Rumors And Trialists

Last night the Rapids held a Supporters Forum at Fado's in Lodo.  I was unable to attend, but the big news that came out of the forum was that Colorado is pursuing a young #10-style Argentine midfielder.  No details have been leaked on his name or his background but there may be a new arrival from South America in Commerce City soon.

One arrival from that area is a new Colombian trialist.  Luis Eduardo Zapata is a left back most recently with Wilstermann in Bolivia.  He'll travel with the team when they leave for California on Saturday and participate in the game against San Jose and Chivas. The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles - out injured

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Draymond Washington
Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Caleb Folan

Macoumba Kandji

Colorado Makes Coaching Staff Official

The addition of Wilmer Cabrera as Pareja's right-hand man has been the worst-kept secret in Commerce City for some time.  Today the Rapids made it official, along with the rest of the coaching staff (all of which had been leaked prior to today).  The new additions:

Wilmer Cabrera - Assistant Coach
Former Men's U-17 coach for the U.S. and former teammate of Oscar Pareja on the Colombian National Team.

Paul Caffrey - Assistant Coach
Cabrera's assistant coach with the U-17 team.

And the returning staff:
David Kramer - Goalkeeper Coach
John Ireland - Fitness Coach
Erik Carlson - Team Administrator
Jaime Rojas - Head Athletic Trainer
Carlos Garcia - Equipment Manager

The Rapids also announced that Paul Bravo has signed a new contract as Technical Director for the next 3 seasons.

Trialist Comings And Goings

The Rapids have sent out an update on some of the trialists in camp.  Sam Archer is still with the team while Issac Cowles was injured during training and he will be sidelined for a couple of weeks.  Edrissa Jarra, Daniel Navarro, and Steve Cronin have been cut from camp.  Joining the team is defender Draymond Washington, who's played for George Mason University the last 4 years.  There's no update on draftee Joel Helmick and trialist Aaron Pitchkolan.  The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles - out injured

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Draymond Washington
Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Caleb Folan

Macoumba Kandji

Player Status Updates

The Rapids had an article today about the trialists where they mentioned that Cascio and Yamada were signed to contracts with the league before the draft. Their statuses have been updated in my master list.  I've also changed the list so unsigned players are all in one group but I've added a note next to Helmick to note that he was drafted (as our only unsigned drafted player).

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Steve Cronin

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor
Daniel Navarro

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Caleb Folan

Edrissa Jarra

Macoumba Kandji

Colorado Completes Jaime Castrillon Signing

The Rapids signed Jaime Castrillon this morning, their first major player move of the offseason.  As is typical terms were not released but those will leak out eventually.  Castrillon is expected to be an immediate starter in the midfield, and Pareja has talked recently about playing a 4-3-1 or 4-2-1-3.  Presumably Larentowicz and Mastroeni would be the other two midfielders while Mullan would push up to one of the 3 forwards.

Some other odds and ends from the first few days of training:

• Pareja named Pablo Mastroeni captain again
• Colorado is reportedly still pursuing a possible young DP player as a creative #10, with the idea that Castrillon will be more of a box-to-box midfielder
• Cabrera is expected to be named Pareja's deputy and Paul Caffery, Carbera's assistant coach with the U-17s, will be added as an assistant coach
• There are 4 other trialists in camp.  Former Dallas defender/midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan, former LA keeper Steve Cronin, defender Daniel Navarro, and Gambian trialist Edrissa Jarra.

So here's the updated camp list, as promised:

italics = unsigned draftee, underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Steve Cronin

Joel Helmick

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor
Daniel Navarro

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Caleb Folan

Edrissa Jarra

Macoumba Kandji