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?

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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.