When Andy was holding forth about how much fun it was to work for DLH, didn't he say that almost all of his scouting was done online? I thought he said he maybe got one trip a year, usually to South America. I wouldn't think he, or any of the other scouting staff (if there are any) have been to Europe for a couple of years at least.
https://www.nettavisen.no/sport/molde-har-mottatt-bud-pa-stian-gregersen/3424049606.html This says the MLS team interested in SKC and that his contract is through 2022, so who knows. He stood out to me from a value/age standpoint, but I doubt we pay any kind of transfer fee. Maybe like the Ruiz situation (young, relatively low salary) when we brought him in.
weird, from basic Wiki search I thought his contract was up in 2020. That article looks a lot more accurate than wiki, though.
We'll know probably Monday. 11/30 @1pm Eastern is the deadline to submit to the league what contract options were picked up and to whom you've submitted bona fide offers. They then record with Elliott Monday afternoon/night and we can hear about it Tuesday.
The RSL-centric podcasts have had a tough time during the reign of DLH. The organization in his time has been pretty tight lipped and has certainly been vindictive towards media folks who have criticized them. The two main extant ( thanks @Ismitje ) podcasts both have referenced being hit with lawsuits from RSL (at least, this was implied) and threatened lawsuits from them. Therefore, they are very careful about what they publish. When DLH fell from grace recently they joyfully discussed some things they couldn’t previously, yet it was obvious that they were still being careful. Until he is completely out of the picture they will continue to be careful. Also, single-team-centric podcasts and other media have to walk a very nuanced line in order to maintain access. That’s simply the reality of their world.
Real Salt Lake's current roster headed into 2021, listed alphabetically by position, is below: Goalkeepers (2): Zac MacMath, David Ochoa Defenders (7): Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Erik Holt, Ashtone Morgan, Noah Powder, Marcelo Silva, Donny Toia Midfielders (7): Nick Besler, Bode Davis, Damir Kreilach, Everton Luiz, Justin Portillo, Pablo Ruiz, Albert Rusnák Forwards (9): Corey Baird, Andrew Brody, Maikel Chang, Chris Garcia, Milan Iloski, Douglas Martinez, Justin Meram, Jeizon Ramirez, Tate Schmitt oh boy RSL announced that it has declined the contract options of defender Alvin Jones; midfielder Luis Arriaga; and forwards Giuseppe Rossi and Julian Vazquez. Goalkeeper Andrew Putna and midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Luke Mulholland are out of contract. Conversations about returning to the roster in 2021 are ongoing with a number of players.
https://www.rslsoapbox.com/2020/11/30/21729814/rsl-takes-glad-option-declines-rossi-beckerman Easier to read format The only way bringing back Portillo makes sense is if you don't plan on adding another D-mid. Scmitt is meh. He shouldn't be on the senior roster, it's bad if we could be signing a better prospect from the academy or something. Ditto for Holt, but I'm more ok with him being on the roster next year. The other options make sense. Very surprised that Vazquez and Arriaga aren't coming back just because they are prospects, but I know nothing about what happens within practice and such. Correct choice on Jones. Sad we didn't get to see more of Rossi, did he clash with Freddy? I think I want Putna back, but I understand if he wants to go elsewhere. Mulholland better not get another contract as a player with RSL, but please stay in the organization. Does Kyle want to come back? Player/coach? I don't think they can keep the same formation/tactics if they want him out there for more than token minutes at the end of games. Should have figured that MacMath was under contract for 2021, I'd be fine if we traded him, but we'd probably have to pay a team to take him at this point. I'm fine with Meram coming back (could probably trade him if he doesn't want to be here). Hopefully next year is the last for Silva, he makes too much and he's only getting older (not sure any wiser with his risks, either). The rest of the roster makes sense (as always, trades, loans, etc can change things quickly, but the ownership situation makes everything cloudy), EXCEPT FOR MORGAN! That makes no sense, he CANNOT be on the roster next year. This is one of the dumbest things they could have done last year. We already knew about the international situation, but then this guy doesn't play and you have to bring him back because he got a multiyear deal!? Unbelievable. Three holes on the roster depending on how they lineup/play. I'm assuming Freddy is coming back and isn't changing much. Need a new starting CB, a starting level LB (can only dream of someone like Herrera on the left) and a Ruidiaz level forward (I know it's not happening, but someone on Kreilach's level, a TAM deal, should be possible). Please Elliot, don't waste the senior roster spots and don't fill up the roster before the first game. The team needs some higher level players, so no new backups, please. If at least one guy that they are in negotiations with comes back, that only leaves 4 roster spots (barring trades and loans) for new players. I'm always hopeful in the offseason, but I don't think I can get very hopeful this year with everything else going on.
Coach: "What we've been missing for several years is a goal scorer." Team: let's keep eight of the ten current forwards but add Andrew Brody.
Team: Also Coach, you haven't been able to do anything with the current roster so lets see how much worse it can get with an even weaker lineup. Coach: Yea! Just happy to be here. We will practice even harder and make sure that Jeizon gets at least 3 more minutes a game.
Lets go through this player by player: Currently On the Roster (italicized were option year pick-ups): Zac MacMath - So we signed him to a multi-year deal? WTF are you doing Elliot?! Could we still drop him at the End-of-Year waivers? I really hope so. David Ochoa - Happy to see the club picked up his option. I am really curious how our GK situation will go next year. Ochoa better be given the reins and given allowance to make mistakes. Justen Glad - Wonder if this is a "pick up his option then trade" scenario. If I'm Glad/'s Agent I'm saying trade me asap. Aaron Herrera - Right move, but he should be the player we push the most for a sale in the Summer. Erik Holt - I'm confused what he did to stay on the first team roster that others apparently didn't do. He is USL level right now and should go there for a year or two. Fall picked up his option and it makes zero sense. Ashtone Morgan - I'm sorry, WTF is this? Noah Powder - Hope this kid can come in and push the outside back competition into that, actual competition Marcelo Silva - I don't like that he will be on our roster for yet another year Donny Toia - Fine with this, Donny didn't do anything to lose his roster spot. Wish we had something better at LB, though. Nick Besler - Fine with him as depth. Bode Davis - Welcome to the first team where you won't play or make the 18 and will float between the Monarchs for a year or two before being cut. Damir Kreilach - Captain Everton Luiz - Good Justin Portillo - Um... why is he still here? Why in the hell did Fall pick up his option? Pablo Ruiz - Gonna be on this roster for a long time Albert Rusnak - PLEASE find a way to move Corey Baird - Loan/Trade/Sell. Something. His 2020 was abysmal. Andrew Brody - Why are we listing him as a FW when he played wing back/wing with the Monarchs? Maikel Chang - Good. Hell of a year to have before an option picked up. Chris Garcia - Not sure what he did to stay whereas Vazquez and Arriaga were dropped, but ok Milan Iloski - I feel bad for this kid Douglas Martinez - The only player listed as a forward that I would dare to actually call a forward... and he's not great. Justin Meram - I am torn on this one. Journeyman MLS player who I thought we got the most we could out of last year. This feels like a wasted spot. Jeizon Ramirez - RSL seriously needs to look into how to do a loan with a South American club Tate Schmitt - Another "we list you as a forward?" situation. I thought he did well enough as outside back when we needed it. I am confused how he did enough to remain a first team player and not move to the Monarchs - especially considering Fall picked up his option.
Declined Options: Alvin Jones - Seems harsh, but this gets us compliant with international slots Luis Arriaga - Not sure what he did to not have his picked up while others were. Maybe he has plans elsewhere? Hoping we don't burn more academy products... Julian Vazquez - Like Arriaga, not sure what this was about. Hoping this is just a move to the Monarchs Giuseppe Rossi - I can't find his salary for 2020. Dude wasn't a DP, but I'm guessing he was in the TAM area. Happy to see him gone... or at least renegotiated. Out of Contract: Andrew Putna - Hard to argue he should come back if we already have Ochoa and MacMath on the roster. Kyle Beckerman - Didn't get the send off he deserved, doesn't mean he deserves another contract. Luke Mulholland - Whoever this guy's agent is deserves an award for swindling the club for so long. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they sign him for 5 more years.
There's an expansion draft coming with Austin joining in 2021. Charlotte and Sacramento follow in 2022, and then St. Louis in 2023. But of course 2021 is the immediate one, and we'll see how people are prioritized when the protected list comes out in a couple of weeks.
Oh man, totally forgot about this. The rules are here. Since we didn't have a player taken in the Miami/Nashville draft, we are one of 16 teams in this. We can protect 12 players. Important qualifiers on protection: If a player’s contract expires at the end of 2020, he will still be considered part of the club’s Roster. If a club protects a player, the club is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. The club may renegotiate a new contract with the player as in previous years, subject to the CBA. Option Decline Free Agents and Out of Contract Free Agents not automatically protected and are eligible for selection. Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2020 MLS Season and Homegrown Players (ages 25 and under –born in or after 1995) on a club’s Roster at the end of the 2020 MLS Season are automatically protected. Clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them. Designated Players are NOT automatically protected (i.e., clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft). If a player has a no-trade clause in his contract, his MLS club must protect him, and he will count as one of the 12 players who may be protected. International player rules: Clubs with four or more international players must protect at least three international players, excluding any automatically protected players. If a Club has only three international players, it must protect two. If a Club has only two international players, it must protect one. A Club that has only one international player is not required to protect that player. Maximum player loss: Once one player has been claimed from a club’s unprotected roster, that club is eliminated from the Expansion Draft and may not lose any further players.
By my count, RSL has 19 players (20 counting Nedum) eligible for the expansion draft. I wouldn't protect Morgan, Jones, Portillo or Mulholland. It' probably safe to not protect Kyle. So then you're picking 1 from Putna, MacMath and Rossi to protect. That's somewhat interesting. Be surprised if it looks much different.
The sad reality I'm getting from our recent signings/option decisions is that we've essentially decided that our academy-centric growth strategy didn't work, and we're just gonna stick with veterans from now on. It's sad because we were one of the top academies in the league, but we've clearly decided that route isn't for us. Unless maybe a new owner fires Fall and Juarez and gets us back on track?
David Ochoa has been called up for the El Salvador friendly. https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...vy-squad-for-december-friendly-vs-el-salvador
And there it is. RSL is retaining Freddy Juarez, per sources. Dunny retweeted the tweet, so there's probably merit to it. EMBRATSU! Per source, RSL has let go of assistant Steffen Seibert and GK coach Todd Hoffard has also not been retained. Surprised about Hoffard, who has worked with the USSF as well as RBNY. Club is retaining head coach Freddy Juarez from what I'm hearing. #RSL— Kristian Dyer (@KristianRDyer) November 30, 2020
With how many howlers our GK's had this past year, not surprising Hoffard was let go. Curious if the club, under new owners, could somehow convince Nicky to be an assistant there. That might be a stretch of an assignment, though. Seibert only joined the coaching staff in 2020, so something went terribly wrong there. Keeping Freddy is just lazy from RSL. Who is making these calls? Elliot Fall?
Like you said in your soapbox comment, the option decline on Arriaga and Vazquez is not only confusing from a growth perspective, it makes zero sense from a roster construction/salary cap perspective. Both of those players were on the Supplemental Roster (spots 25-28). Who is replacing these guys in those roster spots? Bode Davis qualifies (under 24, homegrown) but sliding Noah Powder (22, so qualifies) ahead of them is quite the move against your own academy. I'd be really curious to see the spreadsheet Fall has right now for the roster. Who he has allocated to each of the roster designations. An interesting note you'll see when you look at the 2020 Roster. We didn't technically fill all 30 roster spots, but couldn't sign anyone because we had signed Ashtone Morgan. The club made the decision today to drop Jones, opening up an international slot! Yay! But then immediately filled it again with Morgan. WTF?! More than that, we didn't utilize roster spots 29-30 that are designated for homegrown players in 2019. And then today decided to ******** over two academy kids when it appears a roster slot was available. What is Fall doing? None of this roster makes any sense. Fall had a chance to create a gap and free up an international slot and still picked up the option on Morgan. Why?
If it was up to me I would protect Glad, Herrera, Krielach, Chang, Rusnak, Ruiz, Ochoa, Meram and thats about it. RSL should ask if they HAVE to protect 12. They really don't have 12 worth protecting. I could see an expansion team taking an experienced player like Meram. I think in the right system and with quality coaching Meram could be a real asset to RSL. But the obvious. Letting him move to an expansion team would probably be a relief for him. RSL is barely talented enough at the moment to be as good as an expansion team talent wise. I would give them Baird for a box of straws. A half empty already opened box of straws. Cheap ones to boot. Martinez, take my striker, please. Rusnak is probably a wasted protection slot. For what he is getting paid an expansion team would be nuts to pick him. For his salary a decent GM could bring in a DP that actually plays the position you are paying him for and would make your team dangerous. Not what we have with him at RSL right now. In all honesty I think Glad, Herrera, Meram, and Ruiz are the only players that I could see an expansion team really wanting to pick up. No one is taking Ochoa. That guy on an expansion team would be a disaster. Expansion teams need a decent keeper with experience to give them some sort of stability in the back. If I were Justen Glad I would be begging to get picked up by an expansion team. What a great place to restart your career. RSL could probably make a ton of money from players agents paying them NOT to protect their players. Remember the old days when RSL had so many good players they couldn't possibly protect them all? Yea, me too. This team sucks.
Daring Austin to pick Rusnak would be awesome. I'd love Fall to fool us all and negotiate an awesome "pick this player and we'll trade you that player" scenario.