Sjoberg Re-Signed, More On Aigner

Our second piece of good news in as many days as the team announced that Axel Sjoberg has signed a new deal that will keep him at the club at least through 2020 with a club option for 2021.  This is a great building block for the next few years with the only possible concern being that Sjoberg seems a bit injury-prone.

Two other pieces of information about Aigner came out today as well.  First, according to Jeff Carlisle Aigner will be a TAM-level player after this season.  This gives up an idea of what his contract will be as his pro-rated salary for this year is apparently not at TAM level.  That probably means Aigner is going to be getting 500K-750K a year.  This is a big number to commit to for 3.5 years at a position where you have somebody a year younger already under a DP contract (Gashi).

This is offset by this article buy Bundesliga reporter Manuel Veth who goes into what happened last year at 1860 Munich.  It explains why Aigner moved from the Bundesliga to the 2nd Bundesliga before last season as a way to help the club that he played at as a youth and why he now wants to leave not only the club but the Bundesliga all-together.  Obviously this is all talk and what matters is how he plays on the field for the Rapids but this at least allays some of my concerns about his level and what he's trying to accomplish with his career.  If he can play like he did in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt we may have gotten a steal.

Affiliations, Transfer Rumors, and Playoff Opponent

An eclectic list of news and rumors today:

The Rapids renewed their affiliation with the USL Charlotte Independence for another season today.  This is a little bit of a surprise as it seemed like Colorado was leaning towards a relationship with the Switchbacks.  Maybe they still have different viewpoints on how the relationship might work or maybe the Rapids are just happy staying with Charlotte given Hinchey's relationship with the Independence owners.

Two interesting transfer rumors surfaced from MLS Transfers today.  They're track record is a little hit or miss so I wouldn't put much weight into these:

Axel Sjoberg:

I'm hearing Axel Sjoberg has been gaining interest from Djurgardens (his youth club) and Ostersunds FK.

I'm not sure this would be a great move for a player like Sjoberg except for him it would be going home.  I don't think a mid-tier top league team (Djurgardens) or a recently promoted team (Ostersunds) in Sweden would be a step up but you can't downplay the appeal of playing in your home country,

Dillon Powers:

Source tells me Dillon Powers has interest from Blackburn. May trial in the offseason.

As a Blackburn fan I'm not sure how I feel about this one. :D  If Jones re-signs for the Rapids or hey plan to bring in another Jones-type player its certainly time for Powers to leave.  As we've seen he doesn't really have a starting spot with Jones or that type of player here.  He was probably going to move to a Championship side last season until Reading made a managerial change.  Its the right level for him and would probably be a good move for everyone involved on this side of the pond.

Now I don't see Powers saving Blackburn from relegation so this better not be the only big move they're considering in the winter transfer window. ;)

Finally, LA beat FSL tonight 3-1 so we're headed to the StubHub Center for our first playoff game on Sunday.  Time is still to be announced.  During the season we played 0-0 and 1-1 draws in LA while beating them here 1-0.  Those results would get us through to the conference finals if we repeat them.  Its a little concerning how LA has turned on its offense tonight but that could jusst be because FSL has been a bad team for two months.

Quick News and Notes

A couple of quick pieces of news.

• Dillon Serna and Shane O'Neill made the roster cut for the U.S. National Team's upcoming friendlies against Chile (in  Chile) and Panama (at the Stub Hub Center).  So while that will delay their joining of the Rapids in preseason its great experience for them.
• Dillon Powers tweeted that Grant Van de Casteele was with him for their first practice yesterday, so as we expected.
• I missed this before but Axel Sjoberg, our first round pick, tweeted before the draft that he had signed a MLS contract.

Updated roster:

(* = international):

Goalkeepers:
John Berner
Clint Irwin
Zac MacMath

Defenders:
Marc Burch
Bobby Burling
Michael Harrington
Drew Moor
John Neeskens
Shane O'Neill
Axel Sjoberg*

Midfielders:
Sam Cronin
Marlon Hairston
Dillon Powers
Marcelo Sarvas*
Dillon Serna
Jared Watts

Forwards:
Deshorn Brown*
Caleb Calvert
Charles Eloundou*
Vicente Sanchez*
Gabriel Torres*

Unsigned:
D Brandon Fricke (draftee)
D Joseph Greenspan (draftee, on Naval duty through 2017 probably)
D Matt Jeffrey (draftee)
D Zat Knight*
D Grant Van de Casteele (confirmed to be in camp)
M Carlos Alvarez
M Nick LaBrocca
F Dominique Badji* (draftee)

A Mustache, A Draft, and a Trade

A big day for the Rapids with their first "difference-maker" move of the offseason.  But first, the look that most say won the draft.

In Mustache We Trust!

Pablo going all musketeer on us this offseason.  Well one for all and all for one!

As you saw in my earlier post the Rapids drafted two big defenders today in Sjoberg and Greenspan.  Some think Sjoberg is MLS-ready now so at worst he should be able to contribute at some point this season.  6' 7" in the back means we shouldn't get beat on crosses and free kicks.  Greenspan is a more unusual case.  As a Midshipman he's first responsibility is to the U.S. Navy.  He's not the first athlete out of a service academy good enough to be drafted though.  In the past the services have sometimes agreed to take the player's 5 year service commitment and reduce it to 2 years of active duty combined with an extended time in the reserves after that.  So a best case scenario is that Greenspan will be available to us mid-2017.  I think what he's doing is a great service and I hope he can also pursue a professional career.  I do wonder though if we could have made a different pick that could contribute right way.

The big news of the day was a trade for one of the "difference makers" we needed to find this offseason.  We sent our #3 spot in the allocation order and allocation money to LA for Marcelo Sarvas and an international roster spot along with moving into LA's 18th spot in the allocation order.  Sarvas is a 33 year old midfielder who was responsible for 3 goals and 11 assists for the Galaxy last year.  Most LA fans considered him the heart and soul of the team and are sad to see him go.  LA traded him to make room for the summer arrival of Steven Gerrard.

The Rapids are now up to 7 international players (if you include Sjoberg) and 8 international spots.  Sarvas will be a natural partner with Powers in midfield and gives us the MLS-quality starting mid we needed.  There's still work to do but this is a good start.

SuperDraft Results

Live updates, more details tonight:

• 1sr Round 14th Pick: Rapids trade the 19th pick (and presumable something else) to Columbus for the 14th pick.  They take CB Axel Sjoberg out of Marquette.  Sjoberg is Swedish and presumably will take an international slot.
  
• 2nd Round 5th Pick: D Joseph Greenspan out of the Naval Academy.  Combined our two draft picks are 13' 1" tall (6'7" and 6'6")!  I'm not sure what his responsibilities to the Navy will mean for his playing career with the Rapids.
  

That's it barring a trade.  Further wrap-up tonight.