reported elsewhere on this site, but nothing in the news section... so here it is Pope acquired by MetroStars in Multiplayer Deal -Wire -jim
The Metros get proven players. DC gets a lot of opportunity and a lot of risk. It could be a stunning success or a stunning failure. Right now: Edge to Metros.
What bugs me is that there are so few teams in MLS that pretty soon with all these trades, all the top players will have played for every team in the league. It's tough for fans to identify with a team that keeps changing its stars. I know the same problem exists in other sports but MLS is trying to build a fan base. Certain players (i.e. Petke, Pope) are well established in the community and are huge fan favorites. Unless the player is on his last legs, every effort should be made to keep the player on the same team and keep rivalries intact. Maybe the salary cap should be changed so that if you re-sign a player to the same team, the salary increase doesn't count against the cap (I think the NBA is like this).
From a marketing point of view I just don't get this trade. Pope is from the DC area no? Petke seems to be the most popular player for NY. I'm shocked that MLS headquarters would let this one go through.
I agree that this move should have been vetoed by MLS with regards to Petke and Pope. Regardless...... The point that interests me is now DC has 2 allocations if I am correct, and a ton of salary under the cap? We know that Earnie is coming back and we know that JMM is possibly coming back, depending on his offers. If you put these two players on DCU........how does DC feel about the trade then? Obviously they aren't going to sign these two players, but their allocations might be good trade leverage for teams that want Earnie or JMM. Can someone provide the list of which teams have allocations for this off season?
I understand that continuity is something that can only help MLS but the fact is that all over the world players move. Constantly. Figo from Barca to Real, Campbell from Spurs to the Arse and you could have two all star teams of players who have played for Boca and are at River vs. players who have played for River and are at Boca. And all of these rivalries are far more serious than DC/Metro which is, by MLS standards, a derby. On that note, the trade may even be a plus in interest as the booing and barracking from the stands towards former players may well help in the atmosphere department. JIM DOW
Yep. One can evaluate the trade in the short term, and here's a way to break down the trade: Moreno for Petke. If moreno played as well as he last played in 1999 then advantage motros. Otherwise advantage DC. Pope for allocation- advantage unknown since we don't know who the allocation is. Pope will be out for the Confed Cup and usually is hurt for part of a year. ABMOD for the #5 pick. Should be advantage DC. Williams may have been Armas lite at one point, but he's definitely over the hill. OR one could look at the trade to see that DC will be doing probably several more transactions since they have, two allocations, they are the team most under the cap (so they can trade for players from other cap-strapped teams), they have the #'s 1, 5, 11, and 14 picks in the draft.
Agreed. This musical chairs stuff is ridiculous. Two crap teams owned by the same man make a trade partly so each team can say they're trying to improve. Of course, the odds were they would improve anyway.
MLS under Garber isn't nearly as authoratative as MLS under Logan/Sunil. Garber's allows teams to sign and trade for whomever they want, as long as it's financially feasible. Plus, there's not much he can say as they're both AEG teams, right? I agree with you that there's no way Logan would have let this one go through.
This trade hurts me as a MLS fan. If I was to put a face on the Metros it would be either Mathis or Petke. If I think of DCU its Marco, Pope and Moreno. Now you've stolen both teams identities. On paper this is a killer deal for NY. Two great players still in their prime and a solid role player for one above average defender and a couple draft picks/allocations. I mean who is a great player coming to MLS? JMM? slow and over the hill. Stewart? is he worth two all-stars? This is very similar to the Bulls trading Pippen and Rodman for draft picks and look where it has gotten them. No one who was a free agent wanted to go to Chicago and they went straight to the cellar and now three years later they are starting to climb back out. Freeing up salary cap, going with youth...brace yourself DC, its going to be another long season.
The big difference is that the NBA already contains all of the best players in the world. You cannot run over to Europe and pick up a Kobe Bryant -- but you can do the equivalent in MLS (e.g., Nowak, Molnar, etc.). It will be necessary to see what Hudson does with the allocations/cap space before deciding on the merits of this deal.
Moreno's a has been and Petke barely deserves to wear any pro soccer jersey. My guess is that ABMOD & the other two were just 4 swapping salaries like in the NBA to stay under the cap. I think the trade boils down to Pope for an allocation and the #5 draft slot. That's pretty fair at 1st look but if Pope is still lingering from his injury(he's looked sluggish for 2yrs now) then DCU got the best of the Mets. I thought hudson had put the Kabasch on the youth movement in DC, this seems like a reversal. Petke can't beat out either Talley or Nelson for their backline spots so I wouldn't be suprised to see him out by midseason. Big trades make it hard to follow the teams but much like the NBA where huge tranfers are the norm b4 the deadline, transactions make the product more interesting and keeps the parity in play.