Nasco & Watts Signed, Thomas Traded

Still no official word on Jose Mari but the Rapids did announce two signings today.  2nd round Superdraft pick midfielder Jared Watts and trialist goalkeeper Joe Nasco (formally with Atlanta) both penned deals today.  This gives us some depth at both keeper and d-mid.  The Terrace blog also reports today that drftee goalkeeper John Berner will probably be signed soon, giving us the standard 3 keepers after Pickens is moved or sold.  Chirs Bianchi says there's interest from outside MLS for his services (probably Scandinavia given the current open transfer windows) or he could be traded.

Depth will be necessary at d-mid as Hendry Thomas' rights were traded to Dallas today where he'll rejoin Oscar Pareja.  The Rapids got allocation money in return for his rights.  Bianchi reports it as the largest sum of allocation money the team has eve received in a transaction.  That should allow us to go shopping for some players.  With this move the future of the full 2013 roster has been determined.

There are still 3 trialist and 3 draftees in camp with 27 players signed.  Armstrong will start the season on IR and Pickens will presumably e moved before the March 1st roster compliance day, so that means there are still 5 spots open that those 6 are competing for.  We only have 7 international players in camp and 8 spots, so that won't be a roadblock.

Goalkeepers:

John Berner - Unsigned draftee

Clint Irwin

Joe Nasco

Matt Pickens - On "Excused Absence"

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:

Samuel Galindo - Unsigned trialist, International

Juan Guzman - Unsigned trialist

Marion Hariston - Generation Adidas

Nick LaBrocca

Jose Mari - Unsigned trialist, 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

Castrillon Out, Thomas Returning?

Two more pieces of roster news this week.

First, Jaime Castrillon will not be returning to the Rapids in 2014.  Much like Calderon, his injury-limited playing time in 2013 opened the door for Brown to claim a starting spot, and the addition of Torres as a DP and Sanchez has made it obvious who the starting strikers will be.  Apparently Castrillon doesn't necessarily want to go back to Colombia (though there was interest from his former team there last offseason) so there's a chance we could see him land with another MLS team, or possibly even Orlando City in the USL for their final season before joining MLS in 2015.

Secondly, the Rapids want Hendry Thomas back, just not at the number his option was for so they've declined it.  At the right price Thomas would be an important piece to have returning.  Last year Thomas made 200K and I can't see paying him for than that, but if we could get him for 150K-200K that seems reasonable.

News & Notes - Jan 7th, 2013

Just another grab bag of items.

• The Hendry Thomas re-signing was made official today.
• The full schedule is expected on Wednesday.
• Edson Buddle was called up for January's Camp Cupcake Nats camp.  This is not the player pool that will face Honduras in the first World Cup Qualifier but there's a good chance a handful of players from this camp will be on that roster.
• Denver is one of 3 finalists along with KC and Salt Lake to host the March 22nd qualifier against Costa Rica.  Final announcement will be made this week.  Of course I have concert tickets that night...

Thomas Re-Signed, Smith Green Card, Rivero Back, Pablo Returning?

Some interesting tweets from team President Tim Hinchey today.

Jamie has a green card now.

Looks like our new deal for Hendry Thomas will go through shortly – happy to have signed him long-term. Official announcement soon!

Rivero is already back as part of his initial 2 yr loan.

got it. Fair. Not all three will be high cost.

So we know that Jamie Smith now has his green card and Rivero's loan is for 2 seasons as originally thought.  Its not official yet but Hendry Thomas has been re-signed.  The last tweet is the most interesting as the "three" Hinchey is referring to are Thomas, Larentowicz, and Mastroeni.  So it sounds like all 3 will be back but not at high cost.

Thomas was making almost $200K last season and you have to figure he didn't go down from that.  Larentowicz was given a new contract early last season that has him at $200K.  So if any of them are going to be at lower cost its almost certainly Pablo.  My guess is that he's been offered a new deal at under $150K with the understanding that he's now a veteran leader and depth player, not a starter.  It may even be as a player/coach where part of the salary (for coaching) won't count against the cap.

With Rivero, Larentowicz, and Thomas coming back, all expecting to start, that could be a pretty solid midfield for the 4-3-3.  Of course the question then becomes, where does Mullan play?

New Signing - Hendry Thomas

Today the Rapids announced the rumored signing of Honduran midfielder Hendry Thomas. Thomas is 27 years old and has played for Olympia in Honduras and Wigan in the EPL. He spent the last 3 seasons in England getting 55 appearances before falling out of favor with the current coaching staff. Looking at descriptions from Wigan fans Hendry appears to be a player in the same mold as Pablo Mastroeni. I'm sure Bravo and Pareja are bringing him in hoping he can fill the hole at the back of midfield freeing them up from the two d-mid formations they've been using recently. Based on reports and sources it sounds like he's under contract for this year and the team already has him signed to an option for next year.

Also today the Rapids said they have 25 year old American midfielder Anton Peterlin on trial. In 2009 Peterlin was surprisingly signed by Everton from the Ventura County Fusion of the PDL. After a year with the Everton reserves he moved to League One Plymouth Argyle where he got 12 appearances. After they went into administration and were relegated he moved to League One Walsall last season where he made 31 appearances.