Aigner Released

You know yesterday when I said I wasn't sure how much I'd write but I'd cover news?  Well, we have news.  The Rapids announced today that the club and Stefan Aigner had agreed to a mutual termination of his contract, effective immediately.

This brings to an end the issues with Aigner which, as more and more stories leak out, appear to have been caused as much by him as Hudson.  Players were calling Aigner out for his lack of effort, he reportedly had multiple run-ins with Hudson, and generally never appeared to do anything this season but pick up a paycheck.  I'm sure as time goes by we'll hear more from both sides but whatever happened, it was bad and the faster the Rapids could move on the better.

MLS rules don't allow salary relief for a contract terminated mid-season.  Whatever buyout was agreed on still hits our cap for this year.  We do remove Aigner's cap hit in 2019 and 2020 with this move though.  Aigner was due around $2 million through 2020 and I can't see him giving that up for free just to get out of the contract.  Unless he already has a new deal lined up somewhere I assume he got something for agreeing to leave early, but obviously not the full $2 million.  Whatever that is will still hit our cap this year.

So as far as this season goes, barring any future info, all we really get back is an open roster spot.  Since Aigner got his green card in the offseason this doesn't even free up an international spot.  It does remove a problem in the locker room though and lets everyone move on, so in the end it was the right move.

Two Bits Of News

Two pieces of news today.

• The players union's salary guide was updated today.  We know that Aigner is making $425K in base salary per year, with guarantees he's at $470 which is just over max salary range, making him a TAM player.  I assume he has an escalation clause for next season.
• Badji signs a new contract through 2019 with team options for 2020 and 2021.  Good move and well deserved.  He's clearly the team MVP this year.

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.

Rapids Sign Stefan Aigner

Colorado announced the signing of German midfielder Stefan Aigner today (pending medical and P-1 visa).  This had been rumored since the weekend.  Aigner is 29 years old and has signed through the 2020 season.  He is similar to Gashi in that his preferred role is a winger but he can also play striker (though Ainger prefers the right while Gashi prefers the left).  He comes to Colorado from Bundesliga 2 side 1860 Munich.  From 2012 to 2016 he played for Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring 22 times in 95 appearances.  He only had 3 goals in 24 appearances for Munich last year but 1860 was a chaotic mess as their majority owner and the club administration spent more time fighting than improving the team.  They were relegated to the 3rd division at the end of the season but the owner refused to pay the fees to play in that division so they've been relegated a second time and will play in the 4th division regional league this year.

I don't see Aigner as a difference maker based on his background, but I don't hate the signing either.  He's already in Colorado but it will take a couple of weeks before I expect to see any significant minutes from him.  I'm guessing he might suit up but only get a token appearance in San Jose on Saturday at best, he'll come off then bench in our next home game against Vancouver, and then maybe he'll be ready to start in Dallas on the 12th, though I wouldn't be shocked if its not until the home game against Dc on the 19th that he gets his first start.  My hope is (assuming everyone is healthy) we would see a lineup something like this:

Howard

Hairston - Ford - Sjoberg - Da Fonte/Miller

Azira - Boateng

Badji                 Aigner

Gashi

Doyle

Freeing up Gashi to play as a withdrawn striker under Doyle will hopefully generate more offense and more targets to feed off of Aigner's service.  In theory Aigner could be the withdrawn forward and Gashi the winger as well.

I can see what the Rapids strategy/goals are this window with this move and the rumor that they're in the conversations around Kamara being traded.  An addition to the midfield and a striker would certainly increase the offense.  I'd like to see Colorado land a MLS quality starting striker to build around.  That would allow both Gashi and Aigner to play as wingers and Badji to be a solid sub off the bench going forward.  If that gets done we're really only an outside back away from where I hoped we'd be at the end of the window.

There will be at least one additional move coming as Aigner does need an international slot and we don't have one open.  That means either trading for a slot, trading away an international, or cutting/loaning somebody.