Cummings-Sturgis Trade Follow-Up

Now that I'm back from my holiday travels time to get into this trade that happened at the oddest time I can remember, Sunday morning two days before Christmas.  The Rapids gave up the other half of the C+C Goal Factory, Omar Cummings, in return for allocation money and Nathan Sturgis.

My first instinct is much like the Kimura trade from last year (oddly, Cummings and Kimura were roommates and were considered the Odd Couple of the team).  I understand why we moved Omar but if we got value for him will be dependent on the next moves the team makes.  How much allocation money we got is the real question that will never be answered.  Sturgis is a journeyman MLS player, on his 6th team in 8 years despite being only 25.  He has also played for the U.S. at the U 17, 18, 20, and 23 levels.  Listed as a defensive midfielder he's also played center back on a somewhat regular basis.  Sturgis is a depth player, nothing more at this point.

There has been some talk about how this is a salary cap move as Omar was set to make $250K next year after his new contract.  I'm not saying that's wrong, but his updated salary from the Players Union didn't reflect that after his contract last year.  There could be a significant escalation clause in his contract for next season, but if so the Rapids did a lousy job of handling Cummings.

The updated roster is below.  We currently have 20 signed players plus Avila and reportedly Calderon.  Out of those 20 players only 10 of them predate Pareja's hiring of just under a year ago.  Assuming we get up to 30 players, 2/3rds of the roster will have less than 1 year of experience in Colorado.  Omar Cummings was the last player on the roster brought in under Fernando Clavijo, Pablo Mastroeni is the only player from the Tim Hankinson era, the other 9 were brought in by Smith (they all have rings, so nobody Smith brought in in 2011 stuck).

* = pre-Pareja acquisition
Goalkeepers:
Steward Ceus*
Matt Pickens*

Defenders:
Chris Klute (on loan from Atlanta through late-Sept)
Drew Moor*
Anthony Wallace*
Marvell Wynne*

Midfielders:
Davy Armstrong*
Eric Avila - Unsigned
Tony Cascio
Jaime Castrillon
Jeff Larentowicz*
Pablo Mastroeni*
Brian Mullan*
Shane O'Neill
Martin Rivero (on loan from Rosario Central through 2013)
Nathan Sturgis
Hendry Thomas

Forwards:
Andre Akpan*
Edson Buddle
Atiba Harris
Kamani Hill

Rapids Trade Cummings For Sturgis

More after the holidays but today the Rapids traded Omar Cummings to Houston for Nathan Sturgis and allocation money.

Rapids Reportedly Close To Signing Diego Calderon

So much for the quiet holiday period. ;)  Multiple reports out of Ecuador are stating that Ecuadorian National Team member and LDU Quito defender Diego Calderon is coming to MLS, and one report links him with the Rapids.  Tim Hinchey tweeted last night they he expects to announce the signing of a left-footed CB/LB by the end of the week.  Calderon is a left-footed CB/LB and his season ended on Sunday, so it seems to pair with Hinchey's tweet.  Mile High Sports is also reporting the move but its unclear if they are basing that report on the Ecuadorian reports or if they have a source at this end.

Calderon is 26 years old and has played with LDU Quito since he became a pro in 2005 (he made 11 appearances on loan to Deportivo Azogues in 2006).  He was part of their 2008 Club World Cup team where he played against Pachuca (winning 2-0) and Man U. (losing the final 1-0).  He's also been capped 5 times for Ecuador since 2011 and was on the bench during Ecuador's most recent two World Cup Qualifiers in October.

The Rapids were also linked with Isidro Metapan striker Nicolas Munoz today (as was Houston) but they issued a pretty quick denial of that rumor.

Season Openers Announced

Williams and the Union are back on March 9th!

MLS announced the home openers today.  The Rapids will be the visiting team for two of them as well as hosting their own (of course).

• March 2nd - @Dallas
• March 9th - Home opener against Philly (and my birthday!)
• March 16th - @FSL

We only visit Dallas and FSL once next year, so we'll get those trips out of the way ASAP.  Obviously the Rocky Mountain Cup match looms large, a good result there would set us up well but with two home games this year we'll have a path to win the Cup even if we lose that game.

The rest of the schedule is expected in January. 

Roster Analysis - 12-17-12

OK, I lied.  I didn't get back to the news this weekend.  However that means I have time tonight to post my first roster analysis of the offseason.  But first the roster news from Friday.

Eric Avila picked in the Re-Entry Draft:  He was in Dallas while Pareja was a coach there, so there's some familiarity.  Based on his play he appears to be a backup for Rivero, but I thought that's what we had Hill for.  Maybe some competition in camp if Avila signs?

Marvell Wynne re-signed: No brainer.  As soon as it was announced we weren't picking up his option it became the biggest thing to get done this offseason.

Edson Buddle acquired in trade: The Supplemental draft pick is meaningless, so no loss there.  I think we can assume we gave up a chunk of allocation money that could have been used to sign a different player, so that's the real loss.  That and the $225K in salary cap.  If its the Buddle of 2010, its a steal, if its the Buddle of 2012 we overpaid greatly.  High risk, high reward.

So here's the roster as we hit the holidays, traditionally a quiet time in MLS until the week leading up to the Superdraft in mid-January.

Goalkeepers:
Steward Ceus
Matt Pickens

Defenders:
Chris Klute (on loan from Atlanta through late-Sept)
Drew Moor
Anthony Wallace
Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:
Davy Armstrong
Eric Avila - Unsigned
Tony Cascio
Jaime Castrillon
Jeff Larentowicz
Pablo Mastroeni
Brian Mullan
Shane O'Neill
Martin Rivero (on loan form Rosario Central through 2013)
Hendry Thomas

Forwards:
Andre Akpan
Edson Buddle
Omar Cummings
Atiba Harris
Kamani Hill

So assuming we sign Avila that's 21 of 30 slots filled so far.  We have 10 midfielders so we're pretty much set there.  5 forwards is light but Castrillon and Cascio are listed as midfielders, so its more like 8 and 7, which is still have the roster.  There's been talk of an attacking Designated Player, but with Buddle, Castrillon, Cummings, Rivero, Thomas, and Larentowicz I don't see where that type of player fits.  The only way I see that working is if somebody is moved, and the likely player to be moved in that scenario is Cummings.

We need a 3rd young GK, I assume we'll draft one.  That leaves defense.  Only 4 defenders on the roster, and 2 of them played a combined 1 game in 2012.  That's obviously the big issue.  We need at least one experienced fullback, probably two, and a good backup center back.  That's the minimum.  We probably need at least 4 more defenders, even with Armstrong and O'Neill both having spent time in the back on reserve and U.S. youth teams.

Nothing to panic about yet.  We still have about 1.6 million in cap room (minus what Pablo, Thomas, and Wynne re-signed for) to work with after the Buddle acquisition, so there's room to play with.  If 2 months from now we're still this light on defenders its time to start wondering what the hell is going on.