I thought I'd start another thread based on today's Post article as the first thread seemed to be going off on a tanget. I know, i know; I'm risking the wrath of revelation, but, hey! I'm no longer typing The Cartographer either! So what do we know now? Current forwards: Q1, Q2, Curtis Sort of a forward: Kovalenko Making a play for: Stewart Saying we will draft: Escandarian Extremely doubtful/no longer trying for: Nunez, Osario Maybe/maybe not: Stoichkov and the Polish guy who's name I forget. Other MLS names: Washington, Chacon, maybe someone on Dallas. What we don't know: Lots. But will that stop us from speculating? NEVER!!!!!!!!! Okay, from today's news my impression is that we will be looking at MLS to fill our forward needs. If we get Stewart, we will only be looking for one forward, if we don't, maybe two. Or not. Two factors seem to be coming into play: - D-mid/defenders. It seems like Hudson is thinking that he can get by will filling this hole in-house with some combo of Alegria and ITT with maybe getting Harkes. I wonder if Ray is pondering Nelsen back to d-mid, but my guess is no. If not then if we do get Ivanov then we are overloaded in defenders, making a trade very likely. Since Ray is giving a time line of a month to land him than any trades of a defender for a forward will wait till then, though maybe a trade might happen aroundf the draft if Ray feels very optimistic. . As we know there is still that oft-rumored Washington for Petke or Prideaux trade which might also now involve Harkes. A factor here might be, as JoeW has said, that C-bus might need to lose some salary in the deal since when McBride comes back they will be over the cap by some. They won't be over by much- not like Chicago was, but they will be looking for a net reduction in salary in any trade. Just something to mention. KC is also looking for (different) defenders and with them getting Wolff they also have a surplus of forwards. I have no feel at all for what they are looking for or if we might want hem to sign and trade McKeon as part of a deal. Like any dealings with C-bus, any trade with KC does not need to be rushed. -SIs. We have Nelsen. That's one. We think we are getting Ivanov. That's two. That leaves one slot and there are several MLS foreign forwards that Ray may be looking at. There's Stoichkov, who I am not writing off yet. Chacon? Armstrong in KC? (Now waiting for the obligatory KC fans posting that we can't have him.) Or will we just keep the slot open, go with american forwards, and let Ray continue to look abroad as the season is going on to find just the right guy?
Thoughts: - If both Stewart and Esky were to come in it would probably spell the end for Curtis - Ivanov coming in might not bring about a trade. Ray might elect to maintain the depth, knowing that Nelson will miss time from the Confederations Cup - I still think that Polish World Cup forward Cezary Kucharski is the fall back for Earnie Stewart going to Dallas - I think the school of thought might be that Harkes could fill the D-Mid/Holding-Mid role - I agree that McKeon is one of the factors that might come into player here. There are rumors that he might be out of favor with Bob "Crazy Man" Gansler
And also play the holding-mid role. Besides on a side that boast Kris Kelderman and Geoff Aunger McKeon has skill as compared to them.
I still don't understand why anyone would take Quintanilla over Curtis. I assume that they make about the same salary...if we have to get rid of an offensive player, why don't we deal Quintanilla (or cut him for that matter). The guy is just SOOOO slow...
I'm glad we didn't get Wolff. I think he plays less frequently that Moreno. We must not have thought he was worth the #1 pick, because KC got him for less than that (although more than our #5 pick).
One thing to consider is this: If Stewart indeed ends up in Dallas, it will be because they traded something to DC for the allocation. I would think that either Jason Kreis or Bobby Rhine would be part of a multi-player deal in that case.
I agree...Before all this recent stuff happened, I thought that if anyone had made a case for keeping their spot next season based on performance, it was him. It'd be a shame, IMHO, since he's the guy you bring in late if you need a goal, and is very affordable even if he got a raise.