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MLS Hot Stove: Seattle ready to deal, Revs eyeing Gomez and Red Bulls finalize more deals

SeattleSounders1 (AP)

Good morning folks. It is the day before the 2009 MLS Draft, which generally goes down as the busiest day of the year for transactions. With draft pick trades, and deals for veterans flying, the chances are very good that your team will look very different two days from now.

This is what we have been hearing in the past day or so:

Seattle is openly courting offers for the No. 1 overall pick. So who might be in play for the pick? Sources tell SBI that Toronto has already made an offer while D.C. United and FC Dallas are also interested.

D.C. could be the most intriguing of the potential trade partners for Seattle. Currently holding the 6th and 7th picks in the first round, as well as 21 and 26 in the second round. D.C. covets Omar Gonzalez and could be tempted to package the No. 6, No. 7 and No. 21 for No. 1 and No. 16.

FC Dallas can offer Seattle the no. 5 and any one of its several young prospects, including Dax McCarty.

Another team looking to move up is Chivas USA, which desperately wants California goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Chivas USA could be tempted to dangle fullback Jonathan Bornstein in order to secure a high enough pick to draft the best goalkeeper available. If and when Chivas USa does deal Bornstein, they could wind up dealing for LA's Ante Jazic or Toronto FC's Todd Dunivant as a replacement.

Now, onto some non-draft news:

With Colorado desperately looking to unload disgruntled former MLS MVP Christian Gomez, the Rapids just might have a suitor in New England. According to a source (and you can stick this under the category of rumor rather than deal close to being done), the Revs could be interested in acquiring the Argentine playmaker for a package including one of New England's first-round draft picks (10 and 15). The Rapids would also likely have to pay a portion of Gomez' contract, which has one year left at the league non-DP maximum.

So why would the Revs take a chance on Gomez? Why not? The Revs have four picks in the first 25 in the draft so they can afford to deal one or two of them. They could also use a player with Gomez' creativity, which could allow Mauricio Castro to float in on the left. You might also recall that Revs coach Stevie Nicol coached Gomez at last summer's MLS All-Star Game. It's probably a long-shot, but don't be shocked if it happened.

The Red Bulls have agreed to terms with Los Angeles on a trade for Mike Magee. According to sources, the deal will seond the Red Bulls a conditional second-round pick for Magee.

The Red Bulls have been very busy making deals. They bought the rights to Mac Kandji's and will have him for 2009. The club also agreed to terms with defender Mike Petke on a new contract. Petke was a free agent, acquired by the Red Bulls in the Waiver Draft.

That's all for now. I will be posting some Post-Combine stories throughout the afternoon before departing for St. Louis. For now, feel free to share your thoughts on these stories in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. The above referenced article ends thusly:

    “””It’s no wonder the bail-out profiteers continue to plunder. The strategy of socialising the costs and privatising the benefits of business has been the asymmetrical economic zeitgeist for the last 30-plus years. Sports are most assuredly not immune from the machinations of capital.

    It’s time we put the final nail in the coffin of sports’ uniquely perverse version (of)trickle-down economics. Portland, Oregon is as good a place as any to fight this crucial battle.

    —————————————-

    True, but Philly is where this battle will be won or lost.

    Reply
  2. Did you know Treasury secretart Henry Paulson’s son, Merritt, owns the Portland Timbers who are going through the usual MLS machinations to shakedown the taxpayers for $85 million in public money to renovate something called PGE Park into a soccer only facility (SSS).

    “My own private bail-out

    After pushing for a $700bn bail-out for Wall Street, Henry Paulson wants Oregon residents to buy him a soccer stadium”.

    Frankly, I’m speechless at the arrogance of these people, to put it mildly. Great, great article that only the much maligned Jamie Trecker has ever written about on his blog.

    Ives, could you run a blog entry for this incredible article:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jan/14/henry-paulson-portland-sports

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  3. arena fubal,

    You’re right in saying Parkhurst was a big part of their 352 recipe, but they had the luxury of going with a back three because they’ve always opted for the double def mids. If they can manage to keep 2 legit destroyers in the middle, then though difficult, it’s not impossible to replace Parkhurst.

    They could go with a midfield of Mr.Mystery at LM, Joseph & Phelan holding down the middle, Ralston wide right, and Gomez in the hole behind Twellman and Christman/Mansally/Dube. They could merely slot Larentewiscz in the CB position where I understand he played in college.

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  4. I am glad the Red Bulls held on to Macoumba Kandji… he showed a lot of promise this past season… I was never a fan of Magee but the Bulls must be desperate for the cap space to unload him for what seems to be very little in exchange!

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  5. > The rap on Christian has always been that
    > he’s no defender or ball winner and does
    > best in a 3-5-2. Well, NE can certain play that

    But can they? Nicol likes it, but the key to NE’s success in the 3-5-2 was Parkhurst. IIRC, when he was out with injury they flopped in 3-5-2 and switched over to 4-4-2. Maybe Nicol can find a new CB to play Parky’s role in a 3-man line, but unless that happens I would anticipate a switch to 442 this year.

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  6. Magee for a Conditional Second round pick? He may not be an All-Star but he’s better than that. Petke? Wasn’t he good like 6 years ago? Good job, Agoos. Keep it up. Maybe for your next rick you cn go sign Steve Shak.

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  7. magee for a 2nd round pick sounds pretty fair to me. considering this is a “deep” draft according to so many front offices, is this pick conditional for 2009 or 2010? personally, i would love to add la galaxy’s #2 pick for this year.

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  8. Is much as it annoys me, I think it’s great that Petke gets to return to New York. He instantly became one of DC United’s fans favorites, and was a consistent defender in the league. But he loves New York, and after plying his trade around the league, I’m sure he’s excited to be able to return home.

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  9. Magee probably is better than the guy you find in the 2nd round, but he was never going to be better than a decent pro. Forcing the team to move on to new options is the best thing in this case (that and the cap room).

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  10. TR – it’s been long rumored that Bornstein is heading overseas when his contract is up, so there is fear that he is lost for nothing unless he is dealt now.

    Hmmmm, I could totally see Gomez bombing in NE, but part of that might have to do if he still really wants to play in MLS or not. It is really tempting to think about what a good partnership it could be with Joseph taking all the pressure off Gomez. Of course Colorado probably was thinking the same thing linking him with Pablo…

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  11. 1. C. Gomez would be a great fit with NE. The rap on Christian has always been that he’s no defender or ball winner and does best in a 3-5-2. Well, NE can certain play that with with Shalrie Joseph the human vaccum clean behind him and maybe Larentowicz (unless he moves to the backline), that gives Gomez the support he needs to replicate the kind of seasons he had with DC United.

    2. Goff is saying that Dallas is in play for Gomez, so it shall be interesting to see how this works out.

    3. I think Magee for a conditional #2 is realistic. Fans always overvalue their own talent. Magee has always been inconsistent and had trouble staying healthy. Furthermore, unlike a rookie, he’s not cap exempt and is more or less, a known quantity. Finally, it’s pretty clear that JCO is not a fan of him. I see this as a case of Agoos getting something for a player who’s otherwise likely waiver bait.

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  12. For Chivas USA, I wonder which they would consider the bigger drop-off in talent:

    a) Frei v. Kennedy
    b) Bornstein v. Dunivant

    If it’s a close call, it’s better to keep what they have since keeping Bornstein + Kennedy doesn’t cost anything extra, whereas they’d have to give up Bornstein to get Frei, then give up something else to get Dunivant.

    On the other hand, there’s salary considerations. Bornstein + Kennedy (2008 salaries) = 77.5k + 33k = 110.5k. Dunivant + Frei = 104.7k + probably something in range of 75-120k = 180-225k. So, another reason to keep what they have (unless Bornstein is due some massive raise and/or Dunivant can be had for cheap due to lack of PT last year).

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  13. Gomez is interesting a possible reclamation project after a miserable year on the bench for a mediocre team. But central midfield is already the only spot where Revs are strong with Ralston, Joseph, and Larentowicz (plus the potential of Videira).

    What they really need is a CB to replace Parkhurst (not at all convinced Badilla can do the job), a consistent threat up top (Twellman’s injuries don’t bode well and Dube and Mansally are just ehh), or even some improvements at LM or RM (Castro is merely decent and Nyassi has some attacking spark, but might be better in a sub role if a better two-way player could be found).

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  14. Columbus?

    Man, they already have a full squad. They only lost Brad Evans and Ezra. Of course they lost the coach too, but I doubt they need to do much. They seem loaded well enough to win it all again.

    Out here in Seattle we don’t know what’s happening. On the one hand it would be cool to have the top pick and have that player pan out quickly.

    On the other hand, we only have 15 bodies on the “roster” right now and some of them aren’t even signed — such as Parke. So maybe a trade of that top pick for some warm bodies makes some sense.

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  15. It would be a mistake to trade Bornstein for a goalkeeper. The ChivasUSA backline is really

    Old (Suarez, Talley, Curtin)

    Inconsistent (Thomas)

    Young(Burling) and

    Recovering (Vaughn)

    Johnny B is our only solid defender. A new goalkeeper doesn’t make them play better.

    Suarez refuses to retire and speaks little English. Getting Frei would help, but losin Bornstein would hurt more.

    Dan Kennedy can play. He’s has Matt Reis-type potential. Good, solid, and hard working.

    JUST MY 2 cents.

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  16. is columbus going to do anything this draft season? and no, trading miglioranzi for a 5th round conditional supplemental 2012 draft or whatever it was does not count for anything.

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  17. Rapids would be stupid to make the rumoriffic deal described here for Gomez. They should either hold out for a far better deal or straight up sell him to a team outside the league where he wants to go.

    Of course, I’m also biased against anything having to do with contracts and the Revs after their classless and pathetic enslavement of Shalrie Joseph.

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  18. Magee for a Conditional Second round pick….what are the conditions? A certain amount of games? It seems like LA is gettin all the deals lately…first they Trade Ty Harden who sat out the whole year to step away from the game and get a third round pick for him and now they give up a second rounder for a guy who had his best season in years.

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  19. Magee has shown no consistency and probably has a cap number that exceeds 80k. he had one hot streak each of the past few seasons but has usually played poorly more often than not. A 2nd round pick for a guy like this isn’t a bad deal at all for RBNY.

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  20. how about RB getting Gomez ,he would be a perfect playmaker for our team, give them pick and maybe pietrovallo and his contract or Conway and we will be fine ….

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  21. any update on juan pablo angel?? i think with kandji and angel up front richards on the right and rojas in the cm (not LM) we have a lot more scoring chances

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  22. Cannot believe that we handled the Gomez situation so poorly that we are trading our DP for pick 10, 15 AND paying a portion of the salary. If this goes down this way the front office should get sacked!

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  23. TR: Bornstein hasn’t improved much from his rookie year. Others can be found for that spot. Great keepers are rare. Frei could be the best.

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  24. i also thought this was an interesting little tidbit

    Naco on January 12th, 2009 7:47 pm Uh… Montreal Impact’s official website says we just signed one of their forwards..

    http://www.montrealimpact.com/News/News.aspx?language=EN&ArticleID=1045&Focus=0

    “The Impact has also confirmed that Antigua and Barbuda forward Peter Byers will not be back in 2009. Byers accepted an offer from the San Jose Earthquakes in the Major League Soccer (MLS). He had joined the Impact during the last season, August 19. ”

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  25. Mike Magee has shown flashes of brilliance on and off for what 5 or 6 years now? Go ahead and ship him to LA.. This seems like one of the players that leave the team only to have some sort of a return in a few seasons.

    I read a statistic that something like 78% of all players traded by Metro/redbull have made a return to the club.

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  26. They got a conditional 2nd round pick for Magee? Great deal for NYRB. He was terrible last year; he isn’t anything more than bench fodder.

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  27. A creative compliment to Shalrie Joseph would seem very smart. Magee to LA appears to be another smart decision made by LA this offseason; they’ve been able to drop a lot of high-priced players and pick up some good less expensive options.

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  28. so very curious to see why Mo is going to do with that #1 draft pick should he get it…
    Hopefully Marshall is part of the deal (as well as signing a better replacement for Marshall, HA, no hatred for Marshall but dudes past his prime). Its gonna be a good day tomorrow…

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  29. A conditional second round pick for Magee? Seems like a RBNY is getting ripped off. Magee showed flashes of talent last season.

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  30. Christmas could come early to NE! They should take Gomez in a heartbeat, and push Ralston back out wide where he’s most effective on the right.

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  31. Really? That’s it for Mike Magee, a conditional second round pic? I know LA doesn’t have a squad packed with talent, and Magee isn’t a superstart, but he’s definitely worth more than 1 Second Round pic.

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