Ivan Guerrero: Contract Terminated

The Rapids have just issued a press release:

The Colorado Rapids announced today that a mutual agreement with defender/midfielder Ivan Guerrero has been reached that will terminate his contract with the team.

Obviously a player that didn't fit into Gary Smith's system, since he saw no playing time in the league this year. Its been long rumored that he was in talks with a team in his native Honduras, so I assume he'll be heading back there now. This opens a roster position for Julian Baudet, and Guerrero's $154K almost covers the $175L salary of Pat Noonan.

The guaranteed contract date is July 1st, so I expect we'll see another move or two before then.

Rapids News and Notes 6/4

A little reminder of what we're playing for on Saturday!

• National Team loses 3-1 to Costa Rica

Embarrassing. I'm torn between firing Bradley now and improving our chances, or keeping Bradley so the team goes down hard and the USSF learns a lesson.

• Pablo called up for the Nats

Given the way he played last night, this may be his last callup. I expect he'll start on Saturday due to suspensions and injuries in midfield, but that might be it for him with the "A" squad.

• Conor Casey called up for the Nats

This was just announced on tonight's ESPN MLS Game of the Week and on the U.S. Nats Blog. Brina Ching has re-aggravated his hamstring and they may need Casey for cover. His use will be based on how Ching is doing, but I think we should assume we won't have him for the Rocky Mountain Cup match this week. Casey deserves this callup, he's been playing great this year, but the timing couldn't be worse for the Rapids with a huge road match on Saturday.

• Bouna Time! in Philly?

Apparently there are rumors that Nowak might make Bouna Coundoul his first signing as Philly manager. I hope so, Bouna's a good MLS keeper and only his idiot agent kept him from signing with the Rapids this season. Somehow I don't think training in Finland is what Bouna was thinking when he was told he could do better in Europe. The Rapids still own his rights, so Philly will have to give us a draft pick or two if they want to sign him.

• Ciaran O'Brien on loan for the USL season

O'Brien is playing for the Austin Aztex of USL-1 for the rest of the USL season. That's a good way to get a young player som playing time now that the reserve league is gone. It hurts our depth on the wings a bit, but I don't think O'Brien was going to get significant playing time with the Rapids.

• Ivan Guerrero to Honduras?

There's been a rumor for a couple of months that Guererro was going to transfer back home to Honduras. The newest report has him in Honduras for his physical for his new team. Guerrero is a left sided player, and Harvey and Clark have been the only two Rapids to play every minute of every game this year, so he was finding it hard to get into the first team. With a cap hit of $145K that's a lot of money to warm the bench. It also frees up a roster spot for Julian Baudet. Theoretically if Guerrero wants to go the Honduran side would have to pay a transfer fee, but the Rapids are probably just happy to have his salary off the books so I expect them to free transfer him or ask for a very small amount of money.

• Julian Baudet signed by the Rapids?

The most recent report out of England mentioned quote Baudet as having signed with the Rapids, while all previous reports said he would sign. Still no official word from the Rapids or the league. Assuming this happens I find it a better move than I did originally. Our defense has shown that it can't keep mental focus for 90 minutes, so maybe somebody with experience in the pressure cooker of English football and a team captain can come in and settle the back line down. We still need some depth up front, but Baudet might be an asset.

Rapids trade Christian Gomez, regain their DP slot.

The news is starting to break that the long-rumored trade of Christian Gomez back to DC United has been finalized. Right now it appears the Rapids are sending Christian Gomez, goalkeeper Mike Graczyk, and an international spot to DC. They are also picking up an unannounced amount of Gomez's salary for 2009. In return the Rapids are getting their DP slot back, Ivan Guerrero (pictured), DC's 2nd Round pick next year, and salary cap considerations.

I'm guessing that the Rapids are picking up a large chunk of Gomez' salary, but that the "salary cap considerations" are DC picking up the actual hit of much of that on the salary cap, giving the Rapids the flexibility to use the DP slot. We had too many keepers, so losing Graczyk won't hurt us. According to MLSnet Omar Cummings and Guerrero appear to be our only international players on the roster right now (though the statuses of Ballouchy, Cooke, and Kimura seem to be unclear) so losing the international slot shouldn't hurt much.

Getting our DP slot back is a big step with a new coach. It gives Smith the flexibility to go out and find a player he needs. Guerrero will push Harvey and Clark on the left, and give us some cover in case of injury. A draft pick never hurts, but the draft is becoming less and less important every year.

Overall I think this is a decent to good recovery from the disastrous trade that brought Gomez here last spring. I'm not sure who gets the credit for this in the trio of Plush, Bravo, or Smith but given the job descriptions I think its Paul Bravo. Another good step for our new Technical Director.

UPDATE: The news of the Rapids getting salary cap considerations was mis-reported. Its DC who's getting the salary cap considerations, int he form of the rapids picking up some of Gomez' salary.