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Trade winds swirling as MLS Draft approaches

By IVES GALARCEP

FORT LAUDERDALE- Trade talk is a regular staple of the week leading up to the MLS Draft, and this week has been no different.

Toronto FC is in control of the top of the draft, with the No. 1 and No. 3 picks. With Chivas USA already publicly expressing their plans to select Carlos Alvarez as the No. 2 player, TFC can begin to listen to offers for both picks they currently hold.

TFC isn’t trying to simply unload picks. Sources tell me they are looking to trade down and try to pick up some allocation money or a veteran player in exchange for moving down in the draft. The Colorado Rapids covet young centerback Walker Zimmerman and

TFC’s top picks aren’t the only ones in play either. You also have teams looking to trade up and trade into the first round (like Sporting KC, Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire and Columbus), and even teams looking to snag second-round picks in a draft that is light on star power but strong on depth of squad-capable players. Portland is one team sources tell me is looking to work their way back into the draft.

Not only are teams in deep discussions about trading for draft picks, but several MLS veteran players are in the trade rumor mill as well.

Who is being shopped around this week? Here are some names that sources tell me are definitely on the trade block this week:

DAN KENNEDY, Chivas USA

The standout goalkeeper should be a player the Goats can build around, but the new leadership at Chivas USA already has a Mexican goalkeeper in mind to take over. Now they just need to find a team who can afford Kennedy and need him enough to trade what the Goats are asking for him.

JEFF LARENTOWICZ, Colorado Rapids

Much like Kennedy, Larentowicz has been on the trade block for some time, but this is starting to feel like the week he makes a move. If your team is in dire need of some central midfield bite, and has a first-round pick or allocation money to deal, then Larentowicz can be yours.

DILLY DUKA, Columbus Crew

The young midfielder is coming off a woefully disappointing 2012 season, but there are still plenty of teams interested in his services. As of Monday night I was hearing he was being included in a trade to an Eastern Conference rival. Don’t be surprised if he’s with a new team by the end of the week.

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These are just some of the players who seem likely to make trade moves this week as the deals start to fly and the draft picks start being made.

What do you think of this development?

Comments

  1. I do know for a fact that Peter Vermes is keen on Dilly Duka. Maybe they are that “Eastern Conference rival?”

    I don’t think they have the funds to bring him in at this point, though.

    As far as Dan Kennedy, why wouldn’t Toronto pull the trigger and swap the number 3 pick for Kennedy and grab one of the best keepers in the league?

    They’ve obviously made major attempts to solidify their backline in Califf and Assoumawhatever so draft Farrell no. 1 and trade number 3 for Kennedy. Instantly lifts them from the cellar.

    Therefore, Chivas could turn around and grab both Alvarez AND Lopez.

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  2. Duka is going to go to NY if he gets traded. He was well liked by management when they’ve seen him play against us, and we are well short on midfielders.

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  3. I have a feeling that they’re trying to shop Kennedy for another top 10 pick. I think they’re trying to get both Alvarez and Lopez.

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  4. Chivas are a bunch of racists, this team is a joke and their ownership are freaking scum. MLS you should have more respect for yourself than allowing a Mexican farm team to just pick and chose only american mexicans in order to snatch them to mexico one day. Disgrace

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  5. This Chivas keeps killing itself even more. They rid good keeper for third rate unproven mexican keeper thats unwanted by any mexican teams. Talk about xenophobic team in MLS.

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  6. Call me crazy (and I know I am by writing this) and that everything I say is based off speculation, but I see Houston trying to trade up one (maybe 2 but highly unlikely) of their excessive midfielders in this draft to get a second defender and/or a forward. They have been linked to trying to get Alexander Lopez from CD Olimpia (who has been removed off their own team’s roster). If Houston really wants him, they have to offload some of their midfield to make room. They also need to replace 1 centerback (hainult left) and add cover for ashe (i am banking on a LB being drafted unless a super high quality centerback is available). So, perhaps Houston trades a midfielder for allocation + a draft spot to get a third draft pick (they already have 13 and 37).

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    • We have so many excess DMs it’s not funny. Clark, Camargo, Moffat, Creavalle, etc. I think we cut Sturgis but it’s particularly absurd when we meanwhile don’t have a CAM to pair with them. Reminiscent of the US with all the empty bucket formations. Anyone remember that when we won the titles we had DeRo there? It helps to have some sort of focus to the attack, not just dead balls and Bruin scrapping.

      They need to replace Corey, not cover him. Part of the problem in Houston is settling for less of a player than may be needed to get the title.

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      • I’m a Creavalle fan, don’t get me wrong…..heck, I’d play him at LB ahead of Corey. I just think it’s wasteful to have too many players on the roster for one spot in the formation. And I continue to believe one of the reasons the Dynamo haven’t kicked the door back down is the lack of a #10 who can both score for himself and set up the forwards, without becoming such an English/Scottish stereotype of a kickball, cross, and deadball team. When we won the titles we had a more turbocharged offense that could score 4-5 goals in a game.

      • Well I mentioned Alexander Lopez because from what I have heard (not that I have heard much yet) he is a plausible CAM. As for Corey, he does alright. Remember we have a salary cap, you have to pick and choose where your going to have extremely high quality players (in general higher quality will at least eventually hit that salary harder). Everything has to be balanced in the end.
        Also, if this draft has some good LBs (like the MLS writers would like us to believe, I have no idea bc I have not watched any of the current players), we could find a potential long term LB that turns out to surpass Corey.
        As for the “empty bucket”, they have tried to get a CAM type. And last year’s team is the most versatile team Dom has put together that could play a 4-3-3, 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 (all formations used at some point last year, I am not sure if a 4-5-1 was ever used). So I would not say the team is as straight forward as an empty bucket (mostly due to Oscar Boniek Garcia).
        As Hogatroge mentioned Creavalle is a very promising player and a very good utility player.

      • All I’m saying is when we won we had DeRo and ever since then it’s been a dwindling down to Holden then Cameron then just playing 2 CDMs. We haven’t won a title since DeRo left and to me it reflects a weaker, more one-dimensional offense. We used to have DeRo who could take people on and score for himself, as well as set up others. And don’t try and tell me Moffat hitting a circus shot twice a season is the same thing.

        And all that was managed under the cap in the pre-DP era, after Landon left and they moved here. It is simply a matter of priorities and it has not been one. If you have a bunch of middies who don’t play and are redundant of each other…..throw Watson and some others in there too…..you have the money to buy a CAM. If you’re not going to even use the depth players they can be journeymen and draft picks.

        Corey is pointless and you’ll not convince me otherwise. I could hit a better cross than him, and half his sales pitch is going forward. And on defense he often gets caught up or out of position, and doesn’t get stuck in. Creavalle could do his job easy and that’s problem solved. But I’m basically not sold the defense is airtight and if it’s not that’s one strike against a title run, perhaps overcome-able by supercharging the offense a la Galaxy, except our whole concept is defense first. So I don’t think it works.

        The problem with the 433 is Kinnear never believed in the attacking version of it, and if you play a bunch of DMs in the midfield it really becomes a 451. I ironically think he actually made the team more defensive, not less so.

    • My dream is Houston some how trade up and take Manneh, him teaming up with Will Bruin and learning how to play the speed forward from Cummings (and finishing from Ching) could mean Houston is set at forward for a long time.

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      • Or maybe Jason Johnson slips down the draft enough for Houston to grab him at 13? He could be a Will Bruin type in the sense that he has a lot of talent and potential and on draft day just falls lower down than he should.

      • How many Bruin types do we need? Bruin, Ching, Weaver. A couple years ago they made the same mistake bringing in Garey on top of everyone else, which is how Bruin ended up emerging.

        I do think we should get in a second speedster forward, we shouldn’t re-sign Mac because he seems to be oil and water with Kinnear, and to either have lost a step or to be upset with how much he gets used. Just not himself. So bring in someone similarly fast and slashing to back up Cummings. Manneh might be the type and even worth drafting long run, but Cummings has enough injury history you might want a veteran who could step up if necessary.

    • Rumor was L.A. was trying, but Chivas wouldn’t send Kennedy down the hall. Vergara thinks he has enough money he can prove his Mexican point. But trading two time team MVP and 2012 MLS All Star because he’s not Mexican is insane !

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  7. Our team isn’t racist! It’s just stupid.
    Losing Dan Kennedy would be a major blow to the fans (yes, we have fans) and to our credibitity as a franchise.
    Mexican fans do buy into Chivas USA and will continue to ignore it unless higher profile players are signed (and they wont be).

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  8. Chivas USA strikes again. Offload a top rated Gk who is a Caucasion bring in a Mexican. I can’t wait to see this Club continue to suck next season.

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    • Color is less important than nationality. Giving away a top American goalie doesn’t make sense when international slots are so valuable for field players, but Seattle does OK with Gspurning and KC does even better with Nielsen. So, if the replacement really would be an upgrade, it could make sense.

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    • Agreed. I never got that argument that an hispanic player, any hispanic player, is automatically better. Sure if I was walking down the street choosing players and had nothing to judge but ethnicity, in the US, I would choose the hispanic. But after I saw him play, I would feel free to change my opinion, or not, depending upon the soccer I saw, NOT on ethnicity. Silliest way to form a competitive team …

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    • Just for the record, Caucasian is a “race” and Mexican is a nationality – at least according to the U.S. census. So your comment is really not apples-to-apples.
      Really what you should be saying is Chivas prefers a Mexican or a Mexican-American over someone born in the United States whose family origins don’t trace back to Mexico. But I guess that is more than a mouthful and probably proves while Chivas’ plans are ridiculous. Play the best players, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, etc.

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    • yup.. im getting tired of reading that. From Chivas USA its kinda of expected but now Oskar Paraja at Colorado has been beating that drum.. Back to CUSA; Kennedy is about the only good thing they have going.. and its the GK! Tired of these egotistical rookie moves…

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  9. “Central midfield bite”? Larentowicz? OK, sure — if by “central midfield bite” you mean “Vinnie Jones’s red-headed stepchild”!

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    • Won’t happen. The Crew have many needs, but CM is not one of them. I personally think Duka has a lot more upside than JL, but JL is certainly more proven.

      The Crew staff have certainly pissed off a lot of players recently, but Duka behaved like a spoiled crybaby. Duka has enough talent that some team will take the chance that he’s learned his lesson & will behave like a pro in the future.

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  10. Chivas are going to offload Kennedy for a Mexican keeper? Good luck finding someone as good who isn’t already under contract in another league. I can’t see how MLS can stand this club becoming a second division farm team for the main Chivas. Not when there’s a half dozen cities pining for an MLS club.

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    • Too bad the Galaxy already penned Cudacini. They may be pound for pound equal right now, but Kennedy has many years ahead of him. Cudacini, not so much.

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    • I can’t see how anyone can stand them having a Mexican-only policy. I know it’s been said by others, but if someone said their team was only taking whites, or only taking blacks, that would be properly called ‘discriminatory’ if not ‘illegal’ right away. So how is this different? If they’re stupid enough to get rid of a very good keeper like Dan Kennedy, all in the name of upholding the ethnic purity of their squad, they deserve to continue the crappy results they’ve had so far.

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      • I would not say that Duka had a woefully disappointing season. Like most of the Crew younger players (Tchani, Meram, Anor, Finlay) he was not consistent. However for the Crew to keep up with atttractive large markets, they need players like him to develop into the top level players they need. Duka was both the most likely to become a top player and the one who, when he is good makes the team much better. If they trade him for a proven veteran they need on defense that would be one thing, but trading him to a rival in order to draft a couple of more college guys would be a step backward. Frosty coach Warzycha is unpopular with many Columbus fans because of his personnel decisions, with guys he likes and guys he doesn’t. He and GM Bliss have kept the Crew in the running, despite limited owner interest, enough to keep their jobs, but he may not be the right coach to develop the college guys the Crew is always depending on. They alienate a lot of them and this may be another example.

    • Wwaayyy too much. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him headed to DC, but if that’s what the Crew are seeking, it won’t happen.

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    • I agree Duka is very good but underrated player. Hopefully DC gets him because he
      is a guy that can play two way, and with good vision. Maybe not brilliant like Boskovic at times, but he plays on both sides of the ball.

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    • Duka isn’t worth that much, IMO. I could see the 17th pick for Duka straight up but Duka isn’t worth two picks and allocation money.

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    • What about Larentowicz to DC? We seemed to do really well during the end of the season with two defensive minded midfielders, and Larentowicz is definitely a step up from Saragosa. Then again, it might not be worth it, as Saragosa was very good value for the money last season.

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      • Cronin is three years younger, earns fewer fouls, and I think Yallop (not me… hence the above comment) likes him box-to-box. Otherwise, you are correct.

      • Larentowicz and skill shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence, unless we’re discussing his considerable lack of it.

      • Yeah, clearly that lack of skill was shown during the last few MLS seasons in which he won a title and earned a call up to the national team before the Rapids roster fell apart.

      • Cronin signed new contract this winter, he’s not going anywhere. Soccer America rated him 3rd best DM, behind Alonzo and Beckerman.

      • Larentowicz can tackle and shoot, but is slow and gets caught upfield when he shoots. He should move home to Philly.

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