Trades And Homegrown News

So in the short trade window that was open this morning before Tuesday's expansion draft the Rapids made two trades.

• We sent an international spot to Atlanta United for the 2017 and 2018 seasons in exchange for their natural 2nd round pick (#24) in next month's Superdraft.

Every team has 8 spots by default.  We have a permanent one from FSL in the Gregorio trade and send one to Vancouver through 2031 in the Nyassi trade so those cancel out.  We also have one from LA when we got Sarvas from them and one at the beginning of the year from SJ for allocation money.  The end date on those two trades haven't been announced.  So worst case those two expire and we're down one with today's trade, best case we're still up one after today's trade.  So somewhere between 7 and 9.  Right now we have 7 internationals on the roster (8 if Ramirez ever returns) and I don't expect all 7 to return next year so we're fine.  Badji, Castillo, and Williams could all be at risk of not returning and no chance St. Ledger comes back.  Even Kevin Doyle could not return.  The only two internationals I'm sure will return are Gashi and Sjoberg, and that assumes we don't sell Sjoberg to Sweden (I don't think we will, especially with today's second trade).

• We sent Joseph Greenspan to Minnesota United in exchange for their natural 3rd round pick (#45) in next month's Superdraft.

This one surprised me a bit as with the work the Rapids did with the Navy to get him training time I figured we would have had a longer commitment with him.  This also makes me believe that Watts or Burling is an expected starter alongside Sjoberg next year.  This was the only trade in MLS today that didn't involve Atlanta United in some way.

With these moves we now have 3 picks in next month's draft.  Our natural 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks have been traded for Jones, MacMath, and Conor Doyle respectively but we have our natural 4th round pick (#86) to go with the two we acquired today.

EDIT: So I forgot, we do have a 1st round pick in next month's draft. We get a conditional pick 1st round pick from TFC from the Irwin trade. It wasn't listed on the Wiki entry until after TFC's draft spot was determined (last night). I'm guessing the "conditional" aspect dictates if we get their natural pick (#21) or another of their 1st round picks should they trade for one.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that the deals with both expansion teams today included the understanding that they wouldn't take any Rapids players in Tuesday's expansion draft.  most people would say the 3rd round pick was not enough for Greenspan and even a 2nd round pick is a little light for 2 years of an international spot.  But if both trades included protection from expansion picks that evens them back up.

One other piece of news today, a Denver Post article about Denver University's junior center back Kortne Ford who says he's in talks with the Rapids.  Ford came through the Rapids academy and would be a homegrown player if he signs with the Rapids before going into the draft in 2018.  The article makes it sound like he's deciding between returning for his senior year at DU or going pro now.  These talks may have also influenced the decision to trade Greenspan if the Rapids were confident they were going to get Ford in for depth at center back.

Jones Back To Colorado, Greenspan To Charlotte

Steven Goff tweeted this afternoon that Jermaine Jones was heading back to Colorado after having his knee looked at by the National Team doctors and not being cleared to play.  Its the right move, I just don't understand why he was "called up" if it was really just about getting a second opinion on his knee.  Why not just announce that and avoid the bad optics?

Also the Independence announced that Joseph Greenspan is heading to Charlotte on loan.  As expected the load to the Switchbacks didn't last all season, I'm just surprised he's not staying in Denver.  I wonder if he's filling a roster gap left by the recall of Calvert (or possibly Berner if he was called back to back up MacMath this weekend).

Two Players Loaned Out

One official and one unofficial loan announcement in the last day or so:

• Joseph Greenspan was loaned out to Colorado Springs

The Rapids announcement doesn't mention a length of loan, just that the Rapids retain the right to recall him.  The Switchbacks' announcement says its for the season.  If I had to bet I'd say that every USL loan is probably written as a full season loan but based on the Rapids thin bench at CB and the comments they made when Greenspan returned he won't be there all season.  I expect him back in Commerce city by August, unless T. Ledger is closer to being the old St.. Ledger than we realize.

• Juan Ramirez reportedly loaned to Argentina's Talleres for a year

No surprise here, as discussed in my prior post we had no room for Ramirez to return and we had no need to bring him back.  Talleres was just promoted to the top flight for the 2016-17 season after winning the lower division.  As a full year loan we won't have to worry about finding a spot for Ramirez until this time next year, at which point we may have an option to sell him.

Update: Talleres has officially announced the loan

Greenspan Back Early

The Open Cup just kicked off but there was news today that I wanted to get out there.  The Denver Post is reporting that Joseph Greenspan has been released from active duty in the Navy to join the Rapids full-time  He'll finish his naval commitment in the Reserves over the next few years and be a professional soccer player.  He'll be added to the roster on Monday when the window opens.  The team expects him to take a couple of weeks to be available, which may involve a loan out (presumably to Charlotte) to get back into game shape.  I'm sure being in the Navy his fitness is fine but he'll have to knock the rust off his skills.

Monday I predicted we would pick up some CB depth in this window.  I did not expect that depth to be in the form of Greenspan though.  Most athletes out of the Naval Academy have to serve for two years of active duty so him being released after one is unexpected.  If I had to bet I would think that it has to do with the fact that a couple of NFL teams have drafted Naval Academy graduates in the last couple of years and the Navy probably wants to get them playing in the NFL quickly for the PR boost.  To be fair that means they need to release Greenspan (and any other athletes) the same way.

Regardless, based on what we saw last year, this will be a nice boost for our thin back line.  As mentioned we have an pen roster spot and should have enough cap space to bring him in without issue.  Now the Rapids have some flexibility if they want to make any other moves as their biggest issue has been covered.

Greenspan In Denver and I Was Wrong

First the news of the day.  Joseph Greenspan is officially stationed in Denver for the season and will be training with the team.  For him to be officially added to the roster though either somebody will need to be cut or, more likely, one of the four players (Alvarez, Berner, Calvert, Newnam) will have to be loaned there as a full-season loan with no ability to recall.  Currently they all have recall options which means they all count against the 28-man Rapids roster.  I would expect one of those four other than Berner will be loaned through the end of the season (not Berner because of Irwin or MacMath were to get hurt the Rapids would want to bring Berner back as the backup to the healthy one).

Secondly its time for me to admit I was wrong.  Back in January when we traded Klute to Columbus I said:

This is a lousy trade.  I know Axel Sjoberg (who I'm going to start calling Axel Foley I think) was well regarded but there's only two ways this trade makes any sense.  He's going to have to become a starter by midseason or we're going to find out Klute had a huge escalation clause in his contract (similar to Omar Cummings between 2011 and 2012).  Otherwise this is a bad trade no matter how you look at it.  Yes, a chunk (or all) of that allocation money probably went to LA in the deal that got us Sarvas that still doesn't make it a good move.  I find it hard to believe Klute wasn't worth more than a Superdraft pick and allocation money.  This is a guy who a year ago was on the firnges of the National team.  I think we're going to regret this move.

So far this season Klute has started 4 of Columbus' 13 games and appeared in 3 more for 425 minutes of action.  Sjoberg has 8 starts in 13 games for 720 minutes.  Sarvas had 5 starts and 6 appearances for 462 minutes and an assist before his injury.  Klute can't get off the bench for the second worst defense in MLS while Sjoberg has been a key component for the second best defense in the league.  On top of that Sarvas was a strong midfielder before the injury and is expected to bolster the team when he returns.

Clearly the Rapids have done well with this trade and I was way off-base with my evaluation.  I got that one badly wrong.

Rapids Get Reinforcements

Two reinforcements for Colorado today.  The big news was the official arrival of our new DP, Kevin Doyle.

By all reports Doyle is now available for selection for any games.  His readiness to play, especially at altitude, is still up in the air.

The other piece of news is that Joseph Greenspan has been cleared by the Navy to play in MLS this year.  Greenspan is a center back and was the Rapids 2nd round pick in this year's draft out out the Naval Academy.  He graduates Friday and was expected to join his ship, the USS Sampson, in San Diego.  Instead the Navy has stationed him as a recruiter in Denver for the remainder of the MLS season where he'll train with the Rapids in the morning and do his recruiting in the afternoon.  After the season he'll join his surface warfare ship to begin what's expected to be at least 2 years of active duty.  After that he hopes to petition the Navy to let him serve the rest of his 5-year obligation as a reservist and return to the Rapids in 2018.  Of course this is all up to the Navy so he may not be allowed to return, or the Navy may decide there's more PR value in letting him return early.

With these additions the Rapids are now at 29 players against a roster limit of 28.  Greenspan has not signed his contract so the team doesn't have to make a move yet, and with Alvarez, Berner, Calvert, and Hairston in Charlotte they may be allowed so go over the 28 limit, the rules about USL loans as part of the partnership have not been made public.  We'll know more once the team makes an official announcement about Greenspan's status.

Schedule Changes and Roster Movement

Over the last two days the Rapids have announced 3 schedule changes:

• The Sun. July 12th home game against FSL has been moved to Sat. July 11th at 7pm
• The Sat. October 3rd home game against FSL has been moved to Sun. October 4th at 5pm

What happened is that with the Gold Cup schedule being announced on Thursday the planned FOX Sports 2 coverage of our Rocky Mountain Cup match on July 12th conflicted with FOX's Gold Cup coverage.  So FOX gave the July game back to Altitude and the Rapids moved it to the better attended Saturday night.  In exchange FOX took the October Rocky Mountain Cup game and moved it to their Sunday night national TV slot.

The other change is the Red Bull New York road game on Sat. July 25th.  It has been moved to Wed. April 29th so the Red Bulls can use that Saturday in July for a friendly.  This is a lousy move for the Rapids as it will now have them play Dallas at home on the 25th, fly to NY for the game on the 29th, then turn around and fly to LA for a game 3 days later on May 2nd.  Meanwhile both the Red Bulls and Rapids have a bye this weekend.  Had somebody at MLS or Red Bull been paying attention when the schedule came out months ago they could have rescheduled the game to this weekend and allowed both teams to play on regular rest.  Yes it would have risked an early season weather delay but is that really worse than 3 games in 8 days on both coasts?

Also some roster news.  Reports are that Eloundou is in Charlotte going through preseason training with the Independence.  However it sounds like this is just a temporary thing while he works on his fitness and he's expected to rejoin the Rapids in a couple of weeks.  He missed almost all of preseason due to his visa issue so this is probably a way to get him back into playing shape with other players going through the same thing.

It does sound like that both John Berner and Caleb Calvert will be joining the Independence on a longer-term basis though as part of our partnership with them.  This will be a good chance for both younger players to get some competitive playing time.  If they stayed in Colorado neither of them would be likely to see the field.

The last piece of news today is that Joseph Greenspan is back with the Rapids during the Naval Academy's spring break.  The team is still working with the Navy to maximize Greenspan's time with the team this season but obviously his responsibilities to the Navy will come first.  When announcing this the Rapids also mentioned journeyman Jeff Parke is trialing with the team.  He's a defender that is probably being looked at to help fill out our thin backline, especially with the suspensions we picked up.

A Mustache, A Draft, and a Trade

A big day for the Rapids with their first "difference-maker" move of the offseason.  But first, the look that most say won the draft.

In Mustache We Trust!

Pablo going all musketeer on us this offseason.  Well one for all and all for one!

As you saw in my earlier post the Rapids drafted two big defenders today in Sjoberg and Greenspan.  Some think Sjoberg is MLS-ready now so at worst he should be able to contribute at some point this season.  6' 7" in the back means we shouldn't get beat on crosses and free kicks.  Greenspan is a more unusual case.  As a Midshipman he's first responsibility is to the U.S. Navy.  He's not the first athlete out of a service academy good enough to be drafted though.  In the past the services have sometimes agreed to take the player's 5 year service commitment and reduce it to 2 years of active duty combined with an extended time in the reserves after that.  So a best case scenario is that Greenspan will be available to us mid-2017.  I think what he's doing is a great service and I hope he can also pursue a professional career.  I do wonder though if we could have made a different pick that could contribute right way.

The big news of the day was a trade for one of the "difference makers" we needed to find this offseason.  We sent our #3 spot in the allocation order and allocation money to LA for Marcelo Sarvas and an international roster spot along with moving into LA's 18th spot in the allocation order.  Sarvas is a 33 year old midfielder who was responsible for 3 goals and 11 assists for the Galaxy last year.  Most LA fans considered him the heart and soul of the team and are sad to see him go.  LA traded him to make room for the summer arrival of Steven Gerrard.

The Rapids are now up to 7 international players (if you include Sjoberg) and 8 international spots.  Sarvas will be a natural partner with Powers in midfield and gives us the MLS-quality starting mid we needed.  There's still work to do but this is a good start.

SuperDraft Results

Live updates, more details tonight:

• 1sr Round 14th Pick: Rapids trade the 19th pick (and presumable something else) to Columbus for the 14th pick.  They take CB Axel Sjoberg out of Marquette.  Sjoberg is Swedish and presumably will take an international slot.
  
• 2nd Round 5th Pick: D Joseph Greenspan out of the Naval Academy.  Combined our two draft picks are 13' 1" tall (6'7" and 6'6")!  I'm not sure what his responsibilities to the Navy will mean for his playing career with the Rapids.
  

That's it barring a trade.  Further wrap-up tonight.