Rapids Make Yet Another Move

I'm not used to a Rapids FO that's this active before Christmas (or even before the Desert Diamond Cup!).  Colorado made another move today, sending bags of MLS funny money to Philly for RB Keegan Rosenberry.  Officially we sent $150K in GAM and $50K in TAM this year and $100K in GAM next year.  There's another 100K in GAM that could go to Philly next year based on Rosenberry's performance.  Like I said, lots of funny money.

Keegan is 25 years old and played for Philly's youth team, but not long enough to be considered a homegrown player.  After going to Georgetown the Union selected him 3rd in the 2016 draft and immediately started every game his rookie year.  He was in and out of favor with coach Jim Curtin in 2017 but reclaimed his starting spot this year, starting all but 3 games.  He's also been on the edge of the National Team picture, getting one invite to the January camp already but not yet appearing for the team.  BTW, this year's January camp roster is revealed tomorrow and some are saying Rosenberry could be on it.

While $300-$400K in funny money is a high price to pay getting a 25-year old borderline National Team player at a position of need is probably worth it.  Nobody settled in and claimed that spot last season and I fully expect Rosenberry to own the spot going forward.  The only down side is that this is Rosenberry's last year of his contract so if for some reason he doesn't want to re-sign he could walk away to another league at the end of 2019 and we'd end put paying Philly in 2020 for a player we no longer have.  I have my doubts that would happen, but it would be great to get him signed to a new deal.

Going into the offseason I said we needed to add 3 clear MLS starter level players, at least 2 in attack, if we were going to be serious about turning this mess around.

• Kamara - Clear starter, attacker
• Rosenberry - Clear starter
• Rubio - Almost a clear starter, attacker
• Mezquida - Not quite a clear starter but serious potential, attacker

I think combining Rubio and Mezquida counts as one, so I have to say the FO came though, and before Christmas!

Guess I'll need to renew my season tickets after the holidays...