Roster Moves and Player Updates

A couple of roster notes from the last couple of days.

• Yesterday Colorado released Josh Janniere in order to make room for Edu on the roster.
• They also placed Ross LaBauex on IR
• Today they announced that Wynne and Cummings will be out about 4 weeks.

So that leaves us with 31 rostered players.  With Wallace on season-ending IR even with everyone else healthy we're still within the 30-man roster limit.

We currently have 7 internationals, Castrillon, Edu, Henao, Rivero, Smith, Yamada, and Zapata.  Smith is currently on IR so we still meet the limit of 6 international spots we currently have.  I've herd multiple reports that he's expecting his green card any day, so once that happens he won't count as an international and we'll be at our limit of 6.

When Edu was signed the Rapids mentioned that they would need to make moves to free up salary cap space. Janniere didn't count against the cap so releasing him didn't help, and players on the IR still count against the cap.  If the Rapids are salary cap compliant then they did some behind the scenes manipulation to get to that point without having to release players.

New Player Joins the Rapids

Colorado announced the signing today of Brazilian striker Luis Eduardo Schmidt, commonly known ad Edu.  He had trialed with the team last month and rejoined the team this week.  Edu is 33 and has previously played in Brazil and Spain's La Liga.  He's a big guy that would probably fill in well in Casey's target striker role.

In other roster news Harrison Henao is expected to join the team tomorrow or Saturday now that his paperwork is completed.  He may or may not be active for Saturday's game, depending on his travel fatigue, but he's expected to be available for next week's two games.  Also there have been multiple reports that Quincy Amarikwa is being "evaluated" and the team will make a decision on him as soon as he returns from Nigeria where he's dealing with family issues.

Today, with the help of the Rapids Media Office, I figured out the current status of the team's roster and international limits.  The team is limited to 30 players, 6 of which can be internationals.  Players on IR do not count towards those limits.  Also players who are still awaiting paperwork aren't counted either.

Right now the Rapids have 8 internationals "under contract".  Castrillon, Edu, Henao, Janniere, Rivero, Smith, Yamada, and Zapata.  They also have 32 players total "under contract".  There are some players that don't count though:

Edu - Awaiting paperwork
Henao - Awaiting paperwork
Mastroeni - On IR
Smith - On IR
Wallace - On season-ending IR

So without these 5 Colorado has 27 players and 5 internationals that count towards the roster limits.  That leaves 3 open roster spots, one of which could be an international.  Henao will take that international spot when he joins the team tomorrow or Saturday.  Then Edu will take one of the two remaining roster spots and we'll be short an international spot.  When Mastroeni comes off IR he'll take the remaining roster spot, which means when Smith comes off of IR we'll need another roster spot and an international spot.

So what this means is that if everyone is healthy (but Wallace) and eligible the team has one too many players and two too many internationals.  With the news about Amarikwa he could be leaving soon which would solve the extra player issue but not the international one.  I did hear a rumor that Smith is close to getting his green card, so that would reduce our international spot need to one.  My guess is that Janniere is the odd man out.  He and Smith are the only tow internationals that Pareja didn't bring in so he's the obvious cut.  The other possibility is trading Amarikwa for an international slot, but I'm not sure they can get that much for Qunicy.

New Trialist and Season Preview

A surprise announcement from Commerce City today as Brazilian Luis Eduardo Schmidt, aka Edu, has started a trial with the team.  He contacted the Rapids about a trial, as opposed to the usual other way around.  He's a 33 year old midfielder/forward with 15 years of experience in Brazil and Spain.  He has 63 goals in 253 La Liga appearances over 9 years.  Edu spent 2000-2009 in Spain with Celta and Real Betis before returning to Brazil.  He's been fighting injuries the last 3 years, making only 30 appearances total in Brazil, and is obviously looking to jump start his career in MLS.

The Rapids are currently maxed out on players and international spots, but a player on IR doesn't count towards either.  Since the earliest Jamie Smith is expected to be available is late May he'll probably start the season on IR which would open an international slot.  Any player signed would still have to fit under the salary cap though.

From that unexpected news to the promised second half of my season preview.  On Monday we reviewed the depth at each position and probable lineup.  Today we'll tack a bit about the biggest change in the team, the coaching staff.

Obviously there's a world of difference between Gary Smith's 4-4-2 and Oscar Pareja's planned 4-3-3 formation.  Smith's style was very direct grind-it-out play while Pareja is going for a more possession and short passing game. To me the biggest surprise is how few changes Pareja has made so far.  The team that takes the field on Saturday will probably have 8 players that started the season opener last year (and MLS Cup 2010).  The added players are likely to be Zapata at left back, Castrillon in the center of the midfield, and rookie Tony Cascio up front.  Despite the limited number of changes we'll probably see a completely different style of soccer at the Dick in less than 72 hours.  Out will be the long balls to the forwards and the kick it and run style.  Instead you'll see a team focused on patient build-up and keeping control of the ball.

This is a great plan to play at altitude, making the opposition that's not used to the lack of oxygen chase the ball as much as possible.  How well we pull it off though will be the issue.  I'm not sure we're going to be as successful at it as we're all hoping, at least right away.  I still have major concerns about goal scoring, at least until Casey can prove he's back to his old self, and the 3-man central midfield will leave a lot of work for the wings to do and their ability to do that seems to be a big question mark.  I think that long-term this is a great step for the team to be making, but I'm not expecting big things from their 2012 season as they adapt to this new mentality.

So my predictions for this year:

• The Rapids struggle to hold on to a playoff place all season and miss out on the playoffs in the last couple of games of the season.  The struggle to adapt to the new style early in the season will cost us just enough points to finish 6th in the West and just outside the postseason.
• Due to the unfavorable schedule of two games in Utah before FSL comes to Colorado for the final game the Rapids will lose the Rocky Mountain Cup again.
• Colorado makes a deeper than expected run in the U.S. Open Cup before losing on the road in the semifinals to another MLS team.
• Cascio will be the best rookie the Rapids have seen since Hunter Freeman in 2005.
• Casey comes back just as strong as before and gets at least 10 goals.
• Late in the year, but before the final game, Pablo announces his retirement.

So, what do you see happening?