Catching Up With Player Moves

Seeing Celtic's manager Gordon Strachan saying that he's not planning on making any new player signings reminded me of skepticism I had over Brad Guzan making a move to a British team before the winter transfer window closes. He doesn't meet the requirements. And I didn't think it was likely that a move to a team like Fulham would pass muster even on appeal as they already have 2 excellent goal keepers in Anti Niemi and Kasey Keller. The move for Celtic didnt' seem likely with it initially appearing that it was dependent on their Polish goalkeeper Boruc being sold to another team. It's looking like I'll have to eat a bit of crow now with many sources including Sporting Life reporting that Celtic is willing to sign Guzan even without selling Boruc and that, in fact, Guzan is in Glasgow to sign with the team. If that is the case, who is Chivas USA likely to turn to take over for Guzan? Their previous fill-in for Guzan, Preston "Stone" Burpo, is now in San Jose. My first impulse was to say "well, maybe they're trade Colorado for an old vet like Thorton". But Zach Thornton recently signed with New York.

And that lead me to see the need to start tracking who is in and out at different teams in the MLS. This is not a complete list right now. I know there are players missing off of it. It's a start and I'll keep adding to it. Please feel free to make note of any players in or out and what was behind the move (released, traded for a player, sold, et al.). That includes guys like Clint Mathis who went from NYRB to LA and before LA could sign him on for 2008, moved on a free to Greece. And I'm including San Jose despite all the players coming in from the expansion draft because, as we've seen with players like Goodson and Carroll, those picks can move on to another team before ever setting foot on the pitch for San Jose. For now I'm not going to note draft picks. Those will be tracked in summarizing the drafts and by who is on the roster come opening day in the end of March. Chicago Fire Out: Chris Armas (retired) Jim Curtin (traded to Chivas USA for a conditional pick in 2010 MLS Super Draft) Juan Carlos Osorio (coach; NYRB gave 1st round pick in 2008 Super Draft) Ivan Guerrero (expansion draft) Andy Herron (out of contract) Paulo Wanchope (retired)

In: Andy Herron (just his MLS rights; send 4th round pick in 2010 MLS Super Draft to Columbus)

Chivas USA Out : Preston Burpo (traded to San Jose for 4th round pick in 2008 Super Draft) Jason Hernandez (expansion draft)

In: Jim Curtin (traded a conditional pick in 2010 MLS Super Draft to Chicago Fire) Alecko Eskandarian (traded to Real Salt Lake for allocation money) Attiba Harris (traded 3rd round pick in 2008 MLS Super Draft to Real Salt Lake)

Colorado Rapids Out : Jose Cancela (out of contract) Daniel Osorno (retired) Tony Sanneh (out of contract) Zach Thornton (waived)

In: Jose Burciaga (traded KC a 2nd round pick in 2009 MLS Super Draft) Chase Hilgenbrinck (free transfer; previously played with FC Pauli in Germany)

Columbus Crew Out: Marcos Gonzalez (sold to Chilean club Universidad Catolica for an undisclosed sum) Andy Herron (out of contract; traded MLS rights to Chicago Fire) Kei Kamara (traded to San Jose Earthquakes for Brian Carroll)

In: Brian Carroll (traded to Columbus Crew for Kei Kamara)

DC United Out: Bobby Boswell (traded to Houston Dynamo in exchange for Bobby Boswell) Brian Carroll (picked by San Jose in expansion draft) Troy Perkins (transfer; sold to Norwegian club Valerenga) Greg Vanney (out of contract)

In: Gonzalo Martinez (transfer from Columbian club Millonarios) Franco Neil (one year loan from Argentine club Argentinos Junior) Zach Wells (from Houston Dynamo in exchange for Bobby Boswell)

FC Dallas Out: Denilson (out of contract) Clarence Goodson (expansion draft; out of contract) Carlos Ruiz (traded to Los Angeles Galaxy for allocation money & 2nd round pick in 2009 MLS Super Draft)

In: Duilio Davino (free transfer; previously with Mexican club Club America)

Kansas City Wizards Out : Jose Burciaga (traded to CO for a 2nd round pick in 2009 MLS Super Draft) Nick Garcia (traded to San Jose for 1st round pick in 2008 MLS Super Draft) Eddie Johnson (sold to Fulham in English Premiership for $6 million)

In:

Houston Dynamo Out : Ryan Cochrane (top draft in expansion draft) Joseph Ngwenya (out of contract; signed by Austrian club SK Austria Karnten) Zach Wells (traded to DC United in exchange for Bobby Boswell)

In: Bobby Boswell (from DC United in exchange for Zach Wells)

Los Angeles Galaxy Out : Chris Albright (traded to New England for allocation money) Joe Cannon (traded to San Jose for allocation money) Gavin Glinton (expansion draft) Cobi Jones (retired) Clint Mathis (out of contract and signed with Greek club Ergotelis) In: Clint Mathis (traded NY 3rd round pick in 2008 MLS Super Draft for rights) Carlos Ruiz (traded allocation money & 2nd round pick in 2009 MLS Super Draft to FC Dallas)

New England Revolution Out: Pat Noonan (out of contract; signed with Norwegian club Aalesund) James Riley (expansion draft) In: Chris Albright (traded allocation money to Los Angeles)

New York Red Bulls Out : Sal Caccavale (waived) Clint Mathis (out of contract) Joseph Vide (expansion draft)

In : Juan Carlos Osorio (coach; gave Chicago 1st round pick in 2008 Super Draft) Zach Thornton (free transfer) San Jose Earthquakes Out : Brian Carroll (traded to Columbus Crew for Kei Kamara) Clarence Goodson (out of contract; signed with Norwegian club IK Start)

In : Preston Burpo (traded to San Jose for 4th round pick in 2008 Super Draft) Joe Cannon (traded allocation money to Los Angeles for Cannon) Brian Carroll (expansion draft; previously with DC United) Ryan Cochrane (top draft in expansion draft) Nick Garcia (traded 1st round pick in 2008 MLS Super Draft to Kansas City) Clarence Goodson (expansion draft; previously with FC Dallas) Ned Grabavoy (expansion draft; previously with Columbus Crew) Ivan Guerrero (expansion draft; previously with Chicago Fire) Jason Hernandez (expansion draft; previously with Chivas USA) Kei Kamara (traded Brian Carroll to Columbus Crew) Chris Pozniak (expansion draft; previously with Toronto FC) James Riley (expansion draft; previously with New England Revolution) Joseph Vide (expansion draft; previously with New York Red Bulls)

Real Salt Lake Out: Alecko Eskandarian (traded to Chivas USA for allocation money) Attiba Harris (traded for 3rd round pick in 2008 MLS Super Draft) Jamie Watson (waived)

In: Ian Joy (signed on a free; previously with FC Pauli in Germany)

Toronto FC Out: Chris Pozniak (expansion draft)

In:

Chase and The Big Cat

The Colorado Rapids have signed Chase Hilgenbrinck. Hilgenbrinck is an American left back that was last plying his trade in Chile. Is this a sign that Fernando Clavijo is looking to repeat the short but successful Dedi experiment? For those that don't know, Dedi was an Israeli left back the Rapids signed in 2005 and moved up to left midfield. He managed to score some goals for the Rapids and make enough of a difference to fool Rapids fans into thinking that Clavijo may actually know what he's doing (forgive them; it was Clavijo's first year at the club). Having signed Jose Burciaga in a trade with Kansas City 2 weeks ago the Rapids didn't need another left back. It may be that Clavijo envisions Burciaga, who just 2 years ago netted 8 goals from the LB position for KC, as a left midfielder. And that just may mean that Colin Clarke is going to be shown the door (part of a trade for Christian Gomez)? Why Clarke? Why not? After all, has Clavijo ever shown a liking for a player with offensive skills?

In announcing the signing of Chase, the Rapids made official what many of us already suspected. They announced that the contracts for Jose Cancela and Tony "Big Cat" Sanneh will not be renewed. The question for Sanneh is what is next? Along with Jaime Moreno and Ante Razov, Sanneh is the last of the MLS originals from 1996. Chris Armas, Eddie Pope and Cobi Jones retired after 2007. The only others that could still be part of that group are Brian McBride and Ramiro Corrales but they would need to return to the MLS before they retire. Will Sanneh hang up his boots too now? Or will he pop up with an MLS team looking for a veteran to help them out?

No Rocky Mountain High For Noonan

Looks like Pat Noon will soon be in......... Norway.

Josh Grenier

American defender Josh Grenier. The rumor mill lately has him making a move back to the US. RSL was rumored to have been interested in him. The Colorado Rapids are rumored to be looking to bring home an American defender. Will we see Josh signing with an MLS club soon?

Crew Looking To Steal Galaxy's Maciej

Over at the MLS Zone they've noted that a few news sources like Soccer 365 are reporting that the Columbus Crew are after Celtic's Maciej Zurawski. The Galaxy had previously been like with Zurawski. Since then though the Galaxy have chosen to continue to add to their contingent of foreign-but-barely-better-than-most-American defenders in signing Celestine Babayaro. More and more the Galaxy are reminding me of the old buddy that always bought fancy clothes and furniture and because of it couldn't afford to live in a half-way decent apartment or go out on anything but the cheapest of dates. In the case of the Galaxy, they're going to have to fill holes on the field with developmental players making less money than they would flippin' burgers at BK. Not exactly the sort of thing championship teams are made out of now is it?

Rapids After Noonan

That's right, according to the Chicago Tribune's Luis Arroyave the Rapids are after Pat Noonan and that San Jose is still in the hunt for Pablo Mastroeni. The catch with Noonan is that as of right now he is out of contract. Despite his injuries in 2006, the Revolution gave Noonan a huge bump in pay with a one-year contract extension. He went from making a hair under $79k to a base pay of $225,000 in 2007. 7 goals and 4 assists wasn't a bad return for the money. But it wasn't 21 goals and 15 assists Noonan had in his first 2 years with the Revolution.

As for Noon, the question is what are the Rapids willing to give up for the MLS rights to Noonan, how likely is he to sign a new contract with the league and for what amount? Could this be a chance to unload Kirovski? Seems unlikely with New England letting Noonan's contract expire to make room for Albright. Would a 2nd round draft pick be worth the risk? A young defender like Ugo Ihemelu?

Red Card Blog:

NOTES: For those of you that didn't see it this morning, I heard that Pat Noonan could be on his way to the Colorado Rapids and Pablo Mastroeni could join the San Jose Earthquakes. Feel free to use that as an ice breaker at the bars this weekend.