Roster Compliance Day Means Saying Goodbye

Today was roster compliance day for the league (other than Miami and FSL, who had to be compliant before their game Wednesday night) which means a number of trades and cuts, and the Rapids did both today.  First of all we say goodbye to Alex Gersbach, who was bought out, and Sidnei Tavares, who was waived and will return from his loan.

Gersbach was bought from Ligue 2 side Gernoble for a reported $325K last offseason and never showed he was a MLS-caliber player, getting ripped to shreds in the 4-0 loss in Seattle to start the season.  After tha he only had two more appearances, starting against SJ 2 weeks later (a 1-0 loss), and against Atlanta in May (a 4-0 loss).  3 starts, a total of 9-0 scorelines against us.  He had surgery for a cronic injury in July and never suited up again.  Unless that injury occurred in preseason (it was after he arrived at some point) its hard to imagine what he could have showed in France that made Smith believe he was a MLS-level starter as he never appeared anywhere close to it.

Tavares was brought in during the summer window on loan.  By the time his paperwork was complete the season was for all intents and purposes over, but despite that he only made 5 appearances.  Most of his time here last season was spent on the injury report with an undisclosed illness.  Per Matt Pollard ad Burgundy Wave it couldn't have been COVID as that would have been reported differently, his best guess is that he struggled with altitude sickness.  Regardless he didn't show much in his 5 appearances and with the addition of Diack, Mihailovic, Löffelsend, and Fernandez he was going to be low in the pecking order this year.

Looking back at 2023 the club added Ronan, Maxso, Ilic, Cabral, Gersbach, Tavares, and Navarro.  Ronan looks like a good signing and I have hoped for Maxso.  The rest over are somewhere between a question mark (Navarro) and a diaster (Gersbach).  I can almost forgive Navarro and Tavares.  Those were moves made after losing Price and Max for the year and Rubio for big chunks of the season so you need to make quick additions and bringing them in on loan to see if they help gives you an out.  Ilic, Cabral, and Gersbach are unforgiveable though, I really don't know what our scouts saw in them.

After making those two moves the Rapids traded a now open international spot to the Red Bulls for $175K in GAM.

Full credit to the Rapids for doing something I've been wanting for years.  After making those moves they put out a detailed roster explanation, listing every player and every category they fill.  This is extremely helpful for looking at where we can make some moves come the end of the window in May or the summer window.  Atlanta set the standard today, putting out not only this info but also detailed contract info with length and option years listed.

We officially have 30 players under contract right now, with 6 internationals (Cabral, Diack, Ilić, Maxsø, Navarro, and Ronan).  Our 3 DP slots are filled by Cabral, Mihailovic, and Navarro.  Diack, Maxsø, Steffen and Vines are on TAM deals while Bassett is ouir only current U22 player.  Chacón is on the injury list which means he doesn't currently take up a roster/international spot as he rehabs from his ACL tear in October.

There will be a preview of the Portland game either later tonight or first thing in the morning.