Rapids Sign One, Cut Two, Keep One?

A number of player announcements today.  The big one is that, as expected, Jose Mari was officially signed today.  Mari has returned to Spain to work out his paperwork for his permanent move to Colorado and is expected to rejoin the team later this week.  He'll be eligible to play once his visa and ITC come through.

Today the Rapids also announced that trialist Juan Guzman and draftee Albert Edward have been released from camp.  This leaves Arsenal youth player Samuel Galindo as the only unsigned player in camp.

Thanks for this one go to regular reader and frequent commenter Jester who noticed that Michael Stephens just signed with Stabaek, filling their last international spot.  That means that Matt Pickens won't be moving there, so presumably he'll be returning to Colorado and the Rapids will have to figure out what Plan B with him is.

One last non-player note.  C38 has announced that Pablo Mastroeni will be the special guest for Saturday's season kickoff party at the Celtic.  They have also said the Rapids will have a big announcement at the party, with the leading fan theory being the official announcement as Pablo as head coach.  We'll see what happens.

So now that preseason is wrapping up, here's our roster.  We've got 29 players signed against a cap of 30 and 6 of our 8 international spots filled.  We've got probably 1 too many goalkeepers, so you have to assume something is going to be done with Pickens, and probably too many attackers, though a number of them can drop into midfield.  The big depth issues are at right back (Wynne and then...?) and target forward (Buddle and then...?).

Goalkeepers:

John Berner

Clint Irwin

Joe Nasco

Matt Pickens - On "Excused Absence"

Defenders:

Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player - Will start season on IR(knee)

Mark Burch

Brenton Griffiths - International

Chris Klute

Drew Moor

Brian Mullan

Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player

Grant Van De Casteele

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Samuel Galindo - Unsigned trialist, International

Marion Hariston - Generation Adidas

Nick LaBrocca

Jose Mari - International

Dillon Powers

Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player

Nathan Sturgis

Jared Watts

Forwards:

Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International

Edson Buddle

Martin Chavez

Charles Eloundou - International

Kamani Hill

Danny Mwanga

Vicente Sanchez - International

Gabriel Torres - Designated Player, International

Pablo Not Quite Head Coach and Player Updates

The Rapids announced on Saturday that Pablo "will be at the head of our group of coaches" as preseason opens,  but they went out of their way to avoid calling him Head Coach, using terms like "leading" and "in charge".  I still believe its just a matter of time before he''s given the title.  Maybe after this weekend's scrimmage against Houston so he can have at least one game under his belt.

A few player updates since Thursday, with an updated list.

• I missed this in the draft announcement, but Aussie Albert Edward has a green card so if he makes the team he won't take an international spot.
• The Rapids confirmed that Grant Van De Casteele is already under contract.
• Today the Rapids re-signed Danny Mwanga.  He's just had hernia surgery so he he won't be at full strength until about when the season starts.  According to the Denver Post he took a pay cut.
• German Mera has been signed by Atletico Bucaramanga, a 2nd division side in Colombia, so he won't be returning.
• No update on Martin Rivero, but they Gabriel Torres the #10 Rivero wore the last two years, so that's probably not a good sign.
• Hendry Thomas is still in negotiations with the team.

Goalkeepers:

John Berner - Unsigned draftee

Clint Irwin

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player - Will start season on IR(knee)

Mark Burch

Albert Edward - Unsigned draftee

Brenton Griffiths - International

Tolani Ibikunle  - Unsigned draftee

Kory Kindle

Chris Klute

Drew Moor

Brian Mullan

Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player

Grant Van De Casteele

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Marion Hariston - Generation Adidas

Nick LaBrocca

Dillon Powers

Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player

Nathan Sturgis

Jared Watts - Unsigned draftee

Forwards:

Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International

Edson Buddle

Martin Chavez

Charles Eloundou - International

Kamani Hill

Danny Mwanga

Vicente Sanchez - International

Gabriel Torres - Designated Player, International

Unknown Status: Martin Rivero, Hendry Thomas, Anthony Wallace

Eloundou, Cascio, Rumors, and Draftees

Lots of roster news today not even counting the Superdraft.

• First, the news I'm most excited about, Charles Eloundou has signed a contract with the Rapids and will be with the team when they start the season.  He still needs his work visa (shouldn't be an issue) and ITC (gulp!) but he is currently under contract with Colorado and nobody else.  I've been following Cameroon for a few years now and I am really looking forward to having one of their young stars in Colorado.
• As rumored Tony Cascio was loaned to Houston for 2014 in exchange for an international spot.  Part of the loan stipulates he can't play against Colorado in any competitions.
• Chris Bianchi tweeted tonight that neither Thomas or Rivero are likely to return.  Thomas apparently wants DP money, and the million-dollar buyout is the stumbling block for Rivero.  Disappointing, but neither of these players are worth that investment so best for the team to move on.  It does leave quite a hole at defensive mid though that will need to be filled ASAP.
• In the 3rd round of the SuperDraft the Rapids took defender Tolani Ibikunle out of Wake Forest.  He can play anywhere in the back line, being comfortable both in the center or on a wing.  The 4th round (and final) pick was Australian defender Albert Edward out of NAIA Lindsey Wilson College.  Edward is mainly a right back, a spot where we could use some competition.

With camp opening on Friday I expect we'll see some more roster moves the next couple of days.  On Thursday night I'll do the first of my regular roster tracking posts to see where we are as we head into the preseason.