The rumor about Dennis Erdmann heading to Colorado were indeed true……. It just wasn’t with the Rapids. He signed a deal and was announced as the newest member of the Switchbacks.
And it has been made official! Welcome to Colorado Max 𝗕𝗘𝗠-𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗢, 𝗠𝗔𝗫! 📝 We've signed Brazilian midfielder Max Alves to a four-year deal with a club option for an additional season.— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) January 6, 2022
There's a hell of a lot of money tied up in our midfield now. As Samelson pointed out in response to my tweet to this effect, not significantly more than last year, but the difference (IMO) is now we have 3 players all healthy, all expected to contribute, that have million dollar price tags. Kaye cost us a million in GAM. Acosta has a million dollar salary. And reportedly Max cost us a million dollar transfer fee. Namli was costing us a million dollar salary last year, but he was injured and not contributing when we went out and got Kaye. Would we have done that had Namli been a core piece of the midfield? At the moment with the way the various initiatives work this doesn't tie our hands in acquiring the #9 we need. Acosta is bought down with TAM. Kaye's GAM is spent. Max is a U22 player and only hits the camp $150K. But I do wonder how we get the value out of all these players while also finding room in midfield for Captain Jack, Bassett (though I expect he's gone), Galvan, Barrios, etc. And are we signing B. Acosta?
It sounds like B. Acosta is shopping overseas in Turkey as a free agent. Honestly, I'm in the same boat with you expecting Bassett to be on the move. I also was that with a congested schedule this year - CCL, Open Cup, Shortened MLS Schedule, and the World Cup break - having these added pieces while we survive through the summer might not be a bad thing if no one moves on during the winter break. It'll be easier to rotate minutes around various positions without huge gaps in play if we have more capable players with which to rotate. So, I would not be shocked if we signed B. Acosta this winter. I would also not be shocked if we didn't. I would also not be surprised to see Bassett or Acosta on the move - nor would I be surprised to see them stay. It's going to be an interesting season - and again, I think the Rapids are doing a good job of setting themselves up for success in covering a wide variety of possibilities over the next few weeks.
Bassett and Acosta called into the January camp: 👀 @KellynAcosta and @colebassett19 get the call. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/Is9kkIQ91J— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) January 6, 2022 It's in Phoenix. Living here, I haven't heard anything about where they might be staying / hosted / training etc. Would LOVE to go out and show some Rapids fandom supporting Bassett and Acosta during training, but don't even know where to begin. With the Rapids having some preseason games being held in Tucson on the 29th and February 5th, this makes traveling easy for Bassett and Acosta. I'm not sure when the Rapids as a whole will be arriving in AZ, but with the USMNT January camp ending on the 21st, I imagine it'll be around then. I'm in Tucson regularly for work, so maybe I'll get to swing by the Kino sports complex and show the players some AZ Rapids Fandom Love during both training and games!* *was able to catch the very tail end of a training session last year. would be cool if I got there early enough to catch more than the end this year*
And most likely there will be more moves in the next few weeks. I still think, given some of the incoming players there will be at least 2 players currently on the roster leaving.
The more I thought about the Max deal, particularly the length combined with his age, the more I think this is less about 2022 and more about 2023 & 2024. My bet is that Max will mainly be a supersub this year, with spot starts to fill in when Kaye or Acosta aren't available. Padraig Smith has mentioned in the past his belief that it takes up to a year for internationals to adapt to MLS. This feels like a plan to get Max in now, get him settled, and then really put him to work in 2023 (much like Galvan from 2020 to 2021).
#Rapids96 sign Max Alves from Flamenco in Brazil.Here's the obligatory highlight film of goals, flicks, and tricks. Unfortunately for some reason, there's no techno music.https://t.co/3xXElFlgna— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) January 6, 2022
Some interesting tidbits in here from @Shapalicious - While the numbers on Max Alves da Silva’s contract pop out more than his stats, the transfer fee is an indicator of how the Rapids feel about the young attacking midfielder. Colorado’s scouts raved about Max’s technical abilities and his athleticism. https://t.co/gDbIgyvcaN— Burgundy Wave (@Burgundywave) January 7, 2022
Two questions: 1. There was mention on here earlier about the possibility of a bunch of green cards coming through. Anything further on that front? 2. Are there any reliable hints, rumors, reasons to hope that the team is trying to sign a proven goal scoring forward who could deliver 10+ goals a season?
"The club has also indicated that they’re targeting a striker. With the 10th pick in the MLS Draft next week as well, Colorado is likely not done this offseason and could have more players coming and going." from this piece from Jake Shapiro in Burgundy Wave - https://www.burgundywave.com/2022/1...ds-sign-max-alves-da-silva-padraig-smith-plan
Some Saturday News: @austheboss3 is joining us in Phoenix 🇺🇸— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) January 8, 2022
Hearing that FC Dallas are acquiring the No. 3 MLS SuperDraft pick from Toronto FC as well as forward Dom Dwyer, and Dallas are buying out Dwyer.So, Toronto gets out of Dwyer's contract, Dwyer becomes a free agent and Dallas get the No. 3 SuperDraft pick for their troubles.— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 10, 2022 Would you give Dom Dwyer a call? I’ll be honest he hasn’t done squat in two years. Injuries have played a part and I bet the divorce - rumored to be pretty contentious - from Sydney Leroux took it’s toll. He’ll be a free agent. If healthy, if clear of mind, and not a moody prick…… the dude has proven to score goals. I’m iffy if I’d kick the tires. I think he made upwards of $1M in 2020 and he ain’t worth that now. You’d have to get him on a massively reduced salary. Dwyer may also be too Rubio-esque attitude for me, too. But what’s a phone call, right?
He might be a decent backup plan, but I really hope we could do better than Dwyer for our #9 signing.
Yeah.,.. there’s no way he’d be a week in and week out starter for me. Super sub and a nice option off the bench but definitely not the one to lead the forward line.
While it's true that the Rapids are becoming "Distressed Assets FC," it usually seems to be the case that when we get one of those distressed assets, from Lewis to Barrios to Kaye and so on, the word from the fanbase of the club they are departing is not "Good luck with this guy, he's been terrible" but instead "This guy is good, the situation just hasn't been right." I can't imagine anyone saying that latter thing about Dwyer.
Tomorrow, the dream becomes a reality.🔜 #SuperDraft pic.twitter.com/1BSjhVLLpn— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) January 10, 2022
This is in reference to: Clean Slate… New opportunity… Fresh Start… 🙏🏽— Kortne Ford (@KortFord) January 10, 2022