker signing, we’re still a competitive team that has a very good chance of making the playoffs. . . . . . So even without signing a striker who’s gonna score double digits consistently, and be the go to guy when a playoff game is on the line, PS has made good on his promise of being a perennial playoff team. I think we can all say with confidence that playoffs as a 7th seed is an extremely low bar for this squad. I think we can all agree a 5th place finish wouldn’t even be that amazing - especially given the last two years results. How far we’ve come eh? (and how far do we still have to go!)
Another odd thing about this preseason is the complete lack of anything coming out of Arizona. Last night's press event with all the coaches from the event is the only thing we've heard. usually the Rapids manage a few articles about what's going on in camp. Did the marketing budget get cut again?
Nico's back!! Not a regular starter or star, but always there when you need hustle in the midfield or levity in the locker room.
I was just gonna say. No photos, no slow-mo videos set to techno music, no player interviews, nothing.
Goals by committee again or is help on the way? Being able to consistently generate goals up and down the roster over the course of the regular season paid huge dividends for the Rapids, who won the West and had a million different dudes score at least four goals. They were built for that type of grind in a lot of ways. What they weren’t built for was the playoffs, where they dominated the Timbers for an hour, couldn’t put away their chances and then watched it slip away late. While they still have players I like quite a bit – I remain the president of the Jonathan Lewis fan club, and his underlying numbers were outstanding – it’s clear that there’s no alpha goalscorer. And teams without an alpha goalscorer tend not to go far in November. The Rapids have three open Designated Player slots and made a good chunk of money last year selling Sam Vines. They’ll make more this winter on at least one more sale (though I’m guessing it’ll be two). Go out and get a big-time No. 9, man. This team’s so close! https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/one-...n-conference-team-as-2022-mls-preseason-begin
And of course I have not been down to Tucson for work yet so I haven’t been able to sneak by the facility and check out practice. It’s right by a main road so it’s super easy to see everything that’s going on. Oh well. Got tickets for the game against Houston at least. Gonna be about midway up the section and right by the midfield line. It will be very interesting to see how things shape up compared to last years preseason game my wife and I attended - especially given Fraser’s comments about the teams current tactical stage