Eric Denton and Kelly Gray waived

Now that's hilarious. "Steady improvement in the quality of the team?" W/o knowing who, if anyone, will take the roster spots? If they are going to sign more Ribeiro-type players, it could actually be a step backward.

 

Key statement: Gray and Denton are not up to MLS. I have been saying this since last year. Until Gray leaves, I couldn't take this team seriously.

Of course, I don't know who replace them. Also, at the moment, I can't take the team seriously with Ribeiro and the aging Elliot at centermid.

Good luck to both of them.

 

Two whipping boys take the fall...

 

It sure sounds like the FO have identified exactly the players they are going to get and already figured the cap number they needed to get down to.

However, like others, I worry the players they have identified might have health or other issues that may screw this up and we would have been better served waiving higher priced players for more flexibility in new signings.

 

I cannot believe what I'm reading here.

Yeah but what? More USL bench players? Second string guys from T&T club teams?

No, it has huge predictable consequences right now. Some on these boards have argued right along that we need to aim higher, that we have been setting the bar too low. So moving Kelly and Eric clears very little cap space, plus the approximately $200K we cleared by moving Garcia, Somma, and Weaver (and adding Ribeiro and Wondo). Corrales makes $200K. Had we dumped his salary we could have signed two or three expensive guys, as opposed to splitting $200K two or three ways. We are aiming too low.

You think that McD is going to move ahead of Elliott on the depth chart? Why? Frank has given us every indication that he is loyal to Elliott and Corrales to a fault, so I do not imagine that Elliott will see the bench. In fact, I think that Ribeiro will be ahead of McD for the Central Mid spots. I really hope I'm wrong on that, but that's what I think.

Remember, we don't suck because our subs are crap, we suck because our starters are crap. We need to bring in some big time players and $400K will go a lot farther than $200K. That's the problem with this stupid move. And it's stupid. Full stop.

We're tight on cap space and roster spots both. So dumping two guys tells us that the "brain trust" have identified two guys they are pretty certain they can sign. So instead of cutting starters who suck and eat up lots of cap space, we have cut two bench players who don't eat up a lot of cap space.

Are we signing starters? or more backups?

Last year's mid season turbo charging cost a lot more than Garcia, Denton, and Kelly's salaries. If we wanted that sort of upgrade, then we needed to dump Corrales and Elliott both. But we didn't.

Right. So replacing bench guys is going to help us how? We need to replace the starters. We need to replace Corrales and Elliott at a minimum. Shuffling bench players is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

We can pay for one Hucks level player and we need two.

Your post is absurd. You need to think this through. We cannot get better unless we replace the guys who suck. No matter how much Denton and Gray sucked, they weren't starting. They were not the problem. So if we sign some new guys and leave Corrales and Elliott or Corrales and Ribeiro running the midfield, we are still going to suck.

Do you think there is any chance that Ramiro won't start if he's available? Elliott? And wait! Maybe we do move Elliott to the bench. How much do you want to bet he'll be first off the bench in central midfield?

Gray is a bench player, why would his presence make you not take the team seriously? Here's what makes me not take the team seriously: starting Corrales, Elliott, and Garcia most of the season! That is reason to be dismayed. How about trying Convey in the center of the pitch over and over? Alvarez's lack of a right foot? Weaver and Campos's lack of form? (Until Pablo became the filth slayer?)

What difference does Kelly make? It's not like we can ditch Kelly for Sol Campbell (or whoever). He doesn't make enough for us to sign a starter. We cut one guy with a big salary - Garcia. We need to sign at least two or three new starters. Where are we getting the cash from?

Your last point is on the money. Whether or not they sign guys who are old, blind in one eye, recovering from a blown out knee, or just out of drug rehab, we need to be concerned that they are going to sign guys from the Belgian third division, USL, or Nicaraguan bench players. They just signed and started Antonio Ribeiro for Pete's sake! A USL bench player who they told us was MLS starting quality! What do you think they are going to do on the international market with only $200K? Even if they only have to pay half a year's salary, thus enabling them to sign two guys at $200K, wouldn't they be able to set their sights a wee bit higher if they had $400K to play with? or $480K? (They would have cleared another $280 by cutting Corrales and Elliott.)

I'm not sure whether I should be more dismayed by this boneheaded move by the FO or the joy with which it is being received here in Mudville. This move is not enough.

go quakes

- mark

 

Just a few thoughts:

- I'm fine with this insofar as it frees some needed cap room and roster space, but when your key defensive player has failed to stay healthy and you've traded away your former captain, depth is certainly a commodity. What is our defensive depth now? McDonald (in a pinch)? Zaher if Convey or Corrales move to left back? Anyone else?

- We need to make a signing as soon as we are allowed to. We need quality defensive depth and a central midfielder. That's all I think we're capable of at this point, and if Doyle and Yallop can get the central midfield player right, our fortunes should change dramatically.

- Speaking of central midfield, the smartest thing that Yallop could do is start Elliot (yes, Elliot!) with McDonald. Tell McDonald to cover lots of space and be a defensive nuisance. Let Elliot and his slow legs play more advanced and spread the ball around (which is what he does for New Zealand). Corrales just is not cutting it on either side of the ball, and Elliot has much better passing and vision than Corrales. This means benching the captain, but so what?

 

think you might need that "jump to conclusions mat" lol. Why would we replace bench guys with bench guys? Even if we did losing Gray and denton isn't some huge iceberg destroying our titanic season. Denton is mediocre at defending and Gray is pretty good at own goals....

 

kind of sad in a way........

 

1. We Need To Replace Our Starters.

2. If we had cut Corrales and Elliott we would have more money to spend on new players.

3. If we bring in new guys to replace Corrales and Elliott, then we will have one expensive player and one moderately well paid player sitting on the bench.

4. "Why would we replace bench guys with bench guys?" Because our GM and Coach are stupid. Other than Convey and the aging Elliott they have not brought in one name player from the close of last season to the middle of this season. What makes you think that they are going to suddenly sign Sol Campbell? or Fonseca? or Armando Alonso? (a randomly chosen CR middie who is on their Gold Cup squad.) Our brain trust has shown no vision, no desire to go after serious players, and a tendency to sign guys from: USL-D1 (sub), PDL, Swedish 2nd Division. They seem to think that these guys are good enough to start or at least contribute in MLS. That's why I fear that we will replace bench guys with bench guys.

4A. Also, we do not have enough money to sign big time players. We have roughly $200K to play with. We saved another $102K by waiving Kelly and Eric, but we could have saved another $289K by cutting, trading, or selling Corrales and Elliott. If you want big time players, you have to pay big time money. We don't have big time money.

5. Losing Eric and Kelly isn't the point and I never said it was. See point 1 above. We Must Replace Corrales and Elliott. We should really sign a better central defender than Pitch too. Heck, we could use another starting quality central defender just because Jason seems to get injured a fair bit and Pitch is a yellow card magnet. So that's three starting quality players that we must sign and I'm not even looking at the forwards or keepers. Do you want to try to sign those guys with $302K? or $489K? <Insert Jeopardy waiting theme song here>

For the record, I am not upset that we waived Denton and Gray; I am upset that we did not waive Corrales and Elliott. Denton and Gray hardly played for us in recent weeks, so they can't very well be what's wrong with our team. Corrales and Elliott both suck so I want to get rid of them.

go quakes

- Mark

 

Mark,

I mean this in the most positive, non-confrontational, we're-all-quakes-fans-here kind of way. How much time do you spend composing posts for BS on any given day? Do you have other hobbies, interests or friends? Family? The volume of your contributions is both commendable and a bit frightening.

 

for $200k you could probably get 2 good field players in MLS. maybe more. Maybe they will make some trades or something. I agree that corrales is lame, but old man elliot is okay. Maybe they will find someone who will knock Corrales to the to the bench? I'd really like to hear some rumors on what they are up to. Til then theres really nothing we can do.

 

Good to see Denton go. Never liked him much. Kelly Gray make too much money for that he produce also. Very good move.

 

So how do we get rid of them now? I don't understand the timing of locking down the rosters. Can we still waive somebody after July 1?

 

Ooooo Noooo.

OK, so I'm a bit obsessed. However, I am also a writer, so it does not take me very long to bang out these little posts. This week, my wife is in California. Also, I got laid off a while back, so yeah, I have too much time on my hands. But, in addition to my posting here today I also, took my dog to doggie day care, my kid to the orthodontist, twice, the rabbit to the vets, did some yard work, had two phone screens for possible jobs, picked up the dog (who is now sleeping happily on the couch), and did the grocery shopping. So, not a bad day. Oh, and I called my wife twice to keep her up to date and confer on the rabbit, who is sadly, very ill.

YES!! We can cut someone after July 1st. HOWEVER, we will remain on the hook for their salary after July 1st.

So, we need to cut, trade, sell, or waive players before July 1st. Anyone on the roster on July 1st gets their full annual salary and it goes against our salary cap total.

For example, cutting Corrales on July 2nd (or 1st) means that we get his roster spot, but we eat all of his salary.

So that's the reason for the deadline worry.

go quakes

- Mark

 

If they are on the roster on July 1, they are guaranteed to get their full salaries for the year, and they count fully on the cap for the rest of the season. A player can still be waived to create roster space. Of course it seems not remotely likely that there is any consideration of waiving Elliott or Corrales.

 

I think his wife chains him to the bedpost and the computer.

 

what do you mean? On many accounts, KellyG
Received a lot of accolades from posters on
How well he played (not counting the bad giveaway)
In one game) filling in for Hernandez.

I have to agree with Mark here. Both
Of these players are ample backups for
The Quakes.

It is our costly midfield & goalie that
have brought us to the bottom of the
Table.

Good luck to them both.

 

I don't know that he was cut only on what we saw in those earlier games. But he stopped making even the first 18. They played BMac ahead of them when they needed a CB against LA. I don't think anyone should be surprised--the writing was on the wall.

 

These moves are more about freeing roster slots than cap space.

Gray has not shown he can enter a game and play up to MLS standards at any of his roles. Thus he's wasting a slot.

Denton on the other hand was a starter on the league's 3rd best defense last year, so given the money he was making, I'm a little sad to see him go. This tells me left back is in Convey's future, where Z can fill in periodically.

The team is loaded and ready to make a run. The main question remaining is can central midfield get the job done.

 

I'm tired of getting autographs from players who are gone a few weeks later. I would never buy an MLS team jersey with a player's name on the back. What a waste of money, only good for less than a season nowadays!

Since JD-FY dropped Kelly, I predict the next one will be his roommate, Ryan Cochrane. And after that, they will drop Cannon. They unfortunately may never admit their mistake and drop Bobby convey. Pretty much everyone on the cover of the Quakes program either gets hurt or traded.

 

For 200k you can get a DP - when picked up at the mid season window the 400k only counts as half.

So after these moves you can get a 400k player and a 200k player for half a season, essentially.

 

So...how about that Corrales and Elliott? MOTM material, eh?

 

Like 2 more out of work USL players? Whee.

I was underwhelmed by Frank's latest decision, i don't have much hope for the next ones.

 

Is that how much (200k) those guys were getting paid?