Colin Clark Traded For Brian Mullan

It seems that the Rapids are wheeling and dealing as the roster freeze date hits today. They've just sent Colin Clark and allocation money to Houston for midfielder Brian Mullan. This trade surprises me more than yesterday's. I expected Clark to remain on the roster through his rehab but never return to the player he was before his two ACL tears. I really didn't expect the Rapids to be able to get anything for him. Clark was part of the group that really benefited from the reserve league, along with players like Peterson, Coundoul, Harvey, and LaBrocca. The only remaining members of that group on the Rapids are Kimura and Cummings.

Mullan is 32 and has been a core of Houston's recent run at the top of the table. He was originally drafted by LA in 2001 and then moved to San Jose (who later became the Dynamo). At 32 he's not a long-term solution for the Rapids but he'll help us this season and probably next season.

Since Colorado seems to have an aversion to going outside the league to sign players right now, allocation money is worthless to us. All in all it was a nice move to get something for money we won't spend and a player that won't be back to his full self until at least the middle of next season, if ever.