Rapids Make Moves On The Back Line

Yesterday's expansion draft resulted in no Colorado players being picked, as expected.  Today the Rapids made moves to add two large pieces of the 2020 puzzle.  First they traded to bring Lalas Abubakar back permanently after his loan ended.  They then made a move to bring in the Union's centerback Auston Trusty. 

The trade for Abubakar was $400K in GAM and an international slot for 2020.  Obviously we know how Lalas fits into the team so there's no surprise there.  The good news is the cost, while some sources (mainly in Columbus) were tossing around numbers like $1M in xAM we got him for a much more reasonable $400K.  Some media were rating Abubakar the third best defender in the league in 2019 but we got him for an above-average MLS defender price.  Great move by the Front Office.

For those wondering about the international slot we currently have five internationals (Mezquida, Price, Rwatubyaye, Shinyashiki, and Wilson) and we know we're negotiating with Smith to be the sixth.  With this trade and the Lewis trade earlier this year we've traded away two of our slots for 2020, leaving us with 6.  So we're fine on that front right now, and we can always trade for more or decide to send Rwatubyaye back to the Springs next year to free up a slot.

The second move of the day was the more surprising one.  Auston Trusty wasn't on anyone's radar as a possible pickup.  He was signed as a homegrown player by the Union in 2016, spending the rest of that year and the following on loan to their USL affiliate where he made 31 appearances.  He then started and played every minute of the 2018 season for the Union.  He started the first 22 games of the 2019 season for the Union before being relegated to the bench and not seeing any more playing time, for unknown reasons.  He hinted that he would talk more about what happened next year but clearly whatever it was meant he was unlikely to factor into next year's plans for Philly.

Trusty is a 21 year old center back  who has been capped for the U19 and the U20 U.S. national teams and has received a full National Team camp invite but has not yet been selected for a game roster.  Obviously with 80+ professional appearances he's more experienced than the average 21 year old and right now it seems like he's likely to be expected to start along-side Abubakar in our back line in 2020.

To get Trusty we traded $200K of TAM in 2020 and $300K in GAM in 2021.  Depending on his performance in 2020 the Union could get an additional $150K of GAM in 2021.  If we sell Trusty before the end of 2021 the Union would get 30% of the remaining transfer fee after the Rapids recoup the $600K (or $750K with performance bonus) they paid to get him.  If he's sold after that Philly would get 25%.  As part of the deal Trusty signed a new contract with the Rapids (he was on an option year in 2020 with Philly).

So combined today we spent $1M in xAM and gave up an international spot for next season in exchange for two young starting quality MLS centerbacks.  That's a nice bit of business for the Front Office.  This leaves the team with a starting back four (Rosenberry - Abubakar - Trusty - Vines) with an average age between 22 and 23, all under multiyear deals  That's a young, long-term back line we can build off of.  With Ford and Rwatubyaye as depth and reports that we're still negotiating with Smith we're pretty set at CB for 2020.