Recapping A Busy Day

Ok, lots of stuff happened today.  Lets break down the details, then we'll talk end result.

• Made the Beeny Feilhaber signing official
• Traded Marlon Hairston for $175K in GAM ($125K this year and $50K next year)
• Traded the #15 pick and $100K of GAM to Chicago for the #5 pick
• Used the #5 pick on DU forward Andre Shinyashiki
• Used their two second round picks on defenders Marcello Borges and Jacob Hauser-Ramsey

So at the end of the day we ended up with two signed players, two trialists, and $75K in GAM.  We did had to lose Hairston to do it.

All in all, a really good day.  We covered Feilhaber last night.  Shinyashiki comes to us from across town at DU where he played with Kort Ford and Sam Hamilton.  He had 28 goals and 4 assists in 21 games last year and 51 goals with 15 assists over his four years with the Pioneers.  He plays a bit in-between attacking mid and full striker.  As a Brazilian he does require an international slot (more on that later) but he already signed a deal with MLS so he's pretty much assured of making the roster.  It will be interesting to see how much time he spends in Commerce City compared to Colorado Springs, given that he has Kamara, Rubio, Feilhaber, Jackson, Gashi, Nicholson, and Mezquida battling for minutes in similar positions.

Borges is an outside back that, if he makes the roster, I expect to spend most of the season in the Springs and be an emergency backup behind Rosenberry, Vines, and Wynne.  Hauser-Ramsey is a tall centerback that's probably a long-shot to make the roster but given that we're a little thin there he'll have a shot.

One interesting point with the roster right now is that we've got a bit of an issue with international slots.  Right now we've traded for one and traded three away, leaving us with 6.  We currently have 8 internationals though.  Blomberg, Gashi, Mezquida, Nicholson, Price, Shinyashiki, Smith, and Wilson.  I'm not particularly worried about this, we've got plenty of time to figure it out.  There are a few options.  The most obvious one is Ena Patel's work getting green cards for some of these players.  Shinyashiki has been here for at least four years going to school, Blomberg and Nicholson are entering their third season in MLS, and of course Gashi has been here since 2016, though he may not be too interested given that he's probably leaving at the end of the season.  Other than that there's the always the unlikely possibility of trading one of them away, or the more likely scenario that we trade for an international slot or two.  They tend to go for around $100-$150K of GAM.  Lastly, we could always buy somebody like Blomberg or Boateng out of their contract before the season starts (that would only work for one of our two extra internationals).  Regardless we have 7 weeks to figure it out so no need to panic.

New Players...Almost Official, A Callup, and a Negotiating Tactic?

Bunch of news today.  We'll begin with the big stuff.  At 4pm today fans were invited to RiNo for a chance to meet Jack Price and Edgar Castillo.  There has yet to be an official announcement of the details of their signings but clearly they've joined the team.  The Denver Post article confirms what most fans had inferred from Hudson's interviews, we'll be playing a 3-5-2/5-2-3 this season with 3 CBs and Hairston and Castillo as wingbacks.

It also talks about how Hudson sees Price anchoring the midfield in this formation.  I don't  know if this is just talking up the new signings or if the plan is really for Price to be a starter.  The midfield is a bit crowded at this point with Aigner, Azira, Blomberg, Boateng, Gashi, and Price for 3 spots so it will be interesting to see if anyone is heading out and who wins the starting spots.

With these moves we are at 23 of 30 roster spots filled and all 7 international spots filled.  In order to bring in any more international spots there will need to be some moves to free up an international slot.  The obvious choices are sending Wynne to Charlotte for the season and Badji getting a green card.  After that its either trading for a spot or moving somebody out.  Either way, the next couple of weeks could be interesting.

In other news today Marlon Hairston got a callup to the U.S. National Team camp in LA later this month.  Its his first ever invite to the Nats.  The roster for the Bosnia & Herzegovina friendly on the 28th will be taken from the camp.

Finally, following up on Saturday's rumor of Tommy Smith being linked to the Rapids, this appears to be a rumor started by Smith or his agent, if this BBC article is anything to go by.  His current manager says Ipswich Town has received no contact from the Rapids about Smith.  If nothing comes of this it won't be the first time that a European player has used the threat of moving to MLS as a negotiating tactic.

News Catch-Up

Catching up on some odds and ends over the last week or so.

• First and most important, today Glenn 'Mooch' Myernick was posthumously elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.  Mooch was the Rapids coach between 1997 and 2001, leading the team to two of the three finals in their history (1997 MLS Cup, 1999 U,S. Open Cup), losing both.  I never had a chance to meet him but from other Rapids fans that did I've only ever heard great things about him both as a coach and a person.  A well-deserved reward for somebody who was involved with U.S. Soccer and every level both as a player and a coach.  There was some talk a few years ago of the Rapids honoring Mooch with some sort of permanent display in the stadium (Gallery of Honor, statue, something), maybe they'll figure out something to do after his induction now.
• Marlon Hairston joins Berner, Calvert, and Eloundou in Charlotte for the season.  This seemed likely after he got healthy since the Rapids are heavy in defenders and he's the most natural young guy to go get minutes in the USL.
• Colorado Rapids linked with move for Carlos Puyol but deny any interest.  My response?
  
• Luton Shelton is training with the Rapids while he evaluates his options (including an offer from Colorado).  Unlike Puyol this would be a good move fro us.  Shelton is Jamaica's all-time leading goal-scorer, can hold up the ball a bit as well as play to his speed, and is only 29 years old.  He would be a good stop-gap signing until Doyle arrives and the Rapids have an open international roster spot.  The only question is what happens have Doyle gets here and what his salary demands would be.

Live SuperDraft results

Rapids trade down from the 11 pick to the 12 pick with the Revs and get the #19 pick, last in the 1st round, as well (and rumored some allocation money).

With the 12th pick they take midfielder Marlon Hairston out of Lousiville.  He's a Generation Adidas player so he does not count against the cap and will automatically be protected in next off-season's expansion draft.

With the 19th (and final 1st round) pick the Rapids take defender Grant Van De Casteele out of Notre Dame.

With the 14th pick in the 2nd round (33rd overall) the Rapids take defensive midfielder Jared Watts out of Wake Forest.  Watts is a former U.S. U-17 and U-20 player, and captained the U-17 team at the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria

With the 16th pick in the 2nd round (35th overall) and their last pick of the day, the Rapids take goalkeeper John Berner out of Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

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