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MLS Timbers sign first four players for 2011

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The expansion Portland Timbers have signed the first four players in the club's history, including a trio of top scorers from the USSF Division 2.

Portland announced the signing of forward Bright Dike and midfielder Ryan Pore, as well as goalkeeper Steve Cronin, from the USSF D-2 Portland Timbers, while also signing English forward Eddie Johnson away from the Austin Aztex (Portland traded for Johnson's rights at mid-season and loaned him out to Austin, so the Timbers already had his rights).

Dike was a 2010 MLS first-round pick for the Columbus Crew before being waived and picked up by the Timbers. He scored 10 goals for the USSF D-2 Timbers, second to Pore's 15 goals. A former member of the Kansas City Wizards, Pore finished as the leading scorer in the USSF-Division 2. Johnson scored 14 goals for the Aztecs, good for second in the league.

Cronin will return to MLS after having spent five seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He remained one of the top goalkeepers in USSF D-2 this season after being named goalkeeper of the year in 2009.

What do you think of these signings? Impressed with the collection of forwards Portland has put together? Think Cronin can be one of the better goalkeepers in MLS?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I took that as a bit of sarcasm and/or irony coming from kevin amold… I think I remember that episode. His gym teacher had his name spelled wrong and… hey! get that narrator outta my head!

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  2. if they did it in the summer i think it is brilliant and totally legit. my only problem was if it hadn’t happened until after the D2 season. imho THAT would have been a circumvention of the rules. but they did it mid-season and just kept it quite so i really don’t have an issue with it now. i would have been nice if was properly reported or announced by the club at the very outset tho to avoid any confusion.

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  3. Let me guess Giogio you are a Sounders fan? I’m pretty sure you have no clue about anything other than your rave green scarf.

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  4. Amateur: A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.

    I believe these guys were getting paid in D-2.

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  5. Yeah, it was a pretty shrewd bit of business by Portland since they had just recently found out they wouldn’t have top discovery priority for D-2.

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  6. No, the transfer wasn’t public until this morning. Hard to see what the league would do as both teams bought players with the intent to move them up, which is exactly what happened here.

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  7. where is it stated you have to publicly list all of your signings? if they filed all the proper paperwork with USSF, then it really doesn’t matter if he played with the team/was announced as part of the team, as long as legally he was part of the team. your looking for something that doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) exist.

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  8. As evidenced by Le Toux, there are MLS All stars in the 2nd division. Expansion is great for US soccer. I can’t wait for next season. Who will be the next Le Toux?

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  9. “A player who was drafted by a particular team through the SuperDraft or Supplemental Draft and did not sign with the League, is placed on that team’s “College Protected List” until the second December 31 immediately following the draft in question, after which the team loses the rights to the player.”

    According to this whether a player is signed or not Dike should still be on the Crew CPL until Dec 31, 2011.

    (SBI-The Crew waived its rights to Dike before Dike signed with Portland. From what I’m told, Portland wouldn’t sign him without that being cleared. What led Columbus to waive those rights is unclear (maybe they didn’t want to stand in the way of the kid’s career since they didn’t want him, or maybe MLS applied pressure). Either way, the Crew gave up its rights to him, clearing the way for Dike to go to Portland.)

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