Our First Move Of The Offseason

There was a half-day trade window in advance of this week's expansion draft today (forget explaining why, its MLS) and the Rapids made a move.  They, surprisingly, sent Zac MacMath to Vancouver for attacking midfielder Nicolas Mezquida and $100K in TAM.

This is a surprise because by all accounts MacMath was the heir apparent to Tim Howard.  I even heard a rumor late in the season that they were talking about a platoon system in goal next year where Howard would play home games and MacMath would play road games.  Its odd and makes me question prior decision making (largely under Hinchey/Bravo/Pablo) that we would hold on to MacMath when he was hot after his half season as a starter in 2016 only to trade him when his value might be the lowest here in 2018.

As for the trade itself its largely meh, with a catch.  Two bad teams traded backup players.  Mezquida is a 26 year old Uruguayan #10 who has started occasionally in his time in Vancouver.  He's also able to play the wing or as a #9.   He's essentially going to take Enzo Martinez' role.  The catch is that he's an international and I don't love using up an international spot on a backup midfielder.  The $100K of TAM could be used to get us another international spot but I think the trade would have been better, even a notable positive, if instead of getting the TAM we had gotten back the international slot we traded to Vancouver through 2031 (not a typo) for Sanna Nyassi.

2016 Player of the Year

my 2016 Player of the Year is the Rapids Goalkeeper.  Yes, I'm splitting the award between Zac MacMath and Tim Howard.  Both played the same number of games (19 league games, including playoffs), they both led a league leading defense, and they both dealt with the tough situation of being the #1 at different times of the year.  It was the most consistent position on the team and that's largely because they are two of the more talented players on the team and handled their job with professionalism.  This could have easily "gone wrong" this year with MacMath pouting or Howard thinking he could take it easy coming back to MLS but neither one allowed the situation to get to them.

They were also named team MVP at the Rapids awards banquet, splitting the award.  I however am not copying the Rapids on this pick.  If you go back to the Voice of C38 podcast right before the playoffs I was interviewed at the tailgate and suggested that the Rapids GK should be team MVP. So the Rapids stole the idea from me, not the other way around. :D

Howard Likely Lost For Rest Of Playoffs

Tim Howard had to leave Friday's USA-Mexico World Cup Qualifier in the 40th minute with what appeared to be a groin injury.  Today U.S. Soccer announced that it was an abductor injury and Howard would be returning to Colorado rather than going with the team to Costa Rica for Tuesday's qualifier.  ESPN FC is reporting that a source has told them that it will be months, not weeks, before the Secretary of Defense is healthy, probably into the 2017 preseason before he's 100%.

Welcome back to the starting lineup Zac MacMath!  In some ways the Rapids are better suited to handle this injury than any other team as MacMath is a starting MLS keeper in his own right.  He's going to have to get back into the groove quickly though as the trip to Seattle is only 9 days away.  If Howard is in Colorado getting treatment he can still be a leader in the locker room and help the team that way.

MacMath In, Pappa Likely

Welcome back Zac MacMath.  Today the Front Office announced that MacMath will be returning as a full member of the Rapids as we sent our 2017 2nd round draft pick to Philly today for him.  This isn't that much of a surprise as the language used in the announcement that his loan ended and he returned to Philly made it pretty clear we wanted him back, but not at the cost of the previously negotiated first round pick next year, which is the #2 pick overall.

This is a sold move to pick up a MLS quality keeper for a cheap price.  I'm a little concerned about paying 6 figures for a backup though.  The other possibility is that there's a deal brewing for Irwin and there's some rumors to that extent.  I'd hate to lose Irwin but if the deal's good enough then this move makes a lot of sense.

Late today lots of reports started appearing that Seattle's Marco Pappa removed his name from today's Stage 1 Re-entry Draft (all but two teams failed to make a pick BTW) because Seattle is on the verge of announcing a trade to send him here to Colorado.  This is a really good move to reinforce the midfield, especially if Powers' trail at Reading turns into a move.  Of course the details matter so we'll have to see what the cost is but I'm cautiously optimistic (of course I was optimistic about Sarvas last off-season and that didn't pan out as well as I hoped).

Good News, Bad News

Two pieces of news today from Daniel Boniface of the Post sitting down with Tim and Paul.  The good news in this post, the bad in the next one later tonight.

#Rapids96 plans to keep the No. 2 overall #MLS SuperDraft pick. As it stands, @ZacMacMath would return to #Union.

I'm happy to see the Rapids are doing the right thing and keeping the #2 pick.  The way that second part is phrased I wonder if the Rapids are negotiating with the Union for a lower price.  Its no secret that MacMath and the Union have no interest in continuing their relationship.  I wouldn't be shocked to see him stay in exchange for a lower round pick (though at his salary level I don't think its worth it).