So Feilhaber signed with MLS. Chivas are top of the allocation pile. What do we offer Chivas to get that top allocation?
I would imagine Chivas made a play for Rogers a few weeks ago. But trade deadline is up tday isn't it?
We offer: Mendoza. We pay half his salary. And a first round pick next year. We recieve: Benny. A conditional draft pick based on Mendoza's season.
I wouldn't even say Gaven's untouchable. I love the guy, and he's good at a lot of things, but there isn't a single thing he does that would put him in the top tier of MLS. Now that's not to say I WOULD trade him. He's a good all-around veteran midfielder. But I'd be open-minded if there was a blockbuster. Marshall I wouldn't trade even WITH a blockbuster offer.
Why would we trade for just the top spot? We could lose whomever and wind up not even summit the stinkin lottery.
SoccerInsider Steven Goff Chivas USA might pass on Feilhaber (while keeping top slot in allocation order) or trade him, one source says #mls Possibilities- Burns, Griffit, Iro (if we're never gonna play the guy..... I prefer him over James and he provides great potential and backup for Chad, whose career could end at anytime), James, Meram Kinda want us to give up- Cunningham, Rogers (I like Robbie, but hes gone after this year anyway and would probably welcome a move to SoCal) I'd guess we could give up Allocation Money (we've still got to have a decent bit left), Cunningham, and Rogers for Benny and that'd probably be a good trade. Money we won't use, a guy whos old and hasn't looked great since hes been here, and a guy whos gonna leave after this year for a guy who could do some damage in MLS and solve some midfield woes.
I think this would be a good deal. We'd clear up salary space for Feilhaber and get rid of two guys who would be desirable to Chivas. I don't think Mendoza would be a good value for them at his contract price. Dude needs to produce more to be valuable. Cunningham, on the other hand, was presumably low-balled in the re-entry draft and is a [again, presumably] good value and a proven striker. We're pretty deep in strikers, so I don't mind losing him. Robbie's also a decent player with USMNT experience and SoCal links, like you say. Maybe he'd even be happy enough there to stay a couple of years, whereas his Crew days seem numbered no matter what. We could add a draft pick or something. We should really try to pull strings to get this guy--he could be the fill that hole we've had for a few seasons now.
This is what the Crew needs. Even though he's not a "Big Name" player (soccer moms wont be rushing to CS upon his arrival), having a regualar US player would be great for the team and probably attendance. I still like Robbie, but i would give him up along with griffit, one of our forwards (but not renteria, JC, or mendoza *sigh*) and maybe even Francis if RW decides Balchan is the way to go. Robbie could go back to Cali.
None of these offers would be tempting to Chivas. We'd probably have to release Mendoza to afford Feilhaber. Chivas isn't very talented right now. I'd think they would just prefer to keep Benny. If not, I imagine some other teams could make better offers than the Crew.
I'm certainly no expert on this, but my understanding is that Mendoza's contract is guaranteed. So even if we release him, we're probably still on the hook for it in terms of cap space. So unless we're going to pay Feilhaber DP money as well, I don't think anything we did with Mendoza would matter.
Easy. Rogers and Cunningham. Between them, I'd bet they make close to 300K, which is about what an in season DP would cost. Of course, Chivas would be crazy to take it, but maybe they think they could convince the RR to stay stateside, seeing has he's a Cali guy.