It seems that Nunez may be signed by Burn. For that to happen though, they would need our allocation. Supposedly, we would then use our discovery money over the next few seasons to sign the Spanish midfielder, in a similar fashion as DC signed Reyes (and which is why I presume DC couldn't try to pull a similar ploy to sign Nunez, because they spent all that money). Obviously, that is a simplified version of what would occur. However, I'm curious as to what would be best for the team if we did in fact trade our allocation. Would Vaca and Rhine be enough? Should we even be looking at Vaca especially if we sign Mario the Spanish player? Would a player like Ronnie O'Brien with Bobby Rhine and a first round pick fit our needs better??? I'm not sure. I really do believe though that we need to fill the void that has been created out wide, and Dallas has a plethora of wingers. I'm curious to read your thoughts.
I think we should target Vaca and Rhine for the allocation - that's assuming that Rosas can be signed as a discovery. Bradley has stated that Rosas' motivation may be to ultimately return to Europe. If that's the case, let Vaca play wide right for now and ultimately move into the center. Additionally, Ives G. indicated in his article today that Ricardo Clark may be a possibility at left mid. A midfield of Clark, Rosas, Vaca and R. Williams sounds intriguing. Also, I like what I've seen of Rhine as well. He'd make a nice addition to our group of forwards (Mathis, Moreno and Magee). As for the salary cap, I don't think either Vaca or Rhine is making a great deal of money - so they might be a good fit. We have a lot of our cap invested in four/five players. I think the key is to find some reasonably priced players (w/ MLS experience) to round out the roster. Add the P40 and the developmental players and the roster should have a nice blend of youth and experience.
1. Nunez isn't signed with MLS as of yet (at least as far as I know). What has spurred all this talk is Nunez saying publicly he'd like to play with the Burn. Money is probably still an issue. Hudson and DCU approached him twice this off-season: he was demanding more than the MLS max (but the Euro transfer window was open and he thought he'd be going there I suspect). 2. He is on a free transfer from Pachuca in Mexico. Jeffries of the Burn has indicated that the Burn can use a discovery for him--they don't need an allocation. So I think plans of trading the allocation for Vaca/Rhine are not accurate. Additionally, if you traded for Vaca and Rhine, they would tie up enough cap room that I doubt you could also afford Rosas. 3. If the Burn needed an allocation, they could just as easily trade with Colorado. Frankly, Vaca for an allocation is a good enough deal--Vaca would be a relatively cheap, young, durable A-mid (though he plays right mid for the Burn) who knows MLS. He won't require a visa and work permit (as would Rosas--who even if he was signed today couldn't practice for 3 weeks b/c of the visa/work permit deal). Also, Vaca won't count as a SI while I believe Rosas will. And it's always nice to have an SI slot available (b/c some teams will dump players b/c of too many SI's). But as I said earlier, Jeffries has indicated that a discovery can be used on Nunez.
I thought discoveries were intended for players that weren't on the MLS radar screen - by that I mean that other MLS teams didn't have any contact with them (this is probably my perceived definition of a discovery). Given DC's contact with him, I assumed an allocation would be required. I'm sure Jeffries knows the league rules far better than I do.
YOu are correct about how discovery was ORIGINALLY designed. However, last year (and I can't remember the term for this), teams were allowed to spend a sum of money on discovery players. I think the total was $100,000 though my memory might be off (it might have been higher). You could either spend that sum over 3 years or spend it all at one time (and then have no more transfer fee money for your discovery players). And, Nunez is on a free transfer from Pachuca. DCU talked to him b/c he's going to command big bucks.