Acosta Trade Is Better Than First Reports

So the Acosta trade was made official today, as expected, and it was actually better than first thought.  Let's list it all out first:

Colorado gets:

• M Kellyn Acosta, who's under contract through 2018 with team held options for 2019 and 2020
• Dallas' first round 2019 pick
• Dallas' second round 2019 pick, conditionally
• 50% of any sale of Badji if sold before the end of the summer 2020 transfer window

Dallas gets:

• F Dominique Badji
• International slot through the end of 2019
• Colorado's first round 2019 pick
• 50% of any sale of Acosta if sold before end of the summer 2020 transfer window
• 33% of any sale of Acosta if sold after the summer 2020 transfer window

The condition on Dallas' second round 2019 pick is based on how far down we drop going from our first round pick's to Dallas'.  If its a small drop they keep the pick, if its a large drop we get it ( no info on where the break point is was released).

To me the real key differences in what was reported last night was the fact that Acosta's deal goes through 2020, along with getting picks back and part of any sale of Badji in the near future.  Odds our those latter opportunities don't pay out much but it allows us to hedge our bets a bit.

In then end this is a medium-risk/high-reward trade for the Rapids.  Best case scenario is that Acosta finds his old form, elevates the team at least through 2019, and then we either sell him for a large transfer fee (as he's been clear he wants to go to Europe) or he decides he likes it here and re-signs.  Both outcomes are wins for the Rapids.  Worst case, he doesn't find his old form, he's an average MLS midfielder, and we get him on a lesser deal or we trade him away again.  Not great but the real loss in the move would be Badji, who has largely plateaued here anyway.  And if he suddenly gets better and is bought we get half of that.

Acosta flew in early this morning, was at training today, and may play against Boca Juniors tomorrow.  Hopefully we see him start on the 4th against LA (starting on Saturday in DC might be asking too much).

Rapids To Announce Significant Trade At Noon Tomorrow

The Rapids have announced a press conference tomorrow at noon, and its presumably to announce the trade that broke tonight (and that I've been hearing about for about a week an a half).  Assuming reported details are correct here's the swap:

Colorado gets: M Kellyn Acosta
Dallas gets: F Dominique Badji, an international spot through 2019, our first round pick in 2019, and part of any transfer fee if Acosta is sold

Acosta is a 22 year old homegrown player who has 116 appearances for Dallas and 17 caps for the U. S. National Team.  He's fallen out of favor in Dallas due to injury and a disagreement with Oscar Pareja over his best position.  He wanted to make the jump to Europe but Dallas never received a good enough offer for him.

This deal is a lot to pay but Acosta is a great addition to this team. This is an all-in move though. If the Rapids juju gets him and he fizzles out its going to be overpaying and another massive mistake. If he keeps playing like he has at the MLS and international level though, he's somebody you build the midfield around. Overall I like the move, but its not a total slam dunk.

This is clearly a 2019 and future move. I don't believe we have a striker lined up to replace Badji right now but I don't think we care. 2018 is a write-off at this point and we'll have to muddle through with Barnes, Boli, McBean, and Gashi.  We need to sign the right striker for 2019 and beyond, not worry about the rest of 2018 and make an emergency move.

One concern is that Transfermarkt has Acosta's contract expiring at the end of the season (and he signed a new contract at the end of 2015, so a 3-year deal would be about right). So this move better include signing a new contract.  Paying this much for a rent-a-player that jets for Europe at the end of the season would be a disaster.

I'll update tomorrow if the deal is any different than what's been reported tonight.

Badji Away, Rapids Playing A Friendly In Memphis

Two pieces of news this week.

• Badji is back in Senegal finalizing his green card

Lousy timing, what with the Rocky Mountain Cup this week, but the government offices involve set the timing and the Rapids have no control.  He's not expected to make it back in time for Saturday's game.  On the plus side, we have 2 international slots open now.

• Rapids will play the USL's Tulsa Roughnecks FC in a friendly Sept. 1st in Memphos

This is a kickoff event for Memphis' USL team that will start play next season.  Since they were announced in January Tim Howard, a Memphis resident in the offseason, has been a special adviser to the team.  They'll be unveiling the team logo and such as part of the event.  The Rapids were invited, obviously, because of Howard and will presumably be getting paid for the appearance.  I'm not sure why Tulsa was invited, unless they just happen to be one of the USL teams that have a bye that weekend (the Rapids have a bye because its an international weekend).

Rapids Sign Barnes

2017: M Stefan Aigner - 5 starts, 9 appearances, 2 goals, 1 assist
2016: M Sebastien Le Toux - 8 starts, 11 appearances, 2 goals, 1 assist
2015: D Sean St. Ledger - 12 starts, 12 appearances, 0 goals, 2 assists
2014: D Zat Knight - 3 starts, 4 appearances
2013: F Gabriel Torres - 5 starts, 7 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist
2012: F Edu - 3 starts, 9 appearances

For the last 6 summers the Rapids have gone out and acquired a, lets say notable, international player.  To that track record today Colorado added F Giles Barnes after he had been released by Mexican side Leon.  Barnes is a Jamaican international but does hold a green card so he doesn't take up the open international slot left by Mason's departure.  His contract is for 6 months with a team held option for 2019.

Another commonality in the names above is their lack of contribution both in the season and they acquired and beyond.  Gaby Torres is actually the only one to get any significant playing time after the season he signed and even that was less than successful.  I sadly expect the same from Barnes.  He's going to be 30 years old probably before he gets his first start in Colorado (Aug 5th), he's only played 3 times in the last year for Leon, and his production has been dropping off from the highs of his career.  By the time he gets here and gets fit and acclimated to the altitude we're probably looking at mid-August at best.  I'll put the over/under at 9 starts and 3 goals (there are currently 16 games left).

I don't see him making a big enough impact to have his option picked up for 2019 so I think this is going to be a depth signing for this lost 2018 season and then we'll move on.

Hello....Is This Thing On?

I said I'd be back when there's news, and after a month to the day of saying that, we have news again.  Today the Rapids terminated Joe Mason's loan and he'll return to Wolves in England this month.

Mason was not a success here, but I think that's less about him and more about the situation he was in.  Inconsistent playing time and an atrocious midfield gave him no chance to find his legs.  I felt like, while he wasn't a top tier player, he could have contributed more than he did.  There were some questions about his fitness though, which is something that he is responsible for.  I have also heard that Hudson didn't take a liking to him, which is why he didn't see as much time as we had hoped.

That last bit is concerning to me because Mason was signed right before the season after Hudson had gotten settled here.  So that suggests one of two things to me.  First, that Smith and Hudson aren't working as closely together as they claim and Smith is making signings without Hudson's input.  Second, that they are working together but their scouting isn't revealing what it needs to reveal about players before they get here.  Either way, its not a good sign for the team.

As a replacement for Mason the Rapids have been linked with Leon (and former Houston/Orlando/Vancouver) striker Giles Barnes.  He was waived by Leon today and reportedly there's another MLS team also interested.  I say, let him go.  Barnes has averaged about 24 appearances and 6 goals a season over his career and he's now on the backside of that career.  He's not a long-term solution and by the time he gets here and gets fit (he only made 3 appearances for Leon in the last year) he won't be a shot-term solution either.

There are some other rumors swirling around the team, so I'll post when/if anything solidifies.  This season is still lost and today Marco Cummings had an interview with Padraig Smith where he reiterated the 3-4 transfer windows before the team is where they want, so essentially 2019 is already lost too.  So I'll continue to be a part-time blogger on the team until they decide to be more than a part-time team.