Rapids Acquire Gustavo Vallecilla from FC Cincinnati

Colorado made a significant move today, trading for Ecuadorian defender Gustavo Vallecilla from FC Cincinnati.  In exchange the Rapids are sending FCC $400K of GAM this year and $400K of GAM next year, plus possibly another $50K of GAM depending on performance metrics.  FCC will also retain 10% of any sale of Vallecilla after the Rapids recoup their costs (so 10% of everything above the first $800K/$850K).  There are also multiple confirmred reports from the likes of MLSsoccer'com's Tom Bogert that the Rapids are paying the remaining $450K of transfer fee that Cincinnati owes to Vallecilla's former club, Acuas in Ecuador.  Its unclear if that's in addition to the GAM, or if some (or all) of it is being paid with the GAM we're sending to FCC.

If it is in addition to the GAM then this makes Vallecilla one of the most, if not the most, expensive signings in Rapids history.  I'm having a hard time coming up with anyone the Rapids spent $1.25M to acquire.  Even if we're double-counting the transfer fee $800K is just behind the likes of Kaye, Max, and Juan Ramirez.  So Colorado is making a significant investment here.  What are we getting for it?

Gustavo Vallecilla is a 22 year old central defender.  Prior to signing with Cincinnati last season, first on loan and then eventually sold directly to FCC this past offseason, he was with Acuas as mentioned, where he made 5 appearances in 2019 and 3 in 2021.  In 2020 Acuas loaned him to fellow Ecuadorian Serie A side Barcelona SC where he made 15 appearances and won the title.  He made 25 appearances for FCC before the trade.  Vallecilla got his start with Ecuadorian side Deportivo Cuenca where he made 17 appearances in 3 seasons.  Gustavo has played for the Ecuadorian U-18 and U023 national teams, and got his first cap with the senior National Team in December when they played El Salvador in Houston.

At 22 years old he was brought in as part of the U-22 youth initiative which means his cap hit is minimal to us (and the transfer fee we're paying doesn't hit the cap).  He fills the final international slot the Rapids have with Mayaka being loaned to Rapids 2.  The immediate reaction from Cincinnati fans was that we were getting a great player and they were sad, and somewhat unhappy, he was leaving.  That's always a positive side for a player you're adding to a team.  He's also one of the fastest defenders in the league, which should help balance Wilson's lack of speed.

Obviously, this is a major move brought on by the fact that Trusty is leaving in July and Keita is out for the season with a blown ACL.  Before today we'd be looking at Moor or Edwards or somebody filling in next to Abubakar and Trusty.  Now we have an experience (ish) option to slot in.  Its a lot to pay for that, but I'm willing to give Padraig Smith the benefit of the doubt given his track record for intraleague trades.

Los RapiDos Start Their Season On Sunday

The new MLS Next Pro league starts this weekend with Rapids 2 (or as I prefer to call them, Los RapiDos) getting their first game on Sunday.  Earlier this week the Rapids announced that all Rapids season ticket holders can get tickets to Rapids 2 games for just a processing fee of $4.  Games will be held at the University of Denver soccer stadium on DU's campus.  3 games this season will be at DSG Park, two of them will be doubleheaders with the first team and the third will be the MLS Next Game of the Week.

The first game on Sunday will be a 4pm at DU's stadium.  Inconvenient timing with the USA-Panama game starting at 5.

Also this week the Rapids filled out the RapiDos roster by signing 10 academy players to amateur contracts and loaning a number of first team players to the second team.  Those loaned players are able to be recalled to the first team at any time.  The 8 players are Abe Rodriguez, Seb Anderson, Michael Edwards, Anthony Markanich, Jackson Travis, Philip Mayaka, Dantouma Toure, and Darren Yapi.  One player from the first team can removed from any cap hit if he stays with Rapids 2 all season (never appears on a first team matchday roster) and makes no more than the senior minimum.  My guess for that would be Yaya Toure.

All games will also be available streaming on mlsnextpro.com

Rapids Extend Fraser Through 2025

Today the Rapids announced that head coach Robin Fraser has agreed to a contract extension that takes him through the 2025 season.  This is great news, and the biggest signing the team could make right now.  While we still need a DP, Fraser is worth more points than any single player signing could be.  He's taken this club from the bottom of the barrel with Anthony Hudson (not slighting Conor Casey's interim work her though) to the best PPG in the league (tied) since he took over the club.  Not only that, but he's done it in a way that is sustainable and repeatable.  That's something we've never had as Rapids fans before.

Assuming things don't go sideways (or he's not poached) and the MLS season stays at 34 games next season, Fraser will set the record for number of games* as head coach with the second game of the 2024 season.  He only needs 60 more points to set the record for most points by a head coach, which we should expect to hit sometime in the 2023 season.  Mooch Myernick is the current record holder in both categories.

I've also heard a rumor that a new contract for GM Padraig Smith may not be far behind...

Houston, Will Has A Problem

Well, no way to sugar coat it.  Despite my prediction of a 1-1 draw that was two points dropped, not one point gained.  Yarbrough's mental lapse snatched a draw from the jaws of victory.  We also saw a continuation of a lack of scoring chances, but we are efficient with them, with Kaye's second goal of the year coming off a Jack Price set piece.  The Rapids go into the international break at a solid 2-1-1 with a big home match against FSL coming up on the other side of it.  In-between Kaye (Canada) and Acosta (Honduras) will be with their national teams for the final rounds of World Cup Qualifying.

Ok, we've got things to talk about on both goals.  Starting with the Rapids, we were very lucky it wasn't called offside.  Yes, I hear what you're saying, "no offside on a corner kick!".  That's true, if the shot is the next touch after the corner kick.  If there's a touch by another player between the kick and the shot then offside applies just like any other live play.  In this case Danny Wilson is officially credited with an assist.  If you look at the replay as the ball comes in from Price both Wilson and the Houston keeper go up to play it.  The ball clearly deflects, but its unclear as to which one of them actually gets the touch.  Here's the moment of the touch (or as close as I can get it).

Kaye is bottom right.  Is he offside?  Obviously with the angle its hard to know for sure but its really close.  During the game I was sure he must be but now that I have time to look closer I could go either way.  There was a slight delay to allow VAR time to review it, so it must have been clean.  Also, how is Houston leaving Kaye unmarked on the back post like that?

On the Houston goal Yarbrough knocked a goal kick into the center of the field right at a Houston attacker.  Critical error, especially with only minutes to kill off for a win.  Boot it long and wide and make them waste time recycling it back to the attacking third.  Instead Pasher saw where the ball was going and started his break towards goal before the goal kick even got to his teammate.  The Rapids defense had no chance to shut down the attack.  Yarbrough tried to come out but let the ball get under him and slowly roll in for the equalizer.  Just a bad, bad play.  But, players make bad plays.  Even the best of them.  It hurts more when a keeper does it because they're the last line of defense, but every keeper gets to have one blunder a season.  That's Will's for 2022.

Random Thoughts:

• Auston Trusty has had better games.  Picked up a yellow for an American football tackle, lost the ball out of bounds, and was caught out on at least one Houston attack.
• Bryan Acosta had a good look to win it in stoppage time but put the shot just wide.  You really need to get that on target, but the miss wasn't as bad as some were making it out to be.
• Good to see Danny Wilson back already.  The two weeks off will help him and Esteves recover.
• Rubio back slid in this one after a couple of good appearances..  Hopefully that's a blip and not a trend.
• Kaye was arguably MOTM again.  He's started this season on fire.

Man of the Match: Jack Price.  Doing what he does best, setting up goals from free kicks.  With the assist he ties Terry Cooke for 2nd all-time in Rapids history with 34, behind Chris Henderson.  It took him 4 games longer than Cooke, but if he keeps this rate up he'll tie Henderson's 53 seven games earlier than Chris got it.

Rapids Head South To Houston

Colorado is back on the road tomorrow, where we've been unsuccessful so far in 2022.  We're down in Texas to play the Dynamo, who have started the year on an average run, going 1-1-1.  Their home matches were a draw against FSL and a victory over Vancouver.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 6:30 and its on Altitude, if you get it.

Injury Report:

OUT: D Aboubacar Keita, M Oliver Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: D Danny Wilson

This will be the last time I list Keita this season, since we know he's done for the year, much like Galvan.  Also Esteves isn't officially listed but his agent(!?) has stated the plan is to rest him after his knock last weekend, going into the international break next week.

The back line is a little hard to pin down with both Esteves and Wilson likely out.  I think Rosenberry moves inside and we get Beita and Seb at the wingbacks, but we could see Moor get the start in the center allowing Rosenberry to move back to right wingback.  Regardless I think there are minimal changes to the rest of the lineup.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Barrios.  I'm not ready to predict a win on the road, though I do think we're the better team.  Our makeshift backline will leak a goal and we'll only find one in response.

Roster News Recap

Ok, family travel to Seattle took me away from the blog longer than I expected.  While there hasn't been a ton of news there are a few roster moves to catch up on, some sad and one good.

First the bad.  In the last couple of weeks Aboubacar Keita had surgery for a blown ACL and Ollie Larraz had surgery for a compound fracture of his leg.  As we saw with Galvan, Keita's injury will keep him out for the season, while Larraz is expected to be out for 12 weeks before he can begin training again.  So at best we see him late this season.

Two significant knocks to our depth, especially on the back line as Keita was expected to be the first choice off the bench if Wilson/Trusty/Abubakar were to miss any significant time.  Instead, like we saw this weekend, Rosenberry is moving inside and Beitashour or others will take his role at right wingback.  This will become quite concerning once Trusty leaves for Arsenal (or more accurately, wherever Arsenal loans him) in July.  I would expect a move for a centerback in the summer window (if not before) much like have we brought Esteves in as Vines left last year.  Or I suppose there's a possibility that Arsenal extends Trusty's loan here.

Some help at left back has arrived with our newest homegrown signing.  This actually happened just before the home opener against Atlanta but I didn't get a chance to cover it until now.  18 year old Jackson Travis became the 16th homegrown signing in club history.  He joined the Academy in 2020 out of Jackson, Mississippi and signed a 4 year deal with 2 option years.  Given our success at LB with Vines and the early returns on Esteves hopefully he follows in their footsteps.

The final bit of roster news is from Rapids 2, who have signed striker Michael Harris from Derry City in the Irish league.  He's a 19-year old Irishman who had 2 senior appearances with Derry City before making the move over the pond.  It will be interesting to see how his game translates to the U.S.

Back to normal coverage tomorrow with a preview of Saturday's Houston match.

Rapids Set The Torch To Atlanta

Last time I saw Atlanta destroyed that badly General Sherman was in town.  A well played, and particularly well coached, game from the home squad.  A much needed boost after our first 3 games this season.  There is still plenty to work on however.

Random Musings:

• Good news, we had 3 goals.  Bad news, those were our only 3 shots on target (and one of them came against 10 players).  Quality over quantity appears to be our direction so far this year.
• Credit to Fraser for the game plan in this one.  Knowing that Atlanta wanted to press and counter he didn't let them do it, because he had us sit back and counter.  Atlanta couldn't press for a turnover when we didn't have the ball.
• That said, it did make for some nervy moments in the first 30 minutes.  Early on Atlanta was certainly taking the game to us.  Great job by Will and the defense to keep them off the board.
• After the first goal things opened up more, which is what this Rapids team needs.  Quinn said it well at the match, the first goal, especially at home, will be critical in our games this year.  We concede and the team will park the bus against us.  We score and teams will open up and give us more opportunities.
• Kaye played better alongside Price than he did out wide.  He still seemed like he was giving the ball away more than he should, but the stats actually show he played a great game.
• Interesting that Max only got a few garbage time minutes at the end of the match.  I don't think that indicates anything, just squad rotation
• Rubio, Lewis, Shinyashiki.  Our oft discredited striker core.  All 3 scored.
• Again the plan was to get it the ball outside and cross.  The difference this week is that we had crosses from multiple locations and players, not everything went through Esteves.
• Wilson came  off at half with hamstring concerns.  Hopefully its not serious.
• Great to be back with the full game day experience, especially the tailgate.  Well, almost.  Bad news that GB's won't be back this year (per GB's Facebook post on Saturday).  Talk at the match was that KSE wanted an extraordinary rent increase on the space in Eighteen76 and it didn't make financial sense for GB's.
• Family events will keep me from the SKC game next week, and likely I won't even have a chance to watch much more than the highlights.  So expect a light week here.

Man of the Match: Diego Rubio.  Goal, assist, and near second assist.  Easy choice.

We Stand With Ukraine

More on the game tomorrow or Monday, but for tonight as we enter the 11th day of the war in Ukraine:

League Home Opener? In Early March? Weather's Going To Suck.

Slightly better than this tomorrow, but not much

Forecast is calling for just above freezing temps in Commerce City at 4pm tomorrow, with a slight chance of snow.  So of course the Rapids are playing their home opener then.  Its Atlanta United in town for this one.  Based on our first 3 games this season, I'm not expecting a lot of fireworks but it will be good to get back into the swing of things.  That includes, of course, the C38 tailgate's return kicking off at 1pm.  And at 12:30 the U17 MLS Next team plays on the turf field outside the stadium and has asked for fan support.

Injury Report:

OUT: D Keita Aboubacar

Atlanta has 8 players questionable or out so they're a bit banged up coming into this one.  We've got a full week's rest after the ugliness in LAFC so everyone should be available to start other than Keita.

Determining our wingers can be a bit tricky right now, there are a few options and nobody has staked a claim to be an every game starter.  Lewis, Shinyashiki, and Acosta could all be in the rotation.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Max.  So far we haven't seen enough this season for me to predict getting any points against what's expected to be a good Atlanta team, even with their injuries and our altitude/cold advantage.  A draw would not shock me though.  I expect things to look better than last week but still come up short.

Roster Updates, Rumors, and Rapids 2 Signings

With 3 games in a week last week we didn't get a chance to cover some of the roster moves.  Most of these are official, with a couple obvious but not announced changes and one rumor.  We also have a few Rapids 2 signings to over.

First the official stuff.  The Rapids signed first round pick Anthony Markanich last week.  He'll give us some defensive depth and will likely get time with Rapids 2.  I don't expect him to rack up a lot of minutes for the first team this year, but don't be shocked if he gets some time late in the season after Trusty leaves.

The Rapids also announced an contract extension for Braian Galvan through 2024, with an option for 2025.  This a good move and a great way to show support for him after his season-ending ACL injury.

Finally today the Rapids waived homegrown forward Matt Hundley.  Originally singed before the 2019 season Hundley never got an appearance with the first team and struggled at times to get off the bench for the Switchbacks and Memphis.  Hopefully he can find a team in USL to catch on to.

Their have also been some unannounced changes with international players, currently the Rapids only show 6 players with that designation on their roster.  Acosta, Max, Esteves, Galvan, Price, and Wilson are still listed.  That means Mayaka, Mezquida, and Shinyashiki apparently got their green cards before the deadline last Friday.  This hasn't been announced yet but given that Mezquida and Shinyashiki made trips home this offseason that would sync up with the green card process.  The Rapids should have 7 international slots so they have room for one more signing (the from FSL/to Vancouver trades cancel out, and we sent one to LAFC).  Which leads us to the one rumor in this post.

Yesterday Irish site The 42 reported that 19 year old Irish striker Michael Harris is set to move from Derry City in the Irish League to the Rapids.  Harris doesn't have much first team experience, being on the bench for a number of games but not getting subbed in.  This is clearly a move for the future and it will be interesting to see if this is a first-team or a Rapids 2 contract.  Regardless I expect to see him playing for Rapids 2 this year and not the first team.

And speaking of Rapids 2, they've announced their first three signings.  The honor of the first signing goes to an old friend, welcome back to Commerce City Dillon Serna!  Dillon spent 2020 with SKC 2 and 2021 in the Springs, making a combined 22 appearances between the two teams (SKC II only played 16 games in 2020 due to COVID and Serna was injured for a good chunk of 2021).  The other two signings are midfielders Yosuke Hanya, out of UMass-Amhearst, and Omar Gomez, out of Salt Lake Community College and before that the Rapids Academy.  Gomez can also play in defense.  Hanya is one of a few Japanese players to have played professionally in American soccer, arguably the Japanese player with the most success here has been long-time Rapids player and fan favorite Kosuke Kimura.